Arnold, Benedict

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Arnold, Benedict

ARNOLD, BENEDICT. (1741–1801). General in the Continental and British armies, traitor. Connecticut. Great-grandson of a Rhode Island governor, Benedict Arnold was born in Norwich, Connecticut, on 14 January 1741. He had to abandon his education after his father, an alcoholic merchant, went bankrupt. In March 1758, Arnold ran off to enlist in a New York company. He deserted the following year, but through his mother's efforts was not prosecuted. In March 1760 he enlisted again, served briefly in upper New York, and again deserted. He made his way home alone through the wilderness and completed his apprenticeship as a druggist. After the death of his parents, the twenty-one-year-old Arnold sold the family property and went with his sister, Hannah, to New Haven, Connecticut, where he opened a shop to sell drugs and books. He became a successful merchant and started sailing his own ships to the West Indies and Canada. One of his activities was horse-trading, a business which took him to Montreal and Quebec. Like others who had the opportunity, Arnold undoubtedly engaged in smuggling as well. In 1767 he married Margaret Mansfield and fathered three sons in five years.

CONTINENTAL ARMY CAMPAIGNS

In 1766 Arnold became leader of the New Haven Sons of Liberty and was active in local Patriot politics, though his violent personality colored his reputation. He fought at least two duels and gained a reputation as a spendthrift and philanderer. Having been elected a captain of militia in December 1774, Arnold reacted quickly to the "Lexington alarm." When New Haven's town leaders refused to issue arms and munitions to Arnold's company, he led his men in a raid on the armory, then marched his newly armed men to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Almost immediately upon his arrival in the Boston lines, Arnold talked the authorities into letting him lead a bold enterprise to capture Fort Ticonderoga. The Massachusetts authorities appointed him a militia colonel on 3 May, and he traveled north ahead of his troops. He arrived at the fort just in time to find another group, the Green Mountain Boys under Ethan Allen, about to launch their own attack. Arnold attempted to bully his way into command, but was rebuffed, although Allen did allow Arnold to participate in the capture of Ticonderoga, on 10 May 1775.

Using captured boats, Arnold raided St. Johns, Canada, on 17 May, and on 1 June he was instructed by Massachusetts authorities to take temporary command of all American forces on Lake Champlain. On 14 May, Massachusetts sent a committee with instructions to put all American troops in Arnold's area under the command of a leader from Connecticut. Arnold took violent exception to being superseded and, after withdrawing with a body of supporters to the captured vessels off Crown Point, he defied the order and threatened to arrest the committee. Insulted by a fellow officer, Arnold "tooke the liberty of breaking his head." Arnold was finally persuaded to abandon his mutiny, and on 5 July he returned to Cambridge to face accusations of mishandling the funds that had been entrusted to him for the expedition. The Massachusetts legislature eventually paid the official expenses Arnold had incurred. Meanwhile, Arnold's wife had died on 19 June.

Arnold next marched to Quebec through the Maine wilderness with 1,000 men, from 13 September to 9 November 1775, and this contributed to his reputation as the "whirlwind hero." Joining with General Richard Montgomery's army, which had come up the St. Lawrence River, Arnold acted bravely in the attack on Quebec, 31 December 1775, in which he was seriously wounded in the knee and Montgomery was killed. Arnold was appointed brigadier general on 10 January. After spending a terrible winter laying siege to Quebec, Arnold surrendered command of his pathetic little army to David Wooster in April 1776. With the arrival of British reinforcements, the Americans retreated to Montreal, ravaged by hunger and smallpox the whole way. In May, Arnold led an effort to release the prisoners taken in the actions at the Cedars shortly before the Americans retreated from Canada.

Over the next few months, Arnold built a small navy on Lake Champlain, even while facing a court martial for plundering. At Valcour Island, he led his small navy in a remarkable action of great strategic importance against a larger British force. Though defeated, Arnold delayed the British advance sufficiently to prevent their moving further south to Ticonderoga.

POLITICAL PROBLEMS

During this period Arnold maintained good relations with his superiors, Phillip John Schuyler and Horatio Gates, but he clashed with three junior officers. Captain Jacobus Wynkoop of the navy had been sent by Schuyler to take charge of the fleet on Lake Champlain. When Wynkoop challenged Arnold's authority as senior commander, Arnold had him arrested and, with the backing of Gates, removed. Arnold charged Captain Moses Hazen with negligence in handling the stores evacuated from Montreal, but Arnold made himself so offensive to the court-martial that the latter acquitted Hazen and ordered Arnold arrested. Major John Brown proved to be a more tenacious enemy than either Wynkoop or Hazen, and embroiled Arnold in a series of inquiries that were never resolved.

