Louisiana capitolian., 1880-09-07
BENEDIUT ARNOLD AT SARATOGA
New York Herald.

,,ens Of American historians and anial.
lists for above century, has just been
definitely settled by the production Of
an abundance Of unpublished testimony"
u is well known to all students OF
American history, and is now scarcely
contested by any writer, that Benedict
Arnold was the real hero Of the princi-
pal battle of Saratoga, fought on Octo'
bcr 7, MI, which determined the sf'f-
render Of Bnrgoync, and was, IN TACT
the Gettysburg Of the revolutionary
war.
It is also admitted that the lanrcls OF
Arnold aroused the intense jealousy of
the nominal commandment chief ot that
campaign, Gen. Horatio Gates, u fnssy,
vain officer of the dress parade variety,
and led to deliberate efforts to obscure
or ignore the Importance Of Arnolds
immense services A cabal was formed,
directed not only against Arnold, but
against Schuyler as well, and with the
ultimate object Of ovcrthrowing WASH
inrton himself, who was TO be replaced
by Gates, nv "victor Mt Saratoga" AS
against Arnold and Schuyler this das-
taully plot was only too successful. The
generous and patriotic Schuyler retired
into voluntary obseurity, but the fiery
Arnold, chatting against injustice, was
precipitated upon the series of impru-
. dences which cmbroilcd him with Wash
irgton md eliminated in his treason
II is in respect to the earlier battle OF
Saratoga, which was fought on Septem-
brr 10, i777, that Il controversy has
long existed as TO Arnod's participation,
The accounts of tue time unhcsltatng|y
represented Arnold as not only present,
but as the actual commander, the soul
of tho whole operation while Gates was
certainly some miles in tho rear, and
did not see the battle NJ all. Nevcrthc-
less, Wilkinson, the aid d-de-camp OF
Gates and his active co-wOrkcr in the
plot against Arnold, Schuyler, and
Washington, vcntnrcl TO write in his
"N,emoirs" thirty years later, chat "uo
general officer was on the field"
This mislel Chief Justice Marshall,
who, having in his first edition OF his
"LifU of Washington" characterized Ar
mold as the chief hero Of the day, with
drew that statement expressly on Will
kipson's authority, in his second edition.
The Joint authority OF Marshall and
Wilkinson was unfortunately accepted
by Mr.. Bancroft, who says with cn'Pha-
sas. "Arnold was not ON the iicld,'
Mr.. Isaac N. Arnold, in his interesting
monograph upon Gen. Arnold" military
career, published last year, showed by
numerous references the decisive char
actcr of the lattcr's services in tho bat
tic of September 10th. His statements
have been generally admitted as accu-
rate. but Mr.. JOHN Austiu Stcvcns, edit
tor of the Magazine of American Histo-
ry, last March took up the cndgc1s in
behalf of Gates and Wilkinson. Mr..
Bancroft, too, in friendly corrcspon-
dcnce with Mr.. Arnold, declined to be
convinced of his mistake, citing Mar
shall, aud especially passage in u letter
of Chancellor Livingston Washington
Of January ID, ITS, in which Arnold is
apparently referred to as not having
been present at the battle of September
10Th.
70 these arguments Mr. Arnold has
replied in the United Service Tor Sep.
tembcr, successfully showing that the
references of Chancellor Livingston was
merely to the portion of the field of bat
tle where his kinsman, Colonel
james Livingston was in command of Il
regiment. The dccisivTpoints made by
Mr.. Arnold, howevYisikc in the prcscn
tation of ext'"' newly discovered
manuscripts of three witncsscs-Capta''
Thomas Wakefield, Samncl Popplrtor
and the Rev. DR.. Hczckiah Smith-al
whom arc explicit III thoir accounts OF
Arnold AZ leader and hero OH that battle
field
A passage recently discovered i'll tho
memoirs of Gen. VIM. Hull is equal,
emphatic, as well as the statements o
Hcssian officers lately translated from
the German accounts of the campaign
Washington Irving and Benson j. Los
siny long ago vindicatcd Arnold's Ian
rcls on the faith of the Schuyler manu-
scripts, and tho question is now finally
set at rest. No one now prctcnds tt
vindicate The subsequent treason o
Arnold, but that crime is no reason tol
falsifying the truth of history and de
priving him of his well-oarned rcputa
tion as the New of tho revolution.