Great History

By 1779, Benedict Arnold had become one of the most controversial figures in the American Revolution. He had once been celebrated as one of the Continental Army’s most courageous commanders, but a combination of personal resentment, financial difficulties and political disputes had gradually turned him against the revolutionary cause. His eventual betrayal would make his name synonymous with treason in American history. Arnold’s frustration had been building for several years. Despite playing an important role in the American victories at Saratoga, he believed that Congress had repeatedly denied him the recognition he deserved. Other officers had been promoted above him, while Arnold was also accused of using his position to make money from military contracts and supplies. He was eventually court-martialled over allegations of corruption and misuse of military authority.

The court-martial largely cleared him of the most serious accusations, but Washington reprimanded him for using his position for personal benefit. Arnold felt humiliated. He had sacrificed a great deal for the Revolution, including suffering a serious leg wound at Saratoga, yet increasingly believed that Congress and his fellow revolutionaries were treating him with contempt.

His personal life also began to change. In 1778, American forces retook Philadelphia after the British evacuated the city. Arnold was appointed military commander of Philadelphia, where he began associating with the city’s wealthy social elite. He moved into the former home of the Penn family, which had been used by British commander William Howe during the occupation, and began living an expensive lifestyle that was far beyond what his military income could comfortably support. Arnold also became romantically involved with Peggy Shippen, a young woman from a wealthy Philadelphia family. The Shippen family had maintained connections with British officers during the occupation, and Peggy herself had previously been associated with British Major John André. Arnold and Peggy married in April 1779.

Arnold’s increasingly extravagant lifestyle attracted suspicion. Pennsylvania authorities accused him of corruption and misuse of his military position, and he was eventually subjected to a court-martial. Although he was convicted on several relatively minor charges, Washington gave him only a mild reprimand. The decision reflected Washington’s continued belief that Arnold was fundamentally a brave and valuable soldier. Washington famously described him as a “fighting general” and had previously trusted him with some of the Continental Army’s most important operations.

But Arnold had reached a breaking point. Rather than simply resigning from the Continental Army, he began secretly communicating with the British. Peggy Shippen played an important role in facilitating communications between Arnold and British intelligence. Arnold eventually established contact with Major John André, who had become the British chief of intelligence in New York. Arnold offered the British something potentially devastating: West Point.

West Point was one of the most strategically important American positions on the Hudson River. Its location allowed the Continental Army to control a crucial section of the river and prevent Britain from separating New England from the rest of the United States. If the British could capture it, they could potentially divide the American forces and seriously damage the revolutionary war effort. Arnold therefore requested command of West Point. Washington agreed.

In August 1780, Arnold took command of the fortress and its surrounding defences. He then secretly provided André with information about the fort’s weaknesses, troop numbers, artillery positions and supplies. In exchange, Arnold expected a large payment and a senior position in the British Army. The plan began to unravel in September. André travelled into American territory under the alias “John Anderson” to meet Arnold and collect the military documents. He was attempting to return to British lines when three American militiamen stopped him near Tarrytown, New York. They searched him and discovered the documents hidden inside his clothing. André was immediately arrested.

Arnold quickly realised that his conspiracy had been exposed. He escaped down the Hudson River aboard the British ship Vulture and reached British-held New York. Washington arrived at West Point shortly afterwards and discovered the extent of Arnold’s betrayal. André was tried as a spy and sentenced to death. Washington privately admired André’s conduct and attempted to arrange a prisoner exchange, but the British refused. André was hanged on October 2nd, 1780. Arnold, meanwhile, received what he had wanted. The British commissioned him as a brigadier general and paid him for the information he had provided. He subsequently commanded British forces against the Americans, including campaigns in Virginia and Connecticut. He led raids against American towns and military positions, fighting against the same revolutionaries alongside whom he had once served. His military career on the British side, however, never reached the heights he had expected. He was distrusted by many British officers, while his former comrades regarded him as one of the Revolution’s greatest traitors.

Benedict Arnold’s story is unusual because his reputation did not begin with betrayal. Before defecting, he had been one of the Continental Army’s most aggressive and capable commanders. He played important roles in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, the invasion of Canada and, most famously, the Battles of Saratoga. His leadership at Saratoga helped produce one of the most important American victories of the war and contributed directly to France entering the conflict. His betrayal therefore cannot simply be explained by a lifelong commitment to the British cause. Arnold was a revolutionary who became deeply resentful of the political establishment he believed had mistreated him. His grievances were real, but his response to them ultimately transformed him from an American hero into a symbol of treason.

