Military career of Benedict Arnold , 1777 – 79 The military career of Benedict Arnold from 1777 to 1779 was marked by two important events in his career . In July 1777 , Arnold was assigned to the Continental Army ' s Northern Department , where he played pivotal roles in bringing about the failure of British Brigadier Barry St . Leger ' s siege of Fort Stanwix and the American success in the battles of Saratoga , which fundamentally altered the course of the war . After convalescing following the significant injuries to his leg sustained at Saratoga , Arnold was given military command of Philadelphia after the British withdrawal in 1778 . There Arnold became embroiled in political and legal wrangling with enemies in Congress , the army , and the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia governments that undoubtedly contributed to his decision to change sides . In 1779 he began secret negotiations with the British that culminated in a plot to surrender West Point . The plot was exposed in September 1780 , following which Arnold fled to British - occupied New York City . Background . Benedict Arnold was born in 1741 into a well - to - do family in the port city of Norwich in the British colony of Connecticut . He was interested in military affairs from an early age , serving briefly ( without seeing action ) in the colonial militia during the French and Indian War in 1757 . He embarked on a career as a businessman , first opening a shop in New Haven , and then engaging in overseas trade . He owned and operated ships , sailing to the West Indies , New France and Europe . When the British Parliament began to impose taxes on its colonies , Arnold ' s businesses began to be affected by them , and he eventually joined the opposition to those measures . In 1767 he married a local woman , with whom he had three children , one of whom died in infancy . She died in 1775 , and Arnold left his children under the care of his sister Hannah at his home in New Haven . Early American Revolutionary War activity . Arnold had distinguished himself early in the war , participating in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775 and then boldly leading a raid on Fort Saint - Jean near Montreal . He then led a small army from Cambridge , Massachusetts to Quebec City on an expedition through the wilderness of present - day Maine , where he was wounded in the climactic Battle of Quebec on December 31 , 1775 . He then presided over an ineffectual siege of Quebec until April 1776 , when he took over the military command of Montreal . He directed the American retreat from there on the arrival of British reinforcements , and his forces formed the rear guard of the retreating Continental Army as it headed south toward Ticonderoga . Arnold then organized the defense of Lake Champlain , and led the Continental Navy fleet that was defeated in the October 1776 Battle of Valcour Island . 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 his superior at Ticonderoga , prevented his own arrest on countercharges levelled 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 " . Eastern Department . Defense of Rhode Island . Following the defeat on Lake Champlain , Arnold accompanied Major General Horatio Gates as he led a portion of the army at Ticonderoga south to assist General Washington in the defense of New Jersey . On December 7 , 1776 , a large British force under Lieutenant General Henry Clinton occupied Newport , Rhode Island . In response Washington ordered Arnold to go back to New England to raise militia and coordinate the defense of Rhode Island . Arnold was made Deputy Commander of the Eastern Department of the Continental Army under Major General Joseph Spencer , and left Washington ' s camp in Pennsylvania on December 22 . Arnold , who had not seen his family for over a year , spent a week visiting with them in New Haven , during which he successfully urged Washington and Henry Knox , the army ' s chief of artillery , to raise an artillery regiment for John Lamb and Eleazer Oswald , two Connecticut men who had served with him on the expedition to Quebec . He arrived at Providence on January 12 , 1777 , to lead the defense against the British at Newport . There were 4 , 000 Rhode Island militia mobilized , and both the governor and Arnold ' s commander , General Spencer , were itching to drive the British out of Newport . Arnold developed a plan for driving the British from Newport , but found that the militia were so poorly equipped and supplied that offensive operations were , in his view , ill advised . In February 1777 Arnold met and seriously courted the daughter of a well known Boston Loyalist , Betsy Deblois , described as the belle of Boston . " The heavenly Miss Deblois " refused his repeated proposals , likely because she was only fifteen . When he returned to Providence he learned that he was one of several officers that had been passed over for promotion to major general by Congress . The reasons for this were largely political in nature , but it is unlikely that his prospects were helped by Horatio Gates ' delivery of a petition by John Brown making many