Benedict Arnold V (January 14, 1741 [O.S. January 3, 1740][1][2] – June
14, 1801) was a general during the American Revolutionary War who originally
fought for the American Continental Army, but switched sides to the British
Empire. As a general still on the American side, he obtained command of the fort
at West Point, New York, and attempted unsuccessfully to surrender it to the
British. After this he served with British forces as a Loyalist.
Benedict Arnold
Revolutionary War Major General
ARNOLD, Benedict, soldier, born in
Norwich, Connecticut, 14 Jan., 1741; died in London, England, 14 June, 1801. His
ancestor, William Arnold (born in Leamington, Warwickshire, in 1587), came to
Providence in 1636, and was associated with Roger Williams as one of the
fifty-four proprietors in the first settlement of Rhode island. His son Benedict
moved to Newport, and was governor of the colony from 1663 to 1666, 1669 to
1672, 1677 to 1678, when he died. His son Benedict was a member of the assembly
in 1695. His son Benedict, third of that name, moved to Norwich in 1730; was
cooper, ship-owner, and sea-captain, town surveyor, collector, assessor, and
selectman. He married, 8 Nov., 1733, Hannah, daughter of John Waterman, widow of
Absalom King. Of their six children, only Benedict and Hannah lived to grow up.
Benedict received a respectable school education, including some knowledge of
Latin. He was romantic and adventurous, excessively proud and sensitive,
governed rather by impulse than by principle. He was noted for physical strength
and beauty, as well as for bravery. He possessed immense capacity both for good
and for evil, and circumstances developed him in both directions. At the age of
fifteen he ran away from home and enlisted in the Connecticut army, marching to
Albany and Lake George to resist the French invasion; but, getting weary of
discipline, he deserted and made his way home alone through the wilderness.
He was employed in a drug shop at Norwich until 1762, when he removed to New
Haven and established himself in business as druggist and bookseller. He
acquired a considerable property, and engaged in the West India trade, sometimes
commanding his own ships, as his father had done. He also carried on trade with
Canada, and often visited Quebec. On 22 Feb., 1767, he married Margaret,
daughter of Samuel Mansfield. They had three sons, Benedict, Richard, and Henry.
She died 19 June, 1775. On one of his voyages, being at Honduras, he fought a
duel with a British sea-captain who called him a "Damn Yankee"; the captain was
wounded and apologized. He occasionally visited England.
At noon of 20 April, 1775, the news of the
Battle of Lexington reached New
Haven, and Arnold, who was captain of the governor's guards, about 60 in number,
assembled them on the college green and offered to lead them to Boston. Gen.
Wooster thought he had better wait for regular orders, and the selectmen refused
to supply ammunition; but, upon Arnold's threatening' to break into the
magazine, the selectmen yielded and furnished the ammunition, and the company
marched to Cambridge. Arnold immediately proposed the capture of Ticonderoga and
Crown Point, and the plan was approved by
Dr. Warren, chairman of the committee of safety. Arnold was commissioned as
colonel by the provincial congress of Massachusetts, and directed to raise 400
men in the western counties and surprise the forts. The same scheme had been
entertained in Connecticut, and troops from that colony and from Berkshire, with
a number of "Green Mountain Boys," had already started for the lakes under
command of Ethan Allen. On meeting them
Arnold claimed the command, but when it was refused he joined the expedition as
a volunteer and entered Ticonderoga side by side with Allen. A few days later
Arnold captured St. John's. Massachusetts asked Connecticut to put him in
command of these posts, but Connecticut preferred Allen.
