April 25, 2024 • 10 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, few stories are as compelling, as complex, or as mystifying as that of Benedict Arnold. After all, it is a story ripe with moral ambiguity: He was both the greatest of heroes and the darkest of villains.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
And we continue with our American stories. Few stories are
as compelling, as complex, or as mystifying as that of
Benedict Arnold. Here's Greg Hengler with the story.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Benedict Arnold is hands down America's most infamous turncoat. He
has been dead for over two hundred years, and his
name is still shorthand for trader, as we've seen exemplified
in movies like Grumpier Old Men.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
You Trader, Benedict Arnold.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
In spite of his ultimate deception, Benedict Arnold remains one
of the most gifted generals America has ever known. In
May of seventeen seventy five, Arnold led an attack on
the remote British outpost at Fort tykwonder ROGA quick tempered
and strong willed, Arnold joined forces and immediately clashed with
(01:04):
Ethan Allen, the leader of a small militia of frontiersmen
known as the Green Mountain Boys. The fort is captured, thinks,
mostly to Benedict Arnold, that forces the British to abandon Boston.
Both Allen and Arnold wrote extensive reports about the events
to the colonial committees, but the only accepted Allan's glorified
(01:27):
version that barely mentions Arnold. This would be the beginning
of a pattern in Arnold's military career that would repeat itself.
Arnold is later given the impossible task of defending New
York's Lake Champlain from attack. He constructs the first American
(01:48):
naval fleet of fifteen small war vessels to engage the
British at Valcour Island in October of seventeen seventy six.
Although he was not victorious, his efforts not only established
the American Navy, but severely delayed the advancement of the
world's finest navy into American territory, allowing Washington's army time
(02:12):
to rebuild and resupply. In spite of his aggressive and
heroic achievements, the Continental Congress refused to recognize Arnold, and
he was passed over for promotion in favor of junior
officers with far less military achievement. George Washington, who was
Arnold's close friend and one of the few men who
(02:34):
came to his defense, took issue with the Continental Congress's decision,
rebuking them for making political rather than strategic military promotions.
Here's Washington biographer Adrian Harrison.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Washington appreciates the personal sacrifice than Arnold made and the
leadership that he used. He sees Arnold's pain and Washington
has really for the Continental Congress either, They're not doing
a great job supplying him.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
In September of seventeen seventy seven, Arnold was placed under
the command of Horatio Gates at Saratoga in upstate New York. Gates,
while never coming within a mile of the fighting, held
Arnold back, confining him to his tent, and refused reinforcements
to find Gates orders. Arnold seized a horse and rallied
(03:29):
the Americans to victory, and took a bullet to the
leg and barely survived after being crushed by his own horse. However,
it is this shot that will change the course of
history and nearly alter the course of independence. Here's arnold
biographer Willard Randall.
Speaker 5 (03:48):
When the battle was over, his second in command said, sir,
where are you hit? And Arnold said, it's my leg.
I wish it had been my heart, And I do too.
I wish it'd have been in his heart, because if
he had died at that moment, he would have been
the great hero of the Revolution.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
The battles of Saratoga are considered by many historians to
be one of the top fifteen most decisive battles in
world history, because it becomes the impetus for France to
join the Americans against Britain, reinvigorating Washington's continental army and
providing much needed supplies and support, saving the revolution once again.
(04:30):
Here's historian Paul Hutton.
Speaker 6 (04:33):
Carried from the battlefield terribly wounded. Arnold was immediately placed
under arrest for having disobeyed orders. But the day is won.
It's clear to everyone on the battlefield that Benedict Arnold
has won the day, clear to everyone except Horatio Gates.
(04:53):
He denies Arnold credit. He accepts credit for America's greatest victory.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
General Washington steps in and entrusts the newly reclaimed city
of Philadelphia to Arnold. He is now the city's military governor.
Away from the battlefield, Arnold takes full advantage of his position,
living opulently while using and abusing his position, running shady
(05:21):
business deals in a lively black market.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
He has served, he has been wounded severely, and so
he starts as a governor to take what he thinks
is his due.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
It is here in April seventeen seventy nine, where the
thirty eight year old Arnold meets and marries a beautiful,
flirtatious and intense eighteen year old from a very wealthy
loyalist family. Her name is Peggy Shippin Here's Arnold. Historian
William Stanley.
Speaker 7 (05:57):
Arnold was.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
To the British what Rava was to the English, a
patent was to the German. In other word, a general
who could defeat them. The British wanted Donald out of
there without Arnold Diadwin.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
But Arnold's shady side deals are exposed by the press.
Once again. Arnold faces a slight against his honor with
an impending court martial and a public rebuke from General Washington.
Arnold and his young bride begin exploring options for disaffection
(06:35):
despite his reprimand Washington wants to give his brilliant general
a field position of honor, but after Arnold suspiciously lobbies
strongly for a non field position at West Point in
the fall of seventeen eighty, Washington makes him the commander
of the strategic American stronghold known as the Key to
(06:57):
the Continent, a four on the front lines that bears
his own name, Fort Arnold. West Point becomes Arnold's key
negotiating resource. Many historians claim he even conspired to turn
over General George Washington himself. Here's former superintendent of the
(07:18):
US Military Academy at West Point, Lieutenant General Dave Palmer.
