Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741, in Norwich, Connecticut. He was the second of six children to Benedict Arnold III and Hannah Waterman King.
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.
Benedict was apprenticed to an apothecary in his youth but, preferring the battlefield to a druggist’s life, he enlisted in the militia during the French and Indian War.
When his father died in 1761, Arnold moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where he became a druggist, selling potions and books.
In 1764 Arnold expanded his prosperous enterprises into shipping and trade with Canada and the West Indies. He traveled extensively in the course of his business and on one of his voyages, he fought a duel in Honduras with a British sea captain named Croskie who had called him a "damned Yankee, destitute of good manners or those of a gentleman".With a well-placed shot, he wounded Croskie, whose injury was taken care of by an on-site surgeon. Arnold called Croskie back to the field and threatened to kill him next time. Not wishing to risk any further injuries, the British seaman offered an apology.
He married Margaret Mansfield, the daughter of the sheriff of New Haven, Connecticut, in February of 1767. She died in 1775.
Commercial success brought election to a militia captaincy in 1775. As a militia colonel, Arnold joined with Ethan Allen to take Fort Ticonderoga from the British at the beginning of the American Revolution. Military supplies from the fort were a boon for George Washington’s ill-equipped American forces besieging Boston. Later the same year Arnold led a brave but unsuccessful assault on British Québec and was promoted to brigadier general.
On August 22, 1777 Benedict Arnold used a ruse to convince the British that a much larger force was arriving, causing them to abandon the Siege of Fort Stanwix. His courageous and imaginative battlefield leadership contributed decisively to an American victory.
During the pivotal Battles of Saratoga in 1777, Arnold suffered leg injuries that halted his combat career for several months. He had his leg crudely set, rather than allowing it to be amputated, leaving it 2 inches (5 cm) shorter than the right.
Arnold returned to the army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in May 1778 to the applause of men who had served under him at Saratoga. On May 30, 1778 he participated in the first recorded Oath of Allegiance, along with many other soldiers, as a sign of loyalty to the United States.
Though greatly admired by Washington, Benedict Arnold had influential enemies, and in 1777 five of his inferiors in rank were promoted over his head.
After he became commander of Philadelphia in 1778, he met Margaret Shippen (1760–1804) Although she was half his age and the daughter of a wealthy judge with strong connections to the British, he married her in the Shippen townhouse on Fourth Street on April 8, 1779.
Arnold and Margaret squandered money on an extravagant social life among the Loyalist families of Philadelphia. In 1779, he was court-martialed twice, largely on accusations of misusing government resources and illegal buying and selling.
Arnold was cleared of all but two minor charges on January 26, 1780, but the experience left him humiliated. The court-martials and the lack of promotion were among a long list of perceived slights. Embittered, and needing money to continue his social life, Arnold began a began a 16-month treasonable correspondence with the British commander in chief, Sir Henry Clinton.
As commandant of West Point, key to the Hudson River valley, Arnold plotted in 1780 to surrender the fort to the enemy in return for a royal commission in the British army and a low price of £20,000 (about $5 million in 2020 dollars). Major John André was sent by the British to discuss terms with him. When André was captured by three Westchester militiamen, they found the papers exposing the plot to capture West Point and passed them on to their superiors. Arnold fled to the British lines, and was given a command in the royal army.
Below is one of Arnold's coded letters. Cipher lines by Arnold are interspersed with lines by his wife Peggy.
As a brigadier general in the British army, he captured Richmond, Virginia with 1600 loyalist troops on January 5, 1781. And later in the year led British forces to victory in the Battle of Groton Heights.
When the war ended, Arnold and his family moved to London only to learn that his adopted country distrusted him almost as much as his homeland now did. The unpopular traitor was excluded from active military service in the British army, so he attempted to rebuild a trading business. However, his commercial enterprises proved unsuccessful, and for his treason he received less than one-third the money he had sought.
After enduring years of British scorn, he died in London, on June 14, 1801.
Arnold had suffered from gout since 1775 and by January 1801 he was walking only with a cane. His doctors diagnosed Arnold as having dropsy.
After enduring years of British scorn, he died in London after four days of delirium, on June 14, 1801, at the age of 60.
Benedict Arnold's tomb is currently embedded in the wall of a Sunday school classroom at St. Mary’s church in the Battersea section of London, next to a tropical fish tank.
There are plaques on the grounds of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York commemorating all of the generals who served in the Revolution. One plaque bears only a rank and a date but no name: "major general… born 1740" belonging to the traitor Benedict Arnold.
Sources Funk & Wagnells, Mentalfloss
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.
