Washington had returned to his headquarters at Tappaan,[52] and ordered a meeting of a board of officers on the 29th, to make careful inquiries and report their opinion "of the light in which he [the prisoner] ought to be considered, and what punishment ought to be inflicted." The board consisted of six major-generals and eight brigadier-generals. The court of inquiry was held in the Dutch church at Tappaan. General Greene presided. When André was brought before his judges, he gave a detailed statement of the facts, and did not deny any of the specifications presented by the judge-advocate, John Laurance. After careful deliberation the board reported that the prisoner "ought to be considered as a spy from the enemy, and that, agreeably to the law and usages of nations, it is their opinion he ought to suffer death." "André met the result," wrote Colonel Hamilton, "with manly firmness. 'I foresee my fate,' he said, 'and though I pretend not to play the hero, or be indifferent to life, yet I am reconciled to whatever may happen, conscious that misfortune, not guilt, has brought it upon me.'" Washington approved the finding of the court of inquiry, and sentenced André to be hung as a spy on the first day of October, at five o'clock in the afternoon. He sent an account of the proceedings of the court and a letter from André to Sir Henry Clinton.[53] Meanwhile great exertions had been made to save André from his sad fate. General Clinton wrote to Washington (September 26th) that André was not a legal spy, for a flag of truce had been sent to receive him, and passports were granted for his return. On receiving the papers from Washington, Sir Henry wrote a second letter to the American chief commander, expressing the opinion that the board "had not been rightly informed of all the circumstances," and asked a postponement of the execution until a conference might be held. The request was granted. The execution was postponed one day. General Greene met General Robertson and others at Dobb's Ferry, not as an officer, but as a private gentleman, but nothing occurred to warrant a change in the opinion of the board of inquiry and the decision of Washington.[54] The Americans would gladly have saved the life of André could Arnold have been given up to them. Efforts to that end were made. Unofficial overtures were made to Clinton to exchange Arnold for André, but honor forbade the act. All efforts in this direction failed. On the morning of October 1st, the day on which André expected to die, he wrote the following touching note to Washington: "Sir: Buoyed above the terror of death by the consciousness of a life devoted to honorable pursuits, and stained with no action that can give remorse, I trust that the request I make to your Excellency at this serious period, and which is to soften my last moments, will not be rejected.