Arnold returned to Cambridge early in July, proposed to Washington the
expedition against Quebec by way of the Kennebec and Chaudiere rivers, and was
placed in command of 1,100 men and started from Cambridge 11 Sept. The
enterprise, which was as difficult and dangerous as
Hannibal's crossing of the Alps, was
conducted with consummate ability, but was nearly ruined by the misconduct of
Col. Enos, who deserted and returned to Massachusetts with 200 men and the
greater part of the provisions. After frightful hardships, to which 200 more men
succumbed, on 13 Nov., the little army climbed the heights of Abraham. As
Arnold's force was insufficient to storm the city, and the garrison would not
come out to fight, he was obliged to await the arrival of Montgomery, who had
just taken Montreal. In the great assault of 31 Dec., in which
Montgomery was slain, Arnold
received a wound in the leg. For his gallantry he was now made
brigadier-general. He kept up the siege of Quebec till the following April, when
Wooster arrived and took command. Arnold was put in command of Montreal. The
British, being now heavily reinforced, were able to drive the Americans from
Canada, and early in June Arnold effected a junction with Gates at
Ticonderoga. During the summer he
was busily occupied in building a fleet with which to oppose and delay the
advance of the British up Lake
Champlain. On 11 Oct. he fought a terrible naval battle near Valcour Island,
in which he was defeated by the overwhelming superiority of the enemy in number
of ships and men; but he brought away part of his flotilla and all his surviving
troops in safety to Ticonderoga, and his resistance had been so obstinate that
it discouraged Gen. Carleton, who retired to Montreal for the winter. This
relief of Ticonderoga made it possible to send 3,000 men from the northern army
to the aid of Washington, and
thus enabled that commander to strike his great blows at Trenton and Princeton.
Among Allen's men concerned in the capture of Ticonderoga in the preceding year
was Lieut. John Brown, of Pittsfield, who on that occasion had some difficulty
with Arnold. Brown now brought charges against Arnold of malfeasance while in
command at Montreal, with reference to exactions of private property for the use
of the army. The charges were investigated by the board of war, which pronounced
them "cruel and groundless" and entirely exonerated Arnold, and £he report was
confirmed by congress. Nevertheless, a party hostile to Arnold had begun to grow
up in that body. Gates had already
begun to intrigue against Schuyler,
and Charles Lee had done his best to ruin Washington. The cabal or faction that
afterward took its name from Conway was already forming. Arnold was conspicuous
as an intimate friend of Schuyler and Washington, and their enemies began by
striking at him. This petty persecution of the commander-in-chief by slighting
and insulting his favorite officers was kept up until the last year of the war,
and such men as Greene, Morgan,
and Stark were almost driven from the service by it. On 19 Feb., 1777, congress
appointed five new major-generals--Stirling, Mifflin,
St. Clair, Stephen, and
Lincoln--thus passing over Arnold, who was the senior brigadier. None of these
officers had rendered services at all comparable to his, and, coming as it did
so soon after his heroic conduct on Lake Champlain, this action of congress
naturally incensed him. He behaved very well, however, and expressed his
willingness to serve under the men lately his juniors, while at the same time he
requested congress to restore him to his relative rank.
The last week in April 2,000 British troops under Gov. Tryon invaded Connecticut
and destroyed the military stores at Danbury. They were opposed by Wooster with
600 men, and a skirmish ensued, in which that general was slain. By this time
Arnold, who was at New Haven, on a visit to his family, arrived on the scene
with several hundred militia, and there was a desperate fight at Ridge-field, in
which Arnold had two horses shot from under him. The British were driven to
their ships, and narrowly escaped capture. Arnold was now pro-rooted to the rank
of major-general and presented by congress with a fine horse, but his relative
rank was not restored. While he was at Philadelphia inquiring into the reasons
for the injustice that had been done him, the country was thrown into
consternation by the news of Burgoyne's advance and the fall of Ticonderog'a. At
Washington's suggestion, Arnold again joined the northern army, and by a
brilliant stratagem dispersed the army of St. Leger, which, in cooperation with
Burgoyne, was coming down the Mohawk
valley, and had laid siege to Fort Stanwix. After Schuyler had been superseded
by Gates, Arnold was placed in command of the left wing of the army on Bemis
heights. In the battle of 19 Sept., at Freeman's farm, he frustrated Burgoyne's
attempt to turn the American left, and held the enemy at bay till nightfall. If
properly reinforced by Gates, he would probably have inflicted a crushing defeat
upon Burgoyne. But Gates, who had already begun to dislike him as a friend of
Schuyler, was enraged by his criticisms on the battle of Freeman's farm, and
sought to wreak his spite by withdrawing from his division some of its best
troops.
