On September 29, 1780, John Andre, a British spy during the American Revolution, was court-martialed and found guilty as a result of being an accomplice to Benedict Arnold, and a traitor and spy to the New World. It was on this day that this British spy was sentenced to death by hanging on the gallows at the mere age of thirty-one.

Just six days prior to receiving this sentence, American Patriots found papers hidden in his boot that portrayed Benedict Arnold as a traitor to American forces. Once word spread that Andre was captured, Benedict Arnold fled from American forces and joined the British fight in the American Revolution.

Upon receiving his death sentence, John Andre wrote a letter to George Washington, then a General, but well-known to later become the First President of the United States. Andre requested General Washington to provide him with a more respectable means of death—specifically execution by a firing squad. Death by hanging was a more rude and barbaric means of achieving death. As a result of this request, General Washington wrote a letter to Andre’s commander in the British Army and indicated that he would exchange Andre for Benedict Arnold, with the intent being that Arnold would be hanged in his place. Andre’s commander never responded.

At five o’clock on September 29, 1780, John Andre was executed in New York.