Posted on 12/04/2024 10:24:32 AM PST by DallasBiff
Benedict Arnold was an early hero of the Revolutionary War who later became one of the most infamous traitors in U.S. history. At the outbreak of the war, Arnold participated in the capture of the British garrison of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. In 1776, he hindered a British invasion of New York from Lake Champlain. The following year, he played a crucial role in bringing about the surrender of British General John Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga. Yet Arnold felt that he never received the recognition he deserved. In 1779, he entered into secret negotiations with the British, agreeing to turn over the U.S. post at West Point in return for money and a command of the British army. His name has since become synonymous with the word “traitor.”
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Arnold married Peggy Shippen, from a prominent Philadelphia family with Loyalist sympathies. If his first wife had not died maybe he would never have gotten involved with her. But his resentments over not being sufficiently praised for his achievements could have led him to turn traitor anyway.
Except that Collins and Murkowski have never displayed heroism or display any kind of genius as Arnold once did.
Benedict Arnold's life is a fascinating read. He was evidently a brilliant and courageous military leader, even having some success at commanding early navy war ships. He had a number of fatal flaws, however, that led to his eventually turning traitor: his love of luxury and money, his ambition for advancement in military rank, his resentment for being passed over for promotion, and his unyielding conviction that he knew better than everyone else.
The AMC series “Turn: Washington’s Spies” goes into detail about Arnold and Shippen.
Here’s two more modern Benedict Arnolds: Liz Cheney and her dad Dick.
Arnold’s British contact Major John Andre caught, tried, and and quickly hanged in New York a stone’s throw from the NY/NJ border (the spot is very well marked/commemorated).
Ultimately Andre died with impressive dignity.
No. Mrs. Arnold was better looking.
Seriously?
Ray Charles would choose Peggy...and he's blind & dead!
The expedition to Quebec through the Maine wilderness , accompanied by an almost forgotten hero of the Revolution, Daniel Morgan, is epic in bravery and endurance. His strategic grasp of seizing almost undefended Canada, had he gotten sufficient support, early enough, i.e. by autumn of 1775, would have altered the war’s course completely.
Read up on the Boot Monument, dedicated to Arnold’s leg.
I had a math teacher in 7th grade named Peggy Shippen, and years later as I became a history buff, I thought “Peggy Shippen”!
Wasn’t she also the ‘Log Lady’ in David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks’ TV series?
bkmk
Turn was a great series.
That is a really great series! It really does a nice job of putting you in the time.
This is where it all began.
Arnold was made a Colonel and put in command of the military operation and was paired with Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, a local militia acting as irregulars in the Continental Army. Allen's militia refused to accept Arnold as their commander and threatened to leave if Allen didn't lead the operation. Although unclear, it was assumed that Arnold and Allen worked out an arrangement that kept the operation on track, although the Green Mountain Boys still refused to take Arnold's direct orders.
The operation was a success, but Allen took all the credit. A relief militia of 1,000 men was sent to hold Fort Ticonderoga with instructions that Arnold was to serve under the command of the militia leader. Arnold refused, resigned his commission, and went home.
After this, Arnold began building a reputation for engaging in disputes with the people he worked with, and the Continental Congress kept passing him over for promotion. General George Washington even wrote to the Congress on Arnold's behalf, telling them that he would lose several good officers if the Congress keeps making politically motivated promotions instead of recognizing merit.
tl;dr... Arnold kept getting passed over, kept quarreling with his peers, and saw slights against him everywhere. Feeling betrayed, he eventually turned traitor and fled to England after being discovered.
Ethan Allen is still selling overpriced furniture across the country.
-PJ
His name has since become synonymous with the word “traitor.”
Wonder if the Biden clan ever had a DNA test?.
Shippensburg, PA, would be named after the family or some member of it, I suppose. It has a small state university (former teachers’ college).
I think Ethan Allen demanded the surrender of Fort Ticonderoga “in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress.”
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