Harper's Weekly published an article in 1861 describing Confederate leaders as "a few men directing this colossal treason, by whose side Benedict Arnold shines white as a saint". [41], Arnold was on his way to Philadelphia to discuss his future when he was alerted that a British force was marching toward a supply depot in Danbury, Connecticut. [112], In London, Arnold aligned himself with the Tories, advising Germain and King George III to renew the fight against the Americans. He returned to the army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in May 1778 to the applause of men who had served under him at Saratoga. Background. Peggy Shippen, or Margaret Shippen (July 11, 1760 - August 24, 1804), was the second wife of General Benedict Arnold (following Margaret Mansfield, who died in 1775). [110], Even before Cornwallis's surrender in October, Arnold had requested permission from Clinton to go to England to give Lord George Germain his thoughts on the war in person. Benedict Arnold (14 January 1741 [O.S. He organized the militia response, along with David Wooster and Connecticut militia General Gold Selleck Silliman. His mother came from a wealthy family, but his alcoholic father squandered their estate. [49][citation not found], Arnold spent several months recovering from his injuries. 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. Benedict's exploits and continuous wins caught the eye of George Washington, who . [136], Fictional invocations of Benedict Arnold's name carry strongly negative overtones. The band played a funeral march. [9], Arnold's father was a successful businessman, and the family moved in the upper levels of Norwich society. In that era, people ate most of the common foods without. In an ironic twist, Heron went into New York unaware of the significance of the letter and offered his own services to the British as a spy. The first major biography of his life was The Life and Treason of Benedict Arnold, published in 1832 by historian Jared Sparks; it was particularly harsh in showing how Arnold's treacherous character was formed out of childhood experiences. [73] By October 1779, the negotiations had ground to a halt. The America. He also faced financial ruin, falling 16,000[b] in debt with creditors spreading rumors of his insolvency, to the point where he took legal action against them. [67], Early in May 1779, Arnold met with Philadelphia merchant Joseph Stansbury[c] who then "went secretly to New York with a tender of [Arnold's] services to Sir Henry Clinton". During the Revolutionary War, West Point was known as Fort Arnold, but after Benedict Arnold's betrayal, it became known as Fort Clinton. He wrote that he was "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 August 15, he received a coded letter from Andr with Clinton's final offer: 20,000[b] and no indemnification for his losses. [91][92] This action did little damage besides giving the captain, Andrew Sutherland, a splinter in his nosebut the splinter prompted the Vulture to retreat,[93] forcing Andr to return to New York overland. The Portrayal of Benedict Arnold in American History", Shy, John. [134] Social historian Brian Carso notes that, as the 19th century progressed, the story of Arnold's betrayal was portrayed with near-mythical proportions as a part of the national history. [10] His apprenticeship with the Lathrops lasted seven years. His scheme was to surrender the fort to the British, but it was exposed in September 1780 when revolution militia captured Andr carrying papers which revealed the plot. After trying and failing to hand the fort at West Point over to the British, he joined the Royal Army and took . Benedict Arnold was named brigadier general by the British government and sent on raids to . [62], Arnold had been badly wounded twice in battle and had lost his business in Connecticut, which made him profoundly bitter. 0:00. He was convicted of disorderly conduct and fined the relatively small amount of 50 shillings; publicity of the case and widespread sympathy for his views probably contributed to the light sentence. Arnold never received all of the 20,000 pounds he was promised by the British for becoming a traitor. Benedict Arnold betrayed the Continental Army to the British when he made secret overtures to British headquarters in May 1779 and, a year later, informed the British of a proposed American invasion of Canada. And those of us with long memories can take some comfort that things didn't go much better for Arnold once he left the colonies to live in . The September 21 meeting with British Major John Andre was a disaster for both men. He arrived before Quebec City in November, after a difficult passage in which 300 men turned back and another 200 died en route. Arnold died in London at the age of 60. Especially galling was a long feud with the civil authorities in Philadelphia which led to his court-martial. [3] Arnold was buried at St. Mary's Church in Battersea, England. [62], Wetherell says that the shortest explanation for his treason is that he "married the wrong person". [37] He also had disagreements with John Brown and James Easton, two lower-level officers with political connections that resulted in ongoing suggestions of improprieties on his part. However, his actions at Saint-Jean and Valcour Island played a notable role in delaying the British advance against Ticonderoga until 1777. [103] The anti-war Whigs had gained the upper hand in Parliament, and Germain was forced to resign, with the government of Lord North falling not long after. [33], The Second Continental Congress authorized an invasion of Quebec, in part on the urging of Arnoldbut he was passed over for command of the expedition. "Since the fall of Lucifer," General Nathanial Greene judged, "nothing has equaled the fall