André, John [key], 1751–80, British spy in the American Revolution. He was captured (1775) by Gen. Richard Montgomery in the Quebec campaign but was exchanged and became adjutant general under Sir Henry Clinton. Major André negotiated with Benedict Arnold for the betrayal of West Point and was captured (Sept. 23, 1780), when returning to New York, by John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wart, near Tarrytown, N.Y. He was tried, condemned, and hanged at Washington's headquarters at Tappan, despite protests from Clinton. Major André's charming personality and his talents in the arts had won him many American friends, who mourned him as a romantically tragic young man.
See studies by J. T. Flexner (1953) and J. H. Smith (1969).
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