Summary: <p>On October 2, 1780, Major <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/john-andre/">John André</a> was executed as a spy on George Washington’s orders. The British officer had convinced American general <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/benedict-arnold/">Benedict Arnold</a> to switch allegiances, but having been caught in the act, André was condemned to die a spy's death. He was hung from the gallows like a common criminal, having been denied the honor of facing a firing squad, like an officer and a gentleman. He took comfort in the fact that it would “be but a momentary pang.”</p> <p>While you may know André best for bagging Arnold, and meeting his death bravely, you may not know the whole story.</p> <p>André was involved in the world of secret warfare – of gathering intelligence, seducing his way into private company, and using personal relationships and acquired information to Britain’s military advantage.</p> <p>On today’s episode, Dr. D.A.B. Ronald introduces us to André – a highly educated and cultured young man skilled in the arts of treachery and war.</p> <p><strong>About Our Guest:</strong></p> <p>Dr D. A. B. Ronald has published several books, including <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Young-Nelsons-sailors-Napoleonic-Military/dp/1846033608/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Young+Nelsons%3A+Boy+Soldiers+during+the+Napoleonic+Wars&qid=1576118141&sr=8-1"><em>Young Nelsons: Boy Soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars</em></a> (2009), and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Youth-Heroism-War-Propaganda-Bloomsbury/dp/1350002011/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr="><em>Youth, Heroism and War Propaganda: Britain and the Young Maritime Hero 1754–1820</em></a> (2015). Prior to becoming an academic and full-time writer, he ran his own company as an investment banker in the City of London. His most recent book is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-John-Andr%C3%A9-Redcoat-Benedict/dp/1612005217"><em>The Life of John André: The Redcoat Who Turned Benedict Arnold</em></a><em> </em>(2019).</p> <p><strong>About Our Host:</strong></p> <p>Jim Ambuske, Ph.D. leads the <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/">Center for Digital History</a> at the Washington Library. A historian of the American Revolution, Scotland, and the British Atlantic World, Ambuske graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016. He is a former Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia Law Library. At UVA Law, Ambuske co-directed the<a href="http://archives.law.virginia.edu/catalogue/"> 1828 Catalogue Project</a> and the <a href="http://scos.law.virginia.edu/">Scottish Court of Session Project</a>. He is currently at work on a book about emigration from Scotland in the era of the American Revolution as well as a chapter on Scottish loyalism during the American Revolution for a volume to be published by the University of Edinburgh Press.</p>
