The Notorious Benedict Arnold

Here we learn something of Benedict Arnold's family history. He is the sixth person to bear his name. The first Benedict Arnold emigrated from England in the early 1600s and became governor of Rhode Island. The family fell on hard times, whereupon the fourth Benedict Arnold moved to Norwich, Connecticut and became a merchant and sea captain. His son, the Benedict Arnold of this narrative, is born during a brutal winter, one of the coldest months on record in the northeast. To everyone's surprise, he survives. 

At the age of 10 Benedict Arnold is a daredevil who loves risky pranks and the attention that comes from them. He enjoys running, swimming, and climbing the masts of docked ships or corn mills in motion. At the age of 11, Arnold's parents send him to a respected boarding school nearby where he excels in math and Latin. 

Around this time, two of Arnold's younger sisters die in a yellow fever epidemic. Moreover, an economic slowdown begins to affect Arnold's father's shipping business. Unable to pay his debts, the elder Arnold turns to alcohol. The Arnolds are forced to pull Benedict from school. As the townsfolk of Norwich gossip about the fall of the once-proud Arnold family, Benedict turns to ever more aggressive pranks. The elder Arnold is jailed for failure to pay his debts. At age 14 Benedict starts a seven-year apprenticeship with a local apothecary, one that proves a valuable learning experience and sends him on trading journeys to Canada, the Caribbean, and Great Britain. 

At the outbreak of the French and Indian War, Arnold runs off to join the fighting. While in training he hears news that his mother is unwell, and he races back home to be with her. She dies, as does his father a few years later. At the age of 21, Benedict Arnold, his volatile personality fully formed, is faced with the task of restoring his family fortunes and name. 

When his apprenticeship ends, Arnold goes into business as a merchant in New Haven selling a variety of goods including books, maps, cosmetics, jewelry, and medicines. He and his sister Hannah run the business together. He is an over-zealously protective older brother, on one occasion shooting at a boyfriend of hers of whom he disapproves. 

After the French and Indian War ends, the British government taxes the American colonies to pay for its debts. Arnold becomes a leader in the opposition to British taxation. In 1767 Arnold marries a young woman named Margaret Mansfield. The marriage, which has its share of tensions, produces three sons. Arnold is frequently away trading in the West Indies, with “long periods of hard work occasionally interrupted by explosions of temper” (21). 

Around this time, the growing tensions between the colonies and Great Britain result in the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party. Arnold again becomes prominent in rebel activities. He is among the first to volunteer for a militia in New Haven and is elected leader. Arnold sees the impending war as the opportunity to make his name great and rise above his critics.

The march of British soldiers toward Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 marks the start of the Revolutionary War. Arnold gathers a militia to conduct a march on Boston. He forces one of the town fathers of New Haven to give the militia access to weapons and gunpowder. After arriving in Cambridge, Arnold obtains the blessing of the Massachusetts Committee to organize an attack on the poorly defended British-held Fort Ticonderoga, gathering militiamen for the enterprise along the way. 

After crossing into Vermont, Arnold discovers that Ethan Allen is leading his own attack on Ticonderoga with his Green Mountain Boys. Arnold is convinced that only he is properly authorized to lead the attack. 

Arnold goes to meet Ethan Allen near Lake Champlain. He insists that he alone has the proper orders to lead the attack on Fort Ticonderoga. The two men clash at first, and Allen has his soldiers firmly behind him, but they eventually reach a compromise whereby both will lead the attack jointly. Arnold, Allen, and 40 Green Mountain Boys cross the lake and attack Fort Ticonderoga. The fort falls within 10 minutes, with 44 British soldiers taken prisoner along with half as many women and children. 

The Green Mountain Boys get drunk on rum and engage in a wild rampage, stealing property from the prisoners. Arnold attempts to curb these excesses and insists on the rights of the prisoners. The Boys are annoyed by Arnold's presence and threaten him with violence. Arnold for his part continues to insist on his authority at Fort Ti, even though no further orders are forthcoming from the state governments or from the Continental Congress. 

Benedict conceives a plan of invading Canada and attacking the British forts there. In particular, he has in mind the British-held Fort St. John's and its strategically important warship the George. This would be the first foreign invasion in American history. Arnold chooses 35 men for the mission. They sail up Lake Champlain and surprise the British soldiers at St. John's with an early-morning attack. They handily succeed in taking the George. 

Congress is wary of the two sudden victories of Ticonderoga and St. John's, especially since there is a lack of clear military organization on the American side. They are unsure how to proceed and send no clear orders. 

In the absence of a clear hierarchy, the rivalry between Arnold and Ethan Allen continues. Allen sends a report to Congress which depicts Arnold as a non-entity in the Fort Ti attack. Then, a violent clash takes place between Arnold and one of Allen's officers named James Easton. 

A delegation of leaders from Massachusetts comes to inspect the forts. When they tell Arnold to turn command over to Colonel Benjamin Hinman, he becomes furious but prepares to leave. Soon after, Arnold receives a message that his wife has died. Grief-stricken, he returns home to attend to her burial.