Benedict Arnold V (January 141741 – June 141801) originally fought for American independence from the British Empire
as a general in the Continental Army during
the American Revolutionary War until he obtained command of the American fort
at West Point, New York and, switching sides, plotted unsuccessfully to surrender
it to the British.
Arnold was considered by many to be the best general and most accomplished leader in the Continental Army. In fact, without
Arnold's earlier contributions to the American cause, the American Revolution might
well have been lost; but after he switched sides his name, like those of several other prominent traitors throughout history, has
become a byword for treason in the United States.[1][2]
Arnold distinguished himself early in the war through acts of cunning and bravery. His many successful campaigns included the
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga (1775), the Invasion of Canada (1775), victory at the Battle of
Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in 1776, the battles of Danbury and Ridgefield in Connecticut (after which he was promoted to Major General), and the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.
In spite of his success, Arnold was passed over for promotion by the Continental
Congress while other general officers took credit for his many accomplishments.[3] As his personal debts mounted, Congress investigated his accounts, and
charges of corruption were brought by political adversaries. Frustrated, bitter, disaffected by the assaults on his honor and
strongly opposed to the new American alliance with France, Arnold changed sides. In July 1780, he sought and obtained command of
West Point in order to surrender it to the British. Arnold's scheme was detected
when American forces captured British Major John André carrying papers that revealed Arnold's
plan.
Upon learning of André's capture, Benedict Arnold escaped down the Hudson River to the
British Sloop-of-War "Vulture", narrowly avoiding capture by the forces of General Washington who had departed for West Point immediately upon learning of Arnold's plan. Arnold
received a commission as a Brigadier General in the British army and £6,000.(aprox. £500,000 today) [4]
In the winter of 1782, Arnold had left the army and moved to London with his second wife, Margaret "Peggy" Shippen Arnold. He was well received by the King and the Tories but frowned upon by the Whigs. In 1787 he entered into mercantile business
with his sons Richard and Henry in Saint John, New Brunswick, but returned to
London to settle permanently in 1791.
Early life
Arnold was born the last of six children to Benedict Arnold III (1683-1761) and Hannah Waterman King in Norwich, Connecticut in 1741. He was named after his
great-grandfather Benedict Arnold, an early governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Benedict IV, who died in infancy before
Benedict Arnold V was born. Only Benedict and his sister Hannah survived to adulthood; his other siblings succumbed to
yellow fever in childhood. Through his maternal grandmother, Arnold was a descendant of
John Lathrop, an ancestor of at least four Presidents of the United States.
The Arnold family was well off until the future general's father made several bad business deals that plunged the family into
debt, and became an alcoholic, forcing his son to withdraw from school at 14 because the family could not afford the expense.
His father's alcoholism and ill-health prevented him from training his son in the family mercantile business, but his mother's
family connections secured an apprenticeship for him with two of her cousins, brothers Daniel and Joshua Lathrop, who operated a
successful apothecary and general merchandise trade in Norwich.
French and Indian War
At 15, Arnold enlisted in the Connecticut militia. The militia marched to Albany and Lake George to oppose the French invasion from Canada at the Battle of Fort William Henry. However he never engaged in battle during the war. The
British suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the French under Montcalm. The British surrendered on the
conditions that they could evacuate the fort under safe conduct and could keep their weapons, but the Indian allies of the
French, who had been promised scalps, arms, and booty, attacked and massacred several hundred of the men, women, and children.
The French regulars could not or did not stop the Indians.[5] This event may have created an abiding hatred for the French in a young and impressionable Arnold
that influenced his actions later in life.
Parents' deaths
Arnold's mother, to whom he was very close, died in 1759. The youth took on the responsibility of supporting his ailing father
and younger sister. His father's alcoholism worsened after the death of his wife; he was
arrested on several occasions for public drunkenness and was even refused communion by his
church; he died in 1761.
