The British commissioners waited till morning, as General Robertson had proposed, and at an early hour they received a note from General Greene, stating that he had communicated to Washington the substance of the conference, but that it had produced no change in his opinion and determination. This intelligence was astounding to Robertson; for he had written to Sir Henry Clinton the evening before, that he was persuaded André would not be harmed. How he got this impression is not easily discovered, since he represented General Greene as obstinately bent on considering André as a spy, and resisting all his arguments to the contrary.
Nothing more could be done by the commissioners. That no measure might be left untried, however, General Robertson wrote a letter to Washington, containing a summary of the topics he had discussed at the conference, and assigned as a reason for sending it, that he feared General Greene's memory might have failed him in some particulars, and he wished the merits of so important a case to be presented with all the clearness and force it deserved. This letter could have produced no effect, even if it had not arrived too late; for it touched upon no points, which had not already been examined and decided. The commissioners returned to New York.
While in confinement at Tappan, both before and after his sentence, André had shown the greatest composure, and the same serenity of temper and winning gentleness of manners, that had been conspicuous in his conversation and deportment from the time he was taken. His regimentals had been brought from New York by his servant, after his arrival at Tappan, and he appeared in the full dress of a British officer. Colonel Hamilton, in his beautiful and pathetic letter to Colonel Laurens, respecting the capture and death of André, has described an incident in his conduct on this occasion, which would add lustre to his name, even if it were not adorned by genius, magnanimity, and honor.
"In one of the visits I made to him," said Hamilton, "(and I saw him several times during his confinement,) he begged me to be the bearer of a request to the General, for permission to send an open letter to Sir Henry Clinton. 'I foresee my fate,' said he, 'and though I pretend not to play the hero, or to be indifferent about life, yet I am reconciled to whatever may happen, conscious that misfortune, not guilt, has brought it upon me. There is only one thing that disturbs my tranquillity. Sir Henry Clinton has been too good to me; he has been lavish of his kindness; I am bound to him by too many obligations, and love him too well, to bear the thought that he should reproach himself, or others should reproach him, on the supposition of my having conceived myself obliged, by his instructions, to run the risk I did. I would not, for the world, leave a sting in his mind that should embitter his future days.' He could scarce finish the sentence, bursting into tears, in spite of his efforts to suppress them, and with difficulty collected himself enough afterwards to add, 'I wish to be permitted to assure him, I did not act under this impression, but submitted to a necessity imposed upon me, as contrary to my own inclination, as to his orders.' His request was readily complied with, and he wrote the letter annexed, with which I dare say you will be as much pleased as I am, both for the sentiment and diction."
This letter was the same that has been inserted above, and its contents accord in every respect with the delicacy of feeling and warmth of gratitude here expressed towards his benefactor.
When the sentence of the board was announced to André, he manifested no surprise or concern, having evidently been prepared by his own reflections for this result. He remarked only, that, since he was to die, "there was still a choice in the mode, which would make a material difference in his feelings." It was his wish to die the death of a soldier, and he requested that he might be shot. The application was renewed in a letter addressed to General Washington.
"Tappan, 1 October, 1780.
"Sir,
"Buoyed above the terror of death, by the consciousness of a life devoted to honorable pursuits, and stained with no action that can give me remorse, I trust that the request I make to your Excellency at this serious period, and which is to soften my last moments, will not be rejected.
"Sympathy towards a soldier will surely induce your Excellency, and a military tribunal, to adapt the mode of my death to the feelings of a man of honor.