Speaker 8 (07:24):
West Point was not just a strategic spot. West Point
was the strategic spot in the American Revolution. Both sides,
British and Americans, agreed on one thing that if the
British could ever capture the line of the Hutcheons, they
would probably win the war.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It doesn't take long for Arnold's secret plot to be unearthed,
causing him to flee West Point for a British warship
stationed on the Hudson. Ironically, at this same hour, General
Washington was en route to West Point to feast with
his trusted friend. Arnold's betrayal is so unexpected and cuts
(08:05):
General Washington so deeply that, after failing to capture Benedict Arnold,
Washington proclaimed, Arnold has betrayed me, whom can we trust?
Now safely behind British lines, Benedict Arnold receives his twenty
thousand pounds ransom payment and a commission as Brigadier General
(08:26):
of sixteen hundred troops in his Majesty's army. Benjamin Franklin remarked,
Judas sold only one man, Arnold three million. Benedict Arnold's
treason united the thirteen colonies and increased their enlistments and
re enlistments in ways that neither he nor the British
(08:48):
could have ever foreseen. Benedict Arnold died in London in
eighteen oh one, at the age of sixty, a spiritually,
financially and emotionally broken. There's a monument on the battlefield
at Saratoga National Park, the site of his greatest victory,
a boot statue commemorating the permanent wounds General Benedict Arnold
(09:12):
sustained with the inscription in memory of the most brilliant
soldier of the Continental Army, who was desperately wounded on
this spot, winning for his countryman the decisive battle of
the American Revolution, and for himself the rank of major general.
The monument bears no name, and there's good reason.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Because there is a law in America passed by the
Congress that you can neither chizzle the name Benedic Donald
or mold it in metal. So I mean they took
this guy right off the face of the US.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Benedict Donald's betrayal is profound. At the same time, America
would have never emerged successfully from the Revolutionary War had
it not been for his innovation of leadership. Here's former
military historian at West Point, Major John Hall.
Speaker 7 (10:07):
Were it not for his treason, he would almost undoubtedly
be one of the most celebrated American commanders of all
of the American Revolution. West Point to this day would
probably still be called Fort Arnold rather than west Point.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
In the years following his death, Arnold's wife Peggy spent
her time settling all of his debts except the biggest
one of all to America, which could never be paid.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
And great job, as always to Greg Hengler and to
all the supporters and contributors to this show. Benedict Arnold's
story here on our American Stories
And we continue with our American stories. Few stories are
as compelling, as complex, or as mystifying as that of
Benedict Arnold. Here's Greg Hengler with the story.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Benedict Arnold is hands down America's most infamous turncoat. He
has been dead for over two hundred years, and his
name is still shorthand for trader, as we've seen exemplified
in movies like Grumpier Old Men.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
You Trader, Benedict Arnold.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
In spite of his ultimate deception, Benedict Arnold remains one
of the most gifted generals America has ever known. In
May of seventeen seventy five, Arnold led an attack on
the remote British outpost at Fort tykwonder ROGA quick tempered
and strong willed, Arnold joined forces and immediately clashed with
(01:04):
Ethan Allen, the leader of a small militia of frontiersmen
known as the Green Mountain Boys. The fort is captured, thinks,
mostly to Benedict Arnold, that forces the British to abandon Boston.
Both Allen and Arnold wrote extensive reports about the events
to the colonial committees, but the only accepted Allan's glorified
(01:27):
version that barely mentions Arnold. This would be the beginning
of a pattern in Arnold's military career that would repeat itself.
Arnold is later given the impossible task of defending New
York's Lake Champlain from attack. He constructs the first American
(01:48):
naval fleet of fifteen small war vessels to engage the
British at Valcour Island in October of seventeen seventy six.
Although he was not victorious, his efforts not only established
the American Navy, but severely delayed the advancement of the
world's finest navy into American territory, allowing Washington's army time
(02:12):
to rebuild and resupply. In spite of his aggressive and
heroic achievements, the Continental Congress refused to recognize Arnold, and
he was passed over for promotion in favor of junior
officers with far less military achievement. George Washington, who was
Arnold's close friend and one of the few men who
(02:34):
came to his defense, took issue with the Continental Congress's decision,
rebuking them for making political rather than strategic military promotions.
Here's Washington biographer Adrian Harrison.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Washington appreciates the personal sacrifice than Arnold made and the
leadership that he used. He sees Arnold's pain and Washington
has really for the Continental Congress either, They're not doing
a great job supplying him.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
In September of seventeen seventy seven, Arnold was placed under
the command of Horatio Gates at Saratoga in upstate New York. Gates,
while never coming within a mile of the fighting, held
Arnold back, confining him to his tent, and refused reinforcements
to find Gates orders. Arnold seized a horse and rallied
(03:29):
the Americans to victory, and took a bullet to the
leg and barely survived after being crushed by his own horse. However,
it is this shot that will change the course of
history and nearly alter the course of independence. Here's arnold
biographer Willard Randall.
