Editorial Note
Editorial Note
| Fig. 2. Engraving of Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold by H. B. Hall from a portrait by John Trumbull. |  |
Benedict Arnold’s treacherous design to allow the British to capture West Point and even GW has elicited commentary since its discovery in late September 1780. In presenting documents from GW’s involvement with this notorious incident, the editors have attempted to array all primary sources pertinent for context or embellishment—especially ones found in less accessible books or repositories—but only a selection of the most illuminating or helpful secondary works. A comprehensive bibliography is beyond the purview of this edition.
An early account of Arnold’s movements immediately after the discovery of his treachery can be found in the memoirs of William Smith, royal chief justice of New York. He wrote in his entry for 26 Sept.: “The Vulture armed Ship has been 10 Days up the River with Major André and Colonel B. Robertson [Robinson]. The general Suspicion: to watch the Crossing of the Rebel Army while Washington was gone to Hartford. The Secret is now out, for Yesterday General Arnold came to the Ship with a Whale Boat, and this Day to Town. The People exult much, but it is not known yet that André was catched with his Papers, which forced Arnold to come off before the Design was accomplished of delivering up the Highland Forts to the British. Some great Error has been committed either by André or by Sir H. Clinton who perhaps has been too slow in collecting his Troops to ascend the River.” Smith added: “This Desertion must have good Effects.” Smith also “recollected that Sir Henry Clinton in our conversation of the 7 July said the Rebellion would end suddenly in a Crash. I told him my Opinion was it would die of a Consumption. If he was in Treaty with Arnold at that Time he had Authority for what he said. … I fancy Sir H. Clinton has intrigued with Arnold for some Time, and that his Reliance upon its Success is the true Cause of his neglecting Rhode Island.”1 New York City printer Hugh Gaine wrote in his journal for 26 Sept.: “This Day General Arnold came in from the Rebel Army to the Great Surprise of everybody.”2
British captain John Peebles recorded in his diary entry for 27 Sept.: “To our great surprise & astonishment Genl. Arnold came in today from West Point, having deserted the Rebel Service, And Major André who went up there to Negotiate this secret business is taken prisoner & will be in danger of his life.
“This affair it seems has been transacting for some time past, in which Arnold was to have given up West Point, where he Commanded, or allowed us to take it. at which time he was to have join’d us with as many as he could bring, we wod. have taken the rest prisoners & all their magazines, whh. wod. have been a great coup.”3
British general Henry Clinton provided background on Arnold’s traitorous decision when he wrote Lord George Germain from New York on 11 Oct.: “My Lord, about eighteen months since I had some reason to conceive that the American Major-General Arnold was desirous of quitting the rebel service and joining the cause of Great Britain. A secret correspondence which I conceived to be from this officer, which expressed a displeasure at the alliance between America and France, engaged me to pursue every means of ascertaining the identity of the person who was thus opening himself to me and from whom I had on every occasion received during the whole of our correspondence most material intelligence. I was not at first, however, sanguine in my ideas of General Arnold’s consequence, as he was said to be then in a sort of disgrace, had been tried before a general court-martial, and not likely to be employed, and whatever merit this officer might have had his situation, such as I understood it then to be, made him less an object of attention. I apprehended that without employ he might be of more use in corresponding with me than by joining me. In the course of our communication information was given me that he should certainly (the person who was writing) be again employed in the American service, with an offer of surrendering himself under every possible advantage to His Majesty’s arms. The correspondence was continued up to July 1780 when Major-General Arnold obtained the command of all the rebel forts in the Highlands garrisoned with near 4000 men, and it seemed to me by the correspondence in question that it was certainly that officer who made the offers under the description I have given.
“The getting possession of these posts with their garrisons, cannon, stores, vessels, gunboats etc., appeared to me an object of the highest importance which must be attended with the best consequences to His Majesty’s service, among others that of opening the navigation of the North River and the communication in a certain degree with Albany. … The very particular situation of the campaign at this period will mark of what great import such an event would prove. A French fleet and a considerable land force had arrived at Rhode Island. Mr Washington had very much augmented his army and was drawing additional strength to it daily by every strained exertion upon the country and the militia of it. There was great reason from information to suppose that an attempt was intended upon New York, that Mr Washington with his army was to have moved upon Kingsbridge and Morrisinia while a corps threatened, perhaps attacked, Staten Island at the same time that the French would have invaded Long Island and have moved upon New York by that inroad.
“To have pursued these plans large magazines of every nature must have been formed by the rebels and it is beyond doubt that the principal rebel depot must have been made at West Point and its dependent forts.
“From this description, which I have reason to believe just, will be seen of what great consequence would be the encouraging and closing in with a plan of such infinite effect, if carried into execution, towards the success of the campaign and that it was to be pursued at every risk and at any expense.
“My idea of putting into execution this concerted plan with General Arnold with most efficacy was to have deferred it till Mr Washington, cooperating with the French, moved upon this place to invest it, and that the rebel magazines should have been collected and formed in their several depots, particularly that at West Point. General Arnold surrendering himself, the forts and garrisons at this instant of time would have given every advantage which could have been desired: Mr Washington must have instantly retired from Kingsbridge and the French troops upon Long Island would have been consequently left unsupported and probably would have fallen into our hands. The consequent advantages of so great an event I need not explain.
“I had prepared for this serious purpose and for the movements which would have attended upon it everything which my reflection could suggest as necessary upon the occasion, and there were vessels properly manned and of a particular draught of water ready to have improved the designed stroke to the utmost.
“The important news from South Carolina of Lord Cornwallis having defeated Mr Gates’s army arrived here the latter end of August and I watched the effect it might have upon Mr Washington’s army, but he did not in the least alter his positions or send a man to the southward; from whence I was led to imagine this place was still his object, in which indeed I was confirmed by intelligence from General Arnold.
“At this period Sir George Rodney arrived with a fleet at New York which made it highly probable that Mr Washington would lay aside all thoughts against this place. It became, therefore, proper for me no longer to defer the execution of a project which, from the situation of the rebel army and its chief (being absent from it), would be derived such considerable advantages, nor to lose so fair an opportunity as was presented and under so good a mask as an expedition to the Chesapeak which everybody imagined would of course take place. Under this feint, therefore, I prepared for a movement up the North River. I laid my plan before Sir George Rodney and Lieut.–General Knyphausen, when Sir George with that zeal for His Majesty’s service which marks his character most handsomely promised to give me every naval assistance in his power.
