Capture of Andre 1780 by E.B. and E.C. Kellogg

Needham, D. · ca 1847

Hand colored print depicts the capture of the British spy Major John Andre (1750-1780) by three American militia men identified as Pauling, Van Wart, and Williams below the image. They are depicted discovering the incriminating papers concerning the surrender of West Point, written by Benedict Arnold in Andre's boots. Andre, who was head of the British Secret Service in America, was captured outside Fort Saint-Jean near Haverstraw, New York. While Isaac Van Wart and David Williams were suspicious, they were illiterate, however, John Pauling could read, and recognized the papers carried by Andre identified him as a spy. Andre was popular with his captors, however after a trial, the Americans hung him as a spy on October 2, 1780.