Irving School - Sketch Book Yearbook (Tarrytown, NY)

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. Ilwlme sS15ET9H H9014 ...eg if sh BENEDICT ARNOLD of Clinton, the British general records that he specifically ordered Andre not to change his uniform or under any circumstances to carry papers. Andre, unfortunately for him, did both and thereby making of himself a spy within the meaning of martial law. As he was returning from a final interview with Arnold at West Point he was stopped and questioned by three young patriots. One of them wore a Hessian coat and Andre, thinking him his countryman, frankly stated that he was a British officer. To his dismay he then discovered that they were Americans and that he was under arrest . No offers of money or entreaties could move them and they proceded to search the young officer. Letters from Arnold were found in his stocking and these sealed his fate. He was turned over to the military authorities, tried and condemned to be hung as a spy. Clinton made every effort to save his friend or at least to have his sentence changed to death by shooting, but in vain. On October second the un- fortunate soldier was hung at Tappan, N. Y. He was twenty-nine years of age at the time. ffff ii 1 I ici, , . . - , ca .'3.:se.f lf 1 , A 'nil , M at -t , 1 if i Q A ' , Q l K ' . 5 7 km ifffihl ,. 5 ' Page thzlteen

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UW1NG.-5l?ET9H-500K Here the dusky Indians guided their frail canoes and gazed with wonder on the Dutch ships as they sailed passed the lofty Palisades, here the Dutch established their cumbersome patroon system and the old houses built by these western nobles still stand in the midst of busy town or on paved highways, here the Redcoats and the Continentals skirmished in the fateful days of the Revolution. Later Washington Irving dwelt among the scenes which he had peopled with characters as real to us today as any who actually lived. Today this is a land of prosperity and of peace with pleasant golf clubs, lordly estates, and thriving towns, one hundred and fifty years ago it was the center of danger, suspicion and fear. It was the dreaded debatable ground when risks were great and life was precarious. To the south the British- under Clinton enjoyed Tory hospitality in New York, their outposts stretching far into Westchester County. To the north the American forces blocked the river thus thwarting the cherished plan of the British of cutting off the New England colonies from those farther south. The key to the American position was the strong fortifications at West Point. Between these two lines, that is within the debatable ground, scouting parties rode along dusky roads on moonless nights, lurked in shady hollows when the sun was high, or galloped at full speed when con- cealment was useless. Spies risked their lives for love of country or of gold and a sense of uncertainty and fear hung over the land. It is in such a period and place that men rise to their greatest height of self-sacri- fice or sink to the lowest depths of degradation. In scanning the an- nals of Tarrytown we find that the climax of one of the most dramatic episodes of this vivid period took place on the very grounds of Irving School. It was by the little brook that skirts the athletic field that Major Andre bearing those papers which to him meant death, to the new nation, life, was captured. No incident in the whole Revolutionary war has so appealed to the romantic and the thoughtful alike. A soldier in disguise riding through the countryside at night, an unseen danger threatening a great fort and a young nation, spies, treason and death on the gallows all thrill the for- mer. To the latter there is the study of the character and the motives which led the two men most directly concerned in the tragedy-the lovable Andre and the despicable Arnold. He would trace too the various forms of chance and tricks of fate which led these two men into the tragic events which proved so fatal to them both. At first thought it seems that fate spared the guilty and punished the innocent. However, Andre was a soldier, as such he performed his duty and paid the penalty as did many another brave man. There is no dis- grace attached to his name, and today his youth, courage, and misfortune arouse the sympathy of all. He was loath to understand a commission so foreign to his frank nature but Clinton, the British commander in New York, was unwilling to entrust so delicate and so vital a matter to any but one in whom he had the utmost confidence. Andre was his adjutant and one of his warmest personal friends. In the recently published diary i n ctt ABQ A' I as Q .rfw .5 la- ' T Y ,, L vl Page twelve QSM

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lRVlNG ,SKETCH BOOK 0 I Q Aff' ,, ,, After a hundred and fifty years only sympathy is felt for Andre but time has not lessened the odium attached to the name of Benedict Arnold. It is true that the military services of Arnold were not appreciated by the politicians of the Continental Congress. The brilliant and decisive victory at Saratoga was largely due to his courage and ability yet the incompetent General Gates reaped the credit. This slight and others of a similar na- ture, coupled with a desire for money, induced Arnold to forget his duty towards his country and himself., That he asked Washington who had upheld him before an unfriendly Congress, for the command at West Point with the secret purpose of handing it over to the enemy thus be- traying his friend and his country at one time, is sufficient evidence of his moral degeneracy. While it is regrettable that his military ability was not properly valued, for one would see every man rewarded according to his merit, a more complete knowledge of Arnold fails to arouse any sym- pathy for the man. After his marriage with the beautiful Tory belle, Peggy Shippen, of Philadelphia, a desire for money was added to his other motives for dissatisfaction. He asked Clinton for 20,000 pounds and con- sidered his services cheap at that price. Moreover, lacking in principles himself, Arnold failed to realize that others were of a different calibre. He solemnly offered to buy 3,000 American soldiers at fifteen guineas per head which was less than the cost of Hessians. He even suggested that Washington could probably be bought off with an English title! . At first one is inclined to regret that Arnold did not meet the fate of Andre. A glance at his subsequent career, however, shows that his life in England must have been a more terrible punishment than even that of a traitor's death, especially for one of his avaricious and ambitious nature. Poverty followed social ostracism and a wretched existence ended with a miserable death. These men, Andre and Arnold, so different in character and yet so closely connected by fate will ever interest the curious and serve as lessons to the thoughtful. Many will read their story but few will feel its full sig- nificance as do we Irving boys whose privilege it is to live on the Very ground of their joint tragedy. , ' . Page fourteen cg W W1