Benedict Arnold - The Secret Plot That Almost Destroyed America Documentary

In the autumn of 1777, the American Continental Army under General Horatio Gates faced British and German troops led by General John Burgoyne near Saratoga in New York. While the British gained the upper hand during an initial engagement on 19th September, the Continentals won a decisive victory on 7th October, forcing Burgoyne to surrender 10 days later. Although Gates had been in overall command at Saratoga, Major General Benedict Arnold was largely responsible for the American victory. The 36-year-old Arnold combined tactical brilliance with a streak of insubordination, and on 7th October Arnold disobeyed Gates by attacking vulnerable positions to the right of the British line, leading the crucial charge that broke the British line. As a result of Arnold's conspicuous bravery, his left leg was shattered. As the first major victory by the Continentals in the American Revolutionary War, Saratoga encouraged France to enter into a formal alliance with the United States, creating the conditions for George Washington's victory at Yorktown four years later in October 1781. Cornwallis' surrender was terminal to British hopes of denying American independence. While Benedict Arnold was not at Yorktown, he was on the losing side while his former comrades-in-arms celebrated their success. The previous September, he had defected to the British after plotting to surrender the fort at West Point. Ever since, Benedict Arnold has been the most notorious traitor in American history. How did one of the Continental Army's most brilliant generals end up deserting the cause of liberty? This is the story of Benedict Arnold, American Patriot, and American Traitor. The man known to history as Benedict Arnold was born on 14th January 1741 in Norwich, Connecticut, then part of British North America. A century earlier, the Arnold clan had crossed the Atlantic from England and soon became important leaders in the colony of Rhode Island. The Revolutionary War general was the fifth Benedict Arnold in the family. His great-grandfather, Benedict Arnold I, had served as governor of Rhode Island for some 15 years. By the 1730s, the division of the family's lands among many sons and grandsons led the third generation Benedict Arnold to the town of Norwich, on the Thames River in Connecticut, where he became a cooper. Benedict Arnold III soon befriended Absalom King, one of the city's richest merchants. After King died at sea in 1732, Arnold married his widow, Hannah, enabling him to inherit King's trading empire and become a wealthy merchant in his own right, known to his peers as Captain Arnold. The marriage proved a happy one, and Hannah would have nine more pregnancies, although only two of her children survived infancy. Their first child was a son, named Benedict, who died within a year of his birth in 1738. Their second child was given the same name, and he survived into adulthood to win fame and infamy. Accounts of Arnold's childhood include anecdotes of the boy trapping and killing birds for pleasure, or making mischief by riding around a water wheel. Arnold's biographer Jim Murphy argues that these tales were invented much later, when his name was already a byword for treachery, and there are very few details about young Benedict's personality. After beginning his formal schooling in Norwich at the age of 11, Arnold was sent to a boarding school run by his mother's relative, the Reverend James Cogswell, a graduate of Yale College. Hannah Arnold expected great things from her son, and urged the Reverend to instill within him the community's deeply held Puritan values. The weight on Benedict increased as several of his siblings died in quick succession, leaving his sister Hannah as his only surviving sibling. As well as the loss of several children, Captain Benedict Arnold's economic fortunes were impacted by the outbreak of the Seven Years' War between France and Britain in 1754, which disrupted trade with the Caribbean. The elder Arnold turned to alcohol and was arrested for failing to pay his debts, forcing his teenage son to return home from boarding school. With the family business in ruins, Benedict was apprenticed to Daniel and Joshua Lathrop, two maternal relatives who ran an apothecary shop. The teenager impressed them and was invited to become a full business partner in 1761. While Benedict's career prospects were improving, he suffered further family tragedy with the death of his mother in 1759. His widowed father's drinking habit worsened, leading to his arrest for disorderly behavior in May 1760. Captain Arnold was shunned by the entire community and died in late 1761 with his reputation ruined. Several of Benedict Arnold's biographers argue that the trauma of his father's final years fueled his ambition to seek fame and restore his family's