[54] Such schemes were not uncommon among American officers, but Arnold's schemes were sometimes frustrated by powerful local politicians such as Joseph Reed, who eventually amassed enough evidence to publicly air charges against him. 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. Following the deaths of three of his. 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. [19][20] The captain was wounded in the first exchange of gunfire, and he apologized when Arnold threatened to aim to kill on the second. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Things Trump will never be. He was well received by King George III and the Tories but frowned upon by the Whigs and most Army officers. Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741 in Norwich, Connecticut and named after his His mother was Hannah Waterman King, a rich widow. [58] She married Arnold on April 8, 1779. His father's alcoholism worsened after her death, and the youth took on the responsibility of supporting his father and younger sister. 1.Saint Benedict was a teenager when he became a monk. [107], The pursuing American army included the Marquis de Lafayette, who was under orders from Washington to hang Arnold summarily if he was captured. At first, he asked for indemnification of his losses and 10,000,[b] an amount that the Continental Congress had given Charles Lee for his services in the Continental Army. Bettmann / Corbis "You have five. 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? Benjamin Franklin wrote that "Judas sold only one man, Arnold three millions", and Alexander Scammell described his actions as "black as hell". [103] Legend has it that, when he was on his deathbed, he said, "Let me die in this old uniform in which I fought my battles. 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. Arnold never received all of the 20,000 pounds he was promised by the British for becoming a traitor. Thereafter his name became an epithet for traitor in the United States. [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. His action at Ridgefield, coupled with the death of Wooster due to wounds sustained in the action, resulted in his promotion to major general, although his seniority was not restored over those who had been promoted before him. His father was a successful businessman and young Benedict had a comfortable childhood. Benedict Arnold's name is synonymous with the word traitor. Yet as every elementary school student knows, Benedict reneged on his original commitment and defected to England. "[115], In 1785, Arnold and his son Richard moved to Saint John, New Brunswick, where they speculated in land and established a business doing trade with the West Indies. Clinton was uninterested in most of his aggressive ideas, but finally authorized him to raid the port of New London, Connecticut. 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. Benedict Arnold is an epithet for traitor in the United States; calling a person a Benedict Arnold implies that they are a traitor. [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. At the age of sixteen, Arnold enlisted in a militia and served in the French and Indian War in upstate New York . [85], On August 3, 1780, Arnold obtained command of West Point. [128], Arnold left a small estate, reduced in size by his debts, which Peggy undertook to clear. The band played a funeral march. His company marched northeast the following month to assist in the siege of Boston that followed the Battles of Lexington and Concord. [94], Andr was captured near Tarrytown, New York, on Saturday, September 23, by three Westchester militiamen. Peggy Shippen had barely turned eighteen when in June of 1778, following the evacuation of Philadelphia by a British army, Major General Benedict . General Parsons laid it aside, seeing a letter written as a coded business discussion. [6] With the outbreak of the French Revolution, Arnold outfitted a privateer, while continuing to do business in the West Indies, even though the hostilities increased the risk. [1] He also began to insist on a face-to-face meeting, and suggested to Arnold that he pursue another high-level command. When in February 1777 Congress created five new major generalships, Arnold was passed over in favour of his juniors. [34], Arnold then traveled to Montreal where he served as military commander of the city until forced to retreat by an advancing British army that had arrived at Quebec in May. [66] Biographer Nathaniel Philbrick argues: Peggy Shippen did have a significant role in the plot. His fellow conspirator, Major Andre, was hanged by the Continental army for being a spy. [98], Arnold learned of Andr's capture the morning of September 24 while waiting for Washington, with whom he was going to have breakfast at his headquarters in British Col. Beverley Robinson's former summer house on the east bank of the Hudson. Benedict Arnold was a patriot officer who served the cause of the American Revolution until 1779, when he shifted his allegiance to the British. During the American War for Independence, several engagements were fought at the five-pointed star-shaped Fort Ticonderoga. Benedict Arnold began the Revolutionary War as a militia captain. By. S T I L L W A T E R, N.Y., June 14, 2001 -- Benedict Arnold, America's most infamous. [149] The faculty club at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton has a Benedict Arnold Room in which letters written by Arnold hang on the walls. in George Athan Billias, ed., This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 10:05. However, Arnold was a prominent figure in the American Revolution and, for a time, was a distinguished war hero who simply became . The Portrayal of Benedict Arnold in American History", Shy, John. Omissions? [21] However, it is unknown whether this encounter actually happened or not. The second was Benedict Arnold. "[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. In exchange for cash and a commission in the British army, Major General Arnold promised to betray his cause and hand over the American fort at West Point. By the time that he was 14, there was no money for private education. He also peppered Washington with complaints about the lack of supplies, writing, "Everything is wanting. In the later part of the conflict, Arnold was commissioned as a brigadier general in the British Army, and placed in command of the American Legion. He was extremely unpopular there and returned to London permanently in 1791, where he died ten years later. Arnold's childhood was marred by tragedy; by age 20, he was an orphan struggling to make his way in the world as an apothecary. After the usual exchange of greetings I ventured to request from him some letters of introduction to his friends in America. After his leg healed, Benedict Arnold was named Military Governor of Philadelphia. How did Benedict Arnold betray the Continental Army to the British? [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". [63][64], Arnold had an extremely ambitious and jealous personality. Four days later, Arnold sent a ciphered letter with similar content into New York through the services of the wife of a prisoner of war. Troops were liberally distributed within Arnold's command area (but only minimally at West Point itself) or furnished to Washington on request. 