accusations against Arnold just one month before Congress took up the matter . Gates was apparently upset that Washington had given the Rhode Island command to Arnold , and now viewed him as a competitor for promotion and choice of assignments . It was not unusual in military establishments of the time that individuals passed over for promotion were expected to resign , so Arnold on March 12 wrote to Washington , offering his resignation , or alternatively asking for a court of inquiry . Washington refused his offer to resign , and wrote to members of Congress in an attempt to correct the situation , noting that " two or three other very good officers " might be lost if they persisted in making politically motivated promotions . After Washington wrote Arnold explaining to him that the rejection was due to how the Congress had allocated promotions to the states ( and Connecticut already had its quota of major generals ) , Arnold persisted in seeking some sort of inquiry , and complained in a letter to General Gates that " no gentleman who has any regard for his reputation will risk it with a body of men who seem to be governed by " whim and caprice " " and that he felt " the unmerited injury my countrymen have done me . " Tryon ' s Danbury raid . After plans were shelved to attack the British at Newport , Arnold left for Philadelphia to meet with the Continental Congress and Washington over his future . He stopped in New Haven to visit his family once again , and assisted his friend Colonel Lamb in hunting down Loyalists in the area . A courier notified him on April 26 that a British force 2 , 000 strong under Major General William Tryon , the last British governor of New York , had landed at Fairfield , Connecticut . Tryon marched his force inland to Danbury , a major supply depot for the Continental Army . Driving away the few defenders , he ordered the destruction of the stores and a number of properties belonging to Patriot supporters . Arnold and Major General David Wooster , who had overall command of Connecticut ' s defense forces and was also in New Haven , hurriedly recruited about 100 volunteers locally . They then headed for Redding , the muster point specified by militia Major General Gold S . Silliman , who oversaw Fairfield County ' s defenses . Silliman had mustered a force of 500 volunteers from eastern Connecticut . Under Wooster ' s direction Arnold and his fellow officers moved their small force toward Danbury so they could intercept and harass the British as they returned to their ships . Wooster divided the force , with Arnold and Silliman leading 400 men to the village of Ridgefield , Connecticut to block the British march , while he led 200 men to harass the British rear guard . By 11 am on April 27 Wooster ' s column had caught up with and engaged Tryon ' s rear guard . In two brief skirmishes , Wooster was mortally wounded , but the action delayed the British long enough for Arnold and Silliman to establish a crude breastwork just north of Ridgefield . In the ensuing battle , the militia companies put up stiff resistance before they were flanked and driven off . Arnold ' s horse was shot , and when it went down , his leg was pinned under it . Arnold was very nearly bayoneted by a British soldier , but shot him with a pistol and managed to get away with a minor wound to his left leg . The British camped for the night near Ridgefield , and then proceeded on toward the coast , harassed by militia all the way . Arnold and Silliman rallied their troops , which grew to include Continental Army and artillery units as well as militia units from further afield . Arnold eventually established a fairly strong position on Campo Hill ( in present - day Westport , Connecticut ) near the beach where the British expected to embark . The British managed to elude his attempt to entrap them , and drove off many of the militia with their field artillery before embarking on their ships and sailing back to New York . During the final skirmishing , Arnold had a second horse shot out under him . When Congress learned of the action on May 2 , it finally promoted Arnold to major general , although his seniority of rank was behind those promoted in February . After the Danbury raid , Arnold continued his journey to Philadelphia , stopping to meet with Washington at Morristown , New Jersey . During this time he learned of the publication of Brown ' s pamphlet , and insisted to Washington that his name had to be cleared . Arnold ' s lobbying paid off , and even opponents of the traditional promotion schemes , including John Adams , came to realize that Arnold was being unjustly treated . After a lengthy hearing before the Board of War on May 21 , in which Arnold ' s actions and financial accounts in the Quebec campaign were scrutinized , the board completely exonerated him , issuing a statement that it was satisfied with Arnold ' s " character and conduct , so cruelly and groundlessly aspersed in Brown ' s publication . " However , it took no steps to restore his seniority . The seniority issue had annoyed not just Arnold , but also John Stark , Nathanael Greene , John Sullivan , and Henry