of Arnold." Yet Arnold's accomplishments for the patriot cause were extraordinary. He would be an apprentice in the mercantile trade for seven years. His chaplain Rev. He knew that he was distrusted and disliked by senior military officers on both sides. During the American War for Independence, several engagements were fought at the five-pointed star-shaped Fort Ticonderoga. [103], Washington remained calm when he was presented with evidence of Arnold's treason. The crowd of hundreds of people was quiet. [101] From the ship, he wrote a letter to Washington[102] requesting that Peggy be given safe passage to her family in Philadelphiawhich Washington granted. His health simply declined, partly as a result of his war wounds, partly as a result of what used to be called dropsy edema, the dramatic retention of fluid in limbs. On December 8, 1781, Arnold and his family left New York for England. Later Arnold revealed to the British that he expected to receive the command of American forces at West Point, New York, and agreed to surrender that garrison to them for 20,000. Letters were to be passed through the women's circle that Peggy Arnold was a part of, but only Peggy would be aware that some letters contained instructions that were to be passed on to Andr, written in both code and invisible ink, using Stansbury as the courier. He and his men were joined by Richard Montgomery's small army and participated in the December 31 assault on Quebec City in which Montgomery was killed and Arnold's leg was shattered. [79], Shortly after Washington's rebuke, a Congressional inquiry into Arnold's expenditures concluded that he had failed to account fully for his expenditures incurred during the Quebec invasion, and that he owed the Congress some 1,000,[b] largely because he was unable to document them. "[102], The British gave Arnold a brigadier general's commission with an annual income of several hundred pounds, but they paid him only 6,315 plus an annual pension of 360[b] for his defection because his plot had failed. AD 1781, when the British, under the command of the Traitor Benedict Arnold, burnt the towns of New London and Groton and spread desolation and woe throughout the region. S T I L L W A T E R, N.Y., June 14, 2001 -- Benedict Arnold, America's most infamous. Again he tried to resign, but in July he accepted a government order to help stem the British advance into upper New York. Though Trump has checked off the betray the USA box quite well. [76] Several members on the panel of judges were ill-disposed toward Arnold over actions and disputes earlier in the war, yet Arnold was cleared of all but two minor charges on January 26, 1780. In the House of Commons, Edmund Burke expressed the hope that the government would not put Arnold "at the head of a part of a British army" lest "the sentiments of true honour, which every British officer [holds] dearer than life, should be afflicted". [108], On his return to New York in June, Arnold made a variety of proposals for attacks on economic targets to force the Americans to end the war. On May 9, Franklin introduced Stansbury to Major Andr, who had just been named the British spy chief. "Arnold, Benedict (17411801)". Following the deaths of three of his. His ventures met with mixed success. With Benedict Arnold, he led the Green Mountain Boys to capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British in 1775. Besides, I would argue that even if the British d. Andr had spies and informers keeping track of Arnold to verify his movements. [135] Jefferson Davis and other southern secessionist leaders were unfavorably compared to Arnold, implicitly and explicitly likening the idea of secession to treason. The Hudson River Chain today Arnold's name had become synonymous with the word traitor. As the park's Facebook page explains, the hero's name was left off the monument for a reason. The British withdrew from Philadelphia in June 1778, and Washington appointed Arnold military commander of the city. Updates? The house where Arnold lived at 62 Gloucester Place in central London bears a plaque describing him as an "American Patriot". Bettmann / Corbis "You have five. "[88] At the same time, he tried to drain West Point's supplies so that a siege would be more likely to succeed. [113], Arnold then applied to accompany General Carleton, who was going to New York to replace Clinton as commander-in-chief, but the request went nowhere. In 1787, he moved to Canada to run a merchant business with his sons Richard and Henry. Arnold repeatedly claimed that he was being passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress, and that other officers were being given credit for some of his accomplishments. He then presented the attack of Fort Ticonderoga. [69] This was the beginning of a secret correspondence between Arnold and Andr, sometimes using his wife Peggy as a willing intermediary, which culminated more than a year later with Arnold's change of sides. Arnold arrived in New Brunswick in December 1785, so Sage's mother could not have been from there. Phillips led further raids across Virginia, including a defeat of Baron von Steuben at Petersburg, but he died of fever on May 12, 1781. Benedict Arnold is an American Revolutionary War General who is known for being the best American Strategist during the war. Understand why Benedict Arnold spied for the British during the American Revolutionary War. Saint Benedict once lived in a hermit cave. [16] He was hardworking and successful, and was able to rapidly expand his business. A Connecticut militia force arrived at Ticonderoga in June; Arnold had a dispute with its commander over control of the fort, and resigned his Massachusetts commission. Arnold and his men went towards Boston. 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