The irony is that Arnold’s name became more famous because of his betrayal than because of his victories. His earlier achievements have often been overshadowed by the simple phrase that has followed him for centuries: “Benedict Arnold” became synonymous with traitor. Yet there is another irony. Arnold himself did not necessarily view his actions as betraying a country that he believed already existed. The United States was still fighting for independence, and Arnold had become convinced that the revolutionary leadership had betrayed the principles for which he had originally fought. His decision was therefore partly personal, partly political and partly financial.

Whatever his motivations, the consequences were undeniable. The man who had once helped save the American Revolution eventually attempted to undermine it from within. And while the Revolution ultimately succeeded without him, Benedict Arnold would spend the rest of his life knowing that the greatest achievement of his military career was the same war he ultimately tried to betray.

By December 1776, the American Revolution appeared to be on the verge of collapse. Washington’s Continental Army had suffered a series of devastating defeats around New York and had been driven across New Jersey into Pennsylvania. Thousands of soldiers had been killed, wounded or captured, while many more had simply deserted. The enlistments of many remaining soldiers were also due to expire at the end of the year. If Washington could not achieve a victory soon, his army might effectively disappear.

The British, meanwhile, believed that the American rebellion was nearing its end. British and Hessian (German speaking auxiliary) forces had occupied much of New Jersey, establishing a series of scattered garrisons throughout the region. One of the most important was at Trenton, where around 1,400 Hessian soldiers were stationed under Colonel Johann Rall. The Hessians were German troops hired by Britain to fight alongside its army. Although they were experienced soldiers, they were spread across a number of defensive positions and had become increasingly confident that the Americans were incapable of mounting another major attack. Washington desperately needed to prove them wrong.

With Christmas approaching, Washington devised an extremely risky plan. He would cross the Delaware River during the night, attack the Hessian garrison at Trenton and then withdraw before the British could bring their larger forces against him. The operation depended upon secrecy and timing. If the army were detected while crossing the river, Washington’s already weakened force could potentially be destroyed. On the evening of December 25th, 1776, Washington’s soldiers began gathering along the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware. The conditions were terrible. The river was filled with floating ice, while strong winds and freezing temperatures made the crossing extremely dangerous. The original plan involved several separate crossings, but worsening conditions prevented some of them from taking place. Nevertheless, Washington continued with the operation.

The importance of getting his entire force across the river was so great that Washington reportedly ordered everyone to carry weapons, including musicians and other non-combat personnel. The soldiers struggled to move artillery and supplies across the icy water while maintaining silence and discipline. The crossing took far longer than expected. Washington’s army did not finish crossing until the early hours of December 26th. Despite the difficulties, the operation had succeeded: the Hessians at Trenton had not been warned that an American attack was coming. Washington now marched his exhausted soldiers towards the town.

At approximately 8 a.m. on December 26th, the Continental Army attacked Trenton from several directions. The Hessians were caught by surprise and attempted to organise a defence, but the Americans quickly seized key positions and brought artillery into the town. Colonel Rall attempted to rally his men and launch a counterattack, but he was mortally wounded during the fighting. Within roughly an hour, the Hessian resistance collapsed. Around 900 Hessian soldiers were captured, while only a small number of Americans were killed or wounded. Washington had achieved something that had seemed almost impossible only days earlier: a major American victory.

The victory at Trenton was militarily modest compared with the enormous battles that had already taken place around New York. Its psychological importance, however, was enormous. The Continental Army had demonstrated that it could still defeat experienced British troops and their allies. More importantly, soldiers who had been considering desertion were given a reason to remain in the army. Washington did not stop there. After crossing back into Pennsylvania, he returned to New Jersey and established a position around Trenton. When British commander Lord Cornwallis moved against him with a much larger force, Washington managed to evade the British during the night and march around their army. He then attacked the British garrison at Princeton on January 3rd, 1777, winning another important victory.

The victories at Trenton and Princeton did not end the American Revolution, but they transformed its momentum. The British still controlled New York and possessed vastly superior military resources, while the Continental Army remained poorly equipped. Yet Washington had shown that the rebellion could survive. The crossing of the Delaware therefore became more than a daring military operation. It was the moment when the American Revolution, which had seemed close to defeat, was given a new lease of life. Washington had kept his army alive – and, in doing so, kept the revolution alive with it.