reputation. After his father's death, Benedict Arnold sold the family home and moved to New Haven, where he set up a shop selling books, medical supplies, and various other items. Within three years, he bought three ships in partnership with the merchant Adam Badcock. Arnold was frequently at sea between the Caribbean and Canada, which had been conquered by the British in the Seven Years' War. People soon began to address him as Dr. Arnold or Captain Arnold. However, while Britain's victory enabled Arnold to start making his fortune, the highly indebted government in London began imposing various taxes on the American colonies in return for their protection. Following the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765, merchants like Arnold resorted to smuggling to protect their livelihoods. When a sailor named Peter Bowles threatened to inform on him after being denied a pay rise, Arnold and a group of associates accosted Bowles and inflicted some 40 lashes on him. Arnold was arrested and fined, but refused to apologize and instead began justifying his actions by claiming that Bowles was an informer. Like their peers in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, the merchant classes in Connecticut were now openly challenging the British government. They asserted their rights as free-born Englishmen not to be taxed without the consent of their representative bodies. Arnold had taken his first steps as a revolutionary, though his mercantile activities prevented him from being politically active. In early 1767, Arnold married Margaret Mansfield, the daughter of a fellow mason and merchant, who would give him three sons. While Arnold was away for business for several months, Margaret remained at home with her children and sister-in-law Hannah Arnold, who spent much of her life managing her brother's household. An economic downturn forced Benedict to restructure his debts with his London creditors, but, by the early 1770s, he had turned around his fortunes. Meanwhile, Arnold's politics became increasingly radical as the British Parliament continued to assert its right to tax the American colonies. The Tea Act of 1773, which restricted the tea trade to a select coterie of merchants loyal to the British Crown, prompted a series of protests, including the Boston Tea Party. Parliament responded with the Coercive Acts, a package of legislation which effectively imposed direct rule on Boston, where the British military presence under General Thomas Gage had already been inflaming tensions with the local population. When British troops killed five American protesters in the Boston Massacre of March 1770, Arnold wrote to a fellow merchant, "'Are Americans all asleep and tamely giving up their glorious liberties, or are they all turned philosophers, that they don't take vengeance on such miscreants?' By 1774, he had become a prominent leader of the New Haven branch of the revolutionary organization, Sons of Liberty. When the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in September 1774, Arnold accompanied his friend Silas Deane and attended political meetings. By the time the first shots of the American Revolutionary War rang out at Lexington and Concord on 19th April 1775, Arnold was captain of New Haven's militia company. He prepared to march to join the Patriots besieging Boston and requested weapons from the town authorities. When they refused, Arnold threatened to storm their meeting place. On the way to Boston, Arnold met fellow Connecticut officer Colonel Samuel Holden Parsons, who informed him that the Patriots lacked cannon and powder. Arnold told Parsons that there was a large supply of cannon at the likely defended Fort Ticonderoga at the southern end of Lake Champlain, where he had visited on business. Parsons returned to Hartford, Connecticut and persuaded local authorities to plan a mission to capture Ticonderoga. The force was commanded by Ethan Allen of Vermont, the charismatic leader of a militia known as the Green Mountain Boys. After arriving in Massachusetts, Arnold was named colonel and obtained authorization from Dr. Joseph Warren to lead his own attack on Ticonderoga. After sending his captains to recruit men, Arnold headed to Lake Champlain alone and ran into Allen and his 260 men. Arnold sought to take command of the operation, but Allen refused and offered to share command, knowing that Arnold had greater legitimacy, but no men of his own. After launching a surprise attack in the early hours of 10th May 1775, they forced the British garrison to surrender. Arnold was appalled when Allen and his men plundered the stores and became heavily inebriated, but he struggled to impose discipline. A few days later, Arnold assumed sole command as his recruits began outnumbering the Green Mountain Boys. He attacked other British forts in Canada, signalling to the British