CT, USA
The Traitor Comes Home
About Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold knew these waters. He had sailed them as a merchant, conducting business between New London and the Caribbean. He knew where the harbor was deep and where it was shallow, which buildings held the most valuable goods, and how the town's modest defenses were arranged. When he returned to Connecticut on September 6, 1781, he brought that knowledge in service of the enemy.
Arnold had been a British officer for less than a year, but the raid on New London was his most consequential action in his new uniform. He led approximately 1,700 troops against the town while a companion force attacked Fort Griswold across the Thames River in Groton. The military objective was clear: destroy the privateering base that had been harassing British shipping.
The town burned. Warehouses stacked with captured British goods — the fruits of years of successful privateering — went up in flames. Homes, shops, wharves, nearly 150 buildings in all. Some of the fires spread beyond what Arnold may have intended, but the destruction was immense regardless.
What made the raid uniquely painful was not the scale of the damage but the identity of the attacker. Arnold had grown up in nearby Norwich. These were his neighbors, his former trading partners, people who had watched him march off to Cambridge in 1775 as a patriot militia captain. The same man who had bled for the cause at Quebec and Saratoga now directed British regulars in burning Connecticut towns.
The raid achieved its military objective but failed strategically. It was meant to divert Continental troops from Washington's march toward Yorktown. Washington was not diverted. Less than a month after Arnold burned New London, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. The war was effectively over, and Arnold had contributed nothing to the British cause that mattered. His treason, in the end, was as futile as it was infamous.
Sources
Primary & Secondary Sources
A Narrative of the Capture of the Ship Hannah (Ebenezer Holt)
Connecticut Historical Society · PRIMARY · TIER1
Eyewitness account of the burning of New London harbor by a local merchant. Describes the destruction of privateering vessels and warehouse fires that spread to the town.
Benedict Arnold to General Henry Clinton, September 8, 1781
British Headquarters Papers, Clements Library, University of Michigan · PRIMARY · TIER1
Arnold's official after-action report to his British commanding officer describing the September 6, 1781 raid on New London and Groton. The primary British-side account of the operation.
Fort Trumbull State Park: The 1781 Raid on New London
Connecticut DEEP State Parks / National Park Service · INSTITUTIONAL · TIER1
Interpretive materials at Fort Trumbull examining the British attack coordinated with the Groton assault. Documents the fort's fall and the burning of New London's wharves.
The Public Records of the State of Connecticut, 1781
Connecticut State Library · PRIMARY · TIER1
Official state records documenting the destruction of New London and the subsequent legislative response, including relief measures for displaced residents.
The Traitor and the Spy: Benedict Arnold and John André
Harcourt, Brace (James Thomas Flexner) · SECONDARY · TIER1
Pulitzer Prize finalist biography of Arnold with detailed treatment of the New London raid as an act of deliberately cruel symbolism--Arnold burning his own home state.
Benedict Arnold's Army: The 1779 American Invasion of Canada
Savas Beatie (Mark Hayes) · SECONDARY · TIER2
While focused on Arnold's earlier career, provides essential background on his leadership style and strategic thinking that characterized his 1781 Connecticut raid.
Connecticut History Online: New London in the Revolution
Connecticut Humanities · INSTITUTIONAL · TIER2
State humanities council essays on New London's Revolutionary War experience, including its role as a naval base and the devastating impact of the 1781 raid.
History of New London, Connecticut
H.D. Utley (Frances M. Caulkins) · SECONDARY · TIER2
Nineteenth-century local history drawing on town records and oral accounts from survivors of the 1781 raid. Chapter 14 covers the burning of New London in detail.
https://connecticuthistory.org/benedict-arnold-turns-and-burns-new-london/
connecticuthistory.org · SECONDARY · TIER2
Discovered by agentic enrichment for New London
https://www.nlchs.org/about/shaw-mansion/
www.nlchs.org · SECONDARY · TIER2
Discovered by agentic enrichment for New London
https://www.nlchs.org/privateering-out-of-new-london/
www.nlchs.org · SECONDARY · TIER2
Discovered by agentic enrichment for New London
Privateers of New London: Commerce Raiding in the American Revolution
Connecticut History (Connecticut Humanities) · SECONDARY · TIER2
Contextualizes New London's importance as a privateer base and why Arnold's raid specifically targeted the harbor and shipping. Draws on admiralty records and local maritime history.
The Occupation of Fort Trumbull, 1781
New London County Historical Society · SECONDARY · TIER2
Local historical society monograph examining the fall of Fort Trumbull to British forces during the Arnold raid and its impact on American naval defense in Long Island Sound.
New London Landmarks Commission: Revolutionary War Sites
City of New London · TERTIARY · TIER3
Municipal tourism and landmarks commission information on Revolutionary-era sites, including the Hempsted Houses and Shaw-Perkins Mansion that survived the 1781 burning.
Raid on New London -- Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation · TERTIARY · TIER3
General reference entry with narrative overview and footnotes pointing to primary sources. Useful starting point; factual details should be cross-checked with Caulkins and state records.