This gave rise to a fierce quarrel. Arnold asked permission to return to
Philadelphia, and Gates granted it. But many officers, knowing that a decisive
battle was imminent, and feeling no confidence in Gates, entreated Arnold to
remain, and he did so. Gates issued no order directly superseding him, but took
command of the left wing in person, giving the right wing to
Lincoln. At the critical moment of
the decisive battle of 7 Oct., Arnold rushed upon the field without orders, and
in a series of magnificent charges broke through the British lines and put them
to flight. The credit of this great victory, which secured for us the alliance
with France, is due chiefly to Arnold, and in a less degree to Morgan. Gates was
not on the field, and deserves no credit whatever. Just at the close of the
battle Arnold was severely wounded in the leg that had been hurt at Quebec. He
was carried on a litter to Albany, and remained there disabled until spring. On
20 Jan., 1778, he received from congress an antedated commission restoring him
to his original seniority in the army.
On 19 June, as he was still too lame for field service, Washington put him in
command of Philadelphia, which the British had just evacuated. The Tory
sentiment in that city was strong, and had been strengthened by disgust at the
alliance with France, a feeling which Arnold seems to have shared. He soon
became engaged to a Tory lady, Margaret, daughter of Edward Shippen, afterward
chief justice of Pennsylvania. She was celebrated for her beauty, wit, and
nobility of character. During the next two years Arnold associated much with the
Tories, and his views of public affairs were no doubt influenced by this
association. He lived extravagantly, and became involved in debt. He got into
quarrels with many persons, especially with
Joseph Reed, president of the executive council of the state. These troubles
wrought upon him until he made up his mind to resign his commission, obtain a
grant of land in central New York, settle it with some of his old soldiers, and
end his days in rural seclusion. His request was favorably entertained by the
New York legislature, but a long list of charges now brought against him by Reed
drove the scheme from his mind.
The charges were investigated by a committee of congress, and on all those
that affected his integrity he was acquitted. Two charges -- first, of having
once in a hurry granted a pass in which some due forms were overlooked, and,
secondly, of having once used some public wagons, which were standing idle, for
saving private property in danger from the enemy--were proved against him; but
the committee thought these things too trivial to notice, and recommended an
unqualified verdict of acquittal. Arnold then, considering himself vindicated,
resigned his command of Philadelphia. But as Reed now represented that further
evidence was forthcoming, congress referred the matter to another committee,
which shirked the responsibility through fear of offending Pennsylvania, and
handed the affair over to a court-martial. Arnold clamored for a speedy trial,
but Reed succeeded in delaying it several months under pretence of collecting
evidence. On 26 Jan., 1780, the court-martial rendered its verdict, which agreed
in every particular with that of the committee of congress; but for the two
trivial charges proved against Arnold, it was decided that he should receive a
reprimand from the commander-in-chief. Washington, who considered Arnold the
victim of persecution, couched the reprimand in such terms as to convert it into
eulogy, and soon afterward offered Arnold the highest command under himself in
the northern army for the next campaign. But Arnold in an evil hour had allowed
himself to be persuaded into the course that has blackened his name forever.
