Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( June 14 , 1801 ) was a general during the American Revolutionary War who originally fought for the American Continental Army but defected to the British Army . While a general on the American side , he obtained command of the fort at West Point , New York , and planned to surrender it to the British forces . After the plan was exposed in September 1780 , he was commissioned into the British Army as a brigadier general . Born in Connecticut , Arnold was a merchant operating ships on the Atlantic Ocean when the war broke out in 1775 . After joining the growing army outside Boston , he distinguished himself through acts of intelligence and bravery . His actions included the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 , defensive and delaying tactics despite losing the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in 1776 , the Battle of Ridgefield , Connecticut ( after which he was promoted to major general ) , operations in relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix , and key actions during the pivotal Battles of Saratoga in 1777 , in which he suffered leg injuries that ended his combat career for several years . Despite Arnold ' s successes , he was passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress while other officers claimed credit for some of his accomplishments . Adversaries in military and political circles brought charges of corruption or other malfeasance , but most often he was acquitted in formal inquiries . Congress investigated his accounts and found he was indebted to Congress after spending much of his own money on the war effort . Frustrated and bitter , Arnold decided to change sides in 1779 , and opened secret negotiations with the British . In July 1780 , he was offered , continued to pursue and was awarded command of West Point . Arnold ' s scheme to surrender the fort to the British was exposed when American forces captured British Major John André carrying papers that revealed the plot . Upon learning of André ' s capture , Arnold fled down the Hudson River to the British sloop - of - war " Vulture " , narrowly avoiding capture by the forces of George Washington , who had been alerted to the plot . Arnold received a commission as a brigadier general in the British Army , an annual pension of £360 , and a lump sum of over £6 , 000 . He led British forces on raids in Virginia , and against New London and Groton , Connecticut , before the war effectively ended with the American victory at Yorktown . In the winter of 1782 , Arnold moved to London with his second wife , Margaret " Peggy " Shippen Arnold . He was well received by King George III and the Tories , but frowned upon by the Whigs . In 1787 , he returned to the merchant business with his sons Richard and Henry in Saint John , New Brunswick . He returned to London to settle permanently in 1791 , where he died ten years later . Because of the way he changed sides , his name quickly became a byword in the United States for treason or betrayal . His conflicting legacy is recalled in the ambiguous nature of some of the memorials that have been placed in his honor . Early life . Benedict was born the second of six children to Benedict Arnold ( 1683 – 1761 ) and Hannah Waterman King in Norwich , Connecticut , on January 14 , 1741 . Like his father and grandfather , as well as an older brother who died in infancy , he was named after his great - grandfather Benedict Arnold , an early governor of the Colony of Rhode Island . Only Benedict and his sister Hannah survived to adulthood ; his other siblings succumbed to yellow fever in childhood . His siblings were , in order of birth : Benedict ( August 15 , 1738April 30 , 1739 ) , Hannah ( December 9 , 1742August 11 , 1803 ) , Mary ( June 4 , 1745September 10 , 1753 ) , Absolom ( April 4 , 1747July 22 , 1750 ) and Elizabeth ( November 19 , 1749September 29 , 1755 ) . Through his maternal grandmother , Arnold was a descendant of John Lothropp , an ancestor of at least six U . S . presidents . Arnold ' s father was a successful businessman , and the family moved in the upper levels of Norwich society . When he was ten , Arnold was enrolled in a private school in nearby Canterbury , with the expectation that he would eventually attend Yale . However , the deaths of his siblings two years later may have contributed to a decline in the family fortunes , since his father took up drinking . By the time he was fourteen , there was no money for private education . His father ' s alcoholism and ill health kept him from training Arnold in the family mercantile business , but his mother ' s family connections secured an apprenticeship for Arnold with two of her cousins , brothers Daniel and Joshua Lathrop , who operated a successful apothecary and general merchandise trade in Norwich . His apprenticeship with the Lathrops lasted seven years . In 1755 , Arnold , attracted by the sound of a drummer , attempted to enlist in the provincial militia for service against the French , but his mother refused permission . In 1757 , when he was sixteen , he did enlist in the militia , which marched off toward Albany and Lake George . The French had besieged Fort William Henry , and their Indian allies had committed atrocities after their victory . Word of the siege ' s disastrous outcome led the company to turn around ; Arnold