CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRE.

CHAPTER CXXVIII.

267

PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, CONTINUED.-Capture of Major André.

1. THE agent employed in Arnold's negotiations with Sir Henry

MAJOR ANDRÉ.

bring Major André from on board the Vulture.

Clinton was John André, adjutantgeneral of the British army. He was accomplished

an

young man, about twenty-nine years of age. To favor his communications with Arnold, the Vulture, a British sloop of war, had been previously stationed in the Hudson, as near West Point as it could be without exciting suspicion. 2. On the night of September 21st, a boat was sent from the shore to When it returned,

Arnold met him at the beach, outside of the forts of both armies. Their secret interview took place at Haverstraw, on the west side of the Hudson. To arrange all the details of the surrender of the fort required considerable time, and the business was not finished till it was too near morning for André to return to the Vulture; he was therefore obliged to conceal himself for the day, within the American lines.

3. During his absence, the Vulture had changed her position, and André, unable to get on board, was compelled to cross to the east side of the river and set out for New York by land. After exchanging his uniforin for a plain dress, and receiving a passport from Arnold, under the name of John Anderson, he set out on horseback, and made the best of his way down the river.

CHAP. CXXVIII.-1. What of André? What sloop was statio ed in the Hudson to aid André's operations? 2. What meeting took place on September 21st, 1780? 3. What was André compelled to do?

4. He had the address, with the aid of his passport, to escape the suspicions of the guards and outposts of the army. But when he caine to Tarrytown, a small village about thirty miles north of New York, on the east side of the river, he was met by three New York militia belonging to a scouting party, who, after examining his papers, allowed him to pass on.

5. One of them, however, suspecting from his appearance that all was not right, called him back. André asked them where they were from.

EXAMINATION OF ANDRÉ.

"From down below," they replied. "So am I," said he. They then ar rested him; upon which he owned he was a British officer, and endeavored to bribe them to release him, by the offer of a purse of gold and his watch. 6. But they were not to be bribed, though they were poor and needy.

They conducted him to Col. Jameson, their commander, who, while he secured him, incautiously allowed him to drop a line to Arnold, who, on receiving the letter, went at once on board the Vulture, and thus escaped the punishment which would otherwise have been inflicted.

7. Washington, at this moment, was on his way from Connecticut, where he had been to confer with Count Rochambeau. He arrived at West Point just in time to save it from being delivered up to the British, but not in time to secure Arnold.

8. André, in the mean time, was tried by a board of fourteen mili-tary officers, who, after hearing his confession-for he was too noble a man to deny any part of the truth-unanimously pronounced him a spy; and declared that, "agreeably to the laws and usages of nations, he should suffer death."

9. Though prepared to die, he still shrank from perishing on a gibbet, and therefore entreated to be shot. Washington, moved by his appeals, presented his request to his officers; but it was refused. He

4. Describe his journey on horseback. What happened at Tarrytown? 5. What passed between André and the three men? 6 Where did they take him? What of Arnold? 7. Where was Washington at this time? S Describe André's trial and doom

EXECUTION OF HALE AND PALMER.

269

expired on a gallows, October 2d, 1780, at Tappan, in New Jersey, twenty-eight miles above New York.

10. The three brave young men who took him, whose names were John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wart, were rewarded by Congress, in an annual pension of two hundred dollars each for life, and a silver medal, on one side of which was a shield, inscribed, "Fidelity ;" and on the other the motto, Vincit amor patriæ, or “The love of country conquers."

11. Washington concerted a plan for seizing Arnold, and saving André, but it did not succeed. Champe, a bold and persevering soldier, was to desert to the British army, in New York, watch his opportunity, and bring off Arnold to the American camp. After seizing Arnold, he was to have been met at the lines of the two armies and assisted in securing him. Champe entered upon the project, reached New York, and had nearly succeeded, when Arnold suddenly changed his quarters, and the scheme failed.

CHAPTER CXXIX.

PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, CONTINUED.-Execution of Hale and Palmer.-Col. Trumbull in London. 1. WE have already noticed some of the evils of war, but there is at least one more; it is the dreadful system of retaliation. If one opposing party burns a village, or plunders private property, or hangs deserters, the other is apt to do so, in order to avenge itself. Had it not been for this for what was deemed a necessity, under this system, by the American officers-André might have been spared, for his high character was well known, and there was great sympathy for him, as well among his enemies as his friends.