Pre-revolutionary activities
In 1762, with the help of the Lathrops, Arnold established himself in business as a pharmacist and bookseller in New Haven, Connecticut.
Arnold was ambitious and aggressive, quickly expanding his business. In 1763 he repurchased the family homestead that his
father had sold when deeply in debt, and re-sold it a year later for a substantial profit. In 1764 he formed a partnership with
Adam Babcock, another young New Haven merchant. Using the profits from the sale of his homestead
they bought three trading ships and established a lucrative West Indies trade. During this
time he brought his sister Hannah to New Haven and established her in his apothecary to manage the business in his absence. He
traveled extensively in the course of his business, throughout New
England and from Quebec to the West Indies, often in command of one of his own ships.
The Stamp Act of 1765 severely curtailed mercantile
trade in the colonies. Arnold initially took no part in any public demonstrations but, like many merchants, continued to
trade as if the Stamp Act did not exist, in effect becoming a smuggler in defiance of the act.
On the night of January 31, 1767 Arnold took part in a
demonstration denouncing the acts of the British Parliament and their
oppressive colonial policy in which the effigies of local crown officials were burned. He and members of his crew roughed up a
man suspected of informing on smugglers. Arnold was arrested and fined 50 shillings for disturbing the peace.
The oppressive taxes levied by Parliament forced many New England merchants out of business. Arnold himself came near to
personal ruin, falling £15,000 in debt.
Arnold fought a duel in Honduras with a British sea captain who had called him a "d--d
Yankee, destitute of good manners or those of a gentleman".[6] The captain was wounded, and apologized.
Arnold was in the West Indies when the Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770, but later he wrote "very much shocked" and wondered "good
God; are the Americans all asleep and tamely giving up their liberties, or are they all turned philosophers, that they don't take
immediate vengeance on such miscreants".
On February 22, 1767 he married Margaret, daughter of
Samuel Mansfield. They had three sons, Benedict, Richard and Henry. Margaret died during the
revolution, on June 19, 1775, while Arnold was away following the
Battle of Ticonderoga. Arnold's sister Hannah took the children in.
Revolutionary War
Colonel Benedict Arnold in 1776
In March 1775, a group of 65 New Haven residents formed the Governor’s Second Company of Connecticut Guards. Arnold was chosen
as their captain, and he organized training and exercises in preparation for war.
On April 21, 1775, when news reached New Haven of the opening
battles of the revolution at Lexington and Concord, a few
Yale College student volunteers were admitted into the guard to boost their numbers, and
they began a march to Massachusetts to join the revolution. During the march Arnold met
with Connecticut legislator Colonel Samuel Holden Parsons. They discussed the
shortage of cannons in the revolutionary forces and, knowing of the large number of cannons at Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, agreed that an expedition
should be sent to capture the fort. Parsons continued on to Hartford, where he
raised funds to establish a force under the command of Captain Edward Mott. Mott was instructed
to link up with Ethan Allen and Allen's Green Mountain
Boys at Bennington, Vermont. Meanwhile,
Arnold and his Connecticut militia continued on to Cambridge, where Arnold
convinced the Massachusetts Committee of Safety to fund an expedition to take the fort. They appointed him a colonel in the
Massachusetts militia and dispatched him, and several captains under his command, to raise an army in Massachusetts. As his
captains mustered troops Arnold rode north to rendezvous with Allen and take command of the operation.
Battle of Ticonderoga
- See also: Capture of Fort
Ticonderoga
By early May the army was assembled; on May 10, 1775 Fort
Ticonderoga was assaulted in a dawn attack and taken without a battle, the colonial forces having surprised the outnumbered
British garrison. Expeditions to Crown Point and Fort George were also successful, as was another foray to Fort St. Johns (now named Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec). But this fort had to be abandoned when British
troops arrived from Montreal. Throughout the campaign Arnold and Allen disputed who
was in overall command; Allen eventually withdrew his troops, leaving Arnold in sole command of the garrisons of the three forts.