“It became at this instant necessary that the secret correspondence under feigned names which had been so long carried on should be rendered into certainty, both as to the person being Major-General Arnold commanding at West Point, and that in the manner in which he was to surrender himself, the forts and troops to me, it should be so conducted under a concerted plan between us as that the King’s troops sent upon this expedition should be under no risk of surprise or counterplot; and I was determined not to make the attempt but under such perfect security.
“I knew the ground on which the forts were placed and the contiguous country tolerably well, having been there in 1777, and had received many hints respecting both from General Arnold, but it was certainly necessary that a meeting should be held with that officer for settling the whole of the plan. My reasons as I have described will, I take for granted, prove the propriety of such a measure on my part. General Arnold had also his reasons which must be so very obvious as to make it unnecessary for me to explain them.
“Many projects for a meeting were formed and in consequence several appointments made, in all which General Arnold seemed extremely desirous that some person who had my particular confidence might be sent to him, some man as he described in writing of his own mensuration.
“I had thought of a person under this immediate description who would have cheerfully undertaken it but that his peculiar situation at the time, from which I could not then release him, precluded him from engaging in it. General Arnold finally insisted that the person sent to confer with him should be the adjutant-general, Major André, who indeed had been the person on my part who managed and carried on the secret correspondence. A meeting was proposed to be held at a particular place and on neutral ground on a fixed day and hour. The parties accordingly were on their way to the rendezvous but an unlucky accident prevented the conference. A gunboat which had been up the river, falling down to the usual station very near, met that in which General Arnold was, who with difficulty escaped being taken and was in some risk of his life. This necessarily put off the matter for some days, the correspondence was obliged to be renewed, and another appointment made to meet at the same spot as first proposed. The appointment took place though not exactly as intended … and it proved a most unfortunate one respecting the general plan and a most fatal one to the adjutant-general, Major André, who was taken prisoner, tried by a board of rebel general officers, condemned by their sentence to suffer death, which sentence was confirmed and ordered to be put into execution upon this unhappy gentleman by the rebel General Washington.
“Major-General Arnold received intelligence of Major André’s being taken just in time to allow him to make his escape, which he did with great difficulty and danger, being pursued by land and by water.
“Thus ended this proposed plan of a project from which I had conceived such great hopes and from whence I imagined would be derived such great consequences.
“The particulars respecting the ill-fated ending of this serious, I may say great, affair shall be detailed in a narrative wherein all papers and letters connected with it will be inserted.
“As this very commendable step of General Arnold’s is likely to produce great and good consequences I have thought it right to appoint him colonel of a regiment with the rank of brigadier-general of provincial forces. I must beg leave to refer your lordship to him for other particulars and information.”4
British interest in controlling West Point explained Arnold’s persistence in seeking that command, which had puzzled GW.5 British general Edward Mathew’s aide-de-camp Lt. George Mathew outlined the initial plan settled between Arnold and Clinton to deliver West Point and capture GW. Clinton would lay siege to the main fort, “reckoned almost impregnable. … Genl. Arnold was immediately to send to Washington for a reinforcement, and before they could arrive was to surrender the place. Sir Henry was then to make a disposition to surprise the reinforcement, which probably would have been commanded by General Washington in person. Had this plan succeeded it must have put an end to the war.”6
Pennsylvania officials immediately seized Arnold’s papers located in Philadelphia upon learning of his flight. A report in The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser (Philadelphia) for 30 Sept. described Arnold’s papers as having “no direct proof of his treachery” but ample evidence “of baseness and prostitution of office and character, as it is hoped this new world cannot parallel.” Additionally, “the private correspondence” of Arnold and his family “contained the most sarcastic and contemptuous expressions of the French Nation. … The illiberal abuse of every character oppo[se]d to his fraudulent and wicked transactions exceeds all description.”
News of Arnold’s defection and the capture of Maj. John André spread quickly through GW’s army. Sgt. Ebenezer Parkman, Jr., who served with the artificers at Tappan, wrote in his diary entry for 24–25 Sept.: “The most Horrible Deed of Genl Arnolds Selling of West Point Fort, nay the whole, to the Enemy, Discoverd. Thanks to God for the Discovery!”7 Ensign Jeremiah Greenman wrote in his diary entry for 26 Sept.: “this day we are inform’d that Mr. Andree … is taken up on Suspicion of being a Spy, as soon as the New[s] was sent to Genl. Arnold, who coman’d at West Point that Such a Man was taken up, being Consious of his Guilt, he immeddiately ordered his barck to be maned & passed the works at Virplanks Point (under the pretence of a flag) to the Vulture Sloop of War which lay about three Miles from Stoney point … we are informed that the plot was to have been put in Execution, by about 6000 Troops, who had been imbarked several days and went to Sandy hook under pretince thay was bound to the Southward, but thanks be to god we timely discovered them in their Plot.”8 Col. Israel Angell recorded in his diary entry for the same date: “The most Extraordinary affair happened yesterday that Ever has taken place Since the war, General Benedict Arnold who Commanded at west point went to the enemy. … by the best information he had ben Carrying on a treacherous Corrispondence with the Enemy. and had agreed to Sell them that post with all the men, but Heavens directed it otherways. … had not this horrid Treason ben discovered America would have Recd a deadly wound if not a fatal Stabb.”9
Maj. Henry Lee, Jr., wrote Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne from the light infantry camp on 27 Sept.: “The conduct of one of your fraternity is so horridly alarming, the plot so wisely conceiled, its consequences so extensive & material that I cannot rid my soul of the curses which honor & [ ] create. Have any other detection, have more conspirators come out.”10
Lt. Col. Ebenezer Huntington wrote Col. Samuel Blachley Webb from Tappan on 1 Oct.: “You ask about Arnold, I can only say that last Saturday [23 Sept.] he deserted to the Enemy without Compleating his hellish Plot, which was to deliver up the Post at W. Point. … It was the most fortunate train of good fortune in detecting Arnold that could Possibly have happend—the Particulars which you wish would take a Volume, & I am utterly unable at this time to give them to you Correctly.”11
Presumably, William Gordon received a letter from Brig. Gen. Henry Knox written at Tappan on 2 Oct. that later was extracted as “a letter from a gentleman” in The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser (Boston) for 12 Oct.: “You will have heard before you can receive this, of the infernal villainy of Arnold. It is not possible for human nature to receive a greater quantity of guilt than he possesses: Perhaps there is not a single obligation, moral or divine, but what he has broken through. It is discovered now, that in his most early infancy, hell mark’d him for her own, and infus’d into him a full proportion of her diabolical malice.