served for 13 days . A commonly accepted story that Arnold deserted from militia service in 1758 is based on uncertain documentary evidence . Arnold ' s mother , to whom he was very close , died in 1759 . His father ' s alcoholism worsened after the death of his wife , and the youth took on the responsibility of supporting his father and younger sister . His father was arrested on several occasions for public drunkenness , was refused communion by his church and eventually died in 1761 . Businessman . In 1762 , with the help of the Lathrops , Arnold established himself in business as a pharmacist and bookseller in New Haven , Connecticut . Arnold was hardworking and successful , and was able to rapidly expand his business . In 1763 he repaid money borrowed from the Lathrops , repurchased the family homestead that his father had sold when deeply in debt , and re - sold it a year later for a substantial profit . In 1764 he formed a partnership with Adam Babcock , another young New Haven merchant . Using the profits from the sale of his homestead , they bought three trading ships and established a lucrative West Indies trade . During this time , he brought his sister Hannah to New Haven and established her in his apothecary to manage the business in his absence . He traveled extensively in the course of his business , throughout New England and from Quebec to the West Indies , often in command of one of his own ships . On one of his voyages , Arnold fought a duel in Honduras with a British sea captain who had called him a " damned Yankee , destitute of good manners or those of a gentleman " . The captain was wounded after the first exchange of gunfire , and apologized after Arnold threatened to aim to kill on the second . The Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 severely curtailed mercantile trade in the colonies . The latter act prompted Arnold to join the chorus of voices in opposition to those taxes , and also led to his entry into the Sons of Liberty , a secret organization that was not afraid to use violence to oppose implementation of those and other unpopular Parliamentary measures . Arnold initially took no part in any public demonstrations but , like many merchants , continued to trade as if the Stamp Act did not exist , in effect becoming a smuggler in defiance of the act . Arnold also faced financial ruin , falling £16 , 000 in debt , with creditors spreading rumors of his insolvency to the point where he took legal action against them . On the night of January 28 , 1767 , Arnold and members of his crew , watched by a crowd of Sons , roughed up a man suspected of attempting to inform authorities of Arnold ' s smuggling . Arnold was convicted of a disorderly conduct charge and fined the relatively small amount of 50 shillings ; publicity of the case and widespread sympathy for his view probably contributed to the light sentence . On February 22 , 1767 , Arnold married Margaret Mansfield , daughter of Samuel Mansfield , the sheriff of New Haven , an acquaintance that may have been made through the membership of both Mansfield and Arnold in the local Masonic Lodge . Their first son , Benedict , was born the following year , and was followed by brothers Richard in 1769 , and Henry in 1772 . Margaret died early in the revolution , on June 19 , 1775 , while Arnold was at Fort Ticonderoga following its capture . The household , even while she lived , was dominated by Arnold ' s sister Hannah . Arnold benefited from his relationship with Mansfield , who became a partner in his business and used his position as sheriff to shield Arnold from creditors . Arnold was in the West Indies when the Boston Massacre took place on March 5 , 1770 . He wrote he was " very much shocked " and wondered " good God , are the Americans all asleep and tamely giving up their liberties , or are they all turned philosophers , that they don ' t take immediate vengeance on such miscreants " . Early Revolutionary War . Arnold began the war as a captain in Connecticut ' s militia , a position to which he was elected in March 1775 . Following the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington and Concord the following month , his company marched northeast to assist in the siege of Boston that followed . Arnold proposed to the Massachusetts an action to seize Fort Ticonderoga in New York , which he knew was poorly defended . They issued him a colonel ' s commission on May 3 , 1775 , and he immediately rode off to the west , arriving at Castleton in the disputed New Hampshire Grants ( present - day Vermont ) in time to participate with Ethan Allen and his men in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga . He followed up that action with a bold raid on Fort Saint - Jean on the Richelieu River north of Lake Champlain . When a Connecticut militia force arrived at Ticonderoga in June , Arnold had a dispute with its commander over control of the fort , and resigned his Massachusetts commission . He was on his way home from Ticonderoga when he learned that his wife had died earlier in June . When the Second Continental Congress authorized an invasion of Quebec , in part on the urging of Arnold , he was passed over for command of the expedition . Arnold then went to Cambridge , Massachusetts , and suggested to George Washington a second expedition to attack Quebec City via a wilderness route through present - day