Benedict Arnold
Part 2

The Traitor Who Saved America

by J. Michael Flynn, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

In the previous issue Flynn dealt with Arnold's early enlistment in the Revolution and his key roles in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point as well as the ill-fated first invasion of Canada. On June 2, 1775 Benedict Arnold reached a decision. Despite a series of brilliant successes, he was caught in the middle of the political machinations of Connecticut, Massachusetts and the Continental Congress, all vying for the kudos from the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. When Massachusetts, which had supported Arnold, acquiesced to Connecticut (which had sent Ethan Allen), Arnold felt abandoned, his accomplishment unrecognized.

Adding insult to injury, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety was raising questions about his reputed conduct and expenditures, even though Arnold had spent a thousand pounds of his own money. It was the last straw and the future "America's Hannibal" resigned his commission as a Massachusetts militia colonel at Crown Point, New York.

On his way home to Connecticut he stopped at Albany where he met and briefed Major General Philip Schuyler, who had been appointed commander of the Northern Army and ordered to form a Northern Department by the Continental Congress three days before Arnold's resignation.

Arnold, whose skills at marketing and salesmanship rivaled that of Generals Douglas A. MacArthur and George S. Patton, used the opportunity of the Schuyler meeting to urge his plans to invade Canada. Aware he would eventually have to face a Massachusetts Committee's inquiry into his alleged irregularities he used the opportunity to gather public opinion on his behalf by collecting signatures from 500 northern New Yorkers on a petition attesting to the protection he had provided them and their appreciation of his achievements. Arnold's visit was cut short when news reached him that his wife had died.

Planning the Invasion

Meanwhile in Canada, General Sir Guy Carleton, colonial administrator and commanding general of Britain's Canadian forces, imposed martial law on the province of Quebec and negotiated with the various Indian tribes along the frontier, emphasizing their past loyalty to the Crown and garnering their support for a British plan to invade New York. When the Continental Congress heard of Carleton's plans they decided to strike first and in June 1775 authorized an American invasion of Canada. Ironically, General George Washington, acting on his own authority as commander of the Continental Army, had independently decided to invade Canada and ordered Schuyler to capture Montreal.

Meanwhile Arnold, after spending three weeks in New Haven to wrap up his wife's affairs, returned to the scene with a map and a plan. Both were based on a unusual incident in the French and Indian War (1754-63) when a British Army officer had journeyed from Quebec to the Maine coast and back for supplies. Normally all traffic between the two regions followed the Saint Lawrence River, but this officer had avoided this normally well-trafficked and hence easily surveilled waterway, journeying via rivers and overland through the virgin forest along Indian trails, thus avoiding detection by the French and their Indian allies.

Arnold had been traveling to and from Quebec on business since 1759 and probably heard about the exploit on one of these trips. Towards the end of July he arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the Continental Army was headquartered, with copies of both the officers journal and his map.

A Fateful Meeting

Arnold secured a meeting with Washington, who was then supervising the siege of Boston while trying to organize his forces into a cohesive army. Arnold briefed Washington and his staff on the events of the spring, covering the cannons and lead his men had recovered and his belief that they could be the bar used to pry the British out of Boston. Washington agreed and appointed an aide, Colonel Henry Knox, to plan the transport of the guns once cold weather set on. Arnold took the opportunity the meeting provided to lay out his own plan for a second invasion of Canada.

Washington's original plan was fairly straightforward and had all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. Schuyler's forces were to drive north though Lake George, capture Montreal then move on Quebec. Arnold proposed a double envelopment.

While Schuyler drove directly north, Arnold would take a second force from the mouth of the Kennebec River in northwest Maine along the same path followed by the British officer to Quebec where he would wait for Schuyler's arrival. Arnold would then move from the forest and the combined Schuyler-Arnold assault would take the city, capturing Canada.

Washington liked both the man and the plan. Both he and Arnold were well-educated men from the upper class, Freemasons, possessing similar beliefs and folkways. Washington was also well aware that, to date, Arnold had been the most successful officer in the revolution. Agreeing in principle to Arnold's proposal, Washington laid down two main conditions for its implementation. First, General Schuyler had to agree to the change in the original plan. Second, Arnold had to clear his name with the Massachusetts Committee of Safety regarding the allegations relating to his expenditures during the previous campaign.

Once these conditions were met, Washington said, Arnold would be commissioned a colonel in the Continental Army and given a thousand men for his part in the campaign. Arnold readily accepted. Arnold underwent his hearing with the Massachusetts Committee, chaired by the soon to be exposed British agent Dr. Benjamin Church. It was not a pleasant experience though the Committee finally absolved Arnold of any wrongdoing. It would be another eight months before Arnold was able to secure repayment of the one thousand pounds he had spent from his own funds and then only after the arrest of Church.

While waiting for Schuyler's approval of the change in plan, Arnold incurred the wrath of Washington's Adjutant, Brigadier General Horatio Gates. Punctilious in nature and pompous to the point of comedy, "Granny" Gates ordered Arnold not to leave camp, so that when word came from Schuyler Arnold would be on hand if Washington needed to see him immediately.

Ignoring the adjutant, Arnold rode four miles to Watertown to conclude personal business before his expected departure. The perceived insubordination enraged Gates, marking the start of the long and often troubled relationship between Gates and Arