Object of the Month

Self-Portrait of Major John André
by Amanda Nesci, Curatorial & Collections Intern

This month’s Object of the Month is from Confidential: The American Revolution’s Agents of Espionage, an exhibition in the Adeline Moses Loeb Gallery at Fraunces Tavern Museum that ran from September 2017 to March 2020. The exhibition was curated by Jessica B. Phillips. Check out the exhibition’s online collection to explore other objects from the show.

This print is a reproduction of a sketch of Major John André, captioned "Facsimile of a drawing made by Himself with a Pen the Day before his Execution, The original is in the Trumbull Gallery at Yale College."

The original sketch was gifted to Yale College in 1832 by Mr. Ebenezer Baldwin. The following is an extract from a letter describing the sketch from Mr. Baldwin to the President of Yale College, dated August 8th, 1832:

It is the likeness of Major Andre, seated at a table in his guard room, drawn by himself with a pen, on the morning of the day fixed for his execution. Mr. Tomlinson informs me that a respite was granted until the next day, and that this miniature was in the mean time presented to him, (then acting as officer of the guard,) by Major André himself. Mr. Tomlinson was present when the sketch was made, and says it was drawn without the aid of a glass.

This sketch has been featured and mentioned in various works, namely appearing in Voices from Prison: Being a Selection of Poetry from Various Prisoners, Written Within the Cell (1847) by Charles Spear, accompanied by a sonnet presumed to be written to his sweetheart during his incarceration. It was also published in Jared Sparks’ book The Life and Treason of Benedict Arnold (1835) in which Sparks reflects on the significance of the sketch:

Having been drawn the day before his execution, there is still in existence a curious memorial both of the person of Major André, and of his tranquility and self-possession, during thus period of trial and solemn anticipation. In the midst of sombre thoughts, which must have thronged upon his mind, he resorted to the art, which has given him so much delight, when all the opening prospects of life were gilded with hope and gladness.

John André (1750-1780) was a British army officer who was executed as a spy during the American Revolution. André had joined the British Army by 1771, served in Canada in 1774, and was promoted to major and named adjutant general by General Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief, in 1778.

During the Revolution, Major André joined famous traitor, American General Benedict Arnold, in a plot to secure British control over West Point in New York. André knew that taking West Point would leave the American army vulnerable to British capture. Before the plan could be carried out, minutemen captured André and informed General George Washington of the scheme. Arnold managed to escape his arrest, but André was executed by Washington's order on October 2, 1780, at Tappan, New York. Despite André's request for an honorable execution by firing squad, Washington insisted that he be hung to fit the crime of espionage. He is said to have died, bravely placing the noose around his neck. Despite his crime, André endeared himself to officers of the Continental Army during his incarceration. Alexander Hamilton wrote in a letter after the execution stating, “Never perhaps did any man suffer death with more justice, or deserve it less."