The Declaration of Independence transformed the conflict from a rebellion into an outright war for national independence. King George III and the British government now had little reason to believe that the colonies could be brought back into the Empire through negotiation. The rebellion had to be defeated militarily. Britain therefore assembled a massive expeditionary force to crush the Continental Army and capture the political centre of the revolution.

In the summer of 1776, a British fleet carrying around 30,000 troops arrived off New York. Commanded by General William Howe and supported by his brother, Admiral Richard Howe, the British intended to seize New York City and destroy Washington’s army. New York was strategically important because the Hudson River provided a route into the interior of the colonies, while its excellent harbour could serve as a major British naval base.

The British established their main camp on Staten Island, while Washington positioned his army across Long Island and around Brooklyn Heights. The Americans constructed defensive positions and expected the British to attack. Washington, however, was facing a serious problem: his army was still inexperienced, poorly supplied and composed largely of short-term volunteers. The British, by contrast, possessed one of the world’s most experienced professional armies and the most powerful navy in the world.

Rather than immediately launch a frontal assault, General Howe spent several weeks gathering his forces and looking for weaknesses in the American defences. On August 22nd, British troops began landing on Long Island. Five days later, the Battle of Long Island began. The British used a strategy designed to exploit the American position. While part of Howe’s army attacked the Continental forces from the front, another force secretly moved around their flank through lightly defended routes. The Americans were eventually overwhelmed and forced back towards their fortifications around Brooklyn Heights. Washington’s army suffered heavy casualties and thousands of soldiers were captured.

The situation quickly became desperate. The Continental Army was trapped between the British army and the East River, with New York City behind them and little room to retreat. Washington reportedly watched the battle from Brooklyn Heights as his army was pushed towards the river. If the British attacked the American fortifications directly and succeeded, the entire Continental Army could potentially be destroyed. Yet Howe hesitated. Rather than immediately assault the heavily defended American positions, the British began preparing to besiege them. This decision gave Washington an opportunity that might otherwise never have existed.

During the night of August 29th and into the early hours of August 30th, American troops quietly withdrew from Long Island across the East River. A combination of darkness, favourable weather and a thick fog concealed the evacuation from the British. Soldiers, artillery and supplies were gradually transported across the river to Manhattan. By morning, almost the entire American army had escaped. The retreat was one of the most important moments of the entire campaign. The British had won a decisive victory, but they had failed to destroy Washington’s army. Had the Continental Army been captured at Brooklyn, the rebellion might have collapsed before the newly declared United States had even established itself.

Instead, the British continued their advance. Washington was forced to abandon New York City and retreat north before eventually withdrawing through New Jersey. The Continental Army suffered further defeats at Kips Bay, White Plains and Fort Washington. By December, Washington had been pushed across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. Morale within the American army collapsed. Soldiers deserted, supplies became scarce and Washington’s leadership was increasingly questioned. The British appeared to be winning almost everywhere they went. To many Americans, the war seemed all but lost. Yet the British victory contained a crucial weakness. They had repeatedly defeated Washington’s army, but they had failed to destroy it. Washington understood that his primary objective was no longer to win every battle, but to keep the Continental Army alive. As long as an American army remained in the field, Britain could not claim that the rebellion had been completely defeated.

By the end of 1776, Washington had been driven hundreds of miles from New York, suffered several humiliating defeats and lost much of his army. But he had survived. The British had captured territory, but they had not captured the revolution. And Washington was about to attempt one of the most audacious counterattacks of the entire war.

After forcing the British troops out of Boston, Washington moved his army south towards New York, believing that the city would be the next major target for the British. His suspicions were well founded: New York was strategically vital, offering control of the Hudson River and an important route into the interior of the colonies. Meanwhile, however, the political character of the conflict was beginning to change. What had started as a dispute over taxation, representation and the authority of Parliament was increasingly becoming a struggle over whether the colonies should remain part of the British Empire at all.

One of the most influential voices in this growing independence movement was Thomas Paine, an English-born political writer who had arrived in Philadelphia only months before the outbreak of war. In January 1776, Paine published a pamphlet entitled Common Sense. Written in deliberately straightforward language rather than the formal style common among political philosophers, Paine attacked the idea that the American colonies should remain subordinate to Britain. He argued that hereditary monarchy was fundamentally unjust and that it was absurd for a continent to be governed by a distant island thousands of miles away. Britain, he argued, was not protecting the colonies but holding them back from their potential as an independent nation.