authorities that they had a much larger conflict on their hands. As 200 British redcoats prepared to counterattack, Arnold withdrew and encountered Ethan Allen and a small party of men hoping to join in the plunder. Allen ignored Arnold's warnings and was easily defeated, but would go on to blame Arnold for luring him into a trap. Arnold and Allen separately reported on the events at Ticonderoga, and the latter portrayed Arnold as a troublemaker. Arnold's invasion of Canada had appalled moderates of the Second Continental Congress and, while the body eventually agreed to Arnold's proposals for a larger-scale invasion of Canada of 2,000 men, they gave command to Philip Shiloh of New York, a major general in the newly formed Continental Army. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress sent Colonel Benjamin Hinman to lead 1,000 men to reinforce Ticonderoga and take over Arnold's command. Arnold, who began preparing the transport of the artillery pieces to Boston, resigned his commission in disgust and returned to New Haven. As Arnold stopped in Albany to meet Philip Shiloh, he learned that both his wife and father-in-law had recently died. He left his sister, Hannah, in charge of his children and his business interests, and focused on defending his reputation. Through his connections with Philip Shiloh and Silas Dean, Arnold secured an interview in September 1775 with the Continental Army's commander-in-chief, General George Washington. The general was impressed by Arnold's report of the situation in Ticonderoga and appointed him to lead an invasion of Quebec as a Continental Army colonel. With around 1,000 men under his command, Arnold launched his expedition in late September, reaching Quebec in early November after suffering heavy losses from attrition. Further west, Shiloh had fallen ill and was succeeded by General Richard Montgomery, who occupied Montreal. Arnold's assault on Quebec was delayed by stormy weather, allowing Guy Carlton, the British governor, to slip into the city and assume command. Despite the arrival of Montgomery, who took command of the siege, the Americans faced heavy opposition and Arnold was seriously wounded in the leg, while the unfortunate Montgomery was killed by a British cannonball. Arnold's talented subordinate, Daniel Morgan, had broken into the lower town with his riflemen, but was forced to withdraw. Following Montgomery's death, Arnold continued to besiege Quebec from his hospital bed and requested reinforcements from Congress. Although Congress authorised 6,500 additional recruits to support Arnold's operations, the reinforcements who arrived over the winter only brought his strength to around 2,500 men. Arnold also requested a more experienced officer to take command, but Brigadier General David Worcester began to criticise Arnold's handling of the siege shortly after his arrival from Montreal at the beginning of April. Within a couple of weeks, Arnold quietly left the siege camp and went to Montreal. Despite his failure to capture Quebec, Arnold's bravery and tenacity during the siege enhanced his reputation. In late April 1776, Arnold received a Congressional Commission led by Benjamin Franklin in Montreal. Although the representative supported his suggestion of holding Montreal and Lake Champlain, the arrival of 8,000 British reinforcements under Major General John Burgoyne enabled Carlton to counter-attack. Arnold hurried down the St. Lawrence River with a few hundred men, but quickly realised there was no hope of holding Canada. In early June, Major General John Sullivan assumed command of the American troops in Canada and launched a futile attack on the British at Arnold commanded the rearguard to protect Sullivan's retreat towards Fort Ticonderoga. As Arnold was campaigning in Canada, the politics of the war were changing. After repeated attempts to find a solution to their disagreements with King George III and the British government, including the Olive Branch Petition of July 1775, the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia determined in the spring of 1776 that they had to break entirely with the crown and establish an independent nation. On the 4th of July 1776, they ratified the text of the Declaration of Independence which Thomas Jefferson, with some input from Franklin and others, had composed. The 4th of July would become known as Independence Day, although the document wasn't actually signed until the 2nd of August. With the colonies having declared their independence, Arnold and the other Patriot commanders were now fighting to secure the survival of their new nation. Despite the failures in Canada, Arnold's earlier exploits at Ticonderoga would bear fruit. In November, the artillery officer Colonel Henry Knox arrived at Ticonderoga to revive the plans to convey the cannon to Boston. He selected around 60 artillery pieces and