She couldand did. 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 . 1:38. [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. Though Trump has checked off the betray the USA box quite well. The arched, double-door main entrance provided a stately, picturesque quality to the home. Arnold lost most of his siblings to yellow fever, calamitous events that triggered alcoholism in his father. On August 15, he received a coded letter from Andr with Clinton's final offer: 20,000[b] and no indemnification for his losses. 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. 2. In 1787, he moved to Canada to run a merchant business with his sons Richard and Henry. When American leaders discovered the plot, Arnold fled. Benedict Arnold served in the Connecticut militia and participated in the Siege of Boston. He performed operations that provided the Americans with relief during the Siege of Fort Stanwix, and key actions during the pivotal 1777 Battles of Saratoga, in which he sustained leg injuries that put him out of combat career for several years. 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. [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. -Benedict Arnold, January, 1780. In 1776, he deployed defensive and delay tactics at the Battle of Valcour Island in Lake Champlain that gave American forces time to prepare New York's defenses. What does it mean to call someone a Benedict Arnold? [107], The pursuing American army included the Marquis de Lafayette, who was under orders from Washington to hang Arnold summarily if he was captured. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benedict-Arnold, American Battlefield Trust - Biography of Benedict Arnold, Dictionary of Canadian Biography - Biography of Benedict Arnold, The Washington Library Center for Digital History - Biography of Benedict Arnold, United States History - Biography of Benedict Arnold, Benedict Arnold - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Benedict Arnold - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Benedict Arnold: meeting with Maj. John Andr. Arnold resented this affront, and only Washingtons personal persuasion kept him from resigning. In the United States, the name of Benedict Arnold is synonymous with treason. Needed repairs were never ordered on the chain across the Hudson. When his British contact, Maj. John Andr, was captured by the Americans, Arnold escaped on a British ship, leaving Andr to be hanged as a spy. [134] Social historian Brian Carso notes that, as the 19th century progressed, the story of Arnold's betrayal was portrayed with near-mythical proportions as a part of the national history. The combined assault (December 31, 1775) failed, Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was severely wounded. 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. After the war, he petitioned to have Vermont become a state. The two-story edifice occupied a lot on the west side of Market between East Main and Division Streets. [60] Some of this communication was effected through the services of Joseph Stansbury, a Philadelphia merchant.[61]. [79], Shortly after Washington's rebuke, a Congressional inquiry into Arnold's expenditures concluded that he had failed to account fully for his expenditures incurred during the Quebec invasion, and that he owed the Congress some 1,000,[b] largely because he was unable to document them. He then went to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and suggested to George Washington a second expedition to attack Quebec City via a wilderness route through Maine. [6] In December 1780, he led a force of 1,600 troops into Virginia under orders from Clinton, where he captured Richmond by surprise and then went on a rampage through Virginia, destroying supply houses, foundries, and mills. [1] You may think it was odd that parents would name their newborn . By. [75], Arnold's court martial on charges of profiteering began meeting on June 1, 1779, but it was delayed until December 1779 by Clinton's capture of Stony Point, New York, throwing the army into a flurry of activity to react. Benedict Arnold was named brigadier general by the British government and sent on raids to . Arnold purchased large tracts of land in the Maugerville area, and acquired city lots in Saint John and Fredericton. [9], Arnold's father was a successful businessman, and the family moved in the upper levels of Norwich society. Thereupon I expressed the desire of seeing that gentleman, and, shortly after, I was introduced to him. Interesting Facts About Benedict Arnold. He was on his way home from Ticonderoga when he learned that his wife had died earlier in June. With the permission of his master, Armistead enlisted in the Revolutionary War under General Lafayette. Following the deaths of three of his. The most famous of these occurred on May 10, 1775, when Ethan Allen and his band of Green Mountain Boys, accompanied by Benedict Arnold, who held a commission from . He was extremely unpopular there and returned to London permanently in 1791, where he died ten years later. Arnold commanded the army only until May 20, when Lord Cornwallis arrived with the southern army and took over. This was the last straw. In 1763, he repaid money that he had borrowed from the Lathrops,[17] repurchased the family homestead that his father had sold when deeply in debt, and re-sold it a year later for a substantial profit. S T I L L W A T E R, N.Y., June 14, 2001 -- Benedict Arnold, America's most infamous. It was donated by Civil War General John Watts DePeyster, and its inscription reads: "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 American Revolution, and for himself the rank of Major General. 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). Some historians suggested an Arnold liaison in New Brunswick, but Canadian historian Barry Wilson noted the weakness of this traditional account. Wallace, Willard M. "Benedict Arnold: Traitorous Patriot." Benedict Arnold Is America's Most Famous Traitor. For additional information about Arnold's amazing career as a Continental officer, consult James Kirby Martin, Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered (New York, 1997). He was again severely wounded in the left leg late in the fighting. It was General Arnold. His father was also called Benedict Arnold and his mother's name was Hannah Waterman King. [27] Their son Benedict was born the following year[28] and was followed by brothers Richard in 1769 and Henry in 1772. [118] The family moved to Saint John in 1787, where Arnold created an uproar with a series of bad business deals and petty lawsuits. [41], Arnold was on his way to Philadelphia to discuss his future when he was alerted that a British force was marching toward a supply