278 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



He then entered largely into the subject, endeavoring to show, first, 

 that Andre landed under the sanction of a flag ; secondly, that he acted 

 wholly by the directions of Arnold ; from both of which positions it was 

 inferred, that he could not in any just sense of the word be regarded as 

 a spy. The facts having all been examined by the board of officers, and 

 being well understood, this new statement of them made no change in 

 Green's opinion or impressions ; and when Arnold's testimony was in- 

 troduced, he said the Americans would believe Andre in preference to 

 Arnold. General Robertson said, that no military tribunal in Europe 

 would decide the case of Andre to be that of a spy ; and he proposed to 

 refer the question to Count de Rochambeau and General Knyphausen. 

 Other considerations were urged by him, not so much in the way of 

 argument as on the score of reciprocal benefits and humanity. He 

 added that he should confide in General Greene's candor to represent in 

 the fairest light to General Washington the arguments he had used; that 

 he should stay on board all night, and hope in the morning to take back 

 with him Major Andre, or an assurance of his safety.* 



"The British commissioners waited till morning, as General Robert- 

 son had proposed ; and at an early hour they received a note from General 

 Greene, stating that he had communicated to Washington the subject of 

 the conference, but that it had produced no change in his opinion and 

 determination. This intelligence was astounding to Robertson ; for he 

 had written to Sir Henry Clinton the evening before, that he was per- 

 suaded Abdre would not be harmed. How he got this impression is not 

 easily discovered ; since he represented General Greene as obstinately 

 bent on considering Andre as a spy, and resisting all his arguments to 

 the contrary. 



Nothing more could be done by the commissioners. That no measure 

 might be left untried however, General Robertson" 6 addressed the fol- 

 lowing letter to General Washington, dated 



Greyhound Schooner, Flag of Truce, 

 Dobb's Ferry, Oct. 2, 1780. 

 Sir : — A note I had from General Greene leaves me in doubt if his memory 

 had served him to relate to you, with exactness, the substance of the conver- 

 sation that had passed between him and myself on the subject of Major Andre. 

 In an affair of so much consequence to my friend, to the two armies, and humanity, 

 I would leave no possibility of a misunderstanding, and therefore take the liberty 

 to put in writing the substance of what I said to General Greene. I offered to 

 prove by the evidence of Colonel Robinson and the officers of the Vulture, that 



a Sparks' Life of Arnold, p. 71, 2, 3. 

 6 Sparks' Life of Arnold, p. 275-6. 