transported them some 300 miles across poor terrain to Washington's siege camp. In early March 1776, Washington placed the cannon on the Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston and the British fleet in the harbour. This forced the General Sir William Howe's British Army to evacuate the city and sail for New York. Washington's Continentals had achieved a major success, but Howe's withdrawal presented a major strategic threat to the rebellion. With Howe heading for New York, and Carlton planning to sail down Lake Champlain, the two British armies threatened to converge along the Hudson River and split the rebel provinces. While Washington hurried towards New York to confront Howe's landing, Arnold was named commander of the fleet on Lake Champlain, the first line of defence against Carlton's southward drive. With few ships and little ammunition against 1,700 battle-hardened British troops, Arnold gave orders to build more boats and drilled his men in the art of naval warfare. While his subordinates were alarmed by his self-confidence, Arnold knew that his boasts would make their way to Carlton via British spies. Arnold knew from the siege of Quebec that Carlton was instinctively cautious, and Arnold hoped that his deception would delay him until winter, giving vital time for reinforcements to arrive from the south. Even though he was bluffing, Arnold felt he had to match his deeds with his words, and prepared to ambush Carlton's fleet from the shelter of Valcour Island in Lake Champlain. Although his fleet sustained heavy damage in battle on 11th October, the British exhausted their ammunition and allowed Arnold to escape towards Ticonderoga in the night. Arnold fought another rearguard action on 13th October and conveyed six ships back to Ticonderoga, where he was welcomed by his superior Horatio Gates. While Carlton had been successful in battle, the onset of winter prevented him from attacking Ticonderoga. The government in London was infuriated by Carlton's cautiousness, and placed Burgoyne at the head of his army. While Arnold's efforts ensured that the British were prevented from sailing down the Hudson until spring 1777, George Washington's continentals found themselves in dire straits. Although Washington prepared his defences on the Brooklyn Heights, his army was outnumbered two to one by General William Howe's British army, which was supported by the fleet commanded by his brother, Admiral Lord Richard Howe. On 27th August, Washington was defeated at the Battle of Long Island and forced to evacuate New York City. After the British gained control of the lower Hudson, Washington was forced to fall back across New Jersey to Pennsylvania. Washington's defeat prompted his senior generals, Charles Lee and Horatio Gates, to lobby for his removal as Commander-in-Chief. Despite having praised Arnold's action at Lake Champlain, Gates also conveyed to Congress a report accusing him of needless aggression. It was authored by Major John Brown, an officer who had sided with Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga, and became one of Arnold's most ardent critics. As the British retired to winter quarters in Lake Champlain, Arnold set off to New Haven to seek a reunion with his family. However, upon learning of Washington's retreat, Arnold hurried to his headquarters in eastern Pennsylvania, where Washington was planning to launch a daring attack across the Delaware River against enemy positions in Trenton, New Jersey. Although Arnold hoped to join Washington's attack, the latter appointed him to command 5,000 raw recruits to defend Rhode Island from a British army of 7,000 men under General Sir Henry Clinton, who had been detached from Howe's main army to occupy the town of Newport. Washington's brilliant tactical successes at the Battles of Trenton and Princeton in New Jersey kept the Patriot cause alive, but Arnold found little enthusiasm among his men for similar operations against Newport. Nevertheless, he retained the confidence of his Commander-in-Chief, who recommended his promotion to Major General in January 1777. While Congress created five new Major Generals, Arnold's critics in Congress ensured he was not among them. Washington was shocked by the news and was afraid that Arnold would resign his command. Washington persuaded Arnold to remain in post and wrote to his allies in Congress insisting on his promotion. By April 1777, Arnold was frustrated by the slander against him and prepared to go to Philadelphia to defend himself before Congress. While Arnold called on his family at New Haven, he heard that a body of British soldiers under William Tryon had landed nearby Norwalk. After gathering a few hundred militiamen and Brigadier General David Worcester, his critic at Quebec, Arnold planned to block the British at Ridgefield near the New York border while Worcester