NY, USA
Benedict Arnold
1741–1801 · Continental Army General · Field Commander · Traitor
1741–1801
Continental Army General · Field Commander · Traitor
Benedict Arnold was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1741, and grew up in a merchant family that suffered financial reverses during his youth, an experience that left him acutely sensitive to questions of honor, credit, and recognition. He became a successful apothecary and merchant in New Haven before the war, and when fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord he moved quickly to obtain a militia commission and distinguish himself in action. Arnold's early record was extraordinary: he co-led the capture of Fort Ticonderoga with Ethan Allen in May 1775, commanded a grueling winter march through the Maine wilderness to attack Quebec, and fought with reckless valor in the failed assault on the city on December 31, 1775. Repeatedly passed over for promotion despite these achievements, he accumulated a bitter catalog of grievances against Congress and against officers he regarded as his inferiors.
At Saratoga in the autumn of 1777, Arnold served under the cautious Horatio Gates and chafed against orders that kept him away from the fighting. During the first battle at Freeman's Farm on September 19, he reportedly pressured Gates into committing additional troops and may have been at the front directing actions personally, though accounts of his exact role differ. By the second battle on October 7, Arnold had been relieved of his command after a furious argument with Gates and held no official authority at all. Nevertheless he rode onto the field of his own accord during the assault on the Breymann Redoubt, rallying troops and leading the charge that broke the German defensive position. He was shot in the leg — the same leg that had been wounded at Quebec — and his horse fell on him, compounding the injury, but the assault succeeded and the British right flank collapsed.
Arnold's wound at Saratoga ended his participation in the campaign, and the leg never fully healed, limiting his active service thereafter. His growing resentment of Congress, combined with his marriage to a Philadelphia Loyalist, drew him toward the British, and in 1780 he attempted to surrender West Point to the enemy in exchange for money and a British commission. The plot was exposed, and Arnold fled to British lines, becoming the most reviled traitor in American history. His valor at Saratoga was real and consequential — a boot monument at Bemis Heights marks the spot where he fell, honoring his wound without naming him — but it was permanently overshadowed by the betrayal that followed.
In Saratoga Springs
- Sep 1777First Battle of Saratoga (Freeman's Farm)(Continental Army General)
The first major engagement at Saratoga occurred at Freeman's Farm on September 19, 1777. Burgoyne's advancing army collided with American forces sent forward by Gates to contest the British approach. Daniel Morgan's riflemen and Henry Dearborn's light infantry clashed with British regulars in the cleared fields around the farm. The fighting was fierce and sustained. Arnold urged Gates to commit more troops to the attack, and the Americans nearly broke the British center before German reinforcements stabilized the line. Burgoyne held the field at day's end, but at a cost of nearly 600 casualties he could not replace. The Americans withdrew to their fortified lines on Bemis Heights in good order, having demonstrated they could stand against British regulars in open combat.
- Oct 1777Gates Relieves Arnold of Command Before Second Battle(Continental Army General)
The weeks between the two battles of Saratoga were marked by a bitter command dispute between Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold. Arnold believed Gates had failed to give him proper credit for American performance in the first battle and was furious at being excluded from Gates's reports to Congress. The two men's confrontation was intense enough that Arnold requested permission to leave and Gates formally stripped him of his command — leaving him confined to camp. The result was the remarkable scene of October 7: Arnold, with no command and no orders, riding onto the battlefield and leading the assault that broke the British right flank. The dispute between the cautious Gates and the reckless Arnold encapsulates one of the Revolution's central tensions: the different kinds of leadership the war required and rewarded.
- Oct 1777Second Battle of Saratoga (Bemis Heights)(Continental Army General)
Burgoyne launched a reconnaissance in force on October 7, hoping to probe the American left for a way around their defenses. The attack failed catastrophically. Morgan's riflemen killed General Fraser, whose leadership had been holding the British line together, and Arnold — despite having been relieved of command by Gates — rode onto the field and led an unauthorized charge against the Breymann Redoubt. Arnold's assault broke the fortified German position and turned the British right flank. He was shot in the leg during the final rush into the redoubt. The British fell back to their camp, and within days Burgoyne began retreating north. The second battle sealed the American victory and made surrender inevitable.
- Oct 1777Arnold Wounded at the Breymann Redoubt(Continental Army General)
Benedict Arnold, despite having no command authority after his dispute with Gates, mounted his horse and rode into the battle on October 7. He led troops in an assault on the Breymann Redoubt, the fortified position anchoring the British right flank. During the final charge into the redoubt, Arnold's horse was shot and fell on his leg — the same left leg wounded at Quebec in 1775. The injury was severe and nearly cost Arnold his leg. He spent months recovering. Many historians note the bitter irony: Arnold's heroism at Saratoga was his finest hour, and his wound might have made him a martyr had he died. Instead, resentment over lack of recognition and perceived slights eventually drove him to treason three years later.
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