However, a Connecticut force of 1,000 men under Colonel Benjamin Hinman arrived with
orders placing him in command with Arnold as his subordinate. This act by the Continental Congress incensed Arnold, who felt his
efforts on behalf of the revolution were not being recognized; he resigned his commission and returned to Massachusetts.[7]
Quebec expedition
- See also: Invasion of Canada
(1775) and Battle of Quebec (1775)
Shortly after the formation of the Continental Army in June 1775 Major General
Philip Schuyler, commander of the Northern Department, developed a plan to invade Canada
overland from Fort St. Johns at the northern end of Lake Champlain, down the Richelieu
River to Montreal. The objective was to deprive the Loyalists of an important base from which
they could attack upper New York. General Richard Montgomery was given command of
this force.
Arnold proposed that a second force, in concert with Schuyler’s, attack by traveling up the Kennebec River in Maine and descending the Chaudière River to Quebec City. With the capture of both Montreal
and Quebec City he believed the French-speaking colonists of Canada would join the revolution against the British. General
George Washington and the Continental Congress approved this amendment and
commissioned Arnold a colonel in the Continental Army to lead the Quebec City attack.
Just before leaving for Maine Arnold learned of the death of his first wife Margaret. He stopped in New Haven to see to the
welfare of his children, and asked his sister Hannah to mother them.
The force of 1,100 recruits embarked from Newburyport, Massachusetts on
September 19, 1775, arriving at Gardinerston, Maine, where Arnold had made prior arrangements with Major Reuben Colburn to construct 200 bateaux, on September 22. These were to be used to transport the troops up the Kennebec and Dead rivers, then down the Chaudiere to Quebec City. A
lengthy portage was required over the Appalachian
range between the upper Dead and Chaudiere rivers.
The British were aware of Arnold’s approach and destroyed most of the serviceable watercraft (boats, ships, gunboats, etc.
etc.) on the southern shore. Although two warships, the frigate Lizard (26 guns) and the
sloop-of-war Hunter (16 guns), kept up a constant patrol to prevent a river
crossing, Arnold was able to procure sufficient watercraft, and crossed to the Quebec City side on November 11. He then realized his force was not strong enough to capture the city and sent dispatches to
Brigadier General Richard Montgomery requesting reinforcements.
On September 16, 1775 Montgomery had marched north from
Fort Ticonderoga with about 1,700 militiamen. He captured Montreal on November 13.
Montgomery joined Arnold in early December, and with their combined force of about 950 soldiers, they attacked Quebec on
December 31, 1775. The colonial forces suffered a disastrous
defeat at the hands of General Guy Carleton, governor of Canada and
commander of the British forces. Montgomery was killed leading an assault along with all but one of his officers (Col. Donald
Campbell) who ordered a retreat; Montgomery's force never got close to the walls. Arnold's force on the other side of the city
were left by themselves without the help of Montgomery. While attacking Arnold was wounded in the leg, but stayed on the
battlefield encouraging his troops on. Daniel Morgan's rifle company, the most successful of the American troops, fought inside
the city until Morgan was cornered and forced to surrender. Many others were killed or wounded, and hundreds were taken
prisoner.
The remnants, reduced to some 350 volunteers and now under the command of Colonel Arnold, continued an ineffectual siege of
the city until the spring of 1776, when reinforcements under Brigadier General David
Wooster arrived. Upon being relieved of command, Arnold retreated to Montreal with what remained of his forces.[8][9]
Promotion
Arnold was promoted to Brigadier General after the Quebec invasion, and was given
the job of blocking British invasion of the Hudson River valley from Canada via Lake Champlain. During the summer of 1776 Arnold constructed
at Skenesborough (now Whitehall), New York, a flotilla of small warships and gunboats which controlled the lake from Fort
Ticonderoga, New York. The British responded by building a much larger lake flotilla at Saint John's, Québec. The British
destroyed Arnold's flotilla at the Battle of Valcour Island, New York, in
October but by that time the winter had begun. So the British invasion was called off and Arnold's defensive strategy had
succeeded.