harassed Tryon's rear. Although Worcester was mortally wounded, Arnold repulsed several British attacks before his horse was shot from under him. With Arnold's leg trapped under his horse, a British soldier approached him and demanded his surrender. Arnold drew his pistol and killed him before freeing himself and rejoining his men while the British troops retired for the night. The following day, the Americans were overwhelmed by a British charge and Arnold had a second horse killed from under him. Arnold had again faced long odds and mounted effective resistance before the enemy's numerical superiority proved overwhelming. His former critics in Congress lavished praise on him and granted him the promotion that they had previously denied him, although this left Arnold as the most junior of the six major generals in the Continental Army. He continued his journey to Philadelphia, stopping at Washington's headquarters at Morristown, New Jersey, where he received the Commander-in-Chief's blessing to plead his case to Congress. While Arnold received a favorable reception, he remained frustrated by Congress's unwillingness to rule on his seniority. At the same time, he witnessed a high-profile disagreement between Horatio Gates and Philip Schuyler over the command of the Northern Army. Arnold was disgusted by the political intrigue and, on the 11th of July, he reluctantly wrote to Congress to resign his commission and return to private life. Once again, events intervened and pushed him in a different direction, and he received an urgent message from General Washington informing him that 15,000 British troops under Howe had embarked on their ships, with their destination unknown. The Commander-in-Chief believed that either Howe would target the heart of the revolution in Philadelphia, or he would sail up the Hudson and link up with Burgoyne's army of 10,000 men, an intimidating force that led General Arthur Sinclair to surrender Fort Ticonderoga without a shot. Washington was particularly fearful of the pincer movement along the Hudson, and led his 7,500 men to block Howe's move north. With Schuyler's Northern Army significantly outnumbered by Burgoyne, Washington wrote to Congress requesting reinforcements for the north and recommended that General Arnold should lead them. Sensing the danger, Congress authorized the raising of 6,000 men from New England, and disregarded Arnold's resignation letter by appointing him as their commander. After calling at Washington's headquarters for further instructions, Arnold joined Schuyler near Saratoga in upstate New York on the 22nd of July. Since there was little prospect of defeating Burgoyne in open battle, Schuyler sought to delay Burgoyne's march towards Albany by ordering his men to destroy all bridges and fell trees to block the forested paths through which Burgoyne's men had to travel. Schuyler ordered Arnold to lead a party to gather intelligence on the enemy, and to harass them with sniper fire. Meanwhile, Schuyler would retreat slowly with his main army, stretching Burgoyne's supply lines and rendering them vulnerable to flank attacks. Although Schuyler's strategy was having its desired effect, an apprehensive Congress abruptly dismissed him and replaced him with Horatio Gates. Arnold was dismayed by his patron's dismissal, but agreed to serve under Gates. Shortly before surrendering his command, Schuyler sent Arnold on a mission to confront a body of 750 British troops and a thousand Native American warriors under Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Ledger, who were besieging Fort Stannix on the Mohawk River. Upon arriving on the scene, Arnold encountered a local man facing execution for recruiting soldiers for the British cause. Arnold convinced him to return to the British camp to spread rumors of the imminent arrival of a large American army. The ruse worked, and the indigenous warriors melted away, leaving St. Ledger's troops outnumbered by the Americans inside and outside the fort. The British officer lifted the siege, allowing Arnold to win a bloodless victory. By the time Arnold returned to Saratoga, he learned that Congress had voted against backdating his promotion. Arnold was also disappointed that Gates failed to mention him at all in his report to Congress about St. Ledger's withdrawal. Arnold was now desperate to prove himself in the upcoming showdown with Burgoyne, who had been reduced to 5,000 effectives by Schuyler's delaying tactics. The flow of reinforcements to Gates meant that the Continental Army at Saratoga now outnumbered Burgoyne. Furthermore, General Howe had decided against sailing up the Hudson to support Burgoyne and instead opted to strike at Philadelphia. Although the odds were increasingly stacked against him, the confident Burgoyne was keen to bring the Americans to battle. From the American camp, Arnold was equally