page_title: Benedict Arnold
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Benedict Arnold / Death and afterward / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a political cartoon, captioned "A Proper Family Re-Union" at the bottom. It depicts Satan and Benedict Arnold welcoming Jefferson Davis to Hell. The three figures stand around a cauldron labeled "Treason Toddy". Satan is shown in the center, dropping a small human figure (a male slave in loin cloth) into the cauldron, saying "I feel proud of my American sons — Benedict and Jeff". Arnold is on the left, wearing his military uniform and stirring the cauldron, saying "Welcome, Davis! Thou shalt be warmly received by thy father". Davis is on the right (with "stolen gold" at his feet), dressed in women's clothing and riding boots (based on a story that near the end of the war he fled disguised as a woman). He is also stirring the cauldron, and says "Well, Arnold, the C.S.A. are done gone, so I have come home". Skulls labeled "Anderson[ville]" and "Libby" at bottom refer to infamous Confederate prisons.
context_page_description: Brigadier General Benedict Arnold was an American-born senior officer of the British Army who commanded the American Legion in the later part of the Revolutionary War. He is best known for his defection from the Continental Army to the British side of the conflict in 1780. General George Washington had given him his fullest trust and placed him in command of the West Point, New York. Arnold planned to surrender the fort to British forces, but the plot was discovered in September 1780 and he fled to the British lines. Arnold's name quickly became a byword in the United States for treason and betrayal because he led the British army in battle against the very men whom he had once commanded.
  Arnold was born in the Connecticut Colony and was a merchant operating ships on the Atlantic Ocean when the war began in 1775. He joined the growing army outside Boston and distinguished himself through acts of intelligence and bravery.
context_section_description: Benedict Arnold's name became synonymous with "traitor" soon after his betrayal became public, and biblical themes were often invoked. Benjamin Franklin wrote that "Judas sold only one man, Arnold three millions", and Alexander Scammell described his actions as "black as hell". In Arnold's home town of Norwich, Connecticut, someone scrawled "the traitor" next to his record of birth at city hall, and all of his family's gravestones have been destroyed except his mother's.
  Arnold was aware of his reputation in his home country, and French statesman Talleyrand described meeting him in Falmouth, Cornwall in 1794:
  The innkeeper at whose place I had my meals informed me that one of his lodgers was an American general. Thereupon I expressed the desire of seeing that gentleman, and, shortly after, I was introduced to him. After the usual exchange of greetings … I ventured to request from him some letters of introduction to his friends in America. "No," he replied, and after a few moments of silence, noticing my surprise, he added, "I am perhaps the only American who cannot give you letters for his own country … all the relations I had there are now broken … I must never return to the States." He dared not tell me his name. It was General Arnold.
  Talleyrand continued, "I must confess that I felt much pity for him, for which political puritans will perhaps blame me, but with which I do not reproach myself, for I witnessed his agony".
  Early biographers attempted to describe Arnold's entire life in terms of treacherous or morally questionable behavior. The first major biography of his life was The Life and Treason of Benedict Arnold, published in 1832 by historian Jared Sparks; it was particularly harsh in showing how Arnold's treacherous character was formed out of childhood experiences. George Canning Hill authored a series of moralistic biographies in the mid-19th century and began his 1865 biography of Arnold: "Benedict, the Traitor, was born…". Social historian Brian Carso notes that, as the 19th century progressed, the story of Arnold's betrayal was portrayed with near-mythical proportions as a part of the national history. It was invoked again as sectional conflicts increased in the years before the American Civil War. Washington Irving used it as part of an argument against dismemberment of the union in his 1857 Life of George Washington, pointing out that the unity of New England and the southern states which led to independence was made possible in part by holding West Point. Jefferson Davis and other southern secessionist leaders were unfavorably compared to Arnold, implicitly and explicitly likening the idea of secession to treason. Harper's Weekly published an article in 1861 describing Confederate leaders as "a few men directing this colossal treason, by whose side Benedict Arnold shines white as a saint."
  Fictional invocations of Benedict Arnold's name carry strongly negative overtones. A moralistic children's tale entitled "The Cruel Boy" was widely circulated in the 19th century. It described a boy who stole eggs from birds' nests, pulled wings off insects, and engaged in other sorts of wanton cruelty, who then grew up to become a traitor to his country. The boy is not identified until the end of the story, when his place of birth is given as Norwich, Connecticut, and his name is given as Benedict Arnold. However, not all depictions of Arnold were so negative. Some theatrical treatments of the 19th century explored his duplicity, seeking to understand rather than demonize it.
  Canadian historians have treated Arnold as a relatively minor figure. His difficult time in New Brunswick led historians to summarize it as full of "controversy, resentment, and legal entanglements" and to conclude that he was disliked by both Americans and Loyalists living there. Historian Barry Wilson points out that Arnold's descendants established deep roots in Canada, becoming leading settlers in Upper Canada and Saskatchewan. His descendants are spread across Canada, most of all those of John Sage, who adopted the Arnold surname.
caption: An 1865 political cartoon depicting Benedict Arnold and Jefferson Davis in hell
exif: {}