Benedict Arnold commits treason - September 21st, 1780

On this day in 1780, American General Benedict Arnold agreed to betray his country in exchange for £20,000 and a high rank in the British army.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.
Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a
show that proves there's more than one way to make history.
I'm Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, we're looking at
the downfall of one of the most reviled figures in

(00:21):
American history and the only man to serve as a
general on both sides of the Revolutionary War. The day
was September twenty first, seventeen eighty. American General Benedict Arnold
agreed to betray his country in exchange for twenty thousand

(00:43):
pounds and a high rank in the British Army. Arnold
finalized the deal during a secret meeting with British Major
John Andre, whom he had been in contact with for
over a year. According to the terms, Arnold would facilitate
a British invasion of New York by handing over West Point,
an American fort on the Hudson River which was under

(01:05):
his command. In the end, Arnold's treasonous bargain with the
British was never fulfilled, as the plot was uncovered and
foiled by American agents just a few days later, and
although the once respected war hero never stood trial for
his crimes. He was publicly condemned by his former countrymen,
and his name became a synonym for trader. Benedict Arnold

(01:30):
was born into a prominent family in Norwich, Connecticut, on
January fourteenth, seventeen forty one. He enlisted in the New
York Militia twice during the French and Indian War, but
each time he deserted in order to complete an apprenticeship
as an apothecary under his uncle's After the death of
his parents in the early seventeen sixties, Arnold and his

(01:52):
sister moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where he became one
of the most successful merchants in New England. When the
American Revolution broke out in seventeen seventy five, Arnold joined
the Continental Army and helped take the fight to the British.
That May, he teamed up with Ethan Allen and the
Green Mountain Boys of Vermont to capture Fort Tykwonderoga. Then

(02:14):
in September, Arnold took part in the American invasion of
Canada on the orders of General George Washington. The attack
on British Quebec failed to secure the regent as a
proposed fourteenth Colony, but Arnold was said to have served bravely,
even after being severely wounded in the leg. He also
distinguished himself as a skillful tactician, and his tenacity on

(02:37):
the battlefield earned him a promotion to brigadier general and
gained him the respect of General Washington. For the next
two years, Arnold continued to serve with distinction, but frequently
found himself at odds with his superiors. General Horatio Gates,
for example, thought Arnold was a loose cannon who disobeyed

(02:57):
orders and took too many chances on the battlefield. That
bad rap led to Arnold being passed over for multiple promotions,
making him increasingly resentful of the military he'd served so well. Finally,
in October of seventeen seventy seven, Arnold scored a minor
victory by capturing a British stronghold against the orders of

(03:19):
General Gates. Although Gates was furious, Congress and General Washington
were grateful for the win and promoted Arnold to major general.
They also sent him to Philadelphia to serve as a
military governor while recovering from another leg injury he'd sustained
in battle two years into his sojourn in Philadelphia, Arnold

(03:40):
married a young woman with loyalist sympathies named Peggy Shippin.
They went on to have four sons together and racked
up a great deal of debt thanks to their lavish lifestyle.
But the real danger in their union stemmed from Shippin's
political beliefs, as she eventually put Arnold in contact with
a very brick British officers he would later side with.

(04:02):
Of course, the final decision to change sides was Arnold's
alone to make, and historians have spent centuries speculating on
why exactly he did it. His simmering resentment toward the
military was almost certainly a contributing factor, as was his
mounting debt in Philadelphia. It's worth noting, though, that in
later years, Arnold defended his conduct as justified, claiming that

(04:27):
the revolution had lost its way and that his actions
were meant to bring an end to a protracted war
in order to prevent further bloodshed. Whatever the truth of
his motives, Benedict Arnold began corresponding with British commanders in
New York in seventeen ninety nine. He communicated and coded
messages written in invisible ink. The messages were interspersed between

(04:50):
lines of text written by his wife and then passed
along to the recipients through women's circles. In seventeen eighty,
once the lines of communication had been w well established,
Arnold requested to be placed in command of the fort
at West Point, right along the Hudson River in New York.
His biggest supporter, George Washington, granted the request, and in

(05:12):
the months that followed, Arnold began preparing the way for
his new British allies. He purposely weakened West Points defenses
and those of other forts in the area by delaying
repairs and burning through supplies as quickly as possible. Then,
once it was good and vulnerable, he offered to hand
over both the fort and his own men to the British.

