Gen. Benedict Arnold, looking almost reputable There are few people we tend to remember from the Revolutionary War. There's George Washington, of course, and some of the other Founding Fathers -- Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams -- maybe Paul Revere and John Hancock, and that's about it. But there is one man whose fame -- or, better, infamy -- rings through the centuries without most of us knowing who he was and what he did. That man is Benedict Arnold, and, this being his birthday, we use the occasion to examine the man and his legacy. Arnold was born on January 14, 1741, in the colony of Connecticut. His father was a well-to-do businessman, whose business acumen he inherited, carving out a successful career of his own in the odd combination of pharmacist/bookseller. From his youth, he was interested in joining the military (he liked the drummers), but it wasn't until 1775 that he actually joined, becoming a captain in the Connecticut militia. He won promotions in the battles of Fort Ticonderoga and Quebec. His business instincts never left him, though. Even as he was appointed military commander of Philadelphia, he was making plans on how to capitalize on his power, working out deals to profit on the movement of war materiel through the city, and running what amounted to a protection racket. Accused of wrongdoing, he demanded a court martial to clear his name, but was denied, which left him bitter: "Having become a cripple in the service of my country" (he'd been wounded in the left leg, leaving it two inches shorter than the right), "I little expected to meet (such) ungrateful returns." His teenaged wife was a British sympathizer, and, through her circle of friends, Arnold was soon selling information on American troop strength and movements to the British. He soon got the court-martial he'd wanted, and somehow won acquittal. That didn't stop him, though. He contrived a plan to have himself appointed commander of West Point, and from there, for £20,000, he would surrender both the fort and most of the defenses of the strategic Hudson Valley. Unfortunately for Arnold, through a series of almost-comic coincidences, his correspondence detailing the plan with British Major John Andre was discovered and decoded, and Arnold fled to Virginia, becoming a general in the British Army. Following the end of the war and American independence, he lived the rest of his life in England and Canada, dying in 1801. For all his military and business ability (which was ultimately trumped by his own ego), his name has become -- like those of Judas Iscariot and Vidkun Quisling -- shorthand for traitors and those who put their own interests above those of their fellows and countrymen. In recent years, though, Judas has been getting better press, and Quisling is pretty much forgotten, so that leaves Arnold, Robert Irsay, and Art Modell as the poster boys for sell-outs. Suggested Sites... Wikipedia: Benedict Arnold - biography of the man whose name has become synonymous with treason. Top 10 Traitors - a rogue's gallery of sedition. United States Military Academy at West Point - the command that Arnold tried to give away. Top 10 Screen Traitors - oh, Lando! How could you? List of Eponyms - "Benedict Arnold" means "traitor," but who knew there was reall a "Leotard?" (Well, okay, we did, but...)

Directory categories: Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary War, 18th Century People, 18th Century United States History, Eponyms

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