Common Sense became an extraordinary success. Tens of thousands of copies were sold throughout the colonies, making it one of the most widely read political works in eighteenth-century America. More importantly, it helped transform independence from a radical idea discussed by a minority of revolutionaries into a subject of mainstream political debate. If the colonies were already fighting Britain’s armies, Paine argued, there was little reason to continue claiming loyalty to the British Crown.

The political debate now reached the Continental Congress. Some delegates remained reluctant to declare independence, fearing that breaking completely with Britain would make reconciliation impossible and potentially provoke an even more devastating war. Others believed that reconciliation was no longer realistic. British attempts to suppress the rebellion, the deployment of large military forces and the continued fighting had convinced many that the colonies could no longer safely remain within the Empire.

On June 7th, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia formally proposed that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.” Congress postponed the final decision while a committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston was appointed to draft a declaration explaining why independence was necessary. The principal author was Jefferson, who drew upon Enlightenment ideas about natural rights and government. The Declaration argued that all people possessed fundamental rights and that governments existed to protect those rights. When a government repeatedly violated them, the people had the right to alter or abolish it. Jefferson then presented a long list of grievances against King George III, accusing him of interfering with colonial government, restricting trade, maintaining a standing army and denying the colonists their political liberties.

On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favour of Lee’s resolution for independence. The thirteen colonies had formally declared themselves independent states. Two days later, on July 4th, Congress adopted the final wording of the Declaration of Independence. Although the document was not a declaration of independence in the sense that the war had suddenly begun – the fighting had already been underway for more than a year – it transformed the conflict into something fundamentally different.

The colonies were no longer fighting merely to force Britain to change its policies. They were now fighting to establish a completely new country. The United States of America had been declared into existence, but declaring independence was considerably easier than defending it. Thousands of British soldiers and sailors were already being sent towards New York, and the largest battle of the war was about to begin.

While the British Army remained trapped in Boston, the newly formed Continental Army desperately needed weapons and ammunition. Most of the colonial militia had arrived with whatever firearms they already owned, leaving Washington with an army that was large enough to surround Boston but poorly equipped for a prolonged war. An opportunity to solve this problem appeared hundreds of miles to the north at Fort Ticonderoga, a British fortification overlooking the strategically important route between Lake Champlain and Lake George.

One of the men who recognised the opportunity was Benedict Arnold, a talented but increasingly controversial Connecticut militia officer. Arnold proposed capturing the fort and seizing its large stores of artillery and ammunition before the British could reinforce it. He began marching towards Ticonderoga, hoping to gather militia along the way. However, he soon discovered that another group had already formed the same plan. Ethan Allen, leader of the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont, was marching towards the fort with his own force.

The two men immediately argued over who should command the expedition. Allen eventually took overall command, while Arnold remained involved in the operation. In the early hours of May 10th, 1775, the Americans crossed Lake Champlain and entered Fort Ticonderoga while most of its small British garrison was still asleep. The defenders were caught almost completely by surprise and surrendered after only token resistance. The Americans had captured the fort and, more importantly, its stockpile of British weapons and ammunition.

The victory was strategically important, but it also created an early rivalry between Arnold and Allen. Allen became celebrated as the hero of the capture, while Arnold felt that his own contribution had been deliberately ignored. Their dispute would become an early indication of the difficult relationships and political rivalries that would later plague the Continental Army.

The Americans soon attempted to use their position at Ticonderoga to expand the war into Canada. American forces captured Montreal but were eventually defeated at Quebec and forced to retreat southwards. Although the Canadian campaign had failed, the Americans still controlled Ticonderoga and had gained access to a valuable collection of British artillery. Washington now needed to get those guns to Boston.

The man given the task was Henry Knox, a young bookseller from Boston who had taught himself military engineering. Knox proposed transporting the captured artillery more than 300 miles from Ticonderoga to the American army outside Boston. During the winter of 1775–76, Knox and his men dragged dozens of heavy cannons through the frozen wilderness using sledges pulled by horses and oxen. The journey was extraordinarily difficult, but by January the artillery had reached the outskirts of Boston. Washington now possessed something he had desperately lacked: heavy guns capable of threatening the British position.

The British commander, General William Howe, had also recognised the importance of the high ground surrounding Boston. His army occupied Boston itself while the Americans controlled the surrounding countryside. Washington believed that an assault might be necessary to end the siege, but his officers warned him that attacking the heavily fortified British positions directly could result in enormous casualties. Instead, they proposed using the newly arrived artillery to force the British out. The opportunity came in March 1776. American troops secretly occupied Dorchester Heights, a series of hills overlooking Boston and its harbour. During the night, they constructed fortifications and positioned Knox’s artillery at the top of the heights. When morning came, the British were confronted with an unexpected problem. American cannons now commanded both the city and the harbour, while British ships were vulnerable to fire from above.

