John André is a primary character, based on a real historical figure. He is the British lieutenant who moves in with Sophia and her family near the start of the novel. The British forces insist on this arrangement because New York City is now occupied by the British, and housing is limited. When Sophia first learns that her family will host a British soldier, she worries about the prospect of having “a stranger in our home” (22) and asserts that, “I should despise him” (23) no matter who he is. When she discovers the man is John André, however, her fears abate as she quickly finds John André charming, amiable, and respectful to her family.

Sophia understands that John André is British, and thus supports the loyalist cause, but becomes infatuated with him. She struggles to reconcile his political affiliations with his kindly behavior at home. To her mother John André is “ever accommodating and polite,” and to Sophia, he is “chivalrous as any imagined prince” (55). Sophia can’t help but regard him as the most “well bred and civilized” (56) man she has ever met. Sophia’s attachment to John André conveys her innocent longing for love, attention, and a typical coming-of-age experience. She is only 12 years old when André moves in with her family, but much of her young life has been consumed by war and political turmoil. Her father’s recent wounds, mother’s anxieties, and brother’s capture by the British have made her life tumultuous and unpredictable. John André offers her some semblance of normalcy and gives her a welcome distraction from her otherwise harrowing circumstances.

At the same time, Sophia’s affections for the charming lieutenant instigate her primary internal conflict. She feels guilty for liking André, feelings which even make her wish her brother didn’t exist or that William might never return home. Sophia wants to see André as good, kind, and sympathetic to her and her family, because she often feels alone. She has no friends in whom she can confide and has assumed significant responsibility in the home since her brother joined the patriot effort.

Despite his seemingly good intentions towards Sophia, John André proves himself to be unmoved by her situation and unwilling to help her family. He refuses to involve himself in their work to save William, which results in William’s death on the prison ship, the Good Intent. When he and Sophia later encounter one another at the Archibald Kennedy house, André does not even recognize her. Sophia is initially offended, but then realizes that she has in fact tricked André and thus gained power over him.

Sophia uses her incidental “disguise” to expose André’s plans to take West Point and bring him to justice. The ultimate success of her plan confuses her emotionally and morally, but she makes peace with her dichotomous actions and feelings by the novel’s end.

William Calderwood is a secondary character. He is Molly and Hiram Calderwood’s son and Sophia’s older brother. At the start of the novel, William is absent from home. He joined the patriot cause “at the urging of his good friend John Paulding” (13). When William left New York with Washington’s army “just before that Brooklyn battle” (13), Sophia “cheered them off with pride” (14) because she believed they were fighting for American freedom and would protect patriots like her family. However, since the British attack on Brooklyn, William has gone missing. Throughout Part 1, Sophia lives in near-constant fear that William has been captured or killed by the British. Her parents are similarly overcome by anxiety over their son’s unresolved fate—which creates a tumultuous, restless home environment for Sophia.

William ultimately dies on the Good Intent, a British prison ship. Sophia does her best to visit and save her brother in the weeks prior to his death, but to no avail. His fate proves “a terrible blow” (121) to both Sophia and her parents, but while her parents remain “sunk in plightful melancholy” (121), Sophia refuses to let her grief overcome her. Instead, she uses her sorrow to fuel her fight for vengeance and freedom.

In the wake of William’s passing, Sophia devotes herself more ardently to the patriot cause. She even goes so far as to become a spy for the patriots, hoping that she might assume the role her brother wanted to play in her countrymen’s fight for freedom. By working in the Archibald Kennedy house as an undercover spy, Sophia is able to garner vital information about covert British operations. This work often feels compromising, but ultimately allows Sophia to honor her brother’s memory and avenge his death.

Hiram and Molly Calderwood are also secondary characters. They are Sophia and William’s parents. They feature most prominently in Part 1, when Sophia is living at home and working at the print shop. Their roles in Sophia’s narrative become more marginal in Part 2, as Sophia comes of age, develops more independence, assumes more responsibility, and starts working as a spy at the Archibald Kennedy house—an assignment which ultimately compels her to leave home for weeks on her venture to West Point.

Hiram and Molly are devoted and protective parents, but they often give in to Sophia’s requests, longings, and demands. For example, when she initially suggests looking for William, they are fearful and hesitant, but do not stop her. Later, when she suggests working at Mr. Gaine’s shop, they express skepticism, but ultimately allow her to pursue the arrangement. Later still, when Sophia informs them of Robert Townsend’s proposition to work as a patriot spy, she recalls that they are “appalled. Urged me not to. Spoke of it as folly. Of danger” (151) and forbid her to accept the arrangement. However, “[t]heir opposition became [her] strength” and “they eventually gave up” (151). Hiram and Molly’s behaviors aren’t evidence of their negligence, but rather of their fatigue in the face of so much trauma and tragedy.

John Paulding is a minor character. He is William Calderwood’s good friend, and responsible for urging William to join the patriot cause and enlist in George Washington’s army. After William’s tragic death, Paulding visits Sophia and apologizes for his tangential involvement in her brother’s fate, insisting that William might be alive if he had not pushed his political beliefs on him. Sophia forgives Paulding, and later relies on him to fight for the patriots, too.

During her venture to West Point, she locates Paulding at a tavern and tells him what she knows of Benedict Arnold’s alleged treachery. Paulding is skeptical, but helps Sophia track down André because he cared for William and wants to honor his late friend’s memory. John Paulding is instrumental in uncovering the West Point plan. He is based on a historical figure.