Maine . This expedition , for which Arnold received a colonel ' s commission in the Continental Army , left Cambridge in September 1775 with 1 , 100 men . After a difficult passage in which 300 men turned back and another 200 died en route , Arnold arrived before Quebec City in November . Joined by Richard Montgomery ' s small army , he participated in the December 31 assault on Quebec City in which Montgomery was killed and Arnold ' s leg was shattered . Rev . Samuel Spring , his chaplain , carried him to the makeshift hospital at the Hôtel Dieu . Arnold , who was promoted to brigadier general for his role in reaching Quebec , maintained an ineffectual siege of the city until he was replaced by Major General David Wooster in April 1776 . Arnold then traveled to Montreal , where he served as military commander of the city until forced to retreat by an advancing British army that had arrived at Quebec in May . He presided over the rear of the Continental Army during its retreat from Saint - Jean , where he was reported by James Wilkinson to be the last person to leave before the British arrived . He then directed the construction of a fleet to defend Lake Champlain , which was overmatched and defeated in the October 1776 Battle of Valcour Island . However , his actions at Saint - Jean and Valcour Island played a notable role in delaying the British advance against Ticonderoga until 1777 . During these actions , Arnold made a number of friends and a larger number of enemies within the army power structure and in Congress . He had established decent relationships with George Washington , commander of the army , as well as Philip Schuyler and Horatio Gates , both of whom had command of the army ' s Northern Department during 1775 and 1776 . However , an acrimonious dispute with Moses Hazen , commander of the 2nd Canadian Regiment , boiled over into a court martial of Hazen at Ticonderoga during the summer of 1776 . Only action by Gates , then Arnold ' s superior at Ticonderoga , prevented his own arrest on countercharges leveled by Hazen . He had also had disagreements with John Brown and James Easton , two lower - level officers with political connections that resulted in ongoing suggestions of improprieties on his part . Brown was particularly vicious , publishing a handbill that claimed of Arnold , " Money is this man ' s God , and to get enough of it he would sacrifice his country " . Saratoga and Philadelphia . General Washington assigned Arnold to the defense of Rhode Island following the British seizure of Newport in December 1776 , where the militia were too poorly equipped to even consider an attack on the British . Arnold took the opportunity while near his home in New Haven to visit his children , and he spent much of the winter socializing in Boston , where he unsuccessfully courted a young belle named Betsy Deblois . In February 1777 , he learned that he had been passed over for promotion to major general by Congress . Washington refused his offer to resign , and wrote to members of Congress in an attempt to correct this , noting that " two or three other very good officers " might be lost if they persisted in making politically motivated promotions . Arnold was on his way to Philadelphia to discuss his future when he was alerted that a British force was marching toward a supply depot in Danbury , Connecticut . Along with David Wooster and Connecticut militia General Gold S . Silliman , he organized the militia response . In the Battle of Ridgefield , he led a small contingent of militia attempting to stop or slow the British return to the coast , and was again wounded in his left leg . Arnold continued on to Philadelphia , where he met with members of Congress about his rank . His action at Ridgefield , coupled with the death of Wooster due to wounds sustained in the action , resulted in Arnold ' s promotion to major general , although his seniority was not restored over those who had been promoted before him . Amid negotiations over that issue , Arnold wrote out a letter of resignation on July 11 , the same day word arrived in Philadelphia that Fort Ticonderoga had fallen to the British . Washington refused his resignation and ordered him north to assist with the defense there . Arnold arrived in Schuyler ' s camp at Fort Edward , New York , on July 24 . On August 13 Schuyler dispatched him with a force of 900 to relieve the siege of Fort Stanwix , where he succeeded in the use of a ruse to lift the siege . Arnold had an Indian messenger sent into the camp of British Brigadier General Barry St . Leger with news that the approaching force was much larger and closer than it actually was ; this convinced St . Leger ' s Indian support to abandon him , forcing him to give up the effort . Arnold then returned to the Hudson , where General Gates had taken over command of the American army , which had by then retreated to a camp south of Stillwater . He then distinguished himself in both Battles of Saratoga , even though General Gates , following a series of escalating disagreements and disputes that culminated in a shouting match , removed him from field command after the first battle . During the fighting in the second battle , Arnold , operating against Gates ' orders , took to the battlefield and led attacks on the British defenses . He was again severely wounded in the left leg late in the fighting . Arnold