Benedict Arnold; the name alone strikes a black chord in anyone who hears the name. The name is now universally recognized a synonymous with treason. But if we can allow ourselves to investigate his life story of a fascinating man who may have been a victim of circumstance.
Arnold, then in his 30s, gave up a very successful business to enter the Army. He quickly showed that he was a brilliant military tactician and commander. At Ticonderoga, Quebec, and Saratoga, he rose to the occasion and proved his worth to the Revolutionary cause. However, his series of grand successes and self confident manner began to cultivate envy against him among his peers. This avarice eventually contributed to his downfall.
He became one of Washington’s most valuable and trusted commanders. Even Washington himself held some ill feelings and envy for Arnold as benedict’s reputation and prominence grew to such a level that, it is said Washington himself privately may have begun to feel jealousy or even threatened by his rapidly rising star.
Arnold won some very important and pivotal battles for his country – despite his being hampered by incompetent superiors. At the Battle of Saratoga, commanding General Horatio Gates was in charge. Gates received his rank through Congressional intrigue as he had no previous military experience. His inexperience was never more obvious than in his abysmal performance in battle. At Saratoga, Gates refused to leave the safety of his fortified camp. He also ordered his troops to remain inactive while receiving a thorough pasting by the British. Arnold, the subordinate general, disobeyed Gates’ orders, flew into a rage, and swung the Americans around and pressed them into the fray. Arnold’s actions resulted in reversing the tide of battle and a total drubbing of the enemy.
During the battle of Saratoga Arnold had his horse shot out from under him leaving his left leg shattered by a musket ball. This injury caused him to limp for the rest of his life (at his wedding the infirmity forced him to lean on an orderly for support).
At the Battle of Bemis Heights, Gates sat in his tent and argued the merits of the Revolutionary cause with a captured British officer over copious amounts of liquor. All the while Arnold once again led his troops in a rout of the British. After further displays of incompetence Washington relieved Gates of his commission. According to the Book of Lists, Volume 1 (by Irving Wallace) in the chapter of the Ten Worst Generals of All Time, Gates is listed as the third worst. He is led only by two generals who turned on his own men during battle.
It is also not widely known that Arnold personally underwrote the costs of his expeditions. To add insult to injury, congress never made any attempt to reimburse him.
It is also said that behind every successful man is a woman urging him on. In Arnold’s case it was his young wife, Peggy Shippen, who was by most accounts a shrew of the first order. She was accustomed to a lavish lifestyle (she also came from a Tory family) which was diminished by her husband’s diminished earnings in the Army. Not easily satisfied, she nagged him constantly about it. Consequently, he started doing a little profiteering on the side to help quench his wife’s thirst for more luxury. This form of nickel and dime capitalism has always been practiced and accepted as part of the fortunes of war for high ranking servicemen. Generally it is seen as a sort of “boys will be boys” practice and ignored with a wink and nod. In this case, though, Arnold was charged with eight counts of various malfeasances by Congress.
Arnold, his feelings already bruised by what he saw as a pattern of unfair treatment and inequitable restitution directed against him – despite his valiant efforts in service to his country – was outraged enough to demand a court martial to clear himself and his reputation.
The trial occurred at Norris’ tavern in Morristown, N.J. in 1779 and was presided over by Major General Howe, General Joseph Reed, and Timothy Matlack who was the Secretary of the Pennsylvania State Council. Four charges were immediately dropped leaving four still against him. They were: issuing a pass to Robert Shewell (who had Tory sympathies), of closing Philadelphia shops to the public while he shopped in them himself, for imposing menial labor on free men, and for using government wagons to transport private property.
Defending himself eloquently, he had the first three charges dismissed. However, on the wagon usage offense, he was convicted on a lesser charge of “betraying the public trust”. Clearly they were out to get him on something, even if it came down to being guilty of vitamin deficiency. He received a reprimand from Washington which said, “I consider the affair of the wagons to be imprudent and improper.” His pride wounded, Arnold feel into deep despair. He wrote an angry response to Washington which said, “Having made every sacrifice of fortune and blood and become a cripple in the service of my country, I little expected to receive the ungrateful returns of my countrymen.”
When Washington appointed him to be the commander of West Point, Arnold didn’t receive the promotion in rank that traditionally went along with the appointment, thus adding yet another insult to Arnold.
With all these indignities and grievances (some real and others which he perceived), the die had been cast for his turning traitor. What may have been the final contributing factor was the incessant harping of his ambitious wife about how he was being treated unfairly by Washington and how he deserved more (and that she deserved more). At some point these factors and events conspired together and succeeded in pushing Arnold over the precipice and into the realm of treason.
The rest of the story of how he and Major Andre met clandestinely at Joshua Hett Smith’s house in Haverstraw, N.Y. is well known by all and I can’t add anything to that, but I can add about Arnold.
There are theories that Arnold may have been set up or double crossed by his enemies – some of which are feasible and some of which are outright flights of fancy. I have heard it said that Washington himself could have played a hand in creating a series of events which led to Arnold’s downfall. That is, creating a no-win situation for Arnold which would have caused him to self-destruct in today’s legalese it would be called entrapment). Another theory says that Arnold had a double plot, which was meant to trick the British into a massacre but Arnold was double crossed deliberately to be framed.
After defecting, Arnold became a British General whom he again served gallantly and well. But even though he was on their side Arnold was never accepted or respected by his fellow British officers. After military service he again resumed his career as a successful businessman in West Indian trading. When he died, he was all alone.
Arnold had two wives and eight children, two of whom were named George. One was named for Washington and the other for King George III.
Years after Saratoga, Major general John Watts DePeyser ordered that a marble monument be built to commemorate the battle on the very spot where Arnold was wounded. The monument has four pedestals; one a piece for Horatio Gates, Philip Schuyler, Daniel Morgan, and one which is empty. The empty one contains a plaque than mentions Arnold’s left leg (the one that was injured), but makes no mention of the man who actually won the conflict.
In 1973, Dr. Vincent A. Lindner, a history buff from New Jersey, demanded and got the Army Board of correction of Military Records to reopen the Arnold Court Martial. Lindner raised new evidence and claimed that Arnold had been convicted on circumstantial and insufficient evidence. But military bureaucracies being what they notoriously are, the Army remained unconvinced and refused to change a thing. Even after two centuries Arnold’s blemished character was still to repugnant for the military to allow them to untarnish a traitor’s record, however slight the improvement would have been.
Copyright © AJS 2002