Three years had elapsed since
Saratoga, and the fortunes of the Americans, instead of improving, had grown
worse and worse. France had as yet done but little for us, our southern army had
been annihilated, our paper money had become worthless, our credit abroad had
hardly begun to exist. Even Washington wrote that "he had almost ceased to
hope." The army, clad in rags, half-starved and unpaid, was nearly ripe for
the mutiny that broke out a few months later, and desertions to the British
lines averaged more than 100 a month. The spirit of desertion now seized upon
Arnold, with whom the British commander had for some time tampered through the
mediation of John Andre and an American
loyalist, Beverley Robinson. Stung by the injustice he had suffered, and
influenced by history surroundings, Arnold made up his mind to play a part like
that which Gen. Monk had played in the restoration of Charles II. to the British
throne. By putting the British in possession of the Hudson river, he would give
them all that they had sought to obtain by the campaigns of 1776-'77; and the
American cause would thus become so hopeless that an opportunity would be
offered for negotiation.
Arnold was assured that Lord North would renew the liberal terms already
offered in 1778, which conceded everything that the Americans had demanded in
1775. By rendering a cardinal service to the British, he might hope to attain a
position of such eminence as to conduct these negotiations, end the war, and
restore America to her old allegiance, with her freedom from parliamentary
control guaranteed. In order to realize these ambitious dreams, Arnold resorted
to the blackest treachery. In July, 1780, he sought and obtained command of West
Point in order to surrender it to the enemy. When his scheme was detected by the
timely capture of Andre, he fled to the British at New York, a disgraced and
hated traitor. Instead of getting control of affairs, like Gen. Monk, he had
sold himself cheap, receiving a brigadier-general's place in the British army
and a paltry stun of money. In the spring of 1781 he conducted a plundering
expedition into Virginia. In September of the same year he was sent to attack
New London, in order to divert Washington from his southward march against
Cornwallis.
In the following winter he went with his wife to London, where he was well
received by the king and the Tories, but frowned upon by the Whigs. In 1787 he
removed to St. John's, New Brunswick, and entered into mercantile business with
his sons Richard and Henry. In 1791 he returned to London and settled there
permanently. In 1792 he fought a bloodless duel with the earl of Landerdale, for
a remark which the latter had made about him in the House of Lords. His last
years were embittered by remorse.
A fine letter at the latter stages
of the Canadian invasion. Arnold had left the siege of Quebec in the hands of
General Wooster and gone to Montreal to recuperate, where he learned of an
impending attack on the small American garrison at The Cedars, on the St.
Lawrence just west of Montreal, commanded by Bedel: ‘I have received certain
intelligence,., that the Inhabitants of Isle Perot. River des Chenes, quinchien
{Quinze Chiens] and the Cedars; Parishes near your Post...are united in a design
of cutting off your party. This Intelligence is Just come to hand, and I have
thought proper to send an express to acquaint you with it. You will take every
possible precaution to prevent a surprise by keeping your men as near together
as can be and Fortifying as well as your Situation will a1ow. Two Hundred Men
from Sr. Johns are ordered to Join you Immediately Write me by return of the
Bearer who has orders to hurry on the Ammunition etc to you:'
In May The Cedars was attacked by bout 500
Indians and 150 French and English- The ill fated garrison and the relief column
from Montreal were captured. Two prisoners were executed and four or five were
later tortured and killed by the Indians; the survivors were finally turned over
to Arnold. By June the American invasion of Canada was in disarray and a
withdrawal was ordered.
Arnold is considered by many to be the best general and most accomplished
leader in the Continental Army. Without Arnold's earlier contributions to
their cause, the American Revolution might have been lost; but after he
switched sides, his name became a byword for treason in the United States.[3][4]
In spite of his success, Arnold was passed over for promotion by the
Continental Congress while other general officers took credit for his many
accomplishments.[5]
As his personal debts mounted, Congress investigated his accounts, and charges
of corruption were brought by political adversaries. Frustrated, bitter,
disaffected by the assaults on his honor and strongly opposed to the new
American alliance with France, Arnold changed sides. In July 1780, he sought
and obtained command of
West Point in order to surrender it to the British. Arnold's scheme was
detected when American forces captured British Major
John
André carrying papers that revealed Arnold's plan.