“His late apostacy is the summit of his character. He began his negociations with the enemy, to deliver up West Point to them, long before he was invested with the command of it, and whilst he was still in Philadelphia; after which he sollicited the command of that post, for the ostensible reason, that the wound in his leg incapacitated him for an active command in the field: It was granted him on the 6[t]h of August last.—Since which he has been as assiduous as possible in ripening his plans, but the various positions the army assumed, prevented their being put into execution. …
“From the circumstances it appears, that it was not Arnold’s intention to have defected, but that he meant to be taken at his post, which, from his distribution of the troops, it was very easy to have seized.
“His Excellency the General, on his return to camp, determined to visit West Point, and in pursuance of that plan, was viewing some redoubts which lay in his way to Arnold’s quarters. He had sent our servants there; and Major Shaw and Dr. McHenry had arrived, and were at breakfast with the traitor, when he received intelligence by letter of Andre’s being taken. His confusion was visible, but no person could devise the cause. He hurried to his barge with the utmost precipitation, after having left word that ‘he was going over to West Point, and should be back immediately.’ This was about 10 in the morning of the 25th ultimo.
“The General proceeded to view the works, wondering where Arnold should be; but about 4 o’clock in the afternoon he was undeceived, by an express with the papers taken on Andre. The apostate at this time was on board the Vulture, which lay about 5 or 6 miles below Stoney and Varplank’s Points. …
“The enemy, from hints that some of the officers dropped, appeared to be inclined to deliver Arnold into our hands for Major Andre: But they have since declared it was impossible. If it could have been effected, our desire to get Arnold would have rendered the exchange easy on our part. …
“I have been particular in this narration, well knowing what strange stories you will have on the subject.”12
Lieutenant Colonel Fleury wrote Board of War secretary Richard Peters from Newport on 5 Oct.: “I suppose you are inform’d of arnold’s infamy. that in a Revolution as this, common men be traitors, for their interest, is not very surprising; but that the same man who has obtain’d so much glory in fighting, & Bleeding for his Country be able to betray it for a Litle money & forget at once, that he devotes himself, to the universal despise & everlasting infamy; it is I confess a madness of which few men are able. how great are compar’d to arnold, those peasans who Refus’d the Bribe from andrè. Let this be Remembered in favour of the poor.” Fleury then wrote Major General Steuben from Newport on 8 Oct.: “Your infamous Arnold has abandoned himself to an eternal infamy. What demon impelled him to take this detestable step? Is his wife the cause or only the occasion of the crime? Is Franks mixed with this horrible affair? Is Smith hanged? Can not Andre be hanged? I am very curious to hear all the details of this atrocity; be kind enough to give them to me. Arnold is not the only man whom I blame; he who once has made the country suspicious of his virtue is not the most culpable, when the blind and criminal confidence that is put in him makes him a traitor. That’s between you and me.”13
Writing Virginia delegate Theodorick Bland in October, Virginia militia colonel John Banister remarked: “I received your acceptable favor yesterday, respecting Arnold’s infamous plot; and while I contemplate the baseness of his venal soul with horror, I cannot help considering the escape of our general as the interposition of providence. Indeed, this wicked combination is attended with so many circumstances of deep contrivance and art, that the failure in the execution is next to a miracle.”14
Arnold’s treachery confounded and enraged erstwhile compatriots, including former artillery officer Eleazer Oswald, who had fought with Arnold earlier in the war and wrote Col. John Lamb on 11 Dec.: “Arnold’s treachery was the principal subject of our two last letters. It will take up a small portion of this also, and then let his name sink as low in infamy, as it was once high in our esteem. Happy for him, and for his friends, it had been, had the ball which pierced his leg at Saratoga, been directed thro’ his heart; he then would have finished his career in glory, but the remainder of his wretched existence, must now be one continued scene of horror, misery, and despair.
“It must be confessed, that altho’ he has been a principal, in producing one of the greatest events, that hath taken place in America; yet he has also displayed as vile a prostitution of principle, as ever disgraced human nature: in fact, he has convinced the world that he is as base a prostitute as this, or any other country ever nurtured to maturity; and as a punishment for the enormity of his crimes, the mark of Cain is branded on him in the most indelible characters. A mark by which ‘every one he meeteth shall know him, and slay him.’ So that the most eligible situation in life, nay, even the universe itself, can not secure him from the keen reproaches of his conscience; which will, perhaps, continue to harrow his soul beyond the verge of this present scene. On this stage, all good men will unite in execrating his memory to the latest posterity. Even villains, less guilty than himself, will not cease to upbraid him, and tho’ they ‘approve the treason, they’ll despise the traitor.’”15
Prominent government officials likewise condemned Arnold. Maryland delegate John Hanson wrote Philip Thomas from Philadelphia on 2 Oct. to relate “the most horrid plot that ever was Conceived by the heart of man and had it Succeeded would have been a most fatal Stroke to the liberties of America. The fort at West point was not only to have been delivered up to the Enemy, but our worthy General was also to have been put into their hands. … thank God all has been prevented by Apprehending the Villain Andre Who I hope Will Shortly be exalted.” North Carolina delegate Whitmell Hill wrote his fellow delegate Thomas Burke from Philadelphia on the same date that “the late discovery of yr. Friend Arnolds Treason, fully convinces me, that” the British had prepared “for the Reduction of Wt. Point, which it seems would have been an easy conquest, Arnold having previously sold that important Post; the particulars of this Villany has not reached us, but from what we can collect it is some Thing like the following. … had this event took place it must have affected us more than any stroke we have recd since the War; as our Army would have been immediately cut off from the total supply of Meat, and had the British pushed their Arms into the Eastern States, there would have been no Regular Army to oppose them, and no Bread to have supported the Militia had they collected, in fact, I look on such an escape as equal to a small Victory. On Arnolds running to the Enemy, his papers at this place were siezed, and several of our speculating Gentry are discovered as being connected with him in Scenes of villainous Traffic with the Enemy &c. … none of them have been apprehended yet, but suppose necessary steps will be fallen upon to punish such Treason.”16
