The Mineral argus., 1884-02-21
Benedict Arnold's Descendants

The sins OF the fathers are not always
visited upon their posterity, so that the
visitation is apparent to the world. AT
least, this is the case with the descend
ants of Benedict Arnold. The Hon.
Isaac N. Arnold of Illinois, a namesake
of Benedict Arnold, and a distant con
nection of the same family was recently
in England, and while there made the
acquaintance of several of the descend
ants of the traitor.
They are living in honor and abun-
dance, connected by marriage with fam
lilies Of ''noble" rank, and cherish the
conviction that their ancestor, in betray.
ing the great trust assigned him by hi s
country, was actuated by the noblest
motives. Mr.. Arnold gives a highly in
teresting account of his visits to them
in the Magazine of American History:
Benedict Arnold had four sons, all of
whom entered the British army as
officers. Some of the sons of these sons
also obtained commissions in the public
service, the army, the navy, or the
church, and several of them are still liv-
ing.
The second son of the traitor, James
R.. Arnold, won great distinction in the
army, and seems to have been a man of
amiable and elevated character. He
was a baby in arms when the family
went to England, after the war, and, at
twenty three, was a lieutenant serving
in Surinam.
There he performed the act which
proved at ono how deeply he felt his
fathers infamy, and how much of his
fathers better nature he had inherited.
Volunteers being called for to head a
storming party in the assault of some
almost i~mpregnable forts, Lieut.. Arnold
offered his services, and said to the
commanding general
81 beg the privilege of guiding and
leading this a sault. You know the
history of my father. No drawer man
than he aver lived; but he has been bit
terly assailed for the affair of West Point.
Give me a chance, l beg of you, to re-
deem the name"
That shows what be thought of "the
affair of West Point" and, also, what
the British army thought of it. His
honorable request was granted, and he
fell, severely wounded, at the head of
his troops. He recovered to enter upon
a great career, ending with the rank of
Lieutenant General. For his g~allantry
on Ibis occasion, the merchants and
bankers of London presented him with
a magnificent sword, which was shown
to Mr.. Isaac n. Arnold.
A grandson of Benedict, Capt. w. 7.
Arnold, fell in action at Scbastopol in
1865, and had distinguished mention
in the dispatches of his general, Lord
Raglan. Another grandson is now a
lieutenant in the British navy.
The present head of the family in Eng
land is Rev. Edward Gladwyn Arnold,
also a grandson of Benedict, who is rec
tor of Great Massingham in the County
of Norfolk. His wife is Lady Charlotte,
a daughter of the Marquis of Cholmon-
deley, known in America from the sim
gular difference between the spelling
and the pronunciation of his name. II
is pronounced CHUNKY.
This clergyman, of whom nothing but
good is spoken, preserves the papers of
his grandfather, and gave his American
Clinton to him in 1772, in which Sir
Henry declares that, in surrounding
West Point, Benedict Arnold stipulated
for no reward. Sir Henry wrote
"You never gave me reason to suppose
you expected anything more than an
decentralization. l thought it an act of
justice, as well as duty, to offer you six
thousand pounds-not as an indemnii-
cation for all your losses, for they had
not been ascertained, but | thought it
was all | could give in that prudence
with which l was obliged to temper
liberality."