confident and urged Gates to attack Burgoyne as quickly as possible so they could turn around and join Washington's defense of Philadelphia. Since Gates insisted on fighting a defensive battle, Arnold accompanied the Polish military engineer Tadeusz Kosciuszko to look for a more suitable position and identified Bemis Heights overlooking the main road. The Continentals took up their new position on Bemis Heights while Kosciuszko supervised the construction of field defenses. Arnold commanded 2,000 men on the American left, including 600 light infantrymen under Daniel Morgan and Henry Dearborn at Freeman's Farm. Arnold was eager for action, and on 17th September he was authorized to launch probing attacks against the enemy to gather intelligence. Arnold reported to Gates that Burgoyne would launch his attack within 48 hours and that he was planning to outflank the American left. Gates disregarded Arnold's warnings and anticipated a frontal assault along the main road. When the British attacked, on the 19th, Gates was shocked to see the bulk of Burgoyne's men maneuvering to outflank his left under dense forest cover. Arnold eventually obtained permission to order Morgan and Dearborn to engage the advancing British troops. While their first volley surprised the leading British units and sent them reeling, they risked being overwhelmed by Burgoyne's main force. Arnold hurried to their aid and engaged his entire wing as both sides fought bitterly for three hours. Arnold sensed an opportunity to break the British line, but Gates refused to release any more men. By the end of the day, the British maintained control of Freeman's Farm but suffered heavier casualties. Gates not only refused to give Arnold any credit for his actions but reassigned Daniel Morgan's riflemen to the centre. A bitter argument ensued between the two generals and Gates stripped Arnold of his command. Burgoyne's men had been badly bruised on the 19th and assumed a defensive posture to await the arrival of 3,000 reinforcements from Henry Clinton. While these men would never reach Burgoyne in time, Gates received additional reinforcement from Lake Champlain, giving him 11,000 men against Burgoyne's 4,000. With Morgan's sharpshooters continually picking away at the British sentries, Burgoyne launched a reconnaissance in force with half of his men. Gates was once again slow to respond, but the Americans gradually closed in on the enemy from three sides. An hour into the action, Arnold disregarded Gates' orders and galloped into the fray to assume command of the attack. On Arnold's initiative, one of Morgan's riflemen took aim at the British general Simon Fraser and mortally wounded him. With the British centre falling back, Arnold ordered a general attack on the fortifications anchoring the British line. After unsuccessfully charging the British centre, Arnold redirected his assault towards the lightly defended Brayman Redoubt. Arnold had hitherto been unscathed, but as the Continentals formed the position, he was shot by the retreating Hessians in the left leg. Despite being in excruciating pain as his wounded leg was crushed by his fallen horse, Arnold continued to give orders. He was then carried back to headquarters and transported to an army hospital in Albany. Arnold refused to allow the doctors to amputate his leg and instead spent several months in bed with his leg in a primitive wooden cast. The visitors to Arnold's bedside informed him that after Burgoyne's withdrawal, Gates preferred to allow Morgan's rifles to pick off the British troops, who surrendered on the 17th of October. While Gates praised Arnold for the assault on Brayman's Redoubt in his report to Congress, he failed to mention that it was Arnold who had masterminded the general attack. Victory at Saratoga stood in stark contrast to Washington's defeat to Howe at Brandywine in Pennsylvania on the 11th of September, which forced Congress to evacuate from Philadelphia. Congress was grateful to receive the news of the victory in the North and hailed Gates as the Hero of Saratoga. Although Congress later sought to redress the situation by elevating Arnold's seniority above the other major generals who had leapfrogged him, it made no formal announcement and instructed Washington to inform Arnold of his elevation privately. Washington wrote to Arnold in January 1778 and promised him, a command which I trust will be agreeable to yourself and of great advantage to the public. When Arnold finally replied to Washington in March, his tone was less enthusiastic than it had been previously. As Washington continued to assure Arnold of his friendship, Arnold unexpectedly appeared at his headquarters at Valley Forge. His injury left his left leg two inches shorter than his right leg and he had to use a crutch. Around this time, William Howe was replaced by Henry Clinton as commander-in-chief