Also on 2 Oct. (Monday), New Jersey delegate William Churchill Houston wrote Gov. William Livingston of that state from Philadelphia: “ On Saturday Night last Arnold was carried in Effigy through the Streets of this City, and burnt at the Coffee-House, with his Friend the Devil, in the Presence of thousands of Spectatours.” Probably on the same date, Connecticut delegate Benjamin Huntington wrote his fellow delegate Oliver Ellsworth from Philadelphia: “You will before this arrives have some Account of the Infernal Treason of Genl. Arnold who has in Fact been a Scourge to America Since the beginning of the Present War. … His Effigies with that of his Master were Carried through the Streets of this City in the Evening of the thirtieth of Septr and Burnt at Market Sreet Wharf ami[d]st the Shouts of the Greatest Concourse of People I ever Saw.” Massachusetts delegate Samuel Adams wrote his wife, Elizabeth, from Philadelphia on 3 Oct. with comments on Arnold, who, “having committed the blackest Treason against his Country, has thrown himself into the Arms of its Enemies. … You know I have had my Suspicions of this Traitor, and therefore it is not wonderful that I am not so astonished, as if some other officer had been detected of the Treason. He has been gibbeted in the Streets by the Populace, anathematizd by some of the Clergy in the Pulpits, and his Name has with Indignation been struck out of the List of Officers by Order of Congress.”17
Rebukes from patriotic civilians echoed the ones from government officials. In the postscript to a pamphlet datelined Philadelphia, 4 Oct., Thomas Paine, writing under his pseudonym Common Sense, related: “While this paper was preparing for the press, the treachery of General Arnold became known, and engrossed the attention and conversation of the public; and that, not so much on account of the traitor as the magnitude of the treason, and the providence evident in the discovery. …
“The true character of Arnold is that of a desperado. His whole life has been a life of jobbs; and where either plunder or profit was the object, no danger deterred, no principle restrained him. In his person he was smart and active, somewhat diminutive, weak in his capacities and trifling in his conversation; and though gallant in the field, was defective in the talents necessary for command. …
“When we take a review of the history of former times, it will turn out to the honor of America, that, notwithstanding the trying variety of her situation, this is the only instance of defection in a general officer; and even in this case the unshaken honesty of those who detected him heightens the national character, to which his apostacy serves as a foil. From the nature of his crime, and his disposition to monopolize, it is reasonable to conclude he had few or no direct accomplices. His sole object was to make a monied bargain; and to be consistent with himself, he would as readily betray the side he has deserted to, as that he deserted from.
“But there is one reflection results from this black business, that deserves notice, which is, that it shows the declining power of the enemy. An attempt to bribe is a sacrifice of military fame, and a confession of inability to conquer; as a proud people they ought to be above it, and as soldiers to despise it; and however they may feel on the occasion, the world at large will despise them for it, and consider America superior to their arms.18
Writing on 8 Oct., Abigail Adams informed her husband, John, then in the Netherlands on U.S. diplomatic business, about “the treachery of Arnold” and other troubling news: “How ineffectual is the tye of Honour to bind the Humane Mind, unless accompanied by more permanent and Efficacious principals? Will he who laughs at a future state of Retribution, and holds himself accountable only to his fellow Mortals disdain the venal Bribe, or spurn the Ignoble hand that proffers it.
“Yet such is the unhappy lot of our native land, too, too many of our chief Actors have been and are unprincipled wretches, or we could not have sufferd as we have done. It is Righteousness, not Iniquity, that exalteth a Nation.”19 Abigail Adams elaborated when she again wrote John on 18 Oct.: “I must tell you of a horrid plot, just ready to have been sprung, which would have given us a shock indeed. Arnold, you know him un-principald as the——. He missirable wretch had concerted a plan to give up West point where he commanded with its dependancies, into the hands of the Enemy. He had made returns of every important matter to them. … Major Andry was the person upon whom these papers were found. An officer in the British Army, sensible, bold and enterprizing, universally beloved by them, and regreated with many tears—he was young and very accomplished, but taken in our Camp as a Spy, he was tried, comdemned and Executed.” She then observed that “the whole of this Black transaction, so providentially discoverd” could only “excite gratitude in every Breast not wholy devoid of principal.”20
Yale College president Ezra Stiles, then in Newport visiting French army generals, wrote Benjamin Franklin on 10 Oct. and provided “an account of the Treason & Apostacy of one of our greatest Generals … and the happy Detection of it before the Treason was carried into Execution. General Arnold has buried all his military Glory, and sends his Name down in History execrated with Contempt & Infamy. He will be despised not only by us in the United States, but by all the Nations of Europe & in all future Ages. There is reason to believe that he meditated with the reddition of Westpoint on 27th. Sept., the betraying at the same time of General Washington and the Minister of France into the hands of the Enemy. For his Excellency the Chevalier de la Luzerne told me that passing thro’ Westpt in his Way hither on 24th or the day before the Detection, General Arnold importuned him even to Indecency to tarry & rest there 4 or 5 days. And Arnold also knew General Washington would meet there at the same time on his Return from an Interview with the French Officers at Hartford. G. Arnold is a Loss! But America is so fertile in Patriots that we can afford to sell a capital Patriot or two every year without any essential Injury to the glorious Cause of Liberty & Independence. The greatest Injury he can do us will be in Information. However the present State of the American Army is now so good, as that the most thoro’ knowledge of it will rather do us a benefit than an Injury. The seasonable Execution of Major Andre, (the Seducer,) Adjutant General of the British Army, on 2d Inst. will probably deter such Adventurers for the future.”21