Benedict was apprenticed to an apothecary in his youth but, preferring the battlefield to a druggist’s life, he enlisted in the militia during the French and Indian War.
When his father died in 1761, Arnold moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where he became a druggist, selling potions and books.
In 1764 Arnold expanded his prosperous enterprises into shipping and trade with Canada and the West Indies. He traveled extensively in the course of his business and on one of his voyages, he fought a duel in Honduras with a British sea captain named Croskie who had called him a "damned Yankee, destitute of good manners or those of a gentleman".With a well-placed shot, he wounded Croskie, whose injury was taken care of by an on-site surgeon. Arnold called Croskie back to the field and threatened to kill him next time. Not wishing to risk any further injuries, the British seaman offered an apology.
He married Margaret Mansfield, the daughter of the sheriff of New Haven, Connecticut, in February of 1767. She died in 1775.
Commercial success brought election to a militia captaincy in 1775. As a militia colonel, Arnold joined with Ethan Allen to take Fort Ticonderoga from the British at the beginning of the American Revolution. Military supplies from the fort were a boon for George Washington’s ill-equipped American forces besieging Boston. Later the same year Arnold led a brave but unsuccessful assault on British Québec and was promoted to brigadier general.
 |
| Arnold in American uniform, engraved by H. B. Hall |
On August 22, 1777 Benedict Arnold used a ruse to convince the British that a much larger force was arriving, causing them to abandon the Siege of Fort Stanwix. His courageous and imaginative battlefield leadership contributed decisively to an American victory.
During the pivotal Battles of Saratoga in 1777, Arnold suffered leg injuries that halted his combat career for several months. He had his leg crudely set, rather than allowing it to be amputated, leaving it 2 inches (5 cm) shorter than the right.
Arnold returned to the army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in May 1778 to the applause of men who had served under him at Saratoga. On May 30, 1778 he participated in the first recorded Oath of Allegiance, along with many other soldiers, as a sign of loyalty to the United States.
Though greatly admired by Washington, Benedict Arnold had influential enemies, and in 1777 five of his inferiors in rank were promoted over his head.
After he became commander of Philadelphia in 1778, he met Margaret Shippen (1760–1804) Although she was half his age and the daughter of a wealthy judge with strong connections to the British, he married her in the Shippen townhouse on Fourth Street on April 8, 1779.
 |
| Peggy Shippen Arnold and daughter Sophia by Daniel Gardner, circa 1787–1789 |
Arnold and Margaret squandered money on an extravagant social life among the Loyalist families of Philadelphia. In 1779, he was court-martialed twice, largely on accusations of misusing government resources and illegal buying and selling.
Arnold was cleared of all but two minor charges on January 26, 1780, but the experience left him humiliated. The court-martials and the lack of promotion were among a long list of perceived slights. Embittered, and needing money to continue his social life, Arnold began a began a 16-month treasonable correspondence with the British commander in chief, Sir Henry Clinton.
As commandant of West Point, key to the Hudson River valley, Arnold plotted in 1780 to surrender the fort to the enemy in return for a royal commission in the British army and a low price of £20,000 (about $5 million in 2020 dollars). Major John André was sent by the British to discuss terms with him. When André was captured by three Westchester militiamen, they found the papers exposing the plot to capture West Point and passed them on to their superiors. Arnold fled to the British lines, and was given a command in the royal army.
Below is one of Arnold's coded letters. Cipher lines by Arnold are interspersed with lines by his wife Peggy.
As a brigadier general in the British army, he captured Richmond, Virginia with 1600 loyalist troops on January 5, 1781. And later in the year led British forces to victory in the Battle of Groton Heights.
When the war ended, Arnold and his family moved to London only to learn that his adopted country distrusted him almost as much as his homeland now did. The unpopular traitor was excluded from active military service in the British army, so he attempted to rebuild a trading business. However, his commercial enterprises proved unsuccessful, and for his treason he received less than one-third the money he had sought.
After enduring years of British scorn, he died in London, on June 14, 1801.
Arnold had suffered from gout since 1775 and by January 1801 he was walking only with a cane. His doctors diagnosed Arnold as having dropsy.
After enduring years of British scorn, he died in London after four days of delirium, on June 14, 1801, at the age of 60.
Benedict Arnold's tomb is currently embedded in the wall of a Sunday school classroom at St. Mary’s church in the Battersea section of London, next to a tropical fish tank.
There are plaques on the grounds of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York commemorating all of the generals who served in the Revolution. One plaque bears only a rank and a date but no name: "major general… born 1740" belonging to the traitor Benedict Arnold.
Sources Funk & Wagnells, Mentalfloss
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