Arnold, meanwhile, had joined George Washington in New Jersey. On 23 December 1776 he was sent to Providence, Rhode Island, to help Joseph Spencer plan an operation to oust the British from Newport, a place they had just occupied. While in New England he was outraged to learn that, on 19 February 1777, Congress had promoted five officers to major general, but had neglected to include Arnold's name on the promotion list. He wrote Washington that Congress must have intended this as "a very civil way of requesting my resignation." Washington, who had not been consulted on this list and who had the highest opinion of Arnold, urged him to remain in the service while he attempted to have the injustice righted. Arnold was frustrated in his efforts to raise troops and supplies for the Newport operation, incensed by the failure of federal authorities to recognize his military accomplishments to date, and worried about the neglected state of his personal affairs at New Haven.

During this period, Arnold has been described as "sulking in his tent like some rustic Achilles," but an opportunity suddenly arose for him to display his daring leadership. On 23 April 1777, the British launched the Danbury Raid, aimed at a key American supply depot in Connecticut. Arnold did not arrive in time to prevent the British from burning Danbury, but his 400-man militia inflicted heavy losses on the enemy as they retreated to the coast. Again a popular hero, Arnold was promoted to major general on 2 May, but this did not remove his principal grievance: he was still junior in rank to the five officers who had been promoted over him on 19 February.

John Brown, also a good man at pressing a grievance, had meanwhile renewed his offensive against Arnold. On 12 May he published a personal attack on Arnold that ended with the prophetic words: "Money is this man's god, and to get enough of it he would sacrifice his country." Exactly a month later, after Arnold had reached Morristown, Washington wrote Congress asking that a committee investigate the matters Arnold wanted settled: his public accounts, Brown's charges, and his seniority. In Philadelphia on 20 May Arnold sent Congress Brown's handbill of 12 May and reiterated the request for an inquiry. The Board of War was given the latter duty and on 23 May, reported that Brown's charges were groundless. Some delegates still wanted an accounting for $55,000 of the $67,000 Congress had advanced him for operations in Canada, but Arnold was unavailable to respond; he was sent on 14 June to take charge of militia forces on the Delaware, where the enemy started their perplexing maneuvers that preceded the Philadelphia Campaign.

Arnold returned to resume his arguments with Congress, but the same day that he finally submitted his resignation—11 July 1777—Congress received Washington's request that he be assigned to command the militia of the Northern Deptartment in opposing Burgoyne's Offensive. Arnold asked that his resignation be suspended and headed north. On 8 August a motion to backdate Arnold's commission to 19 February was defeated in Congress by sixteen votes to six.

Arnold's first assignment in the north was to lead the relief forces that ended British general Barry St. Leger's expedition. He sided with Schuyler in the factionalism that rent the northern army, and was almost immediately at odds with Gates when that general succeeded Schuyler. In the first and second battles of Saratoga, 19 September and 7 October, he played a prominent and controversial part in the American victories.

Seriously wounded in the second battle of Saratoga, Arnold was incapacitated for many months. But Congress again was forced to acknowledge his contribution to the cause: they officially thanked him, along with fellow officers Gates and Benjamin Lincoln for the defeat of Burgoyne, and on 29 November they resolved that Washington should adjust Arnold's date of rank. A new commission made him a major general as of 17 February 1777, which finally gave him seniority over the five officers whose promotions on 19 February had so rankled him. The slate of his grievances now virtually erased, Benedict Arnold entered a new phase of his career. Because his leg had not healed sufficiently for him to lead troops in the field, he was directed on 28 May 1778 to take command in Philadelphia when the expected British evacuation took place. On 19 June he was in the city.

DESCENT INTO DISGRACE

Since Philadelphia was the seat of the state as well as the federal government, Arnold had two sets of civil authorities over him. Furthermore, the city was divided into factions: returning Patriots, Loyalists and collaborators, and neutralists. Any military commander in such a situation would have trouble, but few could have gotten into it any faster than Arnold. Almost from the start he was suspected of using his official position for personal speculation. He heightened suspicion and alienated townspeople in all walks of life by ostentatious living that exceeded his known means of legitimate income. Joseph Reed, president of the Pennsylvania Council and of the state, presented Congress with eight charges of misconduct against Arnold in February 1779. Arnold immediately demanded an investigation, which cleared him of most charges and referred the rest to a military court. The prosecution was handled by Colonel John Laurance, and Arnold took charge of his own defense.