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". In real life: Arnold left for England in late 1781, before the official surrender, in an unsuccessful bid to persuade the Crown to keep the war going in America. [106] This activity brought out Virginia's militia led by Colonel Sampson Mathews, and Arnold eventually retreated to Portsmouth to be reinforced or to evacuate. 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. Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741, in Norwich, Connecticut. After organizing an assemblage of volunteers, he seized munitions from the New Haven arsenal and led his group northward to fight the British. [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. "Whom Can We Trust Now? When the British took control of Philadelphia in 1777, Peggy met John Andr, a charming, well-educated British officer. In his martial success, he became the target of jealous mediocrities. 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. They issued him a colonel's commission on May 3, 1775, and he immediately rode off to Castleton in the disputed New Hampshire Grants (Vermont) in time to participate with Ethan Allen and his men in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. 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). Benedict Arnold, shown on the left concealing his plans in John Andr's boot, has become synonymous with treason but before he betrayed America, he saved it. Unable to find a new military or. His physicians diagnosed him as having dropsy, and a visit to the countryside only temporarily improved his condition. [127] His funeral procession boasted "seven mourning coaches and four state carriages";[103] the funeral was without military honors. [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". This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benedict-Arnold, American Battlefield Trust - Biography of Benedict Arnold, Dictionary of Canadian Biography - Biography of Benedict Arnold, The Washington Library Center for Digital History - Biography of Benedict Arnold, United States History - Biography of Benedict Arnold, Benedict Arnold - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Benedict Arnold - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Benedict Arnold: meeting with Maj. John Andr. Brown was particularly vicious, publishing a handbill which claimed of Arnold, "Money is this man's God, and to get enough of it he would sacrifice his country". [80] Many of these documents had been lost during the retreat from Quebec. When and where was Benedict Arnold born? [55], Andr conferred with Clinton, who gave him broad authority to pursue Arnold's offer. Although he was unsuccessful, his attempt to betray George Washington and his American forces . [113] George Johnstone turned him down for a position in the East India Company and explained: "Although I am satisfied with the purity of your conduct, the generality do not think so. During the American Revolution, British Major John Andr joined with American General Benedict Arnoldin a scheme to secure British control over the American fortification at West Point, New York. As early as 1778, there were signs that Arnold was unhappy with his situation and pessimistic about the country's future. [3] Some among those in his military and political circles charged him with corruption and other bad acts. The British withdrew from Philadelphia in June 1778, and Washington appointed Arnold military commander of the city. He was again severely wounded in the left leg late in the fighting. Arnold said that it would have been better had it been in the chest instead of the leg. His ventures met with mixed success. [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. Benedict Arnold passed away on 3 March 1849. [87], Once Arnold established himself at West Point, he began systematically weakening its defenses and military strength. [95] They found the papers exposing the plot to capture West Point and passed them on to their superiors,[96] but Andr convinced the unsuspecting Colonel John Jameson, to whom he was delivered, to send him back to Arnold at West Pointbut he never reached West Point. [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. 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. [52] Historian John Shy states: Arnold began planning to capitalize financially on the change in power in Philadelphia, even before the Americans reoccupied their city. [30] The household was dominated by Arnold's sister Hannah, even while Margaret was alive. Later,. He was imprisoned by French authorities on Guadeloupe amid accusations of spying for the British, and narrowly eluded hanging by escaping to the blockading British fleet after bribing his guards. Some historians suggested an Arnold liaison in New Brunswick, but Canadian historian Barry Wilson noted the weakness of this traditional account. The Hudson River Chain today Wilson believes that the explanation most consistent with the available documentation is that Sage was either the result of a liaison before Arnold left England or that he was Arnold's grandson by one of his older children. 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 . [16] He was hardworking and successful, and was able to rapidly expand his business. See the fact file below for more information on . He had his leg crudely set, rather than allowing it to be amputated, leaving it 2 inches (5cm) shorter than the right. [103] He had suffered from gout since 1775,[124] and the condition attacked his unwounded leg to the point where he was unable to go to sea. 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