of the British forces. With France formally joining the war in the wake of Saratoga, the authorities in London shifted their focus to protecting Britain from invasion. Clinton was ordered to maintain control of the ports and retreated to New York, allowing Congress to return to Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Washington appointed Benedict Arnold as the city's commandant. It transpired to be the worst mistake of his career. Having been snubbed by Congress on several occasions, Arnold had no time for the politicians in Philadelphia. Although some Loyalists had followed Clinton to New York, a large population remained behind. While Congress and Washington had issued express orders forbidding reprisals against Loyalists, Arnold struggled to prevent the more radical patriots from seizing their property, while his efforts to reassure the Loyalists of his protection by entertaining them at his residence further angered his critics. Moreover, since neither Arnold nor any other officer of the Continental Army had been paid by Congress for almost three years of service, he was forced to engage in private business ventures to meet his expenses. While this was not illegal, it was unseemly and strengthened his critics, chief among which was Pennsylvania's Governor Joseph Reed. Arnold's association with the Loyalists of Philadelphia increased further after he fell in love with the 18-year-old Peggy Shippen, the daughter of a Loyalist judge. The widowed Arnold was desperate for companionship and, after proposing to Peggy in September 1778, the couple were married on the 8th of April 1779. The pair formed a loving bond and would have five children together, and Peggy may have influenced Arnold's future career trajectory. By this time, Arnold had resigned from the office of Commandant and was being investigated on several charges of corruption levied against him by Joseph Reed. Although Arnold was confident that he would be acquitted and a court-martial, delays in proceedings continued to tarnish his reputation. In early May, Arnold met with Philadelphia Loyalist Joseph Stansbury and told him he believed the separation of Great Britain and the American colonies would be disastrous for both, and offered to work with the British to defeat the rebellion. Stansbury immediately rode to New York and passed on the message to John André, the 28-year-old British intelligence chief who had befriended Peggy Shippen during the occupation of Philadelphia. While André was glad to welcome Arnold to the British cause and invited him to share intelligence, Arnold insisted on being paid £10,000 for his services, a handsome sum that partly accounted for the monies owed him by Congress and other uncollected debts. While his negotiations with André broke down in October 1779, Arnold continued to sympathise with the British after mob attacks on Philadelphia Loyalists in late 1779. Arnold himself was targeted, but Congress refused his request for protection. Moreover, Congress refused to acknowledge its debts to Arnold from the Canadian campaign. Finally, while the court-martial in January 1780 acquitted him of financial misconduct, it instructed Washington to reprimand Arnold for abusing his military authority. Despite Washington's best efforts to soften the blow, Arnold was bitterly disappointed that Washington had accepted the court's verdict. In late April, Arnold resumed contact with John André and lobbied Shiloh for command of the strategic fort of West Point on the Hudson, which he planned to surrender to the British. Arnold was surprised when Washington offered him the senior field command that he had coveted for years. It came too late, and Arnold persuaded Washington to send him to West Point on the grounds that his wound prevented him from actively fighting. Upon his arrival, Arnold inspected the defences and found them inadequate. He wrote a report for Washington and kept a second copy for the British. Arnold believed that his intelligence was worth £20,000, but it was only in August, when Clinton was convinced of his sincerity, that he approved the terms. While Arnold was planning his rendezvous with André, he was surprised with news from Washington that he was passing by on the 17th of September on his way to meet with French officers at Hartford, Connecticut. Arnold shared Washington's plans with André, but the British failed to seize the opportunity to capture Washington and his staff. After two failed attempts, André adopted the disguise of a businessman called Anderson, and met Arnold behind American lines during the early hours of the 22nd of September. Arnold passed him his survey of West Point's defences, but André was left stranded when the British sloop Vulture retreated to safety after American guns unexpectedly opened fire. He attempted to return by land, but was intercepted by American militia