Howe realised that attacking the heights would be extremely costly. Remaining in Boston was equally dangerous, as the Americans could now bombard the city and threaten the British fleet. With no realistic way to hold the position, Howe ordered the evacuation of Boston. Beginning on March 17th, 1776, approximately 11,000 British troops, along with thousands of Loyalist civilians, evacuated the city aboard a fleet of ships. They sailed for Halifax, Nova Scotia, leaving Boston entirely in American hands.

For Washington, it was his first major victory as commander of the Continental Army. The British had occupied Boston for years, but in less than a year of open warfare they had been forced to abandon it. More importantly, the victory demonstrated the growing effectiveness of the Continental Army. The weapons captured at Ticonderoga had been transported across hundreds of miles of frozen wilderness and used to force one of the world’s most powerful armies from an important colonial city. Yet the victory also revealed the changing nature of the war. The British had not been defeated; they had simply withdrawn. Their main army would soon return with overwhelming reinforcements, and the next British target would be New York. The Siege of Boston had ended, but the American War of Independence was only beginning.

By June 1775, it had become clear that the colonial militias surrounding Boston could not defeat the British Army without becoming a more organised fighting force. The Continental Congress therefore created the Continental Army and appointed George Washington, a respected veteran of the French and Indian War, as its commander-in-chief. Washington travelled north from Philadelphia to take command, while the British forces in Boston prepared to break out of the city and seize the high ground overlooking the surrounding area.

British General Thomas Gage planned to capture the Charlestown peninsula, particularly Bunker Hill, which would give his army an important strategic position overlooking Boston. However, colonial spies discovered the plan. On the night of June 16th, around 1,200 American troops under Colonel William Prescott secretly occupied the peninsula and constructed fortifications on Breed’s Hill, which was actually closer to Boston than Bunker Hill itself.

When the British launched their assault on June 17th, they were faced with a heavily fortified American position. British commanders initially believed that the inexperienced colonial troops would collapse when confronted by disciplined regulars. Their first two assaults were repulsed with devastating casualties. American defenders were famously instructed not to fire until they could “see the whites of their eyes”, conserving their limited ammunition until the British were within close range.

The British eventually launched a third assault after bringing up additional troops and artillery. By this point, however, the Americans had almost completely exhausted their ammunition. The British stormed the fortifications and forced the defenders to retreat across the Charlestown peninsula. The battle was therefore a British victory, but it came at an extraordinary cost. Around 1,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded, compared with roughly 450 American casualties. The British had captured the position, but the battle demonstrated that colonial forces could stand against some of the most experienced soldiers in the world and inflict enormous losses upon them.

The Battle of Bunker Hill also exposed a growing problem for both sides: neither knew exactly what the conflict was going to become. Many colonists still did not want independence from Britain. Their grievances had originally centred on taxation, representation and the increasing authority of Parliament, and some hoped that the dispute could still be settled while maintaining the colonies’ place within the British Empire.

The Continental Congress therefore sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III in July 1775. It declared the colonists’ loyalty to the Crown while asking the King to help resolve their grievances and restore peace. George III refused to recognise the petition, instead declaring that the colonies were in rebellion. To many Americans, this appeared to confirm that reconciliation with Britain was no longer possible.

The conflict subsequently became increasingly destructive. British forces and loyalist troops attacked colonial settlements, while American forces targeted British and loyalist property. In October 1775, the British burned Falmouth in Massachusetts, and in January 1776 they destroyed much of Norfolk, Virginia. American propagandists used the destruction of these towns to portray Britain as deliberately waging war against its own subjects.

The rebellion was also beginning to attract international attention. Britain’s traditional enemies, particularly France and Spain, saw an opportunity to weaken the British Empire. Although neither initially entered the war openly, both provided the American rebels with weapons, ammunition, money and other supplies. France in particular would eventually become one of the most important American allies.

The failure of the Olive Branch Petition marked an important turning point. The conflict was no longer simply a dispute over taxation and political representation. Britain regarded the colonists as rebels, while an increasing number of Americans were beginning to question whether reconciliation was possible at all. Within months, the demand for reform would become a demand for independence.