Note 30 — SPIES AND SPIES

This was not Major André’s first whispered conversation during which West Point was mentioned. Before he left “the Brown House” in East Hampton in August, where General Clinton had summoned him for a conference with Colonel Simcoe, during an animated conversation the fort was frequently mentioned. Servants in the house were listening and heard André say that “if he must go he would, but he did not expect ever to return.” A record of this conversation has been preserved in an unusual manner. Dr. Samuel Buell who was minister in East Hampton during the Revolutionary War obtained a pamphlet “Proceedings of a Board of General Officers ... respecting Major John André,” printed in 1780. At Buell’s death it was given to his grandson, John Lyon Gardiner, who perused it with great interest, for his recollections of André were vivid, having frequently seen him in Colonel Abraham Gardiner’s home. On bits of paper he began recording anecdotes and on the reverse of title of this pamphlet of “Proceedings” which was a blank page, in his own unmistakable handwriting he has left this remarkable statement. See page 115. A few whispered words to Major Davis and Mary Gardiner, wife of Colonel Abraham Gardiner, might have shared with Sarah Townsend in rescuing West Point and saving the American army.