Upon learning of André's capture, Benedict Arnold escaped down the
Hudson River to the British
sloop-of-warVulture,
narrowly avoiding capture by the forces of
General Washington, who had departed for West Point immediately upon
learning of Arnold's plan. Arnold received a commission as a
Brigadier General in the
British Army, a good annual pension of £360, and a lump sum of about 17
times that amount.[6]
In the winter of 1782, Arnold left the army and moved to London with his
second wife,
Margaret "Peggy" Shippen Arnold. He was well received by
King George III and the
Tories but frowned upon by the
Whigs. In 1787 he entered into mercantile business with his sons Richard
and Henry in
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, but returned to London to settle
permanently in 1791.
Early
life
Arnold was born the last of six children to Benedict Arnold III (1683–1761)
and Hannah Waterman King in
Norwich,
Connecticut, in 1741. He was named after his great-grandfather
Benedict Arnold, an early governor of the
Colony of Rhode Island, and his brother Benedict IV, who died in infancy
before Benedict Arnold V was born. Only Benedict and his sister Hannah
survived to adulthood; his other siblings succumbed to
yellow fever in childhood. Through his maternal grandmother, Arnold was a
descendant of
John Lothropp, an ancestor of at least four
U.S. presidents.
The Arnold family was well off until the future general's father made
several bad business deals that plunged the family into debt, and became an
alcoholic,
forcing his son to withdraw from school at 14 because the family could not
afford the expense.
His father's alcoholism and ill-health prevented him from training Arnold
in the family mercantile business, but his mother's family connections secured
an apprenticeship for Arnold with two of her cousins, brothers Daniel and
Joshua Lathrop, who operated a successful
apothecary and general merchandise trade in Norwich.
French
and Indian War
At fifteen, Arnold enlisted in the Connecticut
militia.
The militia marched to
Albany and
Lake George to oppose the French invasion from Canada at the
Battle of Fort William Henry. However, he never engaged in battle during
the war. The British suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the French
under
Montcalm. The British
surrendered
on the conditions that they could
evacuate the fort under
safe
conduct and could keep their
weapons, but
the Indian allies of the French, who had been promised
scalps, arms,
and booty, attacked and massacred several hundred of the men, women, and
children. The French regulars could not or did not stop the Indians.[7]
This event may have created an abiding hatred for the French in a young and
impressionable Arnold that influenced his actions later in life.
Parents'
deaths
Arnold's mother, to whom he was very close, died in 1759. The youth took on
the responsibility of supporting his ailing father and younger sister. His
father's alcoholism worsened after the death of his wife, and he was arrested
on several occasions for public drunkenness and was refused
communion
by his church, eventually dying in 1761.
Pre-revolutionary
activities
In 1762, with the help of the Lathrops, Arnold established himself in
business as a
pharmacist and bookseller in
New Haven, Connecticut.
Arnold was ambitious and aggressive, quickly expanding his business. In
1763 he repurchased the family homestead that his father had sold when deeply
in debt, and re-sold it a year later for a substantial profit. In 1764 he
formed a partnership with
Adam Babcock, another young New Haven merchant. Using the profits from the
sale of his homestead they bought three trading ships and established a
lucrative
West Indies trade. During this time he brought his sister Hannah to New
Haven and established her in his apothecary to manage the business in his
absence. 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.
The
Stamp Act of 1765 severely curtailed
mercantile trade in the colonies. Arnold initially took no part in any
public demonstrations but, like many merchants, continued to trade as if the
Stamp Act did not exist, in effect becoming a smuggler in defiance of the act.
On the night of January 31, 1767, Arnold took part in a demonstration
denouncing the acts of the
British Parliament and their oppressive colonial policy in which the
effigies of local crown officials were burned. He and members of his crew
roughed up a man suspected of informing on smugglers. Arnold was arrested and
fined 50 shillings for disturbing the peace.
The oppressive taxes levied by Parliament forced many New England merchants
out of business. Arnold himself came near to personal ruin, falling £15,000 in
debt.