Knox . Stark resigned his commission as brigadier after Congress offered a major general ' s commission to a French soldier of fortune , Philippe de Coudray , and the other three complained loudly over the matter . Congress passed over his petition for restoration of seniority , and deliberately snubbed him for consultation on the defense of Philadelphia in favor of Pennsylvania native Thomas Mifflin , one of the generals promoted ahead of him . Arnold tendered his resignation to Congress on July 11 . However , Washington had written Congress the day before , informing them that a British army under General John Burgoyne had captured Fort Ticonderoga , and recommending in glowing terms that Arnold be sent north to assist in the defense of the Hudson River valley . Given Washington ' s strong support , Arnold asked that his resignation be shelved , and he left Philadelphia for the north . In a vote on August 8 , Congress voted against restoring Arnold ' s seniority . The next day , it offered a major general ' s commission to the Marquis de Lafayette , then just nineteen years old . Stanwix and Saratoga . When Arnold arrived in the Continental Army camp on the upper Hudson River in mid - July , Major General Schuyler was leading the forces there . Schuyler placed Arnold in command of the army ' s advance guards at Fort Edward . It was during this time that Jane McCrea , the fiancée of a Loyalist fighting with Burgoyne ' s army , was slain by Burgoyne ' s Indian auxiliaries . This event was widely retold and embellished with lurid details , and is said to have contributed to Patriot recruiting efforts . In the following weeks , Schuyler ' s army retreated before Burgoyne ' s advance , until it reached the Mohawk River south of Stillwater on August 18 . Relief of Fort Stanwix . In early August Schuyler dispatched Arnold and 900 men to relieve the garrison at Fort Stanwix on the upper Mohawk , which had been placed under siege by a British - Indian force led by Brigadier Barry St . Leger . Arnold marched along the Mohawk to Fort Dayton , which he reached on August 20 . There he attempted to recruit additional militia to enlarge the relief force , but was unsuccessful ; the local militia had suffered grievously in the bloody Battle of Oriskany that ended the first attempt to relieve the siege . Uncomfortable with the number of troops available to him , Arnold opted for a deception to sow trouble in the besieger ' s camp outside Fort Stanwix . A number of Loyalists had been arrested near Fort Dayton , including one Hon - Yost Schuyler . Hon - Yost suffered from some form of mental illness which , while looked down on by the Europeans , was seen by many Indians as a touch of the Great Spirit . Arnold convinced Hon - Yost to spread rumors that large numbers of Americans , under the command of " The Dark Eagle " , were about to descend on St . Leger ' s camp . Hon - Yost ' s good conduct was assured by holding hostage his brother , who was also among the arrested . Arnold ' s stratagem apparently worked . St . Leger recorded on August 21 that " Arnold was advancing , by rapid and forced marches , with 3 , 000 men " , and the Indians of St . Leger ' s expedition , who made up the majority of his force , abandoned the siege the next day . As a result , St . Leger lifted the siege and began the journey back to Montreal . Arnold did march to Stanwix , arriving after St . Leger had left ; detachments sent by Arnold to chase after him spotted his boats on Lake Oneida . Saratoga . After leaving reinforcements with the Fort Stanwix garrison , Arnold returned to Stillwater , where General Gates had taken over the command from Schuyler . Arnold had learned of Gates ' assumption of command while he was at Fort Dayton . He wrote a somewhat perfunctory congratulatory to Gates when he heard of the American victory in the Battle of Bennington , but a somewhat warmer letter he wrote to Schuyler at the same time somehow fell into Gates ' hands . Gates provided a snub of sorts when he reported to Congress on the relief of Stanwix and the action at Bennington , and failed to mention Arnold ' s role ; he did specifically mention Stark and Seth Warner , the principal commanders at Bennington , in his dispatch . Washington was more forthcoming with praise , recognizing that " the approach of General Arnold with his detachment " played a key role in the relief of Stanwix . On his return to Gates ' camp , Arnold learned of the Congressional decision to not restore his seniority . He then annoyed Gates by taking on as aides several men who had been on Schuyler ' s staff , including Henry Brockholst Livingston . The two men also disagreed on strategy : Arnold argued in councils in favor of drawing Burgoyne into battle , while Gates preferred to establish a strong line of defense and wait for Burgoyne ' s assault . Relations between the men deteriorated further when Gates effectively overrode brigade assignments he had asked Arnold to make , and were not helped by Gates ' adjutant , James Wilkinson . Arnold characterized the scheming Wilkinson as a " designing " villain " " ; Wilkinson is reported to have