John André
Major John André (1750-1780) was a British military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). He is best known for negotiating with the American turncoat Benedict Arnold, who offered to hand over the stronghold of West Point. The plot was exposed when André was captured behind American lines, leading to his execution as a spy.
Early Life
John André was born on 2 May 1750 in London, England, to a family of wealthy Protestant immigrants. His father, Antoine André, was a prosperous merchant originally from Geneva, Switzerland, while his mother, Marie-Louise Girardot, was French. He was the eldest of five siblings; he had three sisters, Mary Hannah (b. 1752), Anne Marguerite (b. 1753), and Louisa Catherine (b. 1754), and a brother, William Louis (b. 1760). John was initially educated at Westminster School but was eventually sent to study mathematics and military drawing at the Academy of Geneva. He excelled at academics and showed proficiency in languages; by his late teens, he was fluent in English, French, German, and Italian. Yet his true passion rested in the arts. André would spend most of his free time sketching or painting, writing poetry and short plays, and playing the flute.
André returned to London in 1767 and longed to join the British army, which he saw as a chance to see the world and break free from the middle-class life to which he felt condemned. His father, however, had other plans, and put him to work in his countinghouse, hoping that John would one day inherit the family business. André dutifully worked for his father for two years until April 1769, when Antoine André died at the age of 52. Later that year, André accompanied his mother and sisters on vacation to Buxton Spa in Derbyshire, hoping that the trip would ease their grief.
It was on this trip that André became acquainted with Anna Seward, a noted poet who ran a literary salon out of her father's lodgings in Bishop's Palace in Lichfield. Seward invited André to Lichfield, where she introduced him to her childhood friend and poetic muse, the beautiful, yet reserved, 17-year-old Honora Sneyd. Seward doted on Sneyd and described her as "fresh and beautiful as the young day-star, when he bathes his fair beams in the dews of spring" (Seward, cxvii). André was quickly smitten with the girl and would often find excuses to be in her company. Although some scholars contend that Seward had romantic feelings for Sneyd herself, she appears to have aided André in his suit, reading love poems aloud as André and Sneyd dreamily held hands.
Before long, André proposed to Sneyd, but her father disapproved of the match, viewing André as too poor; he said that he would accept their engagement only if André gave up his military ambitions and instead devoted his time to making as much money as possible. Viewing a glimmer of hope, André raced back to London and plunged diligently back to work in the countinghouse. All the while, the lovesick André wrote letters to Honora, describing how much he hated life as a merchant but tolerated it because of his love for her:
When an impertinent consciousness whispers in my ear that I am not of the right stuff for a merchant, I draw my Honora's picture from my bosom, and the sight of that dear talisman so inspirits my industry that no toil appears oppressive. (Sargent, 15)
Within a few months, Sneyd's father grew impatient and became convinced that André would never make enough money. He abruptly broke off their engagement. Distance had perhaps cooled Sneyd's feelings for André, as she did not protest too strongly and was soon being courted by other men. Heartbroken, André decided there was nothing left for him in London. After working a little longer to provide money for his family, he purchased a commission in the British Army on 4 March 1771. He was selected for special training in Germany, where he spent two years before being assigned to the Royal Fusiliers (7th Regiment of Foot) as a second lieutenant. In 1774, André was sent across the Atlantic to join his regiment in Quebec, a deployment from which he would never return.
Continue reading...