Arnold fought a duel in
Honduras
with a British sea captain who had called him a "d—d Yankee, destitute of good
manners or those of a gentleman".[8]
The captain was wounded, and apologized.
Arnold was in the West Indies when the
Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770, but later he wrote "very
much shocked" and wondered "good God; are the Americans all asleep and
tamely giving up their liberties, or are they all turned philosophers, that
they don't take immediate vengeance on such miscreants".
On February 22, 1767, he married Margaret, daughter of
Samuel Mansfield. They had three sons, Benedict, Richard and Henry.
Margaret died during the revolution, on June 19, 1775, while Arnold was away
following the
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga. Arnold's sister Hannah took the children in.
Early
Revolutionary War
In March 1775, a group of sixty-five New Haven residents formed the
Governor’s Second Company of Connecticut Guards. Arnold was chosen as their
captain, and he organized training and exercises in preparation for war.
On April 21, 1775, when news reached New Haven of the opening battles of
the revolution at
Lexington and Concord, a few
Yale College student volunteers were admitted into the guard to boost
their numbers, and they began a march to
Massachusetts to join the revolution. During the march Arnold met with
Connecticut legislator Colonel
Samuel Holden Parsons. They discussed the shortage of cannons in the
revolutionary forces and, knowing of the large number of cannons at
Fort Ticonderoga on
Lake Champlain, agreed that an expedition should be sent to capture the
fort. Parsons continued on to
Hartford, where he raised funds to establish a force under the command of
Captain
Edward Mott. Mott was instructed to link up with
Ethan
Allen and Allen's
Green Mountain Boys at
Bennington,
Vermont. Meanwhile, Arnold and his Connecticut militia continued on to
Cambridge, where Arnold convinced the Massachusetts Committee of Safety to
fund an expedition to take the fort. They appointed him a colonel in the
Massachusetts militia and dispatched him, and several captains under his
command, to raise an army in Massachusetts. As his captains mustered troops
Arnold rode north to rendezvous with Allen and take command of the operation.
By early May the army was assembled; on May 10, 1775, Fort Ticonderoga was
assaulted in a dawn attack and taken without a battle, the colonial forces
having surprised the outnumbered British garrison. Arnold led the assault with
a group of soldiers from Vermont called, the Green Mountain Boys, though they
refused to go under anyone but their leader Ethan Allen. Eventually Allen and
Arnold compromised leading the assault together. Expeditions to nearby
Fort Crown Point and
Fort
George were also successful, as was another foray to
Fort St. Johns not far from
Montreal,
but this fort had to be abandoned as a larger force of British troops was
about to arrive. Throughout the campaign Arnold and Allen disputed who was in
overall command; Allen, the leader of the Green Mountain Boys, eventually
withdrew his troops, leaving Arnold in sole command of the garrisons of the
three forts. However, a Connecticut force of 1,000 men under Colonel
Benjamin Hinman arrived with orders placing him in command with Arnold as
his subordinate. This act by the Continental Congress incensed Arnold, who
felt his efforts on behalf of the revolution were not being recognized; he
resigned his commission and returned to Massachusetts.[9]
Shortly after the formation of the
Continental Army in June 1775 Major General
Philip Schuyler, commander of the Northern Department, developed a plan to
invade Canada overland from Fort St. Johns at the northern end of
Lake Champlain, down the
Richelieu River to Montreal. The objective was to deprive the
Loyalists of an important base from which they could attack upper New
York. General Schuyler had intended to take command of this force, but due to
illness he gave the command to General
Richard Montgomery.
Arnold proposed that a second force, in concert with Schuyler’s, attack by
traveling up the
Kennebec River in
Maine and
descending the
Chaudière River to
Quebec
City. With the capture of both Montreal and Quebec City he believed the
French-speaking colonists of Canada would join the revolution against the
British. General
George Washington and the Continental Congress approved this amendment and
commissioned Arnold a colonel in the Continental Army to lead the Quebec City
attack.