regularly cast aspersions on Arnold and his staff to Gates . This friction between the two men and their respective camps boiled over after the September 19 Battle of Freeman ' s Farm . In that battle , Arnold was forceful in wanting to move troops out of the strong American fortifications to head off a flanking maneuver . Gates grudgingly allowed this , and Arnold ' s troops sent out to counter the British advance precipitated the battle . It has been widely recounted in histories of this battle that General Arnold was on the field , directing some of the action . However , this is unlikely : John Luzader , a former park historian at the Saratoga National Historical Park , carefully documents the evolution of this story , which is without foundation in contemporary materials . In all likelihood , Arnold remained at Gates ' headquarters , receiving news and dispatching orders through messengers . The battle was technically a British victory , as they gained the field of battle . However , they suffered significant casualties that they could ill afford , the American army ' s strong position was not assaulted , and American casualties were comparatively modest . According to Richard Varick , a former Schuyler aide and no friend of Gates , the general " seemed to be piqued " at the performance of Arnold ' s division in the battle , and Henry Brockholst Livingston wrote that Arnold was " the life and soul of the troops " and that he had " the confidence and affection of his officers and soldiers . " An officer unconnected to either camp commented that Arnold had " won the admiration of the whole army " , and that the idea that Gates had squandered an opportunity to inflict a decisive blow on the British was widely held by officers . The Gates camp then engaged in a series of actions that Arnold perceived to be an attack . James Wilkinson wrote a letter to General Arthur St . Clair in Philadelphia in which he implied not only that Arnold was not involved in the battle , but that he was an impediment to Gates . Gates ' official report to Congress notably made no mention of Arnold , Morgan , or other officers involved in leading the action , and specifically mentioned Arnold ' s nemesis John Brown , who had made an attack against Fort Ticonderoga the day before the battle . A decision by Gates concerning Morgan ' s unit then caused relationships between Gates and Arnold to break down completely . Morgan ' s unit had technically been under Gates ' command , but it had operated in the battle under Arnold ' s division and his direction . Gates formally realigned the units to reiterate that Morgan reported to him and not Arnold . The ensuing discussion between Gates and Arnold on September 22 escalated into a shouting match , and ended with Gates relieving Arnold of his command . Arnold requested a pass to rejoin Washington ' s army , which he was given . However , for unknown reasons , he decided to stay in camp . A common account of a memorial signed by Gates ' field commanders encouraging him to stay has no basis in the documentary record ; it is known that Brigadier Enoch Poor , who had been critical of Arnold during the court martial at Ticonderoga , and other officers openly considered the idea . This support for Arnold may have played a role in his announcement on September 26 that he was staying in camp even though his differences with Gates had not been resolved . When General Burgoyne made a reconnaissance in force of the American left on October 7 , Gates , now in command of the American left , ordered troops out to meet them , precipitating the Battle of Bemis Heights . At a critical point in the battle , Arnold , who may have been drinking , left his tent , mounted a horse , and rode off to the battlefield . Rallying what had been his troops in the first battle , he led them in a furious assault against two redoubts on the British right . In this phase of the battle , one of the redoubts was taken , and Arnold ' s horse and leg were shot . When the horse went down , Arnold ' s leg was shattered in several places . The battle was a resounding victory for the Americans . Burgoyne began a retreat , but was quickly surrounded by militia companies that streamed into the area , and surrendered on October 17 . Gates could not ignore Arnold ' s role in the second battle , since the news of Arnold ' s injuries traveled quickly . He limited acknowledgement of Arnold ' s participation to the leading of a " gallant " assault on the redoubt . Much to Arnold ' s disgust , Gates himself was lauded by Congress and awarded a gold medal ; Burgoyne , on the other hand , claimed that Arnold was responsible for his defeat . Congress did finally vote to restore Arnold ' s 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 ' s contribution to the victory at Saratoga is commemorated by the Boot Monument in Saratoga National Historical Park . Donated by Civil War General John Watts de Peyster , it shows a boot with spurs and the stars of a major general . It stands at the spot where Arnold was shot on October 7 charging Breymann ' s redoubt , and is dedicated to " the most brilliant soldier of the