Arnold’s treachery reverberated overseas. John Jay, U.S. minister to Spain, wrote his sister-in-law Catharine W. Livingston from Madrid on 17 Dec.: “All the World here are cursing Arnold & pitying his wife—Arnold’s Plot is the Subject of every Conversation—Do you know at what Price he sold his Conscience & Reputation? a Report prevails here that Gen. Clinton agreed to give him 80’000 Sterl. & a Majr. General’s Commission.”22 Jay then wrote Robert Morris on 18 Dec.: “Arnold’s Plot was as unexpected as its Discovery was fortunate. His wife is much to be pitied. It is painful to see so charming a woman so sacrificed. Some of the wise ones predict much ill from this Mans Treason. They ascribe it to the gloomy aspect of our Affairs, and impute his desertion to a Desire of Escaping the Ruin into which he saw his Country was falling. In short the Resistance of America looks so miraculous in European Eyes; that they are ready to embrace every Opinion, however erronious, that tends to reduce the Estimate of our Power and Virtue more to a Level with that which they had formed themselves. The Rank we hold on the Scale of Prosperity generally determines the Degree of Friendship we may expect from the Mass of Mankind. This Reflection will explain the Importance which every fortunate Event in America is of in Europe.”23
Arnold’s motivation has prompted endless analysis and speculation. Fingers frequently point at his beautiful young wife, Margaret “Peggy” Shippen Arnold, a British sympathizer raised amid wealth and high society in Philadelphia. She purportedly admitted her responsibility for her husband’s actions to Anne Margaret Grand Prevost, then married to a British officer. Peggy Arnold’s confession is said to have occurred while she traveled from West Point to New York City with GW’s permission after her husband’s defection.24
Greed is another common charge, and Arnold strengthened this allegation when he wrote Clinton from New York on 18 Oct.: “In the Conferrence which I had with Major André, He was so fully Convinced of the reasonableness of my proposal of being allowed Ten thousand pounds Sterling for my Services, Risque, and the loss which I should sustain in Case a discovery of my Plan should oblige me to take Refuge in New York before it could be fully carried into Execution, that he assured me ‘tho he was Commissioned to promise me Only Six thousand pounds Sterling, He would use his influence and recommend it to Your Excellency to allow the sum I proposed,[’] and from his State of the matter He informed me He had no doubt Your Excellency would accede to the proposal: I beg leave to observe that it is far short of the loss I have sustained, and that no sum of money would have been an inducement to have gone through the danger and Anxiety I have experienced:—Nothing but my Zeal to Serve His Majesty and the Common Cause could have influenced my Conduct, and I have every reason to believe, the Step which I have taken will in its Consequences have the most happy effect; and will tend to promote His Majestys Service more effectually than an expenditure of a like sum could possably have done in any other way.
“I am induced with the greatest Chearfulness to submit the matter to Your Excellency, in full Confidence of Your generous intentions, and that you will not think my Claim unreasonable, when you Consider the Sacrafises I have made, and that the sum is a trifling object to the Public tho of Consequence to me, who have a large Family that look up to me for Support & protection.”25
Both greed and the influence of Arnold’s wife occurred to Charles Thomson, secretary to Congress, when he wrote Jay from Philadelphia on 12 Oct.: “Arnold is the first and I believe the only American officer Who has during this war entered into a conspiracy to betray his country. You know the character of the Man, he was brave but avaricious, fond of parade and not very scrupulous abt the means of acquiring Money to defray the expences of it. … By letters found among his private papers it appears that Captain Andree one of Sr. H Clintons aids had commenced a correspondence with Mrs. Arnold in 1779 under pretence of supplying her with Millinary. Whither it was continued till it was ripened into the plot of betraying West Point into the hands of the enemy I will not undertake to say But that the scheme had been some time in agitation appears evidently from this … The providential discovery of the plot blasted the Schemes of our enemies And what object their next will be time must unfold.”26
Unquestionably, however, Arnold embraced his defection to the British. He wrote Germain from New York on 7 Oct.: “My Lord, conscious of the rectitude of my intentions (whatever constructions may have been put on my conduct) and convinced of the benevolence and goodness of your lordship, I am emboldened to request your interest and intercession that I may be restored to the favour of my most gracious Sovereign. In the fullest confidence of his clemency I most cheerfully cast myself at his feet, imploring his royal grace and protection.
“I have that confidence in the goodness of Sir Henry Clinton that His Majesty will not remain long uninformed that some considerable time has elapsed since I resolved to devote my life and fortune to His Majesty’s service and that I was intent to have demonstrated my zeal by an act which, had it succeeded as intended, must have immediately terminated the unnatural convulsions that have so long distracted the empire.
“Your lordship will perceive by the enclosed address to the public by what principles I have been and am now actuated, to which I shall at present only add my most sacred assurance that no endeavours of mine shall be wanting to confirm the profession I make of an unalterable attachment to the person, family, and interests of my Sovereign and the glory of his reign.
“I enclose another paper with some imperfect notes, but will do myself the honour by the next conveyance to transmit your lordship a more full and perfect state of matters than in my present confusion and circumstances I am able to do.
“I shall endeavour to merit your lordship’s patronage by my zeal and assiduity in His Majesty’s service.”27
Later in October, Gw arranged a scheme with Maj. Henry Lee to have John Champe, a sergeant in Lee’s corps, fake desertion in an attempt to snatch Arnold. A change in Arnold’s routine spoiled Champe’s plan, and the enterprising Continental soldier instead found himself with Arnold’s expedition to Virginia. Champe subsequently deserted from Arnold’s command and eventually rejoined Lee.28 GW never again saw the traitor.
For noteworthy biographies, in chronological order, see ; ; ; ; ; and ; see also , 2:140–61.
1. , 334–35, brackets in source; see also The Hartford Conference, 20–22 Sept., editorial note.
2. , 2:100. Lt. Johann Ernst Prechtel of the Anspach Regiment, then in camp at Harlem, N.Y., recorded in his diary entry for 27 Sept.: “The American General Arnold defected to the English army and arrived at headquarters in New York yesterday with twenty deserters from the enemy” (, 190).
3. , 409.
4. , 18:183–86; see also Document XIV, source note, and Document XV with Major John André’s Capture and Execution, 23 Sept.–7 Oct., editorial note. For the narrative and papers enclosed to Germain, see , 482–95. For Clinton’s later account of Arnold’s treachery, see , 214–18.