himself said it would have been better had it been in the chest instead of the leg . Burgoyne surrendered ten days after the second battle , on October 17 , 1777 . In response to Arnold ' s valor at Saratoga , Congress restored his command seniority . However , Arnold interpreted the manner in which they did so as an act of sympathy for his wounds , and not an apology or recognition that they were righting a wrong . Arnold spent several months recovering from his injuries . Rather than allowing his shattered left leg to be amputated , he had it crudely set , leaving it shorter than the right . He returned to the army at Valley Forge in May 1778 to the applause of men who had served under him at Saratoga . There he participated in the first recorded Oath of Allegiance along with many other soldiers , as a sign of loyalty to the United States . After the British withdrew from Philadelphia in June 1778 , Washington appointed Arnold military commander of the city . Even before the Americans reoccupied Philadelphia , Arnold began planning to capitalize financially on the change in power there , engaging in a variety of business deals designed to profit from war - related supply movements and benefiting from the protection of his authority . These schemes , although not exactly uncommon among American officers , were sometimes frustrated by powerful local politicians , who eventually amassed enough evidence to publicly air charges . Arnold demanded a court martial to clear the charges , writing to Washington in May 1779 , " Having become a cripple in the service of my country , I little expected to meet [ such ] ungrateful returns " . Arnold lived extravagantly in Philadelphia , and was a prominent figure on the social scene . During the summer of 1778 Arnold met Peggy Shippen , the 18 - year - old daughter of Judge Edward Shippen , a Loyalist sympathizer who had done business with the British while they occupied the city . Peggy had been courted by British Major John André during the British occupation of Philadelphia . Peggy and Arnold married on April 8 , 1779 . Peggy and her circle of friends had found methods of staying in contact with paramours across the battle lines , despite military bans on communication with the enemy . Some of this communication was effected through the services of Joseph Stansbury , a Philadelphia merchant . Plotting to change sides . As early as 1778 there were signs that Arnold was unhappy with his situation and pessimistic about the country ' s future . On November 10 , 1778 , General Nathanael Greene wrote to General John Cadwalader , " I am told General Arnold is become very unpopular among you oweing to his associateing too much with the Tories . " A few days later , Greene received a letter from Arnold , where Arnold lamented over the " deplorable " and " horrid " situation of the country at that particular moment , citing the depreciating currency , disaffection of the army , and internal fighting in Congress for the country ' s problems , while predicting " impending ruin " if things would not soon change . Sometime early in May 1779 , Arnold met with Stansbury ( whose testimony before a British commission apparently erroneously placed his meeting with Arnold in June ) . Stansbury said he then " went secretly to New York with a tender of [ Arnold ' s ] services to Sir Henry Clinton . " Ignoring instructions from Arnold to involve no one else in the plot , Stansbury crossed the British lines and went to see Jonathan Odell in New York . Odell was a Loyalist working with William Franklin , the last colonial governor of New Jersey and the son of Benjamin Franklin . On May 9 , Franklin introduced Stansbury to Major André , who had just been named the British spy chief . This was the beginning of a secret correspondence between Arnold and André , sometimes using his wife Peggy as a willing intermediary , that culminated over a year later with Arnold ' s change of sides . Secret communications . André conferred with General Clinton , who gave him broad authority to pursue Arnold ' s offer . André then drafted instructions to Stansbury and Arnold . This initial letter opened a discussion on the types of assistance and intelligence Arnold might provide , and included instructions for how to communicate in the future . Letters would be passed through the women ' s circle that Peggy Arnold was a part of , but only Peggy would be aware that some letters contained instructions , written in both code " and " invisible ink , that were to be passed on to André , using Stansbury as the courier . By July 1779 , Arnold was providing the British with troop locations and strengths , as well as the locations of supply depots , all the while negotiating over compensation . At first , he asked for indemnification of his losses and £10 , 000 , an amount the Continental Congress had given Charles Lee for his services in the Continental Army . General Clinton , who was pursuing a campaign to gain control of the Hudson River Valley , was interested in plans and information on the defenses of West Point and other defenses on the Hudson River . He also began to insist on a face - to - face meeting , and suggested to Arnold that he pursue another high - level command . By October 1779 , the negotiations had ground to a halt . Furthermore , Patriot mobs were scouring Philadelphia for Loyalists , and Arnold and