Benedict Arnold
No
other American is remembered quite
the same as Benedict Arnold. He was a brave
soldier, a patriot- and a
traitor. Benedict was born in Norwich, Connecticut, on
January 14, 1741.
When he was 14 years old, Benedict ran away from home to fight
in the French
and Indian War, but he was brought back by his mother, who
apparently was
driven insane later in her life. If I had a son like Benedict, I
might have
gone insane too! After his mother insisted that he return home, he
ran away
for a second time. After he was finished playing boy hero for awhile,
he
learned the apothecary (pharmacy) trade and then in 1762, he opened a
book
and drug store in New Haven. Benedict was also involved with trade in
the West
Indies. By 1774, he was one of the wealthiest citizens in New
Haven. It's a good
thing that he had money, because he was one of those
people who like to ride
around in their Mercedes and wear expensive clothes,
even if he couldn't afford
them. Benedict then got hooked up with the
sheriff's daughter Margaret
Mansfield, and they hit it off. They decided
to get married in 1774. But this
marriage was short lived because the next
year Margaret caught a disease and
died. When the Revolutionary War began
that year Arnold was already an
experienced soldier. He had helped Ethan
Allen capture Fort Ticonderoga. Then
Benedict came up with a great idea
to capture Quebec. This idea failed, but
Benedict had already proven his
bravery. He was then commissioned as a colonel
in the patriot forces. He was
one of General George Washington's most trusted
officers. Benedict led his
troops to the siege of Boston and Valcour Island and
proved once again to be
a bold and skilled officer. At the battle of Valcour
Island he was
wounded severely in his leg. His bravery won him the respect of
many people.
He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Arnold felt that
his
services were not properly rewarded. In 1777, Congress promoted
five
officers, who were junior to Benedict, to major general. Only a personal
plea
from General George Washington kept him from resigning. He did receive a
delayed
promotion to major general, but he was still angered that he was not
promoted to
a rank above the junior officers promoted earlier. Then to top
things off, a
fellow officer charged Arnold with misconduct, but Congress
found the charges
groundless and dismissed them. In late 1777, Benedict
fought at Saratoga. Before
the final battle Arnold quarreled with his
superior, General Horatio Gates, and
was relieved of his command. Despite his
relief of command, Benedict led his
troops into battle. He charged from place
to place, rallying Americans and was
again wounded in the leg. He received
much of the credit for this American
victory. In 1778 Benedict married Peggy
Shippen, the daughter of a wealthy
Loyalist when he was assigned to
military commander of Philadelphia. Life in
Philadelphia was pleasant but
very costly. Before he knew it, Arnold was deeply
in debt. In 1779 he was
charged with using his position for personal profit and
charged with using
the soldiers in his command as personal servants. A court
martial cleared him
of most of the charges, but had General Washington reprimand
him. Washington
issued the reprimand, but softened it with the promise of a high
promotion in
the future. But Arnold had already sold his services to the
British.
Since May of 1779 he had been supplying them with valuable
military
information. He did this because he was still upset with the
Continental
Congress for not giving him the promotions that he thought he
deserved. He was
also very desperate for money because of his extravagant
lifestyle. In 1780
Benedict was given command of the fort at West Point
in New York. He decided
that he would give this strategic post to the
British. In return he was to be
made brigadier general in the British Army.
He was also promised money. On
September 21, Benedict met with Major John
Andre of the British army to discuss
and arrange the details. Two days later,
Andre was captured when he attempted to
return to the British lines. Some
American soldiers stopped and searched him and
found incriminating papers
hidden in his stockings and the plot was revealed.
Andre was executed as
a spy. Arnold learned this news in time for him to escape.
He fled to a
British ship that took him down the Hudson River to New York City.
The
British rewarded him with 6,315 pounds although he had asked for
20,000
pounds. They also gave him the rank of brigadier general. As a British
officer
he led his troops to Richmond, Virginia and New London Connecticut.
In December
of 1781, Benedict moved with his wife and children to England
where he was
received warmly by King George lll But others didn't except him
so easily. It's
hard to trust a traitor, even if he is betraying the other
country. The British
government granted him 13,400 acres in Canada, but that
land was of little use
to him. He spent most of his remaining years as a
merchant in the West Indies
trade. In his last days Benedict was burdened
down with debt and misery. He was
distrusted by everyone who met
him-Americans and British. He died in England on
June 14, 1801 an unhappy
and discouraged man. Benedict Arnold is considered to
be one of the most
famous men in history. Although I'm sure that a lot of people
wouldn't want
the kind of fame he received. But without him, our country
wouldn't have won
all the battles that we did. Yes, he was a traitor, but he was
also one of
the best generals we had. But how do we know that he betrayed our
country
just our of anger? The history books say that he was deeply in debt, and
he
did have a wife and children. When we think of Benedict we tend to just
look
at the worst parts of his life. His first wife died, but he pulled
himself out
of grief and got on with his life. He married again and had
children. If he was
in debt, then he couldn't pay for the things that his
family needed. Maybe he
betrayed our country so that he could use the money
that he would get from the
British to pay for the things that he wanted
to be able to give his family. We
saw how Paul Revere twisted things around
with the Boston Massacre and now most
of us know believe that the firing on
an innocent crowd. That's what I believe
the case is with Benedict Arnold.
There's more to the story than we know.
Benedict wasn't pure evil, as we
make him out to be sometimes. But unfortunately
we can't go back in time and
see what really happened, so now we'll just have to
rely on what we believe
to be the truth.