"Thus, as I have had the honor to relate, was I betrayed (being Adjutant General of the British army) into the vile condition of an enemy in disguise within your posts.
"Having avowed myself a British officer, I have nothing to reveal but what relates to myself, which is true on the honor of an officer and a gentleman.
"The request I have to make to your Excellency, and I am conscious I address myself well, is, that in any rigor policy may dictate, a decency of conduct towards me may mark, that, though unfortunate, I am branded with nothing dishonorable, as no motive could be mine but the service of my King, and as I was involuntarily an impostor.
"Another request is, that I may be permitted to write an open letter to Sir Henry Clinton, and another to a friend for clothes and linen.
"I take the liberty to mention the condition of some gentlemen at Charleston, who, being either on parole or under protection, were engaged in a conspiracy against us. Though their situation is not similar, they are objects who may be set in exchange for me, or are persons whom the treatment I receive might affect.
"It is no less, Sir, in a confidence of the generosity of your mind, than on account of your superior station, that I have chosen to importune you with this letter. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Sir, your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant,
"JOHN ANDRÉ, Adjutant-General."
When he had finished this letter, he handed it open to Major Tallmadge, who perused it with astonishment and strong emotion; for, although he believed the writer to be a military man, yet he had not supposed him a person of such rank, nor dreamed of the dangerous plot in which he had been acting a part. The letter was sealed and sent to General Washington. From that moment André's mind seemed relieved. He became cheerful, and his good humor, affable address, and attractive powers of conversation, gained upon the hearts of the officers, and won from them reciprocal kindness and civilities.
In this situation let us leave the prisoner for a time, and pursue the chain of events in another quarter.
The route travelled by General Washington and his suite to Hartford was called the lower road, passing from Peekskill through Danbury. It was supposed he would come back the same way; but, without making his intention publicly known beforehand, he returned by the upper road, which brought him to West Point through the northern parts of the Highlands. He arrived at Fishkill, eighteen miles from Arnold's headquarters as the road then ran, in the afternoon of the 24th of September. After stopping a short time for rest and refreshment, he proceeded onward, and within two or three miles of the town met the French minister, M. de la Luzerne, on a journey to visit Count de Rochambeau at Newport. As this was an unexpected meeting, and the minister expressed an earnest desire to converse with General Washington on matters of importance, and urged his return to Fishkill for that purpose, he could not with propriety or politeness decline the proposal. It had been his design to reach West Point the same evening; but this detention left him too little time to attain that object, and he remained during the night at Fishkill with the Chevalier de la Luzerne.