The Notorious Benedict Arnold

“He was a thrill seeker, a natural athlete, a born show-off.”

Sheinkin paints a vivid portrait of Arnold as a boy, highlighting those qualities which would mold his adult life. His love of danger, his physical prowess and endurance, and his craving for attention will all mark his behavior during the Revolutionary War.

“These traits made an explosive mix, more than enough for a dazzling rise—and a spectacular crash.”

Arnold's rise in the military during the Revolution is fueled by his fiery personal qualities, but these will also cause his downfall when he switches sides in the war and is unmasked as a traitor. 

“Arnold began to worry that his hard work was going unappreciated, that his reputation was being trashed. Nothing was more certain to light the fuse of his fury.”

Arnold has an exaggerated sense of personal honor and pride, which causes him to be hypersensitive to criticism and perceived slights. This will be seen again in his reaction to Congress passing him over for a generalship. It is one of the mixes of personal traits which will contribute to his downfall. 

“He [Washington] knew Arnold's reputation: bright, decisive, natural leader, violent temper. He'd hear the man out.”

Arnold's initial meeting with General Washington marks the beginning of an important relationship in the annals of the American Revolution. Impressed by Arnold's stunning success at Ticonderoga, Washington sees in him the kind of bold and fiery leader he needs in his army. During their meeting, Arnold presents to Washington his plan for attacking Canada, including a surprise march through the Maine wilderness. 

“[Andre] could do nothing else. Nothing but lay low, and wait—and dream of revenge.”

John André, a bright young light of the British Army, becomes trapped in a British fort during the American invasion of Canada and is captured as a prisoner of war. The experience angers him against the Americans and kindles a strong desire to get even with them. He will get an opportunity to do this when Arnold enlists his help in defecting to the British side.

“‘[Congress'] promotion of junior officers to the rank of major generals, I view as a very civil way of requesting my resignation, as unqualified for the office I hold. […] I know some villain has been busy with my fame, and busily slandering me,’ he said. ‘I cannot think of drawing up my sword until my reputation, which is dearer than life, is cleared up.’”

The chapter “A Question of Honor” deals with Arnold's frustration at being passed over for promotion in the military by Congress. Arnold resents this strongly and believes that a slander campaign is destroying his reputation.

“‘It is needless to say anything of this gentleman's military character,’ Washington wrote. ‘It is universally known that he has always distinguished himself as a judicious, brave officer, of great activity, enterprise, and perseverance.’”

This quote highlights the strong respect and personal regard that exists between General George Washington and Benedict Arnold. Washington writes these words in a letter to Congress recommending Arnold for a promotion.

“‘I spent last evening at the war office with General Arnold,’ Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail. ‘He has been basely slandered and libeled.’”

Adams writes these words following Arnold's visit to Philadelphia to convince Congress to restore his seniority in the army. The quote corroborates the impression of personal slander that Arnold feels is being perpetrated against him. 

“It was the stunning American victory at Saratoga that had convinced the French that the Americans could actually win the war, persuading them to sign.”

The Battle of Saratoga concludes just as Benjamin Franklin is in Paris attempting to obtain French support for the American Revolution. In that sense, the victory could not have come at a more opportune time. 

“The way Arnold saw it, he had sacrificed his health and most of his fortune for the cause of independence, and Congress had repeatedly failed to treat him with the respect he'd earned. So now he was just paying himself back—just taking what the country owed him.”

This quote relates to an incident shortly after Arnold takes command of Philadelphia. Arnold and a merchant make a deal to remove goods from a docked ship that is in danger of falling into the hands of the British or American armies. The goods are sold, and Arnold and the merchant make a large profit. The problem is, the wagons used to transport the goods belong to the state of Pennsylvania and are supposed to used only for government business. This does not trouble Arnold, who feels his sacrifices in the war entitle him to the goods. These questionable dealings will embroil Arnold in legal trouble. 

“‘Twenty times I have taken up my pen to write to you,’ he proclaimed, ‘and as often has my trembling hand refused to obey the dictates of my heart—a heart which, though calm and serene amidst the clashing of arms and all the din and horrors of war, trembles with diffidence and the fear of giving offense when it attempts to address you on a subject so important to its happiness.’”

Sheinkin is quoting from a love letter from Arnold to Peggy Shippen. Arnold meets Peggy at a ball while he is governor of Philadelphia and is immediately smitten by her. The courtship is troubled by the fact that Peggy's father is a well-known Loyalist and disapproves of the match with Arnold. The words of Arnold's letter are almost identical with one he had written earlier to Betsy DeBlois. However, Sheinkin acknowledges that Arnold was “no poet,” and was simply trying to convey his emotions in the best way he knew how. 

“Members [of Congress] saw Franks's behavior as another example of military authorities acting like British aristocrats.”

Some American leaders are concerned that an overweening military and the notoriety of military heroes will weaken democracy. This concern is voiced in particular by Joseph Reed, a leader in the Pennsylvania Executive Council. Reed sees the possibility of a homegrown nobility that will be just as bad as the British aristocrats the Americans have overthrown. His solution is to “cut the military celebrities down to size” (210), including Arnold. The quote refers to a specific incident in which Major David Franks, an aide to Arnold, had imperiously ordered a soldier to fetch him his barber. 

“‘They say she [Peggy Shippen] intends to surrender soon,’ Peggy's cousin said of her. ‘I thought the fort would not hold out so long. Well after all there is nothing like perseverance, and a regular attack.’”

