The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1848-08-17
Dealings With the Dead-Mai. Andre.


Dealings With the Dead-Mai. Andre.
After having removed the entire cover of Andres
coffin, g descended, says Mr. Buchanan, . and,
with my own hands, raked the dust together, to
certain whether he had been buried in his regimen
tails or not as it was rumOred among the assem-
bage, that he was stripped for, if buried in his
regimentas, | expected TO find the buttons of his
clothes, which would have disproved the rumOr
but did not find a single button, nor any article,
save string of leather, that had tied his hair .
Mr.. Buchanan had evidently arrived at the con-
clusOn, that Andre had been stripped. In this con-
cusiOn he was perfectly right. He had also in
ferred, that this act had been done with base mo-
tiyes In this inference, he was perfectly wrong.
- Those continues he, :" who permitted the out
rage, or who knew of it, had no idea that the I'M
feeling act they then performed would be blaZOned
10 the world near half century after the event.
All of this is entirely gratuilous and something
worse. General Washington's headquarters We're
near at hand Every circumstance was sure 10 be
reported for the excitement was intense and the
knowledge of such act, committed for any I'M
worthy purpose, would have been instantly con-
veyed to Sir Henry Clinton, and blazoned to the
world, some forty years before the period of Mr..
Bnchanan's discovery.
Dr. James Thatcher, in his military Journal states
that Andre was executed g in his royal regimen
tails and buried in the same. DR.. Thatcher was
mistaken, and when he saw the letter of Mr.. Bu-
Chanan, and the offensive mputatiOn it contained,
he Inv eSIlgdteu JLe SUBJECT anew ana addressed
letter to that gentleman, which was received by
him, in a becoming spirit and which entirely dis
spated his former Impressions In that letter, DIR.
Thatcher stated, that he was within few yards of
Andre the time of his execution and thai he suf-
fered in his regmentals. Surprising. as a matter
of course, thai Andre would be buried in thetn DIR.
Thacher had stated that also, as a fact though he
did not remain to witness the interment. He then
refers TO letter which he has discovered in the
Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser of Oct
26. 1880, printed in Boston by John Gill. This let
ter bears date, Iappan, Oct. ?, the day after the
execution and details all the particulars and in it
these words: He JCaS dressed an full uniform;
and. after The execution, has servant demanded the
uniform, rhiCh he received. HIS body lUaS buried
the gaHO,rs = This, says Dr. Ihacher,
confirms the correctness of nv assertion that he
suffered in his regimentals, but not that they were
buried with the body. had retired from the scene
before the body was placed in the coffin, but have
perfect recollection of seeing him hand his hat to
the weeping servant, while standing III the cart.
Mr.. Buchanan observes. that an aged widow who
kept the tOll-gate on hearing the object stated, was
so much gratied that she suffered all carriages to
pass free. 1t marks strongly" he continues "the
sentiments Of the American people at large to a
transaction which great part of the British public
have forgotten" This passage is susceptible of a
tWOiUld construction. 1t may mean that this aged
widow and the American people at large were
unanimous in lamenting the fate of Major Andre
that they most truly believed him TO have been
brave and unfortunate. Ii may also mean that they
considered the fate of Andre TO have been unWar-
ranted. POsterity has adjusted this matter very
differently. Nearly sixty-eight years have passed
All excitement has long been buried in deeper
grave than Andres. A silent admission has gone
FORTH far and wide, the perfect justice of Andres
execution A board of general officers was APP
pointed to prepare statement of his case. Greene,
Steuben and Lafayette were of that board. They
Were perfectly unanimous in their opinion. PrOdi-
gious efforts were made in his behalf He himself
addressed several letters to Washington, and one
the day before his death, IN which he says: Sym
pathy towards soldier will surely induce your Ex-
ceIlency and military tribunal to adapt the mode
of my death to the feelings of a man of HONOR
| The board of officers, as Gordon states were in
clined TO CRAFTY this wish, with the exception of
Greene He contended that the laws of war re-
quired that a spy should be hung, the adoption of
any less rigorous mode of punishment would excite
the belief that palliatory circumstances existed in
the of Andre, and that the decision might there
by be brought into question. Lis arguments were
sound. and they prevailed.
Major Andre received every attention which his
condition permitted. He wrote TO Sir Henry Gin
ton, Sept 80 1880, three days before his execution
g receive the greatest attention from his Excel
lency, General Washington, and from every person
under whose charge | happen to be placed" Capt
Hale, like Maj Andre, was young, brave, amiable,
and accomplished. He entered upon the same peri
lous service that conducted Andre to his melancholy
fate Hale was hanged as a spy, at Long Island.
Thank God, the brutal treatment he received was
not retaliated upon Andre. 'The provost martial
SAYS Mr. Sparks, ." was a refugee, to whose charge
he was consigned and treated him in the most IN
feeling manner, refusing the attendance of clergy
man and the use of bible, and DESTROYING the let
ters he had written to his mother and friends >
The execution of Major Andre was in perfect !
conformity with the laws of war. Had Sir Henry /
Clinton considered his fate unwarranted under any I
just construction of those laws, he would undoubt-
eddy have expressed that opinion in the general /
orders to the British army announcing Maj Andre
death. These orders, bearing date Oct. ., l|oO,
refer only to his unfortunate far They contain
not the slightest alluson 10 any supposed injustice,
or unaccpstomed severity in the execution or the
manner Of it.
The fate of Andre might have been averted IN
two ways-bya steady resistance OF Arnold sense
less importantly TO bring him within the American
lines-and bv a frank and immediate presentation
of ArnoId's pass when stopped by Paulding, VIII
liams. and Van Wart His loss of seif-possession,
at that critical moment, is remarkable, for, as
Americans they would have, in all human proba
biIifv have suffered him pass without further ex
animation and, had they been of the opposite party
thev would certainly have conducted him to some
British p9sf-the very haven where he would be-
Boston Transcript.
SEwERAGE.-The people Of Great Britain lave
Just found out that they have been committing
waste Of from one hundredto two hundred millions
Of pounds sterling annually, in the kingdom, bv
washing away all the sewerage into the rivers
Companies have recently been formed, under au-
thority Of Parliament for collecting the refuse Of
sewers, which, for manuring purposes Is found to
be invaluable. Cannot other cities take a hint
from these facts