depot in Danbury, Connecticut. On the morning of September 22, from their position at Teller's Point, two American rebels, John "Jack" Peterson and Moses Sherwood, under the command of Col. James Livingston fired on HMS Vulture, the ship that was intended to carry Andr back to New York. His scheme was to surrender the fort to the British, but it was exposed in September 1780 when revolution militia captured Andr carrying papers which revealed the plot. Two months later he repelled a British attack on Danbury, Connecticut, and was made a major general, but his seniority was not restored and Arnold felt his honour impugned. Historians have identified many possible factors contributing to Arnold's treason, while some debate their relative importance. Before his betrayal Benedict Arnold was a legitimate hero and a competent officer. Name: Ethan Allen; Birth . Arnold's name had become synonymous with the word traitor. Arnold and his men went towards Boston. He wrote that he was "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? Arnold had three sons with Margaret Mansfield:[150][151]. In the later part of the conflict, Arnold was commissioned as a brigadier general in the British Army, and placed in command of the American Legion. [58] She married Arnold on April 8, 1779. [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. Unlike his accomplishments in the battlefield, Arnold was not a good Governor. [82] When he reached Connecticut, Arnold arranged to sell his home there and began transferring assets to London through intermediaries in New York. Peggy Shippen, or Margaret Shippen (July 11, 1760 - August 24, 1804), was the second wife of General Benedict Arnold (following Margaret Mansfield, who died in 1775). [29] She is buried in the crypt of the Center Church on New Haven Green. Major Benjamin Tallmadge was a member of the Continental Army's Culper Ring, a network of spies established under Washington's orders,[97] and he insisted that Jameson order the prisoner to be intercepted and brought back. [101] From the ship, he wrote a letter to Washington[102] requesting that Peggy be given safe passage to her family in Philadelphiawhich Washington granted. [50] There he participated in the first recorded Oath of Allegiance, along with many other soldiers, as a sign of loyalty to the United States.[51]. Corrections? However, Arnold was a prominent figure in the American Revolution and, for a time, was a distinguished war hero who simply became . [99][100] Upon receiving Jameson's message, however, he learned that Jameson had sent Washington the papers which Andr was carrying. His performance in the Battle of Ridgefield in Connecticut prompted his promotion to major general. The Hudson River Chain today [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. Benedict Arnold's name might be the first that comes to mind when we think of treason not just because he was a traitor, but because he was such an unlikely one. After Arnold was forced to drop out of private school for lack of money, he entered into an apprenticeship with Daniel and Joshua Lathrop, two of his mother's cousins. Andr had spies and informers keeping track of Arnold to verify his movements. He hoped that this work would earn him wider respect and a new command; instead, it earned him and his sons a land-grant of 15,000 acres (6,100ha) in Upper Canada,[122] near present-day Renfrew, Ontario. [10] His apprenticeship with the Lathrops lasted seven years. Arnold repeatedly claimed that he was being passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress, and that other officers were being given credit for some of his accomplishments. [52] Historian John Shy states: Arnold began planning to capitalize financially on the change in power in Philadelphia, even before the Americans reoccupied their city. 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. On December 8, 1781, Arnold and his family left New York for England. He arrived before Quebec City in November, after a difficult passage in which 300 men turned back and another 200 died en route. Answer (1 of 2): In the United States, Benedict Arnold has the dubious distinction of being one of the primary figures responsible for the Revolutionary War's losing cause. [109] They also attacked and captured Fort Griswold across the river in Groton, Connecticut, slaughtering the Americans after they surrendered following the Battle of Groton Heightsand all these deeds were done just a few miles down the Thames River from Norwich, where Arnold grew up. [128], Arnold left a small estate, reduced in size by his debts, which Peggy undertook to clear. While en route to West Point, Arnold renewed an acquaintance with Joshua Hett Smith, who had spied for both sides and who owned a house near the western bank of the Hudson about 15 miles south of West Point. "[144] The victory monument at Saratoga has four niches, three of which are occupied by statues of Generals Gates, Schuyler, and Morgan. He then took the letter back to Connecticut, suspicious of Arnold's actions, where he delivered it to the head of the Connecticut militia. Upon the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington, Massachusetts (April 1775), Arnold volunteered for service and participated with Ethan Allen in the successful colonial attack on British-held Fort Ticonderoga, New York, the following month. Early in May he made secret overtures to British headquarters, and a year later he informed the British of a proposed American invasion of Canada. [22] In a strange twist of fate, "the second most hated British . He led the British army in battle against the soldiers whom he had once commanded, after which his name became, and has remained, synonymous with treason and betrayal in the United States.[2]. What happened to Benedict Arnold after he betrayed the Continental Army to the British? [137] A moralistic children's tale entitled "The Cruel Boy" was widely circulated in the 19th century. [26], On February 22, 1767, Arnold married Margaret Mansfield, daughter of Samuel Mansfield, the sheriff of New Haven and a fellow member in the local Masonic Lodge. However, the deaths of his siblings two years later may have contributed to a decline in the family fortunes, since his father took up drinking. He returned a hero, but his rash courage and impatient energy had aroused the enmity of several officers. [40] In February 1777, he learned that he had been passed over by Congress for promotion to major general. In 1764, he formed a partnership with Adam Babcock, another young New Haven merchant. He engaged in a variety of business deals designed to profit from war-related supply movements and benefiting from the protection of his authority. 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