In the same year Arnold met and seriously courted the daughter of a well known Boston loyalist, Betsy Deblois, described as
the belle of Boston, but she did not accept his repeated proposals[10].
Eastern Department
Late in 1776, Arnold was made Deputy Commander of the Eastern
Department of the Continental Army under Major General Joseph Spencer. On
December 8, 1776, a sizeable British force under
Lt. Gen. Henry Clinton captured Newport, Rhode Island. Arnold, who had not seen his family for over a year, spent a week with them
in New Haven, and arrived at Providence, on January 12, 1777, to command the defense of Rhode Island. The Continental forces in Rhode
Island had been depleted to about 2,000 troops by detachments sent to Washington for his attack at Trenton, New Jersey. Since Arnold was facing 15,000 redcoats, he stayed on the defensive.
On April 26, 1777, Arnold was on his way to Philadelphia to meet with the Continental Congress, and stopped in New Haven to visit his
family once again. A courier notified him that a British force 2,000 strong under Major General William Tryon, the British Military Governor of New York, had landed at Norwalk, Connecticut. Tryon marched his force to Fairfield on Long Island Sound and inland to Danbury, a major supply depot for the Continental Army, destroying both towns by fire. He also
torched the seaport of Norwalk as his forces retreated by sea.
Arnold hurriedly recruited about 100 volunteers locally. He was joined by Major General Gold S. Silliman and Major General
David Wooster of the Connecticut militia, who together had mustered a force of 500
volunteers from eastern Connecticut.[11][12]
Arnold and his fellow officers moved their small force near Danbury so they could intercept and harass the British retreat. By
11 a.m. on April 27, Wooster’s column had caught up with and engaged Tryon’s rear guard. Arnold
moved his force to a farm outside Ridgefield, Connecticut, in an attempt to
block the British retreat. During the skirmishes that followed, Wooster was killed. Arnold injured his leg when his horse was
shot and fell on him.
Philadelphia
After the Danbury raid, Arnold continued his journey to Philadelphia to meet with congressional members, arriving on
May 16. General Schuyler also was in Philadelphia at that time but soon left for his headquarters
at Albany, New York. This left Arnold as the ranking officer in the Philadelphia
region, so he assumed command of the forces there. But the Continental Congress, once again, due to political ties, preferred
Pennsylvania's newly promoted Major General Thomas Mifflin. Arnold had earlier been
passed over for promotion in favour of less experienced generals junior to him and of lower grade. He resigned his commission on
July 11, 1777, but shortly afterwards General Washington asked
Congress to post him to the Northern Department because
Fort Ticonderoga had fallen to the British.
Saratoga
- See also: Saratoga Campaign
The summer of 1777 marked a turning point in the war. The Saratoga campaign was a series of battles fought in upper New York
near Albany that culminated in the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga and the
surrender of the British army led by Lieutenant General John Burgoyne on October 17, 1777. Arnold played a decisive role in several of these battles.
For example, in August, 1777 he led a force which relieved the siege of Fort Stanwix.
The Battle of Bemis Heights was the final battle of the Saratoga Campaign. Outnumbered, out of supplies, and cut off from retreat largely by Arnold's doing,
Burgoyne was forced to surrender on October 17, 1777.
During the fighting, Arnold was wounded in the same leg as at Quebec and below the buttock. The television History Channel commented that if his wound had been
mortal he would be remembered as a hero, not a traitor.
Historians agree that Arnold was instrumental to the successful outcome of the Saratoga campaign, showing courage, initiative,
and military brilliance. He is said to have single-handedly cut off Burgoyne's attempt to escape in the decisive Battle of Bemis
Heights. But Arnold received no credit because of bad feelings between him and General Horatio
Gates. Even though Arnold was vital in winning the final battle of Saratoga, Gates vilified him for exceeding his
authority and disobeying orders. Arnold made no secret of his contempt for Gates' military tactics, which he considered too
cautious and conventional. Many of the Continental Army's senior officers agreed on Arnold's assessment of General Gates.
