Career
British officer and secret agent during the American Revolutionary War, who conspired with Benedict Arnold for the surrender of West Point. Born in London, England, May 2, 1750, AndréAndre had no British blood, his father being a naturalized Swiss and his mother a Parisian. In 1771, AndréAndre became a lieutenant and was with his regiment in Quebec, Canada, just before the outbreak of the American Revolution. He was captured at St. Johns in 1775 during the American expedition against Quebec, and imprisoned at Carlisle, Pa.
Exchanged in 1776, he became aide to Gen. Charles Grey and later to Sir Henry Clinton, and in 1779 was promoted to major and made deputy adjutant general, acting as adjutant general. As such, under the British staff organization of the period, he took over control of military intelligence, in which he had already taken an active though subordinate role for many months.
Handsome, well-mannered, personally charming, a skilled artist, and a poet of sorts, AndréAndre had made the acquaintance of Margaret Shippen, the beautiful daughter of a prominent Tory, during the occupation of Philadelphia. After the British evacuated the city, she became the wife of Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold, commanding American forces there, who later turned traitor. Manuscript discoveries in recent years leave no doubt that Peggy Shippen, through her acquaintance with André,Andre, was active in the treasonable correspondence that her husband opened with the British, most of it through André.Andre. After Arnold took command at West Point, arrangements were quickly made to betray the post, and some time after midnight in the early hours of Sept. 22, 1780, AndréAndre met Arnold secretly on the banks of the Hudson River to plan the surrender of the fort.
On Arnold's insistence, AndréAndre violated Sir Henry Clinton's orders not to enter the American lines and later, in order to return, violated Clinton's further orders not to discard his British uniform. He was captured while disguised in civilian clothing, thereby becoming a spy, was tried by a board of general officers, and found guilty of espionage. Despite Clinton's efforts to save him, he was hanged Oct. 2, 1780.