Clinton’s role in Arnold’s treachery provoked James Warren to write John Adams from Boston on 12 Oct.: “If Arnold’s Villany and Clintons meaness had succeeded it would have been a fatal Blow. As it is, it is hard to say which of the two has acted the most Infamous part, if one has betrayed his trust and his Country the Other has disgraced his Nation (if possible) and Mankind by stooping to a Measure that would mark a Savage with Eternal Infamy” (, 10:262–65, quote on 262). Adams expanded the sentiment to the British when he wrote William Lee from Amsterdam on 19 Nov.: “Is not Arnold an Acquisition—a Cripple, hobbling on Crutches, charged with Peculation, reprimanded at the head of the Army, and likely to be prosecuted at common Law, flying from Vengeance. Nothing can be a fuller Proof of Weakness, than such miserable shifts of Bribery and Treachery. The meanness of it, will make them despized by all Men” (, 10:359–60).
5. In a conversation with Tobias Lear in October 1786, GW recalled Arnold’s “strange & unaccountable” determination to secure command at West Point ( 4:174–77, quote on 175; see also Robert R. Livingston to GW, 22 June 1780, and , 2:144–45). For Arnold’s assignment as commander at West Point, see GW to Arnold, 3 August.
6. , 201.
The journal of a Hessian jäger also outlined the “specific plan” for capturing West Point in an entry dated 3 Oct.: “Arnold already had torn down the palisades in the outer wall in various defensive positions, which were to have been replaced with newer, better, and stronger materials. He would then take the troops out of the defenses and march against us, off to one side, where he could easily be cut off from the fort. The English Light Infantry therefore, had already marched from Long Island to the Jaeger camp in order to be able to march with us the moment Andre returned” (, 419).
7. MWA: Parkman Family Papers. Massachusetts soldier Nathaniel Cowdrey, then at Orangetown, wrote in his diary entry for 25 Sept.: “Was this trechery of general Arnol found out and the Enemy Was defeated, for general Arnol had Sold west point for Sixty thousand guines as Nere as we Can larn And the Agutant general of the Enemy at this time is in west poynt Dressed in Disguise, but thare plots was Discoved and general Arnol made his Askap to the Enemy” ( 414). Lt. William S. Pennington of the 2d Continental Artillery Regiment, then at Tappan, wrote in his diary entry for 26 Sept.: “An express arrived in camp last night, 11 o’clock, with accounts that General Arnold, who commanded at West Point, was about to give that important post up into the hands of the enemy—but that the plot had happily been discovered. … Thus, by a chain of circumstances, which nothing but the immediate interposition of Heaven could have offered in our favor, the hellish machinations of our enemy have proved abortive, or, rather, are turned upon their own heads. O Heavens! is it possible that a man of General Arnold’s character could be so far lost to every sentiment of honor, virtue, religion, humanity, and love of his country, as to be capable of a treason of the blackest dye—which, had it been carried into execution, would have given a vital stab to the American cause. In consequence of the above intelligence, the Pennsylvania line marched for King’s Ferry immediately. The whole Army is to hold itself in the most perfect readiness to march on the shortest notice” ( 322; see also Document V).
8. , 182, square brackets in source.
9. , 123–25; see also General Orders, 26 September.
10. , 71. Lee subsequently wrote Maryland governor Thomas Sim Lee from the light infantry camp near Tappan on 4 Oct.: “Last month has produced two events which will bear a distinguished luster in the annals of America. The infamy of Mr. Arnold, & the death of Major André. … Mr. Arnold has been a villain on the small scale, as well as on the great. He had established lucrative connexions with sutlers & sutlers’ wives, & had made them the instruments of converting into money, his embezzlements of public stores. He has deceived his wife, & has betrayed his friend Major André. This latter matter, perhaps, was unavoidable, tho’ it is generally attributed to a pusillanimity inherent in the villain’s breast. As if determined to exhibit to the world how deep in infamy human nature is capable of descending, he is now, by violating his confidential communications with the Commander-in-chief, pointing out to Sir Henry Clinton those characters in the city of New York, friendly to the American cause. He lives, but he lives to misery and anguish. The virtuous André is dead, but died with honor. Perhaps history does not afford an instance of an execution similar to that of André’s. Just & unavoidable; without the least particle of criminality in the sufferer.” Lee provided an account of how Arnold’s plot unfolded, with the traitor’s movements and those of André and Joshua Hett Smith, and then wrote: “How cold are the friendships of men high in power. André’s death does honor to human nature. For my part, I declare, I would rather be André than be alike to nine-tenths of the sentimental world. We have not yet heard Sir Henry Clinton’s declarations since the execution of his friend. I dare say he will be full of menaces” (, 4 [1880]: 61–65, quotes on 61 and 65; see also Document XV, source note, with Major John André’s Capture and Execution, 23 Sept.–7 Oct.; and Benjamin Tallmadge to GW, 11 Oct., n.2).
11. Huntington also described André’s capture “below all our fixt Guards, by two persons who live by Plunder on the Enemy & had Virtue Suff[icien]t to withstand every offer of reward he would make, or any threat for refusing to let him pass altho he had a Permit from Arnold” (, 2:297–98; see also Document I, n.2, with Major John André’s Capture and Execution, 23 Sept.–7 Oct., editorial note).
12. Knox’s letter also included an account of André’s capture and remarks on his hanging. After parting company with Joshua Hett Smith, André “took the road to Tarry-Town, where he was taken by some militia lads, about 15 miles from King’s Bridge. He offered them any sum of money, and go[o]ds, if they would permit him to escape, but they readily declared and inflexibly adhered to it, that 10[,]000 guineas, or any other sum, would be no temptation to them. It was this virtue, as glorious to America as Arnold’s apostacy is disgraceful, that his abominable crimes were discovered.” André “was in the highest degree of reputation in the British army, of the most polite and accomplished manners, extremely beloved by Sir H. Clinton. His deportment while a prisoner was cand[i]d and dignified. He requested no favour, but to die the death of a soldier, and not on a gibbet. Rigorous policy forbid granting a favour, which at first flush seems immaterial. Our army sympathizes in the misfortunes of this Chesterfield of the day: But if he possessed a portion of the blood of all the Kings on earth, justice and policy would have dictated his death” (see also Gordon to John Adams, 19 Oct., in , 10:281–89, especially 287).