Just before leaving for Maine, Arnold learned of the death of his first
wife Margaret. He stopped in New Haven to see to the welfare of his children,
and asked his sister Hannah to mother them.
The force of 1,100 recruits embarked from
Newburyport, Massachusetts on September 19, 1775, arriving at
Gardinerston, Maine, where Arnold had made prior arrangements with Major
Reuben Colburn to construct 200
bateaux, on September 22. These were to be used to transport the troops up
the Kennebec and
Dead rivers, then down the
Chaudière to Quebec City. A lengthy series
portages
was required over the
Appalachian range between the upper Dead and Chaudière rivers. This,
combined with bad weather, fast water on the rivers, and troops inexperienced
in handling the boats, caused a significant loss of supplies, the defection of
300 men, and the death of 200 more. The 600 that survived the expedition were
reduced to starvation by the time they reached the Saint Lawrence River in
November.
The British were aware of Arnold’s approach and destroyed most of the
serviceable watercraft (boats, ships, gunboats, etc. etc.) on the southern
shore. Although two warships, the
frigate
Lizard (26 guns) and the
sloop-of-warHunter (16 guns), kept up a constant patrol to prevent
a river crossing, Arnold was able to procure sufficient watercraft, and
crossed to the Quebec City side on November 11. He then realized his force was
not strong enough to capture the city and sent dispatches to Brigadier General
Richard Montgomery requesting reinforcements.
On September 16, 1775, Montgomery had marched north from Fort Ticonderoga
with about 1,700 militiamen. He captured Montreal on November 13. Montgomery
joined Arnold in early December, and with their combined force of about 950
soldiers, they
attacked Quebec on December 31, 1775. The colonial forces suffered a
disastrous defeat at the hands of General
Guy Carleton, governor of Canada and commander of the British forces.
Montgomery was killed leading an assault along with all but one of his
officers (Col. Donald Campbell) who ordered a retreat; Montgomery's force
never got close to the walls. Arnold's force on the other side of the city
were left by themselves without the help of Montgomery. While attacking Arnold
was wounded in the leg, but stayed on the battlefield encouraging his troops
on. Daniel Morgan's rifle company, the most successful of the American troops,
fought inside the city until Morgan was cornered and forced to surrender. Many
others were killed or wounded, and hundreds were taken prisoner.
The remnants, reduced to some 350 volunteers and now under the command of
Colonel Arnold, continued an ineffectual siege of the city until the spring of
1776, when reinforcements under Brigadier General
David Wooster arrived. Upon being relieved of command, Arnold retreated to
Montreal with what remained of his forces.[10][11]
Promotion
Arnold was promoted to
Brigadier General after the Quebec invasion, and was given the job of
blocking British invasion of the
Hudson River valley from Canada via
Lake Champlain. As the American forces retreated from advancing British
troops, Arnold directed his forces to destroy by burning or sinking any ships
the British could use on the lake. During the summer of 1776 Arnold
constructed a flotilla of small warships and gunboats at
Skenesborough, which controlled the lake from Fort Ticonderoga. The
British responded by building a much larger lake flotilla at Saint John's,
which they launched in early October. The British destroyed Arnold's flotilla
at the
Battle of Valcour Island, New York, in mid-October but by that time the
winter was already setting in. The British invasion was called off and
Arnold's defensive strategy had succeeded.
In the same year Arnold met and seriously courted the daughter of a well
known Boston Loyalist, Betsy Deblois, described as the belle of Boston, but
she did not accept his repeated proposals.[12]
Eastern
Department
Late in 1776, Arnold was made Deputy Commander of the
Eastern Department of the Continental Army under Major General
Joseph Spencer. On December 8, 1776, a sizeable British force under
Lt. Gen. Henry Clinton captured
Newport, Rhode Island. Arnold, who had not seen his family for over a
year, spent a week with them in
New Haven, and arrived at
Providence, on January 12, 1777, to command the defense of
Rhode
Island. The Continental forces in Rhode Island had been depleted to about
2,000 troops by detachments sent to Washington for his attack at
Trenton, New Jersey. Since Arnold was facing 15,000
redcoats, he stayed on the defensive.
