NJ, USA
Benedict Arnold's Treason Discovered
September 25, 1780
In September 1780, while the Continental Army was still recovering from the Hard Winter at Morristown, the most shocking betrayal of the Revolution was uncovered. Benedict Arnold, one of Washington's most trusted generals, had been secretly negotiating with the British to surrender West Point — the critical fortress controlling the Hudson River — in exchange for money and a British commission.
The plot was discovered when British Major John André, Arnold's contact, was captured near Tarrytown, New York, carrying incriminating documents. Arnold fled to a British warship. André was tried, convicted, and hanged as a spy. Washington, headquartered at the Ford Mansion in Morristown when the conspiracy unraveled, was reportedly stunned by the betrayal of an officer he had championed and defended.
The Arnold affair deepened the crisis of confidence already gripping the army after the Hard Winter and the Pennsylvania Line's unrest. If a hero of Saratoga could betray the cause, what held the rest of the army together? The answer — as Morristown's endurance had already demonstrated — was not glory or profit but something harder to name: a commitment that outlasted individual grievance.
People Involved
Washington's chief aide-de-camp during both Morristown encampments, Hamilton managed correspondence, gathered intelligence, and grew increasingly frustrated with the weak central government that left the army starving.
Virginia planter and Continental Army commander-in-chief who owned and managed Mount Vernon's enslaved workforce. Absent from his estate for most of the war, he directed Lund Washington's management by correspondence and returned to find the plantation's human community shaped by eight years of wartime disruption.
Joined Washington at Morristown during both winter encampments, managing the headquarters household, organizing sewing circles to produce clothing for soldiers, and hosting events to maintain officer morale.