the Shippen family were being threatened . Arnold was rebuffed by Congress and by local authorities in requests for security details for himself and his in - laws . Court martial . The court martial to consider the charges against Arnold began meeting on June 1 , 1779 , but was delayed until December 1779 by General Clinton ' s capture of Stony Point , New York , throwing the army into a flurry of activity to react . Although a number of members of the panel of judges were ill - disposed to Arnold over actions and disputes earlier in the war , Arnold was cleared of all but two minor charges on January 26 , 1780 . Arnold worked over the next few months to publicize this fact ; however , in early April , just one week after Washington congratulated Arnold on the March 19 birth of his son , Edward Shippen Arnold , Washington published a formal rebuke of Arnold ' s behavior . Shortly after Washington ' s rebuke , a Congressional inquiry into his expenditures concluded that Arnold had failed to fully account for his expenditures incurred during the Quebec invasion , and that he owed the Congress some £1 , 000 , largely because he was unable to document them . A significant number of these documents had been lost during the retreat from Quebec . Angry and frustrated , Arnold resigned his military command of Philadelphia in late April . Offer to surrender West Point . Early in April , Philip Schuyler had approached Arnold with the possibility of giving him the command at West Point . Discussions between Schuyler and Washington on the subject had not borne fruit by early June . Arnold reopened the secret channels with the British , informing them of Schuyler ' s proposals and including Schuyler ' s assessment of conditions at West Point . He also provided information on a proposed French - American invasion of Quebec that was to go up the Connecticut River . ( Arnold did not know that this proposed invasion was a ruse intended to divert British resources . ) On June 16 , Arnold inspected West Point while on his way home to Connecticut to take care of personal business , and sent a highly detailed report through the secret channel . When he reached Connecticut , Arnold arranged to sell his home there , and began transferring assets to London through intermediaries in New York . By early July he was back in Philadelphia , where he wrote another secret message to Clinton on July 7 , which implied that his appointment to West Point was assured and that he might even provide a " drawing of the works . . . by which you might take [ West Point ] without loss " . General Clinton and Major André , who returned victorious from the Siege of Charleston on June 18 , were immediately caught up in this news . Clinton , concerned that Washington ' s army and the French fleet would join in Rhode Island , again fixed on West Point as a strategic point to capture . André , who had spies and informers keeping track of Arnold , verified his movements . Excited by the prospects , Clinton informed his superiors of his intelligence coup , but failed to respond to Arnold ' s July 7 letter . Arnold next wrote a series of letters to Clinton , even before he might have expected a response to the July 7 letter . In a July 11 letter , he complained that the British did not appear to trust him , and threatened to break off negotiations unless progress was made . On July 12 he wrote again , making explicit the offer to surrender West Point , although his price ( in addition to indemnification for his losses ) rose to £20 , 000 , with a £1 , 000 down payment to be delivered with the response . These letters were delivered not by Stansbury but by Samuel Wallis , another Philadelphia businessman who spied for the British . Command at West Point . On August 3 , 1780 , Arnold obtained command of West Point . On August 15 he received a coded letter from André with Clinton ' s final offer : £20 , 000 , and no indemnification for his losses . Due to difficulties in getting the messages across the lines , neither side knew for some days that the other was in agreement to that offer . Arnold ' s letters continued to detail Washington ' s troop movements and provide information about French reinforcements that were being organized . On August 25 , Peggy finally delivered to him Clinton ' s agreement to the terms . Washington , in assigning Arnold to the command at West Point , also gave him authority over the entire American - controlled Hudson River , from Albany down to the British lines outside New York City . While en route to West Point , Arnold renewed an acquaintance with Joshua Hett Smith , someone Arnold knew had spied for both sides and who owned a house near the western bank of the Hudson just south of West Point . Once he established himself at West Point , Arnold began systematically weakening its defenses and military strength . Needed repairs on the chain across the Hudson were never ordered . Troops were liberally distributed within Arnold ' s command area ( but only minimally at West Point itself ) , or furnished to Washington on request . He also peppered Washington with complaints about the lack of supplies , writing , " Everything is wanting . " At the same time , he tried to drain West Point ' s supplies , so that a siege would be more likely to succeed . His subordinates , some long - time associates , grumbled about Arnold ' s unnecessary