on the morning of the 23rd. They forced André to strip down and found the incriminating papers in his stockings. André was taken to Colonel John Jamieson, who ordered him to be taken to Arnold's headquarters for questioning. Washington's spymaster, Major Benjamin Talmadge, happened to be on the scene and urged Jamieson to rescind his orders. Jamieson agreed to recall André and deliver the incriminating papers to Washington, who was travelling back from Hartford, but sent Arnold news of André's arrest. Arnold was expecting Washington to join him for breakfast on the morning of the 25th of September when he received Jamieson's note. With Washington minutes away, Arnold mounted his horse and escaped down the Hudson to New York. While Washington took breakfast downstairs, Peggy Arnold was upstairs burning the incriminating correspondence. It was not until the afternoon that Washington returned to his quarters and received the papers recovered from André, causing him to remark, "'Arnold has betrayed me. Whom can we trust now?' Washington soon regained his composure and dispatched Alexander Hamilton to hunt the traitor down, but he knew that Arnold's betrayal would damage him personally. Meanwhile, André was imprisoned and sentenced to hang on the 1st October. Although Washington and the Continental officers were impressed by André's noble bearing, there could be no question of leniency. As news of Arnold's treachery spread throughout the nation, Arnold's former friends quickly disassociated themselves from him and the history of his contributions to the patriotic cause was rewritten. Countless images appeared depicting Arnold as Judas, while a mob destroyed the graves of his namesake father and brother to eradicate the name. In New York, Arnold began advising the British officers how to crush the rebellion. He was commissioned as a brigadier general, but Clinton rejected his pleas to lead an attack on Philadelphia. Instead, Arnold would take 1,600 redcoats to raid American supply bases in Virginia to support General Lord Cornwallis' southern army. In December 1780, Arnold captured Richmond with a surprise attack and blazed a trail of devastation across Virginia. After handing command to Cornwallis in May 1781, Arnold was recalled to New York. Frustrated by Clinton's continued refusal to authorize an attack on Philadelphia, Arnold was ordered to lead a raid on New London near his hometown in Connecticut. In the meantime, Cornwallis was surrounded by American and French forces at Yorktown and surrendered on 20th October 1781. Arnold sailed to London with his family and urged the government to continue with the war, but the fall of Lord North's administration in 1782 paved the way for the Treaty of Paris on 3rd September 1783, which formally recognized American independence. Arnold was only 43 years old and sought further military service, but his reputation as a turncoat meant that he was widely distrusted. In 1785, he sailed to New Brunswick in Canada and quickly became a wealthy businessman and landowner. However, the prospect of renewed conflict between Britain and France after the French Revolution of 1789 caused an economic downturn in Canada, forcing Arnold and his family to move to England in December 1791. After failing to secure a command in the war against France, he turned to privateering in the Caribbean. On one occasion, he was captured by the French, but successfully escaped while his captors considered selling him to the Americans. After trying to settle his affairs in Canada in the late 1790s, Arnold's health sharply declined in early 1801 and he died in London on 14th June at the age of 60. Arnold continues to be known as America's most infamous traitor, and generations of Americans have struggled to reconcile his treason with his earlier military exploits such as the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of Saratoga. The Boot Memorial at the Saratoga National Historical Park, erected by Civil War General John Watts de Peyster in 1887, bears an inscription commemorating Arnold and his wounded leg without naming him, in memory of the most brilliant soldier of the Continental Army who was desperately wounded on this spot, winning for his countrymen the decisive battle of the While Arnold's military talents are widely acknowledged, and he was often the victim of political intrigue, there is no escaping the fact of his treason and his ruthlessness in leading raids against his former countrymen, and he will continue to be one of the most controversial figures in American history. What do you think of Benedict Arnold? Was he a brilliant soldier who had legitimate grievances about being overlooked by Congress, or was he a vain and ambitious man who placed his personal interests above any political cause? Please, let us know in the And, in the meantime, thank you very much for watching.