Research

Administrative History

During the American Revolution, British Army Major John Andre (alias John Anderson) acted as a secret emissary and contact to American Major General Benedict Arnold, commander of the American fort at West Point, which guarded the Hudson Valley from British advance from the south. Arnold's secret agreement to surrender West Point to the British was discovered when Andre was captured on September 23, 1780 by the American Army, with the documents of this series on his person. Although Arnold escaped to the British, Andre was subsequently found guilty of acting as a spy by a military court convened by General George Washington. Andre was hanged at Tappan, New York on October 2, 1780.