A monument in Saratoga National
Historical Park was erected in recognition of Arnold's victory, heroism and for the injury he sustained during the
campaign. However, due to his later treachery, it does not bear his name, only a cryptic dedication to "the most brilliant
soldier of the Continental army... winning for his countrymen the decisive battle of the American Revolution and for himself the
rank of Major General." It is the only war memorial in the United States that does not bear the name of the man
commemorated[1].
Military command of Philadelphia
In mid-October 1777 Arnold lay in an Albany hospital convalescing from the wound he had received at Saratoga. His left leg was
ruined, but Arnold would not allow it to be amputated. Several agonizing months of recovery left it 2 inches (5 cm) shorter than
the right. He spent the winter of 1777-78 with the army at Valley Forge, recovering from
the injury.
After the British withdrew from Philadelphia in June 1778 Washington appointed Arnold military commander of the city. In June
he learned of the Franco-American alliance, which he strongly opposed because of his earlier experiences in the French and Indian
War. Coincidentally, it was the victory at Saratoga, in which Arnold played a decisive part, that convinced France's
King Louis XVI to agree to the alliance and aid the Americans in their war.
By then, Arnold was embittered and resentful toward Congress for passing him over for promotion and not approving his wartime
expenses; Arnold himself had paid nearly all of the expenses of his force's campaigns in Canada. Arnold threw himself into the
social life of Philadelphia, hosting grand parties and falling deeply into debt. Arnold's extravagance drew him into shady
financial schemes and into further disrepute with Congress, which investigated his accounts. He also faced corruption charges
filed by the Pennsylvania civil authorities at the instigation of a man politically connected to the Continental Congress, whom
Arnold had stripped of command at Ticonderoga.
On June 1, 1779 he faced a court martial for malfeasance (and was convicted of two misdemeanors).[13] "Having become a cripple in the service of my country, I
little expected to meet [such] ungrateful returns," he complained to General George Washington.
On March 26, 1779 he met Peggy
Shippen, the 18-year-old daughter of Judge Edward Shippen, who had been
courted by British Major John André during the British occupation of Philadelphia.[14] They married on April 8,
1779.
Betrayal at West Point
In July 1780, Arnold sought and obtained command of the fort at West Point. He
already had begun correspondence with General Sir Henry Clinton in
New York City through Major André and was closely
involved with Beverley Robinson, a prominent loyalist in command of a loyalist
regiment. Arnold offered to hand the fort over to the British for £20,000 and a brigadier's
commission. His plans were thwarted when André was captured with a pass signed by Arnold. André was carrying documents that
disclosed the plot and which incriminated Arnold; André was later hanged as a spy.
Arnold learned of André's capture and fled to Vulture, a British ship waiting for him on the Hudson River, with the
help of John Borns. They made him a brigadier general, but only paid him some £6,000 because his plot had failed.
Had the plot succeeded the British forces, already in control of New York City, could have taken control of the entire Hudson
River Valley, effectively dividing the northern and southern American forces.
Life after switching sides
The British never really trusted Arnold, although he saw some action in the American theater. In December, under orders from
Clinton, Arnold led a force of 1,600 troops into Virginia and captured Richmond, cutting off
the major artery of material to the southern colonial effort. It is said that Arnold asked an officer he had taken captive about
what the Americans would do if they captured Arnold, and the captain is said to have replied "Cut off your right leg, bury it
with full military honors, and then hang the rest of you on a gibbet." In the Southern Theater,
Lord Cornwallis marched north to Yorktown, which he reached in May 1781. Arnold, meanwhile, had been sent north to attack the town of
New London, Connecticut, in hope it would divert Washington from Cornwallis. On
8 September 1781 Benedict Arnold's force raided and burned the port of New London and captured Fort Griswold. In December, Arnold was recalled to England with various other officers as the Crown
de-emphasized the American Theater for others which were deemed more important.
