I used the widely accepted 1910 translation by the sinologist Lionel Giles, available in various . Andr was captured the next day, near Tarrytown, with those plans tucked inside his boot. She was a close friend of British major John Andr and kept in contact with him when he became head of the British espionage system in New York. After the war, he petitioned to have Vermont become a state. [107], The pursuing American army included the Marquis de Lafayette, who was under orders from Washington to hang Arnold summarily if he was captured. [132], Early biographers attempted to describe Arnold's entire life in terms of treacherous or morally questionable behavior. 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. Early in May he made secret overtures to British headquarters, and a year later he informed the British of a proposed American invasion of Canada. Corrections? 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. However, British casualties were high; nearly one quarter of the force was killed or wounded, and Clinton declared that he could ill afford any more such victories. [48] However, he interpreted the manner in which they did so as an act of sympathy for his wounds, and not an apology or recognition that they were righting a wrong. [62], Wetherell says that the shortest explanation for his treason is that he "married the wrong person". A pharmacist by trade, the 34-year-old Arnold joined the rebellion in 1775. Benedict Arnold was unhappy with his position in the Continental Army by the time he betrayed the cause of the American Revolution to the British. Before it could be carried out, however, minutemen captured John Andr and informed General George Washingtonof the plot. He joined the growing American army outside of Boston, and distinguished himself by acts that demonstrated intelligence and bravery: In 1775, he captured Fort Ticonderoga. While this is the case, no power in this country could suddenly place you in the situation you aim at under the East India Company. Arnold benefited from his relationship with Mansfield, who became a partner in his business and used his position as sheriff to shield him from creditors. The Arnold residence attained the reputation as one of early Amsterdam's finer homes. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [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. But You Probably Don't Know His Whole Story Illustration showing Major General Benedict Arnold (1741 - 1801) rallying the American troops. With the permission of his master, Armistead enlisted in the Revolutionary War under General Lafayette. Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741, in Norwich, Connecticut. Lee Moran. [127] His funeral procession boasted "seven mourning coaches and four state carriages";[103] the funeral was without military honors. It is impossible to say when 37-year-old Benedict Arnold first met 18-year-old Peggy Shippen, but we do know that on September 25, 1778, he wrote her a love lettermuch of it an exact copy of . At the age of sixteen, Arnold enlisted in a militia and served in the French and Indian War in upstate New York . Only a few weeks after learning of Arnold's treason, General George Washington enlisted a Continental Army sergeant major named John Champe in a daring mission to capture him from behind. . The fort was finally captured by the British in 1759. Troops were liberally distributed within Arnold's command area (but only minimally at West Point itself) or furnished to Washington on request. It is what happened after 1775 that began to wear him down and bring on his disillusionment. He returned a hero, but his rash courage and impatient energy had aroused the enmity of several officers. Thereupon I expressed the desire of seeing that gentleman, and, shortly after, I was introduced to him. 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. [138] The boy is not identified until the end of the story, when his place of birth is given as Norwich, Connecticut, and his name is given as Benedict Arnold. [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. Later he became infamous for being a traitor, fighting for the British. He presided over the rear of the Continental Army during its retreat from Saint-Jean, where he was reported by James Wilkinson to be the last person to leave before the British arrived. Though Trump has checked off the betray the USA box quite well. Soon after Ticonderoga, Arnold brought his men on a dangerous trek through the . Various translations of Sun Tzu's The Art of War have been published over the past century. [63][64], Arnold had an extremely ambitious and jealous personality. Peggy Shippen had barely turned eighteen when in June of 1778, following the evacuation of Philadelphia by a British army, Major General Benedict . Needed repairs were never ordered on the chain across the Hudson. 8. [128][d], Benedict Arnold's name became synonymous with "traitor" soon after his betrayal became public, and biblical themes were often invoked. Peggy came from a loyalist family in Philadelphia; she had many ties to the British. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Arnold's letters continued to detail Washington's troop movements and provide information about French reinforcements that were being organized. [141] Historian Barry Wilson points out that Arnold's descendants established deep roots in Canada, becoming leading settlers in Upper Canada and Saskatchewan. Arnold's name had become synonymous with the word traitor. He was enrolled in a private school in nearby Canterbury, Connecticut, when he was 10, with the expectation that he would eventually attend Yale College. After his leg healed, Benedict Arnold was named Military Governor of Philadelphia. [103], Washington remained calm when he was presented with evidence of Arnold's treason. [88], On August 30, Arnold sent a letter accepting Clinton's terms and proposing a meeting to Andr through yet another intermediary: William Heron, a member of the Connecticut Assembly whom he thought he could trust. One colonel wrote to Clinton concerning Arnold: "There are many officers who must wish some other general in command. As a teenager, Arnold's family faced financial hardship. Arnold had three sons with Margaret Mansfield:[150][151]. After formal inquiries, he was usually acquitted, but Congress investigated his finances and determined that he was indebted to Congress, and that he had borrowed money heavily to maintain a lavish lifestyle. [71], By July 1779, Arnold was providing the British with troop locations and strengths, as well as the locations of supply depots, all the while negotiating over compensation. [1] [7] Arnold was the fourth surviving member of his family named after his great-grandfather Benedict Arnold I, an early governor of the Colony of Rhode Island; his grandfather (Benedict Arnold II) and father, as well as an older brother who died in infancy, were also named for the colonial governor. Benedict Arnold was an American Senior Officer during the Revolutionary War. [16] He was hardworking and successful, and was able to rapidly expand his business. This meeting was thwarted when British gunboats in the river fired on his boat, not being informed of his impending arrival. His fellow conspirator, Major Andre, was hanged by the Continental army for being a spy. [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. [99][100] Upon receiving Jameson's message, however, he learned that Jameson had sent Washington the papers which Andr was carrying. Through his maternal grandmother, Arnold was a descendant of John Lothropp, an ancestor of six presidents. [42] Amid negotiations over that issue, Arnold wrote out a letter of resignation on July 11, the same day that word arrived in Philadelphia that Fort Ticonderoga had fallen to the British. Clinton was concerned that Washington's army and the French fleet would join in Rhode Island, and he again fixed on West Point as a strategic point to capture. During the summer of 1778, he met Peggy Shippen, the 18-year-old daughter of Judge Edward Shippen (III), a Loyalist sympathizer who had done business with the British while they occupied the city;[57] Peggy had been courted by British Major John Andr during the British occupation of Philadelphia. Yet as every elementary school student knows, Benedict reneged on his original commitment and defected to England. Their friendship became the foundation for the treason for which Peggy's. Again he tried to resign, but in July he accepted a government order to help stem the British advance into upper New York. [46] During the fighting in the second battle, Arnold disobeyed Gates' orders and took to the battlefield to lead attacks on the British defenses. General Washington gave him a light reprimand, but it merely heightened Arnold's sense of betrayal; nonetheless, he had already opened negotiations with the British before his court martial even began. He sent an Indian messenger into the camp of British Brigadier General Barry St. Leger with news that the approaching force was much larger and closer than it actually was; this convinced St. Leger's Indian allies to abandon him, forcing him to give up the effort. During the Revolutionary War, West Point was known as Fort Arnold, but after Benedict Arnold's betrayal, it became known as Fort Clinton. 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. He dared not tell me his name. She couldand did. general, has a name that's become synonymous with deceit and. For additional information about Arnold's amazing career as a Continental officer, consult James Kirby Martin, Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered (New York, 1997). 5. [133] George Canning Hill authored a series of moralistic biographies in the mid-19th century and began his 1865 biography of Arnold: "Benedict, the Traitor, was born". They had no reason to suspect that Gen. Benedict Arnold, the new commander of the post, would be less than a gracious host. What does it mean to call someone a Benedict Arnold? May God forgive me for ever having put on another,"[125] but this story may be apocryphal. He also provided information on a proposed French-American invasion of Quebec that was to go up the Connecticut River (Arnold did not know that this proposed invasion was a ruse intended to divert British resources). This plan very nearly succeeded, but Arnold changed living quarters prior to sailing for Virginia in December and thus avoided capture. [b][6] He led British forces in the Raid of Richmond and nearby areas, and they burned much of New London, Connecticut, to the ground and slaughtered surrendering forces after the Battle of Groton Heightsjust a few miles downriver from the town where he had grown up. [119] The most serious of these was a slander suit which he won against a former