Courtly Intrigues

Discredit and Deceive your Enemies

The 18th century was a transitional phase in the history of European warfare, with varying codes of conduct from brutal guerilla tactics to the height of the gentleman officer. Commissioned officers in most armies came from the landed gentry, and were expected to abide by an informal standard known as the Laws of War. These included such precepts as giving quarter (though not necessarily sound lodging and food) to captured prisoners, the right to parlay under flag of truce, and granting surrendering garrison troops the honours of war if they defended their station bravely.

Most curious from a modern perspective were the expectations of captured officers, who were often not imprisoned and given parole to freely move about the town or camp where their men were being held. These officers were frequent dinner guests of their captors, sometimes in an attempt to subvert their loyalties, but usually simply for companionship. Some officers were even allowed to write their families and conduct business via correspondence.

Of course these privileges were liable to abuse, and the harshest of penalties was reserved for officers and intelligencers operating in plainclothes behind enemy lines: execution. British spymaster John André, a charismatic and dashing officer well-liked on both sides of the Revolutionary War, pleaded that he was beyond reproach as a simple partisan while operating on a secret mission to turn Benedict Arnold.

His captors were not fooled and quickly apprehended André. The manner of his execution—to be hanged as a spy, not shot by firing squad—was a cause célèbre that sharply split the general staff of the Continental Army. The Marquis de Lafayette reportedly wept at André’s death.

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