Benedict Arnold pursued interests in the shipping trade in Canada from 1787 to 1791, before moving to London.
Death
On his death bed in Gloucester Place,[15] London in
1801 at age 60, Arnold is reputed to have said "Let me die in this old uniform (Colonial) in which I fought my battles. May God
forgive me for ever having put on another".[16] This may
be fictitious, as James Martin notes.[3] The
cause of his death has never been attributed and is presumed to be the result of natural causes. Arnold was buried at
St. Mary's Church, Battersea in London, England. It is unknown whether he
was buried in any uniform or not.
American sources maintain that he died poor, in bad health, and essentially unknown, though an obituary in the Gentleman's
Magazine records that his funeral procession boasted "seven mourning coaches and four state carriages".
The house where Arnold lived in London still stands. The house is located on Gloucester Place in central London. The house
bears a plaque which describes Arnold as an American Patriot.
See also
References
- ^ Arnold, Benedict. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
- ^ Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1). Lexico
Publishing Group, LLC. 03 Aug. 2007.
- ^ a b Martin, James Kirby (1997).
Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered. New York
University Press. ISBN 0814756468.
- ^ Randall, William Stearn: "Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor", William
Morrow and Company, 1990. Adjusted figure from measuringworth.com
- ^ U-S-History.com (2005). The French and Indian War, Fort William Henry
“Massacre” August 1757. Retrieved on 2006-06-01.
- ^ Arnold, Isaac Newton (1979).
The Life of Benedict Arnold (Reprint of the 1880 ed. published by Jansen, McClurg,
Chicago). Ayer Publishing, 31.
- ^ Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Library and Archives, Canada. Retrieved on
2007-09-18.
- ^ Siege of Quebec and death of General Montgovery. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.[unreliable source?]
- ^ The Battle of Quebec. theamericanrevolution.org. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
- ^ Louis Quigley (2001). Treachery and Fidelity, The
Love Letters of Benedict Arnold reveal a true heart. Retrieved on 2006-06-01.
- ^ Gold Selleck Silliman. Evisum Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
- ^ David Wooster. Evisum Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
- ^
Willard Sterne Randall
(September/October 1990), Why Benedict Arnold Did It, vol. 41, American Heritage Magazine,
<http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1990/6/1990_6_60.shtml>. Retrieved on
2007-10-14
- ^ Edward Shippen
(1729-1806). University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
- ^ American Encyclopedia
- Benedict Arnold. encyclopaedic.net. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
- ^ Clifton Johnson (1915). The Picturesque
Hudson. The MacMillan Company.
Further reading
- Barry K. Wilson, 2001, Benedict Arnold: A Traitor in Our Midst, McGill Queens Press. ISBN 077352150X (This book is
about Arnold's time in Canada both before and after his treachery)
- James L. Nelson, 2006, Benedict Arnold's Navy: The Ragtag Fleet that Lost the Battle of Lake Champlain but Won the
American Revolution, McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-146806-4 (This book shows how Pauls leadership against the British forces on Lake
Champlain secured for America the independence that he would try later to betray.)
- Willard Sterne Randall, 1990, "Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor", William Morrow and Inc. ISBN 1-55710-034-90. (This book
is a comprehensive biography, and goes into great detail about Arnold's part in military operations in Canada, as well as much of
the behind-the-scenes political and military wrangling and infighting that occurred prior to his defection).
- James Kirby Martin, 1997, Benedict Arnold: Revolutionary Hero (An American Warrior Reconsidered), New York University
Press. ISBN 0-8147-5560-7 (alk. paper) 0-8147-5646-8 (pbk)(This book is about the life of General Benedict Arnold. It shows the
biased statements of authors and demythifies a lot of the stories about Benedict Arnold)
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