business partner; and following this, townspeople burned him in effigy in front of his house, as Peggy and the children watched. On August 13, Schuyler dispatched him with a force of 900 to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix, where he succeeded in a ruse to lift the siege. Among others, he shared the name with his father and. Benedict Arnold was a patriot officer who served the cause of the American Revolution until 1779, when he shifted his allegiance to the British. While Benedict Arnold escaped to British-occupied New York, where he was protected from punishment. S T I L L W A T E R, N.Y., June 14, 2001 -- Benedict Arnold, America's most infamous. [136], Fictional invocations of Benedict Arnold's name carry strongly negative overtones. Benjamin Franklin wrote that "Judas sold only one man, Arnold three millions", and Alexander Scammell described his actions as "black as hell". [29] She is buried in the crypt of the Center Church on New Haven Green. July 27] 1742 - June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.He emerged from the war with a reputation as one of George Washington's most talented and dependable officers, and is known for his successful command in the Southern theater of the conflict. He had his leg crudely set, rather than allowing it to be amputated, leaving it 2 inches (5cm) shorter than the right. As early as 1778, there were signs that Arnold was unhappy with his situation and pessimistic about the country's future. In 1764, he formed a partnership with Adam Babcock, another young New Haven merchant. He returned to the army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in May 1778 to the applause of men who had served under him at Saratoga. Discussions had not borne fruit between Schuyler and Washington by early June. Crippled from his wounds, Arnold was placed in command of Philadelphia (June 1778), where he socialized with families of loyalist sympathies and lived extravagantly. [18] On one of his voyages, he fought a duel in Honduras with a British sea captain who had called him a "damned Yankee, destitute of good manners or those of a gentleman". Arnold returned to England in 1791, but he left to spend several years privateering in the West Indies before permanently settling in London. The prisoner was dressed in miltary uniform. This was the last straw. Unable to obtain a regular commission in the British army, he later pursued various business ventures, including land speculation in Canada. Did he become a traitor because of all the injustice he suffered, real and imagined, at the hands of the Continental Congress and his jealous fellow generals? He helped organize militia forces on British-held islands, receiving praise from the landowners for his efforts on their behalf. [121], In July 1792, Arnold fought a bloodless duel with the Earl of Lauderdale after the Earl impugned his honor in the House of Lords. While en route to West Point, Arnold renewed an acquaintance with Joshua Hett Smith, who had spied for both sides and who owned a house near the western bank of the Hudson about 15 miles south of West Point. It was General Arnold. [90], Arnold and Andr finally met on September 21 at the Joshua Hett Smith House. On August 25, Peggy finally delivered to him Clinton's agreement to the terms. [58] She married Arnold on April 8, 1779. Benedict Arnold (14 January 1741 [O.S. He could not cope with failure and disgrace. Working as a spy, Armistead gained the trust of General Cornwallis and Benedict Arnold,. His ventures met with mixed success. Jameson reluctantly recalled the lieutenant who had been delivering Andr into Arnold's custody, but he then sent the same lieutenant as a messenger to notify Arnold of Andr's arrest. Arnold was promoted to brigadier general for his role in reaching Quebec, and he maintained an ineffectual siege of the city until he was replaced by Major General David Wooster in April 1776. [142] His descendants are spread across Canada, most of all those of John Sage, who adopted the Arnold surname. As the park's Facebook page explains, the hero's name was left off the monument for a reason. Benedict Arnold was an enthusiastic patriot who believed passionately in the cause of American liberty. "[108] Cornwallis ignored Arnold's advice to locate a permanent base away from the coast, advice that might have averted his surrender at Yorktown. How did Benedict Arnold betray the Continental Army to the British? Interview with Philbrick in Michael Dolan, "Hero And Villain,", Julie Courtwright, "Whom Can We Trust Now? A historical marker in Danvers, Massachusetts commemorates Benedict Arnold's 1775 expedition to Quebec Bayley Seton Hospital in the Clifton section of Staten Island was named in part for Richard Bayley, father of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Because of the constant agony of two battlefield wounds in an already gout-ridden leg? [112], In London, Arnold aligned himself with the Tories, advising Germain and King George III to renew the fight against the Americans. [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. Major-General Nathanael Greene (August 7 [O.S. [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. [140], Canadian historians have treated Arnold as a relatively minor figure. The age of sixteen, Arnold brought his men on a dangerous trek through the 58 She! 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