distribution of supplies and eventually concluded that Arnold was selling supplies on the black market for personal gain . On August 30 , Arnold sent a letter accepting Clinton ' s terms and proposing a meeting to André through yet another intermediary : William Heron , a member of the Connecticut Assembly he thought he could trust . Heron , in a comic twist , went into New York unaware of the significance of the letter , and offered his own services to the British as a spy . He then took the letter back to Connecticut , where , suspicious of Arnold ' s actions , he delivered it to the head of the Connecticut militia . General Parsons , seeing a letter written as a coded business discussion , laid it aside . Four days later , Arnold sent a ciphered letter with similar content into New York through the services of the wife of a prisoner - of - war . Eventually , a meeting was set for September 11 near Dobb ' s Ferry . This meeting was thwarted when British gunboats in the river , not having been informed of his impending arrival , fired on his boat . Plot exposed . Arnold and André finally met on September 21 at Joshua Hett Smith ' s house . On the morning of September 22 , James Livingston , the colonel in charge of the outpost at Verplanck ' s Point , fired on " HMS Vulture " , the ship that was intended to carry André back to New York . This action did sufficient damage that she was retreated downriver , forcing André to return to New York overland . Arnold wrote out passes for André so that he would be able to pass through the lines , and also gave him plans for West Point . On Saturday , September 23 , André was captured , near Tarrytown , by three Westchester patriots named John Paulding , Isaac Van Wart and David Williams ; the papers exposing the plot to capture West Point were found and sent to Washington , and Arnold ' s intentions came to light after Washington examined them . Meanwhile , André convinced the unsuspecting commanding officer to whom he was delivered , Colonel John Jameson , to send him back to Arnold at West Point . However , Major Benjamin Tallmadge , a member of Washington ' s secret service , insisted Jameson order the prisoner intercepted and brought back . Jameson reluctantly recalled the lieutenant , who had been delivering André into Arnold ' s custody , but then sent the same lieutenant as a messenger to notify Arnold of André ' s arrest . Arnold learned of André ' s capture the following morning , September 24 , when he received Jameson ' s message that André was in his custody and that the papers André was carrying had been sent to General Washington . Arnold received Jameson ' s letter while waiting for Washington , with whom he had planned to have breakfast . He made all haste to the shore and ordered bargemen to row him downriver to where the HMS " Vulture " was anchored , which then took him to New York . From the ship , Arnold wrote a letter to Washington , requesting that Peggy be given safe passage to her family in Philadelphia , a request Washington granted . When presented with evidence of Arnold ' s activities , it is reported that Washington remained calm . He did , however , investigate its extent , and suggested in negotiations with General Clinton over the fate of Major André that he was willing to exchange André for Arnold . This suggestion Clinton refused ; after a military tribunal , André was hanged at Tappan , New York on October 2 . Washington also infiltrated men into New York in an attempt to capture Arnold ; this plan , which very nearly succeeded , failed when Arnold changed living quarters prior to sailing for Virginia in December . Arnold justified his actions in an open letter titled " To the Inhabitants of America " , published in newspapers in October 1780 . In the letter to Washington requesting safe passage for Peggy , he wrote that " Love to my country actuates my present conduct , however it may appear inconsistent to the world , who very seldom judge right of any man ' s actions . " After switching sides . British Army service . The British gave Arnold a brigadier general ' s commission with an annual income of several hundred pounds , but paid him only £6 , 315 plus an annual pension of £360 because his plot had failed . In December 1780 , under orders from Clinton , Arnold led a force of 1 , 600 troops into Virginia , where he captured Richmond by surprise and then went on a rampage through Virginia , destroying supply houses , foundries , and mills . This activity brought out Virginia ' s militia , led by Colonel Sampson Mathews , and Arnold eventually retreated to Portsmouth to either be evacuated or reinforced . The pursuing American army included the Marquis de Lafayette , who was under orders from Washington to hang Arnold summarily if he was captured . Reinforcements led by William Phillips ( who served under Burgoyne at Saratoga ) arrived in late March , and Phillips led further raids across Virginia , including a defeat of Baron von Steuben at Petersburg , until his death of fever on May 12 , 1781 . Arnold commanded the army only until May 20 , when Lord Cornwallis arrived with the southern army and took over . One colonel wrote to Clinton of Arnold , " there are many officers who must wish some other general in command . " Cornwallis ignored advice proffered by Arnold to locate a permanent base away from the coast , advice that might have