2. After the Americans had retreated from Long Island, in the year 1776, Captain Nathan Hale passed over to the island in disguise, and examined carefully every part of the British army, and found out its general plan of movement; but just as he was ready to return, he was taken, found guilty, and executed. The presence of a clergyman, and even the use of a Bible, were denied him, and the letters which he wrote to his friends were destroyed.

3. The Americans never forgot this. While the war was going on with Burgoyne in the north, and General Clinton was trying to force

9. What was his request? Where was he executed? 10. How were the three men rewarded who took André? 11. What plan had Washington formed? What was Champe to do? What did he accomplish?

CHAP. CXXIX. 1.-What is one of the evils of war? 2. What of Captain Nathan IIale?

a passage up the Hudson, spies and scouts were constantly passing between the two armies. One Palmer was at last caught by the army under General Putnam, and executed. He had been an American tory, but had deserted to the British, and received a lieutenant's commission.

4. The British general in New York, having heard of the arrest of Palmer, wrote to General Putnam, entreating that he might be spared, and threatening vengeance in case of a refusal. But neither his entreaties nor his threats moved Putnam, and Palmer was condemned as a spy and executed.

5. The brave Colonel Trumbull has been mentioned. He was in London, pursuing his studies as a painter, when the news of André's death arrived; and though Trumbull had been entirely disconnected from the army for several years, he was now carefully watched, and at length taken and subjected to a rigid examination. Their rough method of examination not pleasing him, he soon brought it to a close by a voluntary confession.

6. "I will put an end to all this insolent folly," said he, "by telling you who and what I am. I am an American-my name is Trumbull; I am son of him whom you call the rebel governor of Connecticut; I have served in the rebel American army, and I have had the honor of being aide-de-camp to him you call the rebel General Washington." 7. He was respected for his frankness and his spirit, but not released. After further examination, he was committed to prison, and would probably have been executed but for the kind interference of West, the celebrated American painter, then in London and on good terms with the king, who persuaded the latter to spare his life. He was, however, kept in close confinement seven months.

CHAPTER CXXX.

PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, CONTINUED.-Arnold invades Virginia and New London.

1. ARNOLD received 6,315 pounds sterling-equal to about thirty thousand dollars-for his treachery, with the commission of a brigadier-general in the service of his majesty, the British king. His vanity and extravagance had involved him in debt, and he doubtless sold himself and his country for the means of replenishing his purse.

3. What took place during the war at the north? What was the fate of Palmer? 4. What passed between the British general and Putnam? 5. What happened to Colonel Trumbull? 6. Repeat his confession. 7. How was he treated?

CHAP. CXXX.-1. How was Arnold rewarded for his treachery? What was probably the cause of his fall?

ARNOLD INVADES VIRGINIA.

271

2. Soon after his arrival in New York, he published an (6 Address to the Inhabitants of America," explaining the course he had pursued, and endeavoring to justify himself in it. It was of little force, howIt was rather a tirade against Congress and the alliance with the French, than an address to the Americans, or an apology for his own conduct.

ever.

3. In about two months after he joined the British, he was appointed to the command of an expedition against Virginia, consisting of sixteen hundred men. A violent gale separated the fleet in which he and his men had embarked, but they all arrived at Hampton Roads about December 30th, except four hundred of the troops, who were a week later.

4. Not waiting for those who were missing, Arnold proceeded up the James River, burning and plundering, without any distinction between public and private property. After doing all the mischief he could, he descended the river, and stationed himself at Portsmouth; and in a few weeks after returned to New York.

5. Washington and La Fayette exerted themselves to the utmost to cause him to be captured, but without success. A French fleet was even sent to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, chiefly for this service, but they were pursued by the British admiral Arbuthnot; and though they had captured some of Arnold's vessels, they were compelled to retire to Newport. Arnold took care to secure his own person.

6. We hear little more of this desperate man-except that he endeavored, without success, to make an attack upon West Point-till the autumn of 1781, when he made a descent with fifteen hundred men upon the mouth of the Connecticut River, and took Forts Trumbull and Griswold, committing a merciless slaughter at the latter place, after the troops had partly surrendered, and burning the town of New London.

7. Not long after these last events, he sailed for England. He lived till the year 1801, but was almost unnoticed. A small part of his time was spent at St. John's in the province of New Brunswick, and in the West Indies; but the greater portion of it was spent in London, where he died at the age of sixty-one years. Arnold the Traitor has become a name of infamy throughout this country, and even in England, where he was generally despised.

2. What did he do soon after his arrival in New York? 3. To what expedition was he appointed commander? 4. Describe his march up the James River. 5. What mean were used to take Arnold? 6, 7. What more do we hear of him?

When did he die?