While Arnold is a villain in the eyes of most Americans, he was considered the most brilliant officer on either side of the Revolutionary War. Why would he commit a crime so inexcusable?
It became convenient to portray Benedict Arnold as a conniving traitor, but the truth is more complex. The brilliant general often failed to get credit for his military wins, suffered painful wounds, lost his fortune while others profiteered, and finally gave up on the disorganized and often ineffective efforts to win the American Revolution.
A new look at a famous Revolutionary figure questions whether history’s long-standing judgment is accurate
Without his brilliance at espionage the Revolution could not have been won
Benedict Arnold never quite understood the cause he served superbly and then betrayed
To the end of his life America’s most infamous traitor believed he was the hero of the Revolution
The old school is alive with the memory of men like Lee, Grant, Pershing, and Eisenhower
Who today remembers John Paulding, Isaac Van Wert, or
David Williams? Yet for a century they were renowned as the
rustic militiamen who captured Major John André
BATTLES OF THE REVOLUTION
Fifth in a series of painting for
AMERICAN HERITAGE
The key to control of Canada was a city whose defenders doubted they could hold out for long once the American Rebels attacked
“Whom can we trust now?” cried out General Washington when he discovered his friend’s “villainous perfidy.”
The traitor was not destitute, but his family's life was not comfortable after the Revolutionary War.
Unless the makeshift Yankee admiral with his tiny homemade fleet could hold Lake Champlain, the formidable invasion from Canada might overwhelm the rebel army
General Washington wanted Benedict Arnold taken alive, right in the heart of British-held New York.