His name now summons images of betrayal by candlelight . But what precisely did Benedict Arnolddo ?
Well , he made contact with spies using his wife ’s pro - loyalist friends , he separate the British about the locations of rebel troops and supplying ; he took bid of the fort at West Point for the rebels , then secretly did everything he could to cripple it ; and he betray the fort ’s weaknesses to the British . And that ’s just for starters . After that last gambit was endanger , Arnold fled on a British ship before he could be hanged . The Brits recognise Arnold ’s potential and gave him some pretty potent military posture – he led 1,600 Redcoats and stalwart on a devastating series of raids across Virginia and a trigger-happy violation on the rebel port of New London , Connecticut , which he burned to the land .
But he could have been an American Hero if his cards had been carry on a little differently . In 1775 , Arnold and Ethan Allen were carbon monoxide gas - commandant of the expedition that captured Fort Ticonderoga . Then in 1777 , although outnumbered , Arnold put up a fierce competitiveness for Lake Champlain and then visit a lot of harm before withdrawing at the Battle of Ridgefield . And during the climactic Battle of Saratoga , Arnold took two for the squad : he was shot in the leg by a British heater and was then crushed under his falling horse .
While bedfast and in pain , Arnold think over on how crappy things were going : his achievement at Ticonderoga was lost in a political fight over who would take reference for the victory ( winner : Ethan Allen ) , and his grand efforts at Lake Champlain and Saratoga went unrecognised since they were technically frustration .
In February 1777 , the Continental Congress passed over Arnold for promotion , giving it to a next-to-last officeholder instead . Arnold eventually got promote , but Congress would n’t give him senior status , meaning he was still subordinate to junior military officer .
To add revilement to injury , Arnold then faced a smear political campaign by his enemies in the Continental Congress ( the allegations may have been slimly true , but whatever ) . As military regulator of Philadelphia , Arnold made insider business mickle that profited from supplying provisions to the rebel armies . When local merchandiser and politicians protested his tainted dealings , Arnold demanded a court warlike to exculpate his name . He was clear of all but two minor rush , but these still drew a rather nasty reprimand from Washington . Not long later on , controller of Congress calculate that , after the disbursal for his northern political campaign were summate up , Arnold owe them 1,000 dog pound .
And that ’s more or less when Arnold turn on them . But Benedict did n’t seem to make friends anywhere he go : he ended up being locked out of significant decisions by the British ship’s officer elite , then he lost a bunch of money in bad byplay passel and had a twine of alarming run - ins , include dueling with a member of Parliament and being burned in image by townspeople in St. John .
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