CT, USA
Benedict Arnold
1741–1801 · New Haven Merchant · Continental Army Officer · Militia Captain
1741–1801
New Haven Merchant · Continental Army Officer · Militia Captain
Benedict Arnold grew up in Norwich, Connecticut, but it was in New Haven that he established the identity and reputation he carried into the Revolution. He arrived in the city as a young man, apprenticed as an apothecary, and built a thriving mercantile business trading with the Caribbean and the Atlantic coast. By the early 1770s he was prosperous and well connected, a captain of the Governor's Foot Guard and a respected member of New Haven's commercial community. His experiences as a merchant, repeatedly subjected to British customs enforcement and trade restrictions, gave him concrete, personal reasons to resent imperial policy long before the political crisis came to a head.
When news of Lexington and Concord reached New Haven in April 1775, Arnold did not wait for deliberation. He mobilized his company of militia over the objections of nervous town selectmen, demanded the keys to the powder house, and marched his men toward Cambridge within days, arriving in time to join the swelling patriot forces besieging Boston. His energy and initiative quickly attracted attention, and he was soon proposing and then leading the expedition to capture Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775, coordinating awkwardly with Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys. The Canadian campaign of 1775 and 1776 brought him his most dramatic early laurels: the harrowing march through the Maine wilderness to Quebec, the assault on the city, and the subsequent defense of the river approach to Canada at the Battle of Valcour Island. At Saratoga in 1777 he delivered what many historians consider the single most important battlefield performance by any American officer in the war, driving the decisive assault that broke Burgoyne's army despite having been relieved of command by General Gates.
Arnold's treason in 1780, his attempt to deliver West Point to the British for money and a commission, permanently eclipsed his military achievements in American memory. He ended the war leading British raids against American communities, including the devastating attack on New London, Connecticut, his own home state. He died in London in 1801, reviled in America and not fully trusted in Britain, a figure of almost mythological moral complexity. New Haven, where his mercantile success had launched his public life, was among the communities he ultimately betrayed.
In New Haven
- Apr 1775Arnold Leads New Haven Militia to Cambridge(New Haven Merchant)
When news of Lexington and Concord reached New Haven on April 21, 1775, Benedict Arnold — then a prosperous merchant and captain of a local militia company — demanded the keys to the town's powder magazine. When the selectmen hesitated, Arnold reportedly told them he would break in if necessary. He got the keys. Arnold marched his company to Cambridge, where he proposed the expedition against Fort Ticonderoga that would yield the cannon Henry Knox later dragged to Boston. His departure from New Haven was the beginning of a military career that would produce both extraordinary heroism and the most famous act of treason in American history.
- Apr 1775Arnold Confronts Selectmen at Powder Magazine(New Haven Merchant)
When New Haven's selectmen refused to immediately release the militia powder stores after news of Lexington arrived, Benedict Arnold confronted them with his armed company. The selectmen argued that they should wait for orders from the colonial legislature. Arnold, characteristically, had no patience for deliberation. The confrontation — resolved when the selectmen handed over the keys — was a small incident with large implications. It demonstrated the tension between established authority and revolutionary urgency that played out in towns across the colonies. Arnold's willingness to act without authorization foreshadowed both his military boldness and his contempt for institutional constraints.
- Apr 1775Benedict Arnold Leads New Haven Militia to Cambridge(New Haven Merchant)
On April 22, 1775 — three days after Lexington and Concord — Benedict Arnold, then captain of the New Haven Governor's Foot Guards, demanded the town's selectmen hand over the key to the powder house so his company could march to Cambridge. When the selectmen hesitated, Arnold threatened to break down the door. He marched his men north, among the first organized Connecticut troops to respond to the alarm. The episode captures the urgency and local initiative that defined the war's opening weeks.