The death warrant of Major John Andre in 1780. "He placed his hat on the table and cheerfully said, 'I am ready at any moment.'" Engraved by Henry J. Johnson in 1879, after a painting by Alonzo Chappel (1828-1887). John Andre (1750-1780) was a British army officer who assisted Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British during the American Revolutionary War. He was intercepted near Tarrytown by armed militiamen. Incriminating papers from Arnold, showing how best to take the fort, were found in Andre's stocking. He was hanged as a spy.