averted Cornwallis ' s later surrender at Yorktown . On his return to New York in June , Arnold made a variety of proposals for attacks on economic targets to force the Americans to end the war . Clinton was uninterested in most of Arnold ' s aggressive ideas , but finally authorized Arnold to raid the port of New London , Connecticut . On September 4 , not long after the birth of his and Peggy ' s second son , Arnold ' s force of over 1 , 700 men raided and burned New London and captured Fort Griswold , causing damage estimated at $ 500 , 000 . British casualties were high ; nearly one quarter of the force was killed or wounded . Clinton declared he could ill afford any more such victories . Even before Cornwallis ' surrender in October , Arnold had requested permission from Clinton to go to England to give Lord Germain his thoughts on the war in person . When word of the surrender reached New York , Arnold renewed the request , which Clinton then granted . On December 8 , 1781 , Arnold and his family left New York for England . In London he aligned himself with the Tories , advising Germain and King George III to renew the fight against the Americans . In the House of Commons , Edmund Burke expressed the hope that the government would not put Arnold " at the head of a part of a British army " lest " the sentiments of true honor , which every British officer [ holds ] dearer than life , should be afflicted . " To Arnold ' s detriment , the anti - war Whigs had gotten the upper hand in Parliament , and Germain was forced to resign , with the government of Lord North falling not long after . Arnold then applied to accompany General Carleton , who was going to New York to replace Clinton as commander - in - chief ; this request went nowhere . Other attempts to gain positions within the government or the British East India Company over the next few years all failed , and he was forced to subsist on the reduced pay of non - wartime service . His reputation also came under criticism in the British press , especially when compared to that of Major André , who was celebrated for his patriotism . One particularly harsh critic said that he was a " mean mercenary , who , having adopted a cause for the sake of plunder , quits it when convicted of that charge . " In turning him down for an East India Company posting , George Johnstone wrote , " Although I am satisfied with the purity of your conduct , the generality do not think so . While this is the case , no power in this country could suddenly place you in the situation you aim at under the East India Company . " New business opportunities . In 1785 , Arnold and his son Richard moved to Saint John , New Brunswick , where they speculated in land and established a business doing trade with the West Indies . Arnold purchased large tracts of land in the Maugerville area , and acquired city lots in Saint John and Fredericton . Delivery of his first ship , the " Lord Sheffield " , was accompanied by accusations from the builder that Arnold had cheated him ; Arnold claimed that he had merely deducted the contractually agreed amount when the ship was delivered late . After her first voyage , Arnold returned to London in 1786 to bring his family to Saint John . While there , he disentangled himself from a lawsuit over an unpaid debt that Peggy had been fighting while he was away , paying £900 to settle a £12 , 000 loan he had taken while living in Philadelphia . The family moved to Saint John in 1787 , where Arnold created an uproar with a series of bad business deals and petty lawsuits . Following the most serious , a slander suit he won against a former business partner , townspeople burned him in effigy in front of his house as Peggy and the children watched . The family left Saint John to return to London in December 1791 . In July 1792 , Arnold fought a bloodless duel with the Earl of Lauderdale after the Earl impugned his honor in the House of Lords . With the outbreak of the French Revolution , Arnold outfitted a privateer , while continuing to do business in the West Indies , even though the hostilities increased the risk . He was imprisoned by French authorities on Guadeloupe amid accusations of spying for the British , and narrowly eluded hanging by escaping to the blockading British fleet after bribing his guards . He helped organize militia forces on British - held islands , receiving praise from the landowners for his efforts on their behalf . This work , which he hoped would earn him wider respect and a new command , instead earned him and his sons a land - grant of in Upper Canada , near present - day Renfrew , Ontario . Death . In January 1801 Arnold ' s health began to decline . Gout , from which he had suffered since 1775 , attacked his unwounded leg to the point where he was unable to go to sea ; the other leg ached constantly , and he walked only with a cane . His physicians diagnosed him as having dropsy , and a visit to the countryside only temporarily improved his condition . He died after four days of delirium , on June 14 , 1801 , at the age of 60 . Legend has it that when he was on his deathbed , he said , " Let me die in this old uniform in which I fought my battles . May God forgive me for ever having put on another , " but this story may be apocryphal . Arnold was buried at St . Mary ' s Church , Battersea in London , England . As a result of a clerical