Speaker 5 (03:48):
When the battle was over, his second in command said, sir,
where are you hit? And Arnold said, it's my leg.
I wish it had been my heart, And I do too.
I wish it'd have been in his heart, because if
he had died at that moment, he would have been
the great hero of the Revolution.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
The battles of Saratoga are considered by many historians to
be one of the top fifteen most decisive battles in
world history, because it becomes the impetus for France to
join the Americans against Britain, reinvigorating Washington's continental army and
providing much needed supplies and support, saving the revolution once again.
(04:30):
Here's historian Paul Hutton.
Speaker 6 (04:33):
Carried from the battlefield terribly wounded. Arnold was immediately placed
under arrest for having disobeyed orders. But the day is won.
It's clear to everyone on the battlefield that Benedict Arnold
has won the day, clear to everyone except Horatio Gates.
(04:53):
He denies Arnold credit. He accepts credit for America's greatest victory.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
General Washington steps in and entrusts the newly reclaimed city
of Philadelphia to Arnold. He is now the city's military governor.
Away from the battlefield, Arnold takes full advantage of his position,
living opulently while using and abusing his position, running shady
(05:21):
business deals in a lively black market.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
He has served, he has been wounded severely, and so
he starts as a governor to take what he thinks
is his due.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
It is here in April seventeen seventy nine, where the
thirty eight year old Arnold meets and marries a beautiful,
flirtatious and intense eighteen year old from a very wealthy
loyalist family. Her name is Peggy Shippin Here's Arnold. Historian
William Stanley.
Speaker 7 (05:57):
Arnold was.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
To the British what Rava was to the English, a
patent was to the German. In other word, a general
who could defeat them. The British wanted Donald out of
there without Arnold Diadwin.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
But Arnold's shady side deals are exposed by the press.
Once again. Arnold faces a slight against his honor with
an impending court martial and a public rebuke from General Washington.
Arnold and his young bride begin exploring options for disaffection
(06:35):
despite his reprimand Washington wants to give his brilliant general
a field position of honor, but after Arnold suspiciously lobbies
strongly for a non field position at West Point in
the fall of seventeen eighty, Washington makes him the commander
of the strategic American stronghold known as the Key to
(06:57):
the Continent, a four on the front lines that bears
his own name, Fort Arnold. West Point becomes Arnold's key
negotiating resource. Many historians claim he even conspired to turn
over General George Washington himself. Here's former superintendent of the
(07:18):
US Military Academy at West Point, Lieutenant General Dave Palmer.
Speaker 8 (07:24):
West Point was not just a strategic spot. West Point
was the strategic spot in the American Revolution. Both sides,
British and Americans, agreed on one thing that if the
British could ever capture the line of the Hutcheons, they
would probably win the war.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It doesn't take long for Arnold's secret plot to be unearthed,
causing him to flee West Point for a British warship
stationed on the Hudson. Ironically, at this same hour, General
Washington was en route to West Point to feast with
his trusted friend. Arnold's betrayal is so unexpected and cuts
(08:05):
General Washington so deeply that, after failing to capture Benedict Arnold,
Washington proclaimed, Arnold has betrayed me, whom can we trust?
Now safely behind British lines, Benedict Arnold receives his twenty
thousand pounds ransom payment and a commission as Brigadier General
(08:26):
of sixteen hundred troops in his Majesty's army. Benjamin Franklin remarked,
Judas sold only one man, Arnold three million. Benedict Arnold's
treason united the thirteen colonies and increased their enlistments and
re enlistments in ways that neither he nor the British
(08:48):
could have ever foreseen. Benedict Arnold died in London in
eighteen oh one, at the age of sixty, a spiritually,
financially and emotionally broken. There's a monument on the battlefield
at Saratoga National Park, the site of his greatest victory,
a boot statue commemorating the permanent wounds General Benedict Arnold
(09:12):
sustained with the inscription in memory of the most brilliant
soldier of the Continental Army, who was desperately wounded on
this spot, winning for his countryman the decisive battle of
the American Revolution, and for himself the rank of major general.
The monument bears no name, and there's good reason.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Because there is a law in America passed by the
Congress that you can neither chizzle the name Benedic Donald
or mold it in metal. So I mean they took
this guy right off the face of the US.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Benedict Donald's betrayal is profound. At the same time, America
would have never emerged successfully from the Revolutionary War had
it not been for his innovation of leadership. Here's former
military historian at West Point, Major John Hall.
Speaker 7 (10:07):
Were it not for his treason, he would almost undoubtedly
be one of the most celebrated American commanders of all
of the American Revolution. West Point to this day would
probably still be called Fort Arnold rather than west Point.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
In the years following his death, Arnold's wife Peggy spent
her time settling all of his debts except the biggest
one of all to America, which could never be paid.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
And great job, as always to Greg Hengler and to
all the supporters and contributors to this show. Benedict Arnold's
story here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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