(05:34):
The deal was brokered by British Major John Andre, one
of Arnold's secret pen pals and a top aide to
Sir Henry Clinton, the head of the British forces. In
early September, Arnold requested a face to face meeting with
Andre to finalize their plan and to work out the
details of his reward. So on September twenty first, the

(05:54):
two conspirators met up at the home of Joshua Hett Smith,
a Loyalist associate who had spied for both sides during
the war. Smith's house was located about fifteen miles south
of the Ford at West Point. And Andrea arrived there
by sailing up the Hudson River aboard the HMS Vulture.
During the rendezvous, Arnold pledged to surrender the American stronghold

(06:17):
at West Point in return for twenty thousand pounds and
a commission as a brigadier general in the British Army.
Andrea accepted his terms, believing that the capture of West
Point would give their military control of the Hudson Valley,
a strategically vital point that the American rebels couldn't afford
to lose. Luckily for Americans, they never got the chance

(06:40):
to put their plan into action, as the HMS Vulture
was discovered and fired upon the following morning. Major Andre
was forced to don a civilian disguise and make his
way back to the British lines on foot, but along
the way he was stopped by three American militiamen who
saw through his ruse right away. He was taken into

(07:00):
custody near Terrytown on September twenty third, and the papers
detailing his arrangement with Arnold were quickly discovered stashed in
his shoes. Arnold learned of the major's arrest the next morning,
right before he was supposed to have breakfast with General Washington.
With no time to spare, he managed to escape New
York by boarding the same warship that had carried Andre

(07:23):
up the Hudson River. Later that day, Arnold wrote to
General Washington, begging him to insure the safety of his wife.
I have no favor to ask for myself, Arnold wrote,
I have too often experienced the ingratitude of my country
to attempt it. But from the known humanity of your excellence,
I am induced to ask your protection for missus Arnold

(07:45):
from every insult and injury that the mistaken vengeance of
my country may expose her to. It ought to fall
only on me. She is as good and as innocent
as an angel, and is incapable of doing wrong. When
Washington discovered Arnold's treachery a few hours later, he offered
to trade Andre for Arnold, but when Sir Henry Clinton

(08:07):
refused to turn him over he had the British spy
hung instead. Washington did, however, grant Arnold's request to show
his wife mercy. At that point, there was no evidence
that she had played a role in Arnold's scheme, so
Washington provided an escort for her back to her family
home in Philadelphia. Of course, once the residence there got

(08:28):
wind of what had happened, they shamed her out of
the city, forcing her to flee to her disgraced husband
behind British lines. As for Benedict Arnold, he served as
a brigadier general in the British Army for the remainder
of the Revolutionary War. He led his new troops on
raids in Virginia and Connecticut, but the war didn't play

(08:49):
out the way he'd expected. In October of seventeen eighty one,
the British Army surrendered at Yorktown, and the Arnolds, now
shunned by their former countrymen, had no ChIL but to
move to England. They turned out to be hated there
as well, as many of the British blamed Arnold for
the death of Major Andre. To make matters worse, Arnold

(09:10):
never received his full reward from the British Army, as
he had never actually delivered West Point. Instead, he received
only five thousand pounds for his acts, a sum which
Ben Franklin described as quote a miserable bargain, especially when
one considers the quantity of infamy he has acquired to
himself and entailed on his family. Benedict Arnold died in

(09:35):
London on June fourteenth, eighteen oh one, at the age
of sixty. He maintained until his death that he wasn't
a mercenary or a traitor, and that his actions were
only ever in the interest of saving America from certain destruction.
But at the end of the day, Arnold's motives didn't
really matter. He had backed the losing side in the

(09:57):
Revolutionary War, and his legacy would be forever bound and
blighted by that decision. I'm Gabe Lucia, and hopefully you
now know a little more about history today than you
did yesterday. If you have a second and you're so inclined,
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(10:18):
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and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back
here again tomorrow for another day in history class.