Continental Army " . Philadelphia command . Following Saratoga , Arnold was taken to an Albany hospital to recover from the wounds he had received in the battle . His left leg was ruined , but Arnold would not allow it to be amputated . Several agonizing months of recovery left it 2 inches ( 5 cm ) shorter than the right . After several months in Albany , he was transferred to Middletown , Connecticut , where he could be nearer his children . While recuperating there , he sent two more entreaties to Betsy DeBlois ; the first she answered with a firm refusal , and the second went unanswered . When he was well enough to travel , he departed Connecticut for Valley Forge , where he arrived on May 20 , 1778 , to the boisterous applause of troops he had commanded at Saratoga . There he participated , with many other soldiers , in the first recorded Oath of Allegiance as a sign of loyalty to the United States . As the British planned to withdraw from Philadelphia in June 1778 Washington appointed Arnold to take military command of the city after the British retreat . Even before the Americans reoccupied Philadelphia , Arnold began scheming 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 . While these schemes were not necessarily illegal , the ethics involved were seen as highly dubious at the time . Some of his schemes were frustrated by the actions of highly partisan Patriots , including the politically powerful Joseph Reed . These business dealings required capital , which Arnold often borrowed . Arnold furthered his debts by living extravagantly , occupying the Penn mansion and throwing parties for high society . Complicating the situation was the fact that Arnold was administratively trapped between the relatively powerful Pennsylvania government and the Congress , which was often forced to bow to the populous state ' s demands in order to achieve its aims . Reed and others amassed a series of irregularities in Arnold ' s official actions , and open war of words erupted between Arnold and Reed and his supporters . By February 1779 a variety of charges had been publicly made that he was abusing his power . He demanded a full court martial , writing to Washington in May , " Having become a cripple in the service of my country , I little expected to meet [ such ] ungrateful returns " . The court martial was postponed ( it would not be held until December 1779 ) , once more leaving Arnold frustrated and angry at the Congress for its inaction . 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 , in spite of military bans on communication with the enemy . Some of this communication was effected through the services of Joseph Stansbury , a Philadelphia merchant . Sometime early in May 1779 , Arnold met with Stansbury . Stansbury , whose testimony before a British commission apparently erroneously placed the date in June , said that , after meeting with Arnold , " I went secretly to New York with a tender of [ Arnold ' s ] services to Sir Henry Clinton . " This was the start of a series of negotiations between Arnold and Sir Henry ' s chief spy , the very same Major André that had courted Peggy . Between July and October 1779 , the two negotiated over terms of Arnold ' s change to the British side , while Arnold provided the British with information on troop locations and strengths , as well as the locations of supply depots . Court martial . The court martial to consider the charges against Arnold began meeting in December 1779 . In spite of the fact that a number of members of the panel of judges were men 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 May 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 . It concluded that he owed the Congress some £1 , 000 , largely because he was unable to document his expenses . A significant number of the necessary documents were lost during the retreat from Quebec ; once again frustrated by Congress , Arnold resigned his military command of Philadelphia in late April . Later action . Following Arnold ' s resignation from the Philadelphia post , he was for a time without a command . After reopening the stalled negotiations with André , he obtained command of West Point in August 1780 , and set about weakening its defenses . Following a meeting with André in September , the plot was exposed when André was captured attempting to cross the lines into New York City while carrying incriminating documents . Arnold fled to New York , and began military service as a Brigadier in the British Army in 1781 , leading a raiding expedition against supply depots and economic targets in Virginia , and then a raid against New London , Connecticut . With the end of major hostilities following the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown , Arnold and his family left for England at the end of 1781 , on a ship that also carried Lord Cornwallis . Despite repeated attempts to gain command positions in the British Army or with the British East India Company , he saw no further military duty . He resumed business activities , engaging in trade while based at first in Saint John , New Brunswick and then London . He died in London in 1801 .