Treason Made Benedict Arnold Rich but Cost Him Respect
Paid 6,000 pounds and reunited with his family, he won neither American converts nor British trust.
American Scandal · Benedict Arnold | The Execution | 4After his plot to hand over West Point failed, Benedict Arnold reached British-held New York and tried to explain himself to his former countrymen.
Arnold had been a major general in the Continental Army, and one of George Washington's celebrated commanders. In New York, he wrote a public letter aimed at Americans.
In it, he argued that his defection was principle, not pay. He blamed Congress, raised doubts about partnering with France, and said nothing about having sold West Point for money.
His new allies saw a use for that argument. Henry Clinton, the British commander in chief, hoped Arnold's example would persuade other Americans to defect, and the British tried to spread the letter across the country.
It did little to help. To most patriots, the letter was merely a dressed-up excuse for betrayal, and it inspired few imitators. Instead of undermining the cause of independence, his disloyalty seemed to harden support for it by giving his former fellow soldiers a shared foe to rally around.
As a financial deal, though, betrayal paid. Clinton commissioned Arnold as a brigadier general in the British Army, a demotion that still raised eyebrows because Arnold had failed to deliver West Point. The British also awarded him 6,000 pounds, enough to make him a very wealthy man, though Arnold believed he had been promised more and had no one to corroborate it after John Andre, the British major who had conspired with him and was hanged as a spy, died.
On paper, he also recovered his family life. His wife Peggy, who had stayed briefly in Philadelphia, was ordered by Pennsylvania authorities to leave the state during the war although she was never formally accused. She joined him in New York with their young son, and within weeks was pregnant with their second child.
What he wanted next, respect, did not follow. His knowledge of the Continental Army made him useful, but his betrayal of former comrades made him hard to trust. The British had received him courteously at first, but he found British officers distrusted him, and some could not forgive him because the popular Major Andre had gone to the gallows while Arnold escaped.
Questions people ask
How much was 6,000 pounds worth in 1780?
It was a fortune at the time, many times the annual income of a prosperous merchant or senior officer. It could support a wealthy household, servants, and property, which is why the episode describes Arnold as a very wealthy man.
Why did some British officers blame Arnold for John Andre's death?
Andre, a popular British major, was caught carrying the West Point papers, convicted as a spy, and hanged while Arnold escaped to safety. Some of Andre's friends and fellow officers associated Arnold's escape with Andre's death, and held it against him.
What happened to Peggy Arnold after the plot was exposed?
She was never formally accused over the plot, but Pennsylvania ordered her to leave the state during the war. She rejoined Arnold in New York, and the couple later moved to England with their sons in December 1781.