This clever quote sums up the dynamics of the courtship of Arnold and Peggy Shippen, using appropriate military imagery. Peggy's father, a Loyalist judge, is wary of her daughter marrying Arnold. Determined to win Peggy's love, Arnold buys an expensive mansion in Philadelphia, which pleases both Peggy and her father.

“Andre was well aware that fellow officers resented his rapid rise. He was out on a ledge, and people were hoping to see him fall. There was only one way to solidify his shaky position—he would have to use his new intelligence position to pull off something big.”

John André makes a rapid ascent in the hierarchy, finally becoming chief of intelligence to General Henry Clinton at the age of 28. The resentment many people feel about André's success parallels the feelings that surround Arnold. In Sheinkin's depiction, it is not surprising that these two men would cross paths in a fateful way. In the case of both men, a spectacular rise is followed by an equally spectacular fall. 

“‘General Arnold,’ [Stansbury] said, ‘communicated to me, under a solemn obligation of secrecy, his intention of offering his services to the commander-in-chief of the British forces.’”

The paths of Arnold and André finally cross when Andre is visited by Joseph Stansbury, an emissary sent by Arnold to convey his intentions to join the British side. André's first reaction is shock, as he and Clinton never dreamed that Arnold was a likely traitor to the American cause.

“‘Sir Henry may depend on my exertions and intelligence,’ was Arnold's answer to Andre. ‘I will cooperate when an opportunity offers, and as life and everything is at stake, I shall expect some certainty—my property here secure and a revenue equivalent to the risk and service done.’”

Arnold lays out his terms of his deal to Gen. Henry Clinton. The letter is written in invisible ink in an elaborate code based on the legal text Blackstone's Commentaries. He closes the letter with “Madame Arnold presents her particular complements,” which Sheinkin interprets as a signal that Peggy would be in on the plot. 

“‘Every method that men ingeniously wicked could invent has been practiced to blast and destroy my character,’ Arnold continued. ‘Such a vile prostitution of power and such instances of glaring tyranny and injustice I believe are unprecedented in the annals of any free people.’”

This speech is given during Arnold's court-martial for his questionable trade deals. Arnold is giving vent, as he often does in his letters to General Washington, to his anger over perceived calumnies to his character. Sheinkin finds the speech “self righteous,” especially considering that Arnold was that very moment plotting to betray his country. 

“But therein lies the key to understanding Arnold: he didn't feel guilty. He was always able to convince himself that what he was doing was right. And if any feelings of remorse popped up, instead of dwelling on them he blended them with anger, and spewed them outward at this enemies.”

Sheinkin amplifies the previous quote from Arnold, providing an analysis of Arnold's character as someone who could always convince himself that he was in the right. 

“This American fort sat on a peninsula jutting into the Hudson River, about fifty miles north of New York City—such a strategically vital spot that Washington called West Point 'the key to America.' As long as the Americans held West Point, they could bottle British ships in New York City, preventing them from using the Hudson to slice into the countryside.”

The strategic importance of West Point leads Arnold to seek command there, thus obtaining an enormous “bargaining chip” (242). He discusses with John André the terms of a deal whereby he would turn over West Point to Henry Clinton for £20,000.

“‘Good fortune still follows me,’ Andre reported to his family in Britain. ‘I can hardly look back at the steep progress I have made without being giddy!’ Andre was soaring too high, too fast, and he knew it. There was no way he could stay up there—not without pulling off something that would silence all of the critics.”

These statements of André follow from his promotion to adjutant general of the British army, making him head of General Clinton's staff. He achieves this impressive rank at the age of 29, which arouses the envy of some of his colleagues and makes him solicitous of maintaining his status. This quote highlights the universal theme of the precariousness of human fame and glory. 

“This was central to Arnold's plot. He was going to be well paid, but that was just the beginning. As a British general, he planned to lead Great Britain to a quick victory, thus ending the unpopular war and reuniting Britain and America in one peaceful and glorious empire. Arnold would be hailed as a hero in both lands, earn a colossal reward from King George—perhaps knighthood or a title of nobility.”

Arnold switches sides in the war just as the American Revolution seems to be on the brink of collapse, as acknowledged by General Washington himself. Arnold claims in a letter to André that most of the American populace is weary of the war and wish to be British citizens again.

“Had Peggy Arnold really ‘lost her senses?’ Or was it the acting job of the century, made more believable by the real terror she was feeling? No one knows for sure. What's clear is that it was very much in Peggy's interest to convince Washington that she had no part in her husband's treachery. She did that.”

This quote refers to the emotional breakdown that Peggy has in front of George Washington and his officers during their visit to West Point after Arnold's treason. Sheinkin casts down on whether the breakdown was genuine or an “act.” Historians indeed are not in agreement on whether or not Peggy was in on her husband's treachery, although comments in letters by Arnold quoted by Sheinkin suggest that at the very least she was of a single mind with him. 

“‘General Arnold is a very unpopular character in the British army,’ one officer reported. ‘Officers have conceived such an aversion to him, that they unanimously refused to serve under his command.’”

Arnold switches sides in the war counting on undying respect from the British. But many British people suspect his motives, thinking that he betrayed his country for money. Some officers resent being outranked by a newcomer. As for Arnold's reputation in America, he in widely and strongly reviled, with riots taking place in several cities including his hometown of Norwich, Connecticut.