Although documents brought to light long after the trial prove that Arnold's dishonesty as the military commander of Philadelphia was far worse than the state authorities suspected, the prosecution was unable to assemble adequate evidence to support its case. Hence, Colonel Laurance had to resort to such charges as "imposing menial offices upon the sons of freemen of this state." There was more substance to the other three charges that were presented at the trial, although proof was lacking.

After hearing Arnold argue his case with admirable skill, on 26 January 1780 the court came as close as possible to exonerating him without insulting his accusers. Two of the charges were dismissed entirely. These were the allegation of imposing "menial offices" and the charge that he had purchased goods for personal speculation during a period in which he ordered all shops in Philadelphia to be closed. However, the court found Arnold guilty of improperly issuing a pass for his ship, the Charming Nancy, to leave the city while other vessels were temporarily quarantined, and he was also convicted of using public wagons for private purposes. The sentence for these offenses, however, was merely a reprimand from the commander in chief. Still positively disposed to Arnold, Washington's reprimand was written almost as a commendation, but Arnold was nonetheless furious that he did not receive a complete acquittal.

TURNING TRAITOR

Arnold did not wait to finish his protracted battle with the Pennsylvania authorities before making the decision that launched him into the adventure for which he is known to history. On 8 April 1779 he had married 19-year-old Peggy Shippen, daughter of a prominent Philadelphia merchant and suspected Loyalist. The next month Arnold took the first step in turning traitor to the Continental cause.

Using his influence to gain command of West Point in August 1779, Arnold conspired to hand the post over to the British the following month. The plot was soon discovered, however, and Arnold fled West Point aboard the British ship, the Vulture, on 25 September 1780. The British made good their promise to reward Arnold for his efforts in their behalf, despite his failure to deliver West Point. He was commissioned as a brigadier general of the British Army and given the perquisites (including a pension) associated with that rank. He was also awarded £6,315 in compensation for the property losses he incurred in coming over to the Loyalist side. In the spring of 1782, Peggy Arnold was additionally awarded a yearly pension of £500, and £100 per year was eventually given to each of her children.

The British authorities assigned Arnold a military command, and he started raising a legion comprised of Loyalists and American deserters. After escaping an attempt by Sergeant John Champe to kidnap him in New York, Arnold led raids against New London, Connecticut, and in Virginia. Nonetheless, the British officers in America did not welcome this provincial traitor as a companion in arms, and the high command did not trust him. Furthermore, his recruitment efforts proved unimpressive. Deserters and Loyalists were plentiful, but even though Arnold offered a bounty of three guineas gold and the same food, clothing, and pay as British regulars, by the end of a year he had attracted only 212 of the 900 men his legion required. Although he enjoyed some success as a British commander, Arnold found his reception in London, where he arrived in early 1782, frosty at best. While the king and his ministers consulted Arnold on American affairs, they did not offer him the field command to which he felt entitled, and even other Loyalists in exile scorned the famous traitor.

LATTER YEARS IN EXILE

In the following years, Arnold entered into a number of commercial schemes. In 1785 he established himself as a merchant-shipper at St. John, New Brunswick, and re-entered the West Indies trade. After some initial success and the birth of an illegitimate son, John Sage, Arnold's fortunes soon faltered: his business was destroyed by a fire in 1788 and he returned to London in 1791 to try his hand at other ventures. On 1 July 1792 he fought a duel with the Earl of Lauderdale, who had accurately impugned Arnold's character during a debate in the House of Lords. Arnold shot and missed; Lauderdale held his fire and agreed to apologize. During the war with France, Arnold served as a privateer. Captured, he spent some time in a French prison, but eventually escaped. Later he helped to put down the Martinique slave uprising, but he again found himself returning to London on the verge of bankruptcy. He spent the last few years of his life seeking further preferment from the British government.

Arnold remains a highly controversial figure. Most military historians find him one of the finest field commanders in the Revolution, a leader capable of inspiring his men to truly heroic actions. Yet his lack of discretion, reckless leadership, and aggressive personal behavior undermined his effectiveness and destroyed a promising career.