On April 26, 1777, Arnold was on his way to
Philadelphia to meet with the Continental Congress, and stopped in New
Haven to visit his family once again. A courier notified him that a British
force 2,000 strong under Major General
William Tryon, the British Military Governor of New York, had landed at
Norwalk, Connecticut. Tryon marched his force to
Fairfield on Long Island Sound and inland to
Danbury, a major supply depot for the Continental Army, destroying both
towns by fire. He also torched the seaport of
Norwalk as his forces retreated by sea.
Arnold hurriedly recruited about 100 volunteers locally. He was joined by
Major General
Gold S. Silliman and Major General
David Wooster of the Connecticut militia, who together had mustered a
force of 500 volunteers from eastern Connecticut.
Arnold and his fellow officers moved their small force near Danbury so they
could intercept and harass the British retreat. By 11 a.m. on April 27,
Wooster’s column had caught up with and engaged Tryon’s rear guard. Arnold
moved his force to a farm outside
Ridgefield, Connecticut, in an attempt to block the British retreat.
During the
Battle of Ridgefield that followed, Wooster was killed. Arnold injured his
leg when his horse was shot and fell on him.
Philadelphia
After the Danbury raid, Arnold continued his journey to Philadelphia to
meet with congressional members, arriving on May 16. General Schuyler also was
in Philadelphia at that time but soon left for his headquarters at
Albany, New York. This left Arnold as the ranking officer in the
Philadelphia region, so he assumed command of the forces there. But the
Continental Congress, once again, due to political ties, preferred
Pennsylvania's newly promoted Major General
Thomas Mifflin. Arnold had earlier been passed over for promotion in
favour of less experienced generals junior to him and of lower grade. He
resigned his commission on July 11, 1777, but shortly afterwards General
Washington asked Congress to post him to the
Northern Department because
Fort Ticonderoga had fallen to the British.
The summer of 1777 marked a turning point in the war. The Saratoga campaign
was a series of battles fought in upstate New York north of Albany that
culminated in the American victory at the
Battle of Saratoga and the surrender of the British army led by Lieutenant
General
John Burgoyne on October 17, 1777. Arnold played a decisive role in
several of these battles. For example, in August, 1777 he led a force which
relieved the siege of
Fort
Stanwix.
The
Battle of Bemis Heights was the final battle of the
Saratoga Campaign. Outnumbered, out of supplies, and cut off from retreat
largely by Arnold's doing, Burgoyne was forced to surrender on October 17,
1777.
During the fighting, Arnold was wounded in the same leg as at Quebec and
below the buttock. The
History Channel commented that if his wound had been fatal he would be
remembered as a hero, not a traitor. Arnold himself had said it would have
been better had it been in the chest instead of the leg.
Historians agree that Arnold was instrumental to the successful outcome of
the Saratoga campaign, showing courage, initiative, and military brilliance.
He is said to have single-handedly cut off Burgoyne's attempt to escape in the
decisive Battle of Bemis Heights. But Arnold received no credit because of bad
feelings between him and General
Horatio Gates. Even though Arnold was vital in winning the final battle of
Saratoga, Gates vilified him for exceeding his authority and disobeying
orders. Arnold made no secret of his contempt for Gates' military tactics,
which he considered too cautious and conventional. Many of the Continental
Army's senior officers agreed on Arnold's assessme
President Obama errs Thomas Mifflin not
George Washington was U.S. President in 1784
The United Colonies 1st
government began in a Philadelphia Tavern
and the United States 1st federal government ended in a
NYC Tavern!
The Founders convened the government in 11 different capitol buildings and
experienced 15 years of challenges that
included war,
hyper-inflation, a failed
constitution, judicial corruption, armed citizen and U.S. Army rebellions.
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