Because of the constant agony of two battlefield wounds in an already gout-ridden leg? [70] This initial letter opened a discussion on the types of assistance and intelligence that Arnold might provide, and included instructions for how to communicate in the future. He is also believed to have built the first U.S. telescope. Excited by the prospects, Clinton informed his superiors of his intelligence coup, but failed to respond to Arnold's July 7 letter. At the age of sixteen, Arnold enlisted in a militia and served in the French and Indian War in upstate New York . Benedict Arnold was born a British subject, the second of six children of his father Benedict Arnold III (16831761) and Hannah Waterman King in Norwich, Connecticut, on January 14, 1741. 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. [12] In 1757 when he was 16, he did enlist in the Connecticut militia, which marched off toward Albany, New York, and Lake George. Unable to obtain a regular commission in the British army, he later pursued various business ventures, including land speculation in Canada. Unable to obtain a regular commission in the British army after the war, Arnold pursued various business ventures like land speculation and privateering before permanently settling in London. Again he tried to resign, but in July he accepted a government order to help stem the British advance into upper New York. Benedict Arnold was born in 1741 to a prominent Connecticut family. Benedict Arnold was an American Senior Officer during the Revolutionary War. Arnold received a commission as a brigadier general in the British Army, an annual pension of 360,[b] and a lump sum of over 6,000. [114] His reputation also came under criticism in the British press, especially when compared to Major Andr who was celebrated for his patriotism. By Joyce Lee Malcolm. He returned a hero, but his rash courage and impatient energy had aroused the enmity of several officers. Together, they won the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga, America's first victory in the Revolutionary War. [55], Arnold lived extravagantly in Philadelphia and was a prominent figure on the social scene. One plaque bears only a rank and a date but no name: "major general born 1740". -Benedict Arnold, January, 1780. "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. Arnold mingled with Loyalist sympathizers in Philadelphia and married into a Loyalist family when he wedded Peggy Shippen. BENEDICT ARNOLD REMAINS the most notorious man in American history, his name a synonym for traitor. [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. Washington was one of the few who genuinely liked and admired him, but Arnold thought that Washington had betrayed him. During this time, Arnold brought his sister Hannah to New Haven and established her in his apothecary to manage the business in his absence. During the Revolutionary War, West Point was known as Fort Arnold, but after Benedict Arnold's betrayal, it became known as Fort Clinton. [139] However, not all depictions of Arnold were so negative. Understand why Benedict Arnold spied for the British during the American Revolutionary War. [86], Arnold's command at West Point also gave him authority over the entire American-controlled Hudson River, from Albany down to the British lines outside New York City. [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. His performance in the Battle of Ridgefield in Connecticut prompted his promotion to major general. He dared not tell me his name. Benedict Arnold, (born January 14, 1741, Norwich, Connecticut [U.S.]died June 14, 1801, London, England), patriot officer who served the cause of the American Revolution until 1779, when he shifted his allegiance to the British. On June 16, Arnold inspected West Point while on his way home to Connecticut to take care of personal business, and he sent a highly detailed report through the secret channel. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. One critic said that he was a "mean mercenary, who, having adopted a cause for the sake of plunder, quits it when convicted of that charge". [104] He justified his actions in an open letter titled "To the Inhabitants of America", published in newspapers in October 1780. [3] Some among those in his military and political circles charged him with corruption and other bad acts. To raise money, he violated several state and military regulations, arousing the suspicions and, finally, the denunciations of Pennsylvanias supreme executive council. Bettmann / Corbis "You have five. In the winter of 1782, he and Peggy moved to London, England. Saint Benedict once lived in a hermit cave. Later,. Arnold had the power to act, to defy the stresses of business and the dangers of the battlefield; but Peggy had the power to endure. Troops were liberally distributed within Arnold's command area (but only minimally at West Point itself) or furnished to Washington on request. general, has a name that's become synonymous with deceit and. Following the deaths of three of his. [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. Arnold was born in Norwich, Connecticut, on January 14, 1741. His company marched northeast the following month to assist in the siege of Boston that followed the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741 in Norwich, Connecticut and named after his His mother was Hannah Waterman King, a rich widow. In that era, people ate most of the common foods without. John Andr was executed for spying. Thereupon I expressed the desire of seeing that gentleman, and, shortly after, I was introduced to 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. [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. In 1780, when "The Capture of Benedict Arnold" episode takes place, Rittenhouse in real life was treasurer of Pennsylvania. 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. [132], Early biographers attempted to describe Arnold's entire life in terms of treacherous or morally questionable behavior. Yet as every elementary school student knows, Benedict reneged on his original commitment and defected to England. Far fewer know . [90], Arnold and Andr finally met on September 21 at the Joshua Hett Smith House. [63][64], Arnold had an extremely ambitious and jealous personality. [73] By October 1779, the negotiations had ground to a halt. [22], The Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 severely curtailed mercantile trade in the colonies. [35], During these actions, Arnold made a number of friends and a larger number of enemies within the army power structure and in Congress. From psychological wounds received in his Connecticut childhood when his alcoholic father squandered the family's fortunes? Things Trump will never be. Arnold's role in the war was controversial, with some supporting his actions and others supporting the Patriots. Only action by Arnold's superior at Ticonderoga prevented his own arrest on countercharges leveled by Hazen. It described a boy who stole eggs from birds' nests, pulled wings off insects, and engaged in other sorts of wanton cruelty, who then grew up to become a traitor to his country. He claimed that Arnold was guilty of all kinds of treasonous acts and preferred the company of the British loyalists, all without offering any proof. betrayal. Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741, in Norwich, Colony of Connecticut, British America. [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. 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. 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. But the brash war herohe helped take Fort Ticonderoga and led troops. He engaged in a variety of business deals designed to profit from war-related supply movements and benefiting from the protection of his authority. Interview with Philbrick in Michael Dolan, "Hero And Villain,", Julie Courtwright, "Whom Can We Trust Now? Arnold reopened the secret channels with the British, informing them of Schuyler's proposals and including Schuyler's assessment of conditions at West Point. [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. He started as an apprentice [123], In January 1801, Arnold's health began to decline. [1] Arnold's name had become synonymous with the word traitor. Though the location was used for training cadets in engineering starting in 1794, it officially became the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1802. He was the second of the couple's six children. At his request, a court martial was held to clear his name. 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. "[108] Cornwallis ignored Arnold's advice to locate a permanent base away from the coast, advice that might have averted his surrender at Yorktown. It was General Arnold. On August 15, he received a coded letter from Andr with Clinton's final offer: 20,000[b] and no indemnification for his losses. After Benedict Arnold betrayed the Continental Army, his British contact, Major John Andr, was captured by the Americans and hanged as a spy while Arnold escaped on a British ship. [31], Arnold was in the West Indies when the Boston Massacre took place on March 5, 1770. 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. [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. [148] He was buried at St Mary's Church, Battersea, England which has a commemorative stained glass window. He was a war hero who persistently fought for America's independence. [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. Some theatrical treatments of the 19th century explored his duplicity, seeking to understand rather than demonize it. This meeting was thwarted when British gunboats in the river fired on his boat, not being informed of his impending arrival. Arnold immediately hastened to the shore and ordered bargemen to row him downriver to where HMS Vulture was anchored, fleeing on it to New York City. 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. Interesting Facts About Benedict Arnold. His subordinates, some long-time associates, grumbled about Arnold's unnecessary distribution of supplies and eventually concluded that he was selling them on the black market for personal gain. He followed up that action with a bold raid on Fort Saint-Jean on the Richelieu River north of Lake Champlain. Washington also infiltrated men into New York City in an attempt to capture Arnold. [120] The family left Saint John to return to London in December 1791. Background. His father's alcoholism and ill health kept him from training Arnold in the family mercantile business, but his mother's family connections secured an apprenticeship for him with her cousins Daniel and Joshua Lathrop, who operated a successful apothecary and general merchandise trade in Norwich. Promoted to the rank of brigadier general, Arnold constructed a flotilla on Lake Champlain and inflicted severe losses on a greatly superior enemy fleet near Valcour Island, New York (October 11, 1776). [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. [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. At a prearranged rendezvous point on the shoreline his contact arrived just after midnight. Nor was it named after Pope Benedict XIII, the leader of the Catholic Church from 1724 to 1730 (or any of the 15 other popes who took the name Benedict). Or was it a kind of extreme midlife crisis, swerving from radical political beliefs to reactionary ones, a change accelerated by his marriage to the very young, very pretty, very Tory Peggy Shippen? [38], General Washington assigned Arnold to the defense of Rhode Island following the British seizure of Newport in December 1776, where the militia were too poorly equipped to even consider an attack on the British. Benedict Arnold (14 January 1741 [O.S. A pharmacist by trade, the 34-year-old Arnold joined the rebellion in 1775. [55], Andr conferred with Clinton, who gave him broad authority to pursue Arnold's offer. 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". [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. 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. [68] Stansbury ignored instructions from Arnold to involve no one else in the plot, and he crossed the British lines and went to see Jonathan Odell in New York. 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. On July 12, he wrote again, making explicit the offer to surrender West Point, although his price rose to 20,000[b] (in addition to indemnification for his losses), with a 1,000[b] down payment to be delivered with the response. [103], Washington remained calm when he was presented with evidence of Arnold's treason. My family have voted conservative in most elections. By. Samuel Spring carried him to the makeshift hospital at the Htel Dieu. Although he was unsuccessful, his attempt to betray George Washington and his American forces . The first man was a British major named John Andre. He then went to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and suggested to George Washington a second expedition to attack Quebec City via a wilderness route through Maine. In April of 1775, after learning about the conflicts at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, Arnold organized his men in preparation for a march to Cambridge to aid in the fight against the British . Meanwhile, in April 1779, Arnold married Margaret (Peggy) Shippen, a young woman of loyalist sympathies. [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. Mo talks with author Nathaniel Philbrick about the now . 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