SOUTH SALEM, N.Y. - West Point was a strategic location and played a major role in the Patriots' ability to withstand the strength of the British forces. Why is this important to Lewisboro, or, as it was known then, Lower Salem, buried in the Neutral Ground? For the answer, we must turn to the story of Benedict Arnold and British Major John André.
General Arnold was the commandant of West Point; John André was adjutant general to British General Henry Clinton, who commanded the forces in New York City. Arnold had colluded with the British to hand over the plans for West Point, which would have enabled them to take control of the Hudson River and surrounding territory, dividing the American forces and potentially bringing the war to an end.
The saga was months in the making before reaching its climax. Arnold, who had achieved success in the earlier battles of Lake Champlain and Saratoga but felt he had not received the credit he deserved, approached Clinton about selling the plans for West Point. In September 1780, a scheme was arranged for Major André, using the alias John Anderson, to meet with Arnold near his headquarters by the fort.
On September 20, 1780, André sailed north from New York aboard HMS Vulture toward Long Cove on the west bank of the Hudson River to meet Arnold. The meeting did not go smoothly, but before dawn on September 21, the deal was completed. André, still posing as Anderson, set off with an escort, Joshua Smith, across the Hudson to Verplanck and then continued south alone toward the British lines along the Bronx-Westchester border. Dressed in civilian clothes—something Clinton had warned him not to do—with the plans hidden inside his boot and carrying a pass signed by Benedict Arnold, he proceeded toward Tarrytown and safety, or so he thought.
The area between the British lines to the south and the Patriot lines at Peekskill was known as the Neutral Ground, a region controlled by neither side. It was frequently harassed and plundered by the Cowboys (Loyalists) and the Skinners (Patriots), bands of young ruffians who stole cattle from farmers and looted merchants to profit from supplying their preferred combatants.
On September 23, André had to travel through this dangerous territory on his way back to New York. Several miles from Tarrytown, he was stopped by three local men and former militiamen: David Williams, Isaac Van Wart, and John Paulding. The three were sitting by the roadside playing cards when they heard a horseman approaching. They stopped him and demanded identification. Noticing a Hessian coat worn by Paulding, André asked if they were from the "lower side" and indicated that he was headed in that direction.
The men then revealed that they were Patriots. Williams searched the stranger from head to toe, and in the toe of André's boot he discovered what appeared to be highly important papers. André presented Benedict Arnold's pass, but the three men decided he was too important a person to release and should instead be taken to the nearest American post in North Castle.
André attempted to bribe them with offers of money and goods, but to no avail. He was brought to Colonel Jameson's headquarters along with the incriminating papers. Initial plans were made to return André to Arnold's headquarters, and a letter was sent to General Washington, who was on his way to meet Arnold. However, officers at Jameson's camp suspected something was amiss, and it was decided to send Anderson/André to Colonel Elisha Sheldon's headquarters at the Gilbert House in Lower Salem to prevent any attempt at a British rescue.
And that began our town's important role in the war.
Once at the Gilbert House, André was given clean clothes and allowed to wash up. It was then discovered by a barber, while untying André's ponytail, that his hair had been powdered—a sign that he was more than an ordinary traveler and most likely an officer. From September 24 to September 25, 1780, Major John André, alias John Anderson, was held prisoner in the Main Street home of Squire Jacob Gilbert. The house no longer stands, but a plaque in the stone wall on the site, just south of Bouton Road, commemorates the event.
Major John André was, as the saying goes, "an officer and a gentleman." He treated his captors with courtesy and was well liked by all who knew him. During his stay at the Gilbert House, he wrote to Washington, revealing his true identity and requesting that, if he were condemned as a spy, he be allowed to die before a firing squad, as befitted an officer, rather than be hanged as a common criminal.
Because André had been captured out of uniform, Washington could not grant the request. André was sentenced to death by hanging and was executed on October 2, 1780, at Tappan before a large crowd. As he approached the scaffold and learned that he would be hanged, he was visibly startled. Nevertheless, he stepped onto the platform, covered his eyes with a white handkerchief, and declared, "Bear witness that I meet my fate like a brave man." He then added, "This will be but a momentary pang."
Major John André is buried in Westminster Abbey. He was 30 years old.
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