What happens when one of America’s most celebrated Revolutionary War heroes becomes a traitor?
That question comes dramatically to life on September 20 when local songwriters and performers Carla Lynne Hall and Jim Keyes present This Man’s a Spy, an original musical and historical program exploring one of the most extraordinary episodes of the American Revolution: the secret treasonous plot between American Major General Benedict Arnold and British Major John André.
Third in a series of four concerts, this concert shifts our focus from the music based on the ideas that gave birth to our nation and the role that Yorktown played during the Revolutionary War to the musical story of the treasonous plot between a spy and a traitor, a pivotal and dramatic event that our Yorktown played a role in during Revolutionary War.
In 1780, Arnold was placed in command of West Point, the strategically vital American fortress on the Hudson River. While secretly communicating with the British, Arnold plotted to surrender West Point in exchange for money and a British military commission. André, the British officer directing the espionage effort, became Arnold’s principal contact. The plot unraveled dramatically in September 1780. André was captured in Tarrytown carrying papers connected to Arnold’s plan, while Arnold escaped to the British lines. André was subsequently tried as a spy and executed in Tappan.
This Man’s a Spy goes beyond the familiar story of Benedict Arnold, the traitor. “Through original songs, storytelling and interactive discussion, Hall and Keyes invite the audience to consider the personalities, motivations, choices and consequences behind the conspiracy,” noted Lynn Briggs, Chairman, Yorktown Heritage Preservation Commission / Yorktown 250. Who was the real Benedict Arnold before he became synonymous with treason? Why did he turn against the American cause? What drove André to risk his life on a clandestine mission? And how close did the conspirators actually come to delivering West Point to the British?
The National Park Service describes Arnold as one of Washington’s most brilliant military commanders who ultimately became one of the Revolution’s most notorious betrayers. His attempted surrender of West Point failed, but the consequences of the conspiracy reverberated throughout the Revolution and preserved the Continental army’s control of the Hudson River and united public morale against a common enemy.
The setting itself adds another layer of Revolutionary War atmosphere. The First Presbyterian Church of Yorktown, at 2880 Crompond Road, has deep roots in Yorktown history. The congregation dates to the colonial period, and the original church was destroyed by British troops in 1779 before being rebuilt. The present church site is therefore an especially evocative location for an evening devoted to the Revolutionary era.
This Man’s a Spy is designed not simply as a concert, but as an immersive historical experience—bringing our audience into the dangerous world of Revolutionary War espionage and asking them to look again at two of the conflict’s most intriguing figures,” Briggs further noted.
Come hear the story told through music. Question the evidence. And decide for yourself: Was Benedict Arnold a hero who became a traitor—or was the traitor there all along? This Man’s a Spy promises an evening where history, music and storytelling converge to bring the extraordinary André-Arnold treasonous plot vividly back to life in one of Yorktown’s very own historic landmarks.