"It became necessary at this instant, that the secret correspondence under feigned names, which had been so long carried on, should be rendered into certainty, both as to the person being General Arnold commanding at West Point, and that in the manner in which he was to surrender himself, the forts, and troops to me, it should be so conducted under a concerted plan between us, as that the King's troops sent upon this expedition should be under no risk of surprise or counterplot; and I was determined not to make the attempt but under such particular security.
"I knew the ground on which the forts were placed, and the contiguous country, tolerably well, having been there in 1777; and I had received many hints respecting both from General Arnold. But it was certainly necessary that a meeting should be held with that officer for settling the whole plan. My reasons, as I have described them, will, I trust, prove the propriety of such a measure on my part. General Arnold had also his reasons, which must be so very obvious, as to make it unnecessary for me to explain them.
"Many projects for a meeting were formed, and consequently several attempts made, in all of which General Arnold seemed extremely desirous, that some person, who had my particular confidence, might be sent to him; some man, as he described it in writing, of his own mensuration.
"I had thought of a person under this important description, who would gladly have undertaken it, but that his peculiar situation at the time, from which I could not release him, prevented him from engaging in it. General Arnold finally insisted, that the person sent to confer with him should be Adjutant-General Major André, who indeed had been the person on my part, who managed and carried on the secret correspondence."
From these facts it appears, that André did not himself propose to undertake this mission, nor engage in it voluntarily, but yielded to the wishes of Sir Henry Clinton in conformity with the express solicitation of Arnold. Although this circumstance does not affect the nature of subsequent transactions, yet in its bearing on the character and motives of André it is worthy of remembrance.
The parents of André were originally of Geneva. From that place they removed to London, where this son was born. He was sent early in life to Geneva for his education, but he returned to London before he was eighteen years old. Being designed for the mercantile profession, he entered the counting-house of a respectable establishment in London, where he continued at least three or four years. During this period he formed an ardent attachment for a young lady, which was reciprocated; but the marriage was defeated by the opposition of the lady's father. The strength of his passion for her is described in glowing colors, and with much enthusiasm of feeling, in his interesting letters written at the time to Miss Seward. She is there called Honora. Four years after the engagement had been dissolved by parental authority, she was married to another person. Till that time André had cherished the delusive fancy, that some propitious event would change the current of his fortunes, and crown his wishes with success. Despair had now shut the door of hope. The following lines, from Miss Seward's poetical tribute to his memory, allude to this incident.
"While the fair-one's sighs
Disperse, like April storms in sunny skies,
The firmer lover, with unswerving truth,
To his first passion consecrates his youth;
Though four long years a night of absence prove,
Yet Hope's soft star shone trembling on his love;
Till hovering Rumor chased the pleasing dream,
And veiled with raven-wing the silver beam."
From that moment André became disgusted with his pursuits, and resolved to seek relief from his bitter associations, and dissipate the memory of his sorrows, in the turmoil and dangers of war. He joined the British army in Canada, with a lieutenant's commission, and was taken prisoner at the capture of St. John's by General Montgomery in the autumn of 1775. He was sent with other prisoners to Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, where he remained a few months till he was exchanged. Not long afterwards he said, in a letter to a friend, "I have been taken prisoner by the Americans, and stripped of every thing except the picture of Honora, which I concealed in my mouth. Preserving that, I yet think myself fortunate." The picture had been delineated from the living features of the object of his affection by his own hand.
To a graceful and handsome person, André added many accomplishments of mind and manners. He was passionately fond of the fine arts, and had attained very considerable skill in drawing and painting. A journal of his travels and campaigns in America, which he kept from the time of his first arrival in Canada, contained lively and picturesque sketches of the people, their dresses, houses, and other objects, illustrating the habits of life, customs, and amusements of the Canadians, Americans, and Indians; and also drawings of animals, birds, insects, trees, and plants, each in its appropriate colors. Landscapes, views, and plans of places were interspersed, and connected by a narrative and written descriptions. This journal was seen and perused in Philadelphia, while the British had possession of that city. To a taste for poetry he united a love of elegant letters, and his attainments in the various branches of literature were extensive.
His epistolary writings, so far as specimens of them have been preserved, show a delicacy of sentiment, a playfulness of imagination, and an ease of style, which could proceed only from native refinement and a high degree of culture.