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Benedict Arnold: More than a Simple Traitor

We as humans are ever wont to simplify matters of history, to view events and personalities as though they can be explained in the simplest of terms. This man was evil; that one was good. Few people in history so perfectly exemplify the futility and fallacy of this tendency as Benedict Arnold. Though despised as a traitor to his country-his very name spoken as a curse- he was nonetheless an innovative general responsible for many important American victories in the Revolutionary war. The events surrounding Arnold ’s life show clearly that all scenarios are far from simple, that all events possess a multitude of factors and facets. Arnold was a courageous and loyal patriot for most of his life, but who turned to betrayal, and so tarnished his name for ever more.

Born to a prominent family in colonial Connecticut , Arnold was a fiercely loyal patriot, twice running away to fight in the French-Indian War. By 1774, he was married, had three sons and was a captain in the local militia. With the proclamation of the Revolutionary War the following year, Arnold led his group to Cambridge , Massachusetts to join the amassing army of George Washington. He was given the rank of colonel and tasked with capturing Fort Ticonderoga . Within a month his party had joined with that of Ethan Allen, and the Fort fell on May 18^th. It was the first in a long list of militant victories for the young Patriot.

In the years that followed, Arnold added a host of battles to his repertoire. He led an army of over one thousand through the wilderness of Maine to assault Quebec -an effort that saw him grievously wounded in the leg. Subsequently, he successfully delayed the British attempt to invade New York during the Battle of Valcour, a show of valour that saw him promoted to brigadier general. He continued his career by routing a British raiding party attacking the Connecticut town of Danbury , and was made a major general. These contests showed Arnold ’s great capabilities as an ‘innovative and ingenious leader’ (The World Book 741), and he was soon placed in command of the garrison in Philadelphia .

Despite his impressive history as a commander in the Patriot army, Arnold began to encounter problems. Living in Philadelphia , Arnold began living beyond his means and collecting a debt. Also, accusations were being made of incompetence during his campaigns in Maine and Lake Champlain, and Montreal merchants claimed to have been robbed by him. Further, he lacked skills as an administrator and found himself being charged with being too friendly to loyalists, as well as more serious charges of misuse of property and military personnel. He received a court marshal, and was sentenced to receive a ‘light reprimand by George Washington’ (Encyclopedia Americana 369). Angry at what he considered to be ‘ingratitude’ and ‘betrayal’ by the country he had loyally served, he began contemplating turning to the British- he began considering betrayal in kind.

Already in debt from a lavish lifestyle that he could not afford, and seething over perceived injustices by his country, Arnold spent the next five years selling intelligence to John André, messenger to British General, Sir Henry Clinton. As his debts continued to grow, he devised a plan to sell the strategically placed West Point , New York , supposedly for a sum of twenty-thousand pounds (Encyclopedia Americana 369). Before the deal could be completed, however, André was captured with incriminating documents in Arnold ’s handwriting (World Book 456). The young general-turned-traitor fled to Canada , where he became a brigadier in the British army. He led several raids against his former country before retiring to London . He continued to live lavishly and, having received only a small portion of the proposed twenty thousand pounds, soon found himself poor. He died penniless and socially ostracized in 1801.

History is ever fashioned from an almost limitless number of facets; for all that we attempt to view events as having only a single side. As the story of Benedict Arnold perfectly illustrates, there is no simple explanation for what may have happened in the past. Benedict Arnold was indeed a traitor, and it is this betrayal that is so often connected to his name. But that again ignores many important factors. Arnold was a celebrated war hero who was of great importance in the War of Independence, and his motivation for his betrayal was in part due to betrayals against himself by the very country he devoutly served. The lessons that can be learned through this piece of history are clear: we must never forget that matters are never simple. We must always remember that, just as Arnold was more than just a traitor, all moments in history possess more than a single story.