13. , 72, 202. Also on 8 Oct., Lt. Benjamin Gilbert wrote his father (Daniel) and stepmother (Mary Goddard Kimball) from Orangetown: “The situation of our army at this time is not so agreable as I could wish, we being destitute either of Beef, Bred or salt, not being able to obtain these three articles at one time. … But before I proceed any further I must give way to some thing that shocks my Imagination. To give it a name, TREASON of the blackest dye was discovered on the 25th of last month. General Arnold who commanded at West Point, lost to every sentiment of honour of private and publick obligation, was about to deliver up that important post into the Enemy. … Happily the treason has ben timely discovered to prevent the fatal misfortune. The providential trane of sircumstances which leat to it affords the most convincing proof that the liberties of america is the object of divine protection. Our Enemies dispairing of carrying their point by force they are practicing every base art to affect by bribery and corruption what they cannot accomplish in a manly way. … Arnold is appointed a General in the British Army, and publickly declares that he will have a Brigade of the Continental Troops with him before Spring. He has sent out hand bills offering ten Gunies bounty to any American that will come and join him. It has so much influence that many have deserted and daily are deserting. I fear the consequences. Common fame says Arnold was to have fifty thousand Gunies reward if he succeded. I leave you to consider the consiquence if he had succeeded. We should at once ben deprived of all communications with the New England State and must have perished or distresed the Inhabitents” (, 22–23).
14. , 2:36–37.
15. , 266–67; see also Genesis, 4:9–15.
In his journal entry for 29 Sept., Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, a Lutheran minister in New Hanover, Pa., and father of Brig. Gen. Peter Muhlenberg, described Arnold as “a political Iscariot” further commenting from a Christian perspective: “Some American publicists ascribe it to special divine providence that this terrible plan was so wonderfully discovered and the coup degrace averted. It is really exceedingly difficult for these poor publicists to have to acknowledge the clearest example of an invisible divine governance, much like a peasant whom the physician has given a weak emetic, which makes him heave but does not work properly. Those who comprehend conclude from this incident that it is not yet God’s will to permit America to go completely to ruin or to forsake it altogether” (, 3:355; see also Muhlenberg’s journal entry for 10 Oct., 361–62).
Pvt. Joseph Plumb Martin reflected on Arnold’s treachery: “Had I possessed the power of foreknowledge, I might twice have put Arnold asleep without anyone knowing it and saved the life of, perhaps, a better man, and my country much trouble and disgrace.” Martin then described how he could have shot the general when guarding a barn at Peekskill, N.Y., where Arnold slept “just before André came to his quarters and while their clandestine negotiation was in progress,” and subsequently when Martin saw Arnold observing roads “three or four days before his desertion. … I could not help taking notice of him, and thought it strange to see him quite alone in such a lone place. He looked guilty, and well he might, for Satan was in as full possession of him at that instant as ever he was of Judas; it only wanted a musket ball to have driven him out. I had been acquainted with Arnold from my childhood and never had too good an opinion of him” (, 204–5).
16. , 16:123–26. Virginia delegate James Madison wrote Edmund Pendleton, a Virginia judge, from Philadelphia on 3 Oct. “concerning the apostacy & plot of Arnold. A variety of his iniquitous jobs prior to this chef d’oevres of his villainy, carried on under cover of his military authority, have been detected among his papers, and involve a number of persons both within & without the Enemies lines. The embarkation lately going on at N York, and given out to be destined for Virginia or Rhode Island, was pretty certainly a part of the plot against West Point” (, 140–41; see also Virginia delegates to Thomas Jefferson, c.5 Oct., in , 148–50). Massachusetts delegate James Lovell wrote his fellow delegate Elbridge Gerry, also on 3 Oct., presumably from Philadelphia: “Arnold has now, for the first Time, shocked you with his Baseness of Heart. He has made it difficult to tell what is undue Jealousy in such a War as ours. He has turned People mad here” (, 16:138–39; see also Lovell to Nathaniel Peabody, same date, in , 16:140).
17. , 16:128–30, 132–33; see also Samuel Huntington to GW, 6 Oct., and n.1 to that document.
Philadelphia resident Nancy Shippen described the effigy as “a ridiculous figure of Genl Arnold, with two faces, and the Devil standing behind him pushing him with a pitchfork. At the front of the cart was a very large lanthorn of green paper, with a number of inscriptions setting forth his crime.” She added: “Several hundred men and boys with candles in their hands—all ranks; many Officers, the Infantry, men with Guns and Bayonets, Tag, Rag &c, somewhere near the Coffee-House. They burnt the effigy” (, 88). A Philadelphia Quaker, Samuel Rowland Fisher, then imprisoned as a suspected Loyalist, wrote in his diary entry for 29 Sept.: “Last Evening we were alarmed with the noise of Drums & Fifes & much shouting of the Mob in the Street, not knowing but it might be something intended against some Friends or the Yearly Meeting collectively … This morning we’re informed the Mob had an Effigy of Arnold hanging on a Gallows, the Body of which was made of paper hollow & illuminated & an inscription in large letters thereon, which they conveyed thro’ many parts of the City.” Fisher added that “we heard two days ago” about Arnold’s plot, and then wrote in his diary entry for 30 Sept.: “This Evening there was another Exhibition thro the City of an Effigy of Arnold placed on a Wagon sitting in a Chair with One leg lying before him with a Cushion &c under it (emblematical of his usual position on account of his wounded leg) behind him a figure representing the Devil in a Clergyman’s Gown, on the head a pair of Goat’s horns, One holding a Purse of Money & the other an Iron called Tormentors. Arnold was represented with two faces & his head continually moving—there was a large paper Lanthorn hung near the figures—I should not have troubled myself to be thus particular on such an occasion, but because it appear’d not as a frolick of the lowest sort of people but as the Act of some of the present Rulers here, it being escorted by abt. 20 of those called Militia & three of those call’d City Light Horse … the Militia had each a Candle in the end of his Musket & perhaps about 100 Lads each having a Candle in his hand … It seems by their making so much Spunk about Arnold’s going off, his design &c, that they think it a matter of consequence to them that it chafes them much” ( 311–14, quotes on 311 and 314).
