Est. 1853 · Site where Major John André was captured September 23, 1780, exposing Benedict Arnold's treason · Captors' Monument dedicated July 4, 1853, using Sing Sing marble; cornerstone laid on same date · Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, 1982 · Central to Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow Country and cited in early 19th-century ghost lore of the region
In the summer and autumn of 1780, Continental Army General Benedict Arnold and British officer Major John André conducted secret negotiations for Arnold to surrender the American garrison at West Point to British forces in exchange for £20,000. André traveled to meet Arnold and received documents detailing West Point's defenses. Returning toward British lines, André was stopped on September 23, 1780, near present-day Tarrytown, approximately 200 yards from where the Captors' Monument now stands.
Three young militiamen — John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart, and David Williams — set themselves up along the Albany Post Road running through Tarrytown. They stopped André, who was traveling in civilian clothes under the name John Anderson. A search discovered the incriminating documents hidden in his stockings. André was detained and the papers forwarded to headquarters.
Benedict Arnold, informed that André had been captured, fled to a British warship before he could be arrested. André was taken to American-held territory. George Washington convened a board of inquiry that found André guilty of spying and sentenced him to death. André requested execution by firing squad — the military convention for an officer — but Washington denied the request. He was hanged at Tappan, New York, on October 2, 1780, at age 28.
The three captors — Paulding, Van Wart, and Williams — were celebrated throughout the colonies. A monument was commissioned by Westchester County; its cornerstone was laid July 4, 1853, using Sing Sing marble. The bronze statue of John Paulding atop the monument was dedicated in the same year. Patriot's Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Andr%C3%A9
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot%27s_Park
- https://sleepyhollowcountry.com/the-capture-of-john-andre/
Horse hoofbeats on the old post road stopping at the exact capture locationAuditory phenomenon only; no visual apparition reportedPhenomenon reportedly occurs on crisp autumn evenings near the September 23 anniversary
John André was executed at Tappan on October 2, 1780 — but his ghost, per local accounts, does not haunt his execution site. Instead the reports come from Tarrytown, the stretch of the old Albany Post Road where he was stopped.
The reported phenomenon is auditory: the sound of a horse moving along the post road on crisp autumn evenings, around the anniversary of the capture, hoofbeats that come to an abrupt stop at the precise spot where the three militiamen intercepted him. No apparition is reported — only the sounds, and then the silence. Local accounts describe the pattern as André doomed to repeat the moment his mission failed, endlessly attempting to complete the crossing he never finished.
Washington Irving, who lived nearby at Sunnyside and whose The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was directly shaped by the terrain around Tarrytown, specifically named the André capture site as one of the region's haunted locations. Irving's narrative placed both the Headless Horseman and André's ghost in the same geography, and local storytelling has maintained the connection for two centuries.
An old tulip tree known as André's tree once stood at the location. It was reportedly destroyed by lightning around 1801 — within two decades of André's death. André Brook still flows through the park.
Notable Entities
Major John André (1750–1780; British spy; hanged at Tappan October 2, 1780)John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart, David Williams (three militiamen who captured André)