error in the parish records , his remains were removed to an unmarked mass grave during church renovations a century later . His funeral procession boasted " seven mourning coaches and four state carriages " ; the funeral was without military honors . He left a small estate , reduced in size by his debts , which Peggy undertook to clear . Among his bequests were considerable gifts to one John Sage , perhaps an illegitimate son or grandson . Legacy . Infamy in the United States . Arnold ' s contributions to American independence are largely underrepresented in popular culture , while his name became synonymous with traitor in the 19th century . The demonization of Arnold began immediately after his betrayal became public . Biblical themes were often invoked ; Benjamin Franklin wrote that " Judas sold only one man , Arnold three millions " , and Alexander Scammell described Arnold ' s actions as " black as hell " . Early biographers attempted to describe Arnold ' s entire life in terms of treacherous or morally questionable behavior . The first major biography of Arnold , " The Life and Treason of Benedict Arnold " , published in 1832 by historian Jared Sparks , was particularly harsh in showing how Arnold ' s treacherous character was allegedly formed out of childhood experiences . George Canning Hill , who authored a series of moralistic biographies in the mid - 19th century , began his 1865 biography of Arnold " Benedict , the Traitor , was born . . . " . The social historian Brian Carso notes that as the 19th century progressed , the story of Arnold ' s betrayal was portrayed with near - mythic proportions as a part of the national creation story . 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 only the unity of New England and the southern states that 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 Arnold ' s name also carried 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 . The connection between Arnold and treason continued into the 20th and 21st centuries . On an episode of " The Brady Bunch " , " Everyone Can ' t Be George Washington " , Peter is assigned the role of Arnold in the school play , and is ostracized . On one of " The Simpsons " ' Halloween specials , " Treehouse of Horror IV " , Arnold is included in a " jury of the damned " – along with other figures like John Wilkes Booth and Richard Nixon – deliberating the ownership of Homer Simpson ' s soul . Dan Gilbert , owner of the National Basketball Association ' s Cleveland Cavaliers , subtly invoked Arnold in 2010 . Upset over LeBron James ' s announcement of leaving the team , Gilbert ' s company lowered the price of posters bearing James ' s likeness to $ 17 . 41 , referring to the year of Arnold ' s birth . Novels related to the American Revolutionary war sometimes feature Arnold as a character . Kenneth Roberts ' " Arundel " series treats him more positively , covering his military campaigns . Canada . 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 . The historian Barry Wilson points out that Arnold ' s descendants ended up establishing deep roots in the country , becoming leading settlers not just in Upper Canada , but later in lands further west , where they established settlements in Saskatchewan . His descendants , most of all those of John Sage , who adopted the Arnold surname , are spread across Canada . His long woollen British scarlet military jacket with a buff lining continues to be owned by descendants ; as of 2001 , it was held in Saskatchewan . It has reportedly been passed in each generation to the eldest male of the family . Family . During his marriage to Margaret Mansfield , Arnold had three sons , all of whom later served in the British Army : and with Peggy Shippen , he raised a family also active in the British Army : Tributes . There is a memorial to Arnold on the Saratoga battlefield , now preserved within Saratoga National Historical Park , that does not mention his name . Donated by Civil War General John Watts DePeyster , the inscription on the Boot Monument reads : " In memory of the most brilliant soldier of the Continental army , who was desperately wounded on this spot , winning for his countrymen the decisive battle of the American Revolution , and for himself the rank of Major General . " The victory monument at Saratoga has four niches , three of which are occupied by statues of Generals Gates , Schuyler , and Morgan . The fourth niche is empty . On the grounds of the United States Military Academy at West Point there are plaques commemorating all of the generals that served in the Revolution . One plaque bears only a rank and a date ( " major general . . . born 1740 " ) but no name . A historical marker in Danvers , Massachusetts commemorates Arnold ' s 1775 expedition to Quebec . There are also historical markers bearing Arnold ' s name in Moscow , Maine , on the western bank of Lake Champlain , New York , and two in Skowhegan , Maine . The house where Arnold lived at 62 Gloucester Place in central London bears a plaque describing Arnold as an " American Patriot . " The church where Arnold was buried , St Mary ' s Church , Battersea , England , has a commemorative stained - glass window , added between 1976 and 1982 . The faculty club at the University of New Brunswick , Fredericton , has a Benedict Arnold Room , in which framed original letters written by Arnold hang on the walls .