Arnold, Benedict

Arnold, Benedict (1741–1801) Revolutionary War general and traitor, born in Norwich, Connecticut. With Ethan Allen, he captured Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. He was wounded in a failed assault on Quebec late that same year. Arnold was appointed military governor of Philadelphia in 1778 and was soon charged with corruption and reprimanded in a court-martial, after which he resigned. He was given command of West Point in 1780, claiming to be too lame and ill to take the active command George Washington planned for him. Arnold is infamous for his treasonous offer to British Gen. Henry Clinton to turn over West Point and 3,000 rebel troops in exchange for £10,000 for defection and £;20,000 for the delivery of West Point. The mission misfired when go-between John André was caught by American troops with compromising documents (he was later hanged). Arnold fled downriver, leaving his wife to convince Washington that she knew nothing of the plot. In New York, where his wife later joined him, he was shunned by British officers as a traitor. He saw service in the British army as a brigadier general, routing the Virginia militia in 1780 and sacking and burning New London, Connecticut, in 1781.

Arnold also volunteered in three campaigns of the French and Indian War (1754–63), but deserted to be with his dying mother.