Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1934-03-21

famous name Of Traitor
Born In %Tidewater, Md, In 1857 he was a scIor
of the lesser landed gentry with sufficient income
to give him a good education. At the age of ff
teen he was sent to Philadelphia to study medi
cine with an uncle and there was every indica
ton that he was destined for a career of allevi
ating human distress instead, as 1t turned out
OF adding to the sum total of human distress
AT the outbreak of the Revolution he put By
pill-box and lancet and, as a gentleman volun.
teer," headed north toward the siege of Boston
In the camp at Cambridge his 'ingratiating man
ners, pleasing and plausible address, education
above the average of young gentlemen of the
time, knowledge of drill and discipline beyond
that Of rustic militia officers soon won him q
captaincy In the army.
1t is probable that In the camp at Cambridge
Wilkinson made the acquaintance OF two men
with whom his name was to be linked In the flu
ture-their names to be besmirched while he,
equally IL not more guilty, was to have his name
whitewashed. One was Benedict Arnold. then q
colonel, and the other was Aaron Burr, also q
gentleman volunteer.
From that time on Captain Wilkinson Is much
in evidence in the history of the Continental
army. he is sent on the expedition to Canada un-
der General Sullivan to support Arnold and quite
by chance, rather than by his ability, saves Ar
mold from disaster as the latter retreats before
the advance Of Sir Guy Carleton. Next we find
the young captain with Gates, who has been
placed In command Of the Northern army, 'pan-
dering to the vanity Of Gates, who makes VIII
kinson a member of his staff. Forgetting his
friendship for Arnold, Wilkinson "goes over
horse, foot and dragons to Gates; shares there
after his Jealousy and depreciation OF Arnold"
Thus Wilkinson first appears In his characteristic
role of double-crosser.
Next he Is with Washington at the splendid
victory at Trenton. Then he Is at Princeton.
at Valley Forge, and at Morristown, becomes In
volved In the Conway cabal against Washington
and again does some double crossing of his fell
low-conspirators, including his friend, Gates, al
though this time, ii must be admitted, his be-
trayal Of the plot was more or less unintentional
and came about while he was under the influence
of liquor.
BY this time he was a brevet brlgadier-general
albeit over the protest of some AZ colonies who
were more worthy Of the promotion than he.
After the winter at Valley Forge he resigned
from the army. But 18 months later he was
back on the payroll again as clothier-general for
the army, a post which he held until the end of
the war and which, for a wonder, he handled
without becoming involved In any shady deals.
After the war he was a member Of the Penn
sylvania legislature. then finding himself In fnan-
cial straits, he started for the Kentucky frontier
to recoup his fortunes. There he rapidly rose to
prominence, helped In the development of the
new state and became involved again In his favor
lite occupation-that Of intrigue-this time In
the famous Spanish Conspiracy which Is still q
confused and unsolved mystery, although docu-
ments have been found In the Spanish archives