Madison again wrote Pendleton on 10 Oct.: “Andrè was hung as a spy on the 2d inst. Clinton made a frivolous attempt to save him by pleading the passport granted by Arnold. … His coadjutor Smith will soon follow him. The Hero of the Plot, although he may for the present escape an ignominious death must lead an ignominious life which if any of his feelings remain will be a sorer punishment. It is said that he is to be made a Brigadier and employed in some predatory expedition against the Spaniards in which he may gratify his thirst for gold. It is said with more probability that his baseness is universally despised by those who have taken advantage of it, and that some degree of resentment is mixed with their contempt on account of the loss of their darling officer to which he was accessory” (, 16:187–88; see also Document XV with Major John André’s Capture and Execution, 23 Sept.–7 Oct., editorial note, and The Smith Family and Major General Benedict Arnold’s Treachery, 26 Sept.–30 Oct., editorial note). Probably on the same date, Madison wrote his fellow Virginia delegate Joseph Jones describing Arnold’s “predatory expedition” as something “suited to his genius & his thirst for pelf” (, 16:186–87).
18. Common Sense (Thomas Paine), The Crisis Extraordinary (Philadelphia, [1780]), 15–16.
19. , 4:1–4, quotes on 2; see also Abigail Adams to John Adams, 15 Oct., in , 4:6–7.
20. , 4:8–10; see also Abigail Adams to John Adams, 28 Jan. 1781, in , 4:70–72.
21. , 33:404–8, quotes on 406–7. After learning about the plot’s discovery, Franklin wrote James Searle from Passy, France, on 30 Nov. 1780: “Arnold’s Baseness & Treachery is astonishing! … I hope your Fears that there may be American Arnolds at Paris are groundless: But in such Times one cannot be too much on one’s Guard” (, 34:90–91; see also Searle to Franklin, 20 Nov., in , 34:33–36). Franklin subsequently wrote Major General Lafayette from Passy on 9 Dec.: “I congratulate you on the Escape from arnold’s Treachery. His Character is in the Sight of all Europe already on the Gibbet & will hang there in Chains for Ages” (, 34:142–43; see also Lafayette to Franklin, 19 Nov., in , 34:29–32).
22. , 2:373–74.
23. , 2:374–76. Morris replied to Jay from Philadelphia on 5 June 1781, writing in the postscript: “Arnolds Plot is no longer of any Consequence to us, he very deservedly will & inevitably must be despised to all Eternity for his base Treason” (, 2:461–63).
24. See , 1:219–20, and Document I, n.2. For an exoneration of Peggy Arnold’s culpability in her husband’s treachery, see , 189–90, 304–6.
25. , 480–81.
26. , 16:191–97, quotes on 196–97.
27. , 18:180–81; for Arnold’s address and the drafting of his letter to Germain, see GW to Rochambeau, 12 Oct. 1780, postscript, and n.4 to that document; see also Arnold to Germain, 25 June 1781, in , 20:161–63.
In his letter to Germain dated 7 Oct. 1780, Arnold enclosed a summary of Continental military strength and dispositions in early fall 1780, with critical remarks: “All these troops are illy clad, badly fed, and worse paid having in general two or three years pay due to them. Many of the best officers of the army have resigned and others are daily following their example through disgust, necessity, and a conviction that the provinces will not be able to establish their independence.
“There has long subsisted a jealousy between Congress and the army. The former have been jealous of the power of the latter, and the latter have thought themselves neglected and ill treated by the former who have excluded the army from every appointment of honour or profit in the civil line.
“The common soldiers are exceedingly disgusted with the service and every effort to recruit the army (except by temporary draughts of militia) has hitherto proved ineffectual. … The distress and discontents of the people are daily increasing and the difficulty of recruiting the army another year will undoubtedly be greater than ever.
“The navy is reduced to three frigates and a few small vessels who are generally in port for want of hands to man them.
“The treasury is entirely empty and the finances are at the lowest ebb. …
“As the result of their distresses the eyes of the people are in general opened. They feel their error and look back with remorse to their once happy condition and most ardently wish for a reconciliation on terms safe and honourable to both countries.”
If negotiations failed to return the colonies to British rule, Arnold believed “an addition of ten thousand troops to the American army (including those who may be on their way to America) will be a sufficient force under the direction of an officer of the experience and abilities of Sir Henry Clinton to put a period to the contest in the course of the next campaign.
“I have forgot to mention that the want of provision in the army is not owing to the scarcity of provision in the country but to the weakness of the usurpation in every colony. Without money or credit supplies must be collected by force and terror; wherever the army are, they take without opposition. But this force acts against itself by creating internal enemies and by making friends to Great Britain. It is one of the principal saps hourly undermining the strength of the rebellion.
“N.B. In the foregoing estimate the French troops at Rhode Island who amount to about 5000 effectives are not included” (, 18:181–83; see also Arnold to Germain, 28 Oct., in , 18:211–15).
While campaigning in Virginia in 1781, Hessian captain Johann Ewald commented in his diary on Arnold: “He was a man of medium size, well built, with lively eyes and fine features. He could be very polite and agreeable, especially at table, but if one stayed too long in his company, then the apothecary and horse trader showed through the general. He spoke a great deal about his heroic deeds on the other side, and frequently mentioned his ingenious trick at West Point, a story which he could make ridiculous with much wit. …
“His dishonorable undertaking, which, had it succeeded, could have actually turned the war more favorably for England, nevertheless cannot be justified, for surely self-gain alone had guided him, and not remorse for having taken the other side. If he really felt in his conscience that he had done wrong in siding against his mother country, he should have sheathed his sword and served no more, and then made known in writing his opinions with his reasons. This would have gained more proselytes than his shameful enterprise, which every man of honor and fine feelings—whether he be friend or foe of the common cause—must loathe.
“Gladly as I would have paid with my blood and my life for England’s success in this war, this man remained so detestable to me that I had to use every effort not to let him perceive, or even feel, the indignation of my soul” (, 295–96). German surgeon Julius Friedrich Wasmus commented similarly in his journal: “N.B. Poor Arnold! How would you fare if you had had the misfortune to fall into your own countrymen’s power! You would nevertheless be rewarded according to your crime, for your crime will aways remain abominable before the world! A traitor to his country!” (, 212).
28. See Lee to GW, 16 and 21 Oct. 1780, and GW to Lee, 13 and 20 Oct. (the earlier letter found at Lee to GW, 13 Oct., source note); see also , 2:206–10, and , 394–411.