by
Pen and brown ink on paper; 10.2 x 13.0 cm (4 x 5 1/8 in). Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.
Completed 1 October 1780. British Major André was hanged as a spy, for his involvement in the treason of Benedict Arnold, the next morning.
Major John André, Self-Portrait, 1780
Loyalism was a siren call for the British. They were constantly bending their strategy to conform to the chimera of Loyalist support that was assumed to be there but somehow never materialized. Howe’s Philadelphia campaign and Burgoyne’s invasion from Canada, as well as the British strategy in the South, were based on the assumption that large numbers of Loyalists would rise in support, if only sufficiently encouraged and protected ...
Patriot Battles: How the War of Independence Was Fought (2007)