Benedict Arnold and War

Benedict Arnold

As Van Doren notes, "there is seldom any simple truth in treason."[footnoteRef:1] Thus it is permissible to expect that the story of Benedict Arnold, known to Americans today as the ultimate traitor, is far from having a simple narrative. While the facts show that Arnold went from being an American hero to being an American villain, it is important to understand how and why this happened. Pertinent questions focus on his own personal life, his own history, his environment, what was happening in his own day. This paper examines the case of Benedict Arnold in order to better understand the man behind the label and the causes that led to his leaving the "Rebels" to join the side of the Crown. [1: Lori Ducharme, Gary Alan Fine, "The Construction of Nonpersonhood and Demonization: Commemorating the Traitorous Reputation of Benedict Arnold." Social Forces, vol. 73, no. 4 (June, 1995), 1309.]

Background

A. Context: the War between the colonies and the Crown

The Revolutionary War, or the American War for Independence, began in 1775, when the 13 colonies declared their independence from the English Crown

2. The dispute was over taxes, which the colonists did not want to pay

3. The "Rebels" were aided by the French, who looked to continue its opposition to the British following the Seven Years' War

B. Arnold's personal background

1. Arnold was born in Connecticut in 1740 and was 35 when war started between the Crown and the "Rebels"

a. Arnold joined the army at Boston, helped to capture Fort Ticonderoga that same year (1775), fought at Valcour Island, Ridgefield, was promoted to major general in 1776, and participated in the Battle of Saratoga, where he was wounded in the leg, which caused him to be removed from combat

b. It was at the Battle of Saratoga that Arnold fell out with General Gates, his commanding officer.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Eric Ethier, "The Making of a Traitor," American History, vol. 36, no. 3 (2001), 22.]

i. Arnold believed Gates' orders for the army were wrong and argued vehemently for a different maneuver; Gates finally relented but only after hours of arguing -- and by then it was too late for the "Rebels" to be effective on the battlefield

ii. Gates dismissed Arnold afterwards and Arnold felt increasingly marginalized

c. Expecting another promotion, he was disappointed when the Continental Congress failed to deliver it to him: the "vanity of officers" as Royster notes.[footnoteRef:3] [3: Charles Royster, A Revolutionary People at War (NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1983), 200.]

i. Arnold was continually charged with malfeasance and other forms of corruption (most always acquitted).

ii. Moreover, Arnold had spent much of his own money to further the cause of the colonies and the Congress had the audacity to claim that he owed them

2. Establishing a motive

a. A question of malice? Hatred for America? Arnold displayed no particular hatred for his country -- on the contrary, he fought nobly for it; it was only after continuous offense from his superiors that he decided to switch sides

b. Love of the Crown? Arnold's wife was a Loyalist, so would not have objected to Arnold's decision to leave the "Rebels" and fight for the British, but Arnold displayed no particular love of England

c. Self-interest? Arnold wanted respect for his abilities and demonstration of valor; the Continental Congress was not forthcoming with promotions; thus, Arnold went to the competition -- this could be viewed purely as a business decision (though not a very good one in the long-run, since Arnold died penniless in England, where he went to live after the War, finding that his reputation as a "traitor" haunted him there as well)

3. A desire to be respected

a. As a General, Arnold had the capacity for success

b. He sacrificed a lot for America (his health and money)

c. He felt passed over for promotion and unappreciated

d. If the Americans did not want or value him, he would take his services to the British (it could be argued that like Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Arnold was simply reacting to the scorn and lack of respect shown to him by the Continental Congress: Coriolanus left the Romans to fight for the enemy, and so too did Arnold)

III. The Events

A. Arnold had wrote to General Nathanael Greene in 1778 complaining of the deplorable state into which the colonies had fallen -- a devalued currency, infighting in the Congress, general dissatisfaction among the troops

B. Arnold met with Joseph Stansbury, who sent dispatch to Sir Henry Clinton. Stansbury also met with Jonathan Odell, who along with Ben Franklin's son William Franklin, took Stansbury to meet British spy chief Major Andre. Through this chain, Arnold corresponded with Andre. Arnold's offer to service the British was underway.

C. Arnold supplied the British information about where armies would be and when and in what capacity, information about supply trains and dumps. Arnold also wanted

D. In 1780, Arnold was given command of West Point in New York; he immediately wrote to Clinton with an offer to surrender West Point to the British

E. All of his offers of service to the British were conditional: Arnold wanted financial restitution

F. Meanwhile, Major Andre was captured with incriminating letters of his spying, implicating Arnold as well

G. Arnold fled to Clinton in New York and wrote to Washington asking that his wife be allowed to join her family

H. Andre was hanged in New York; Arnold was given the position of brigadier general in the British Army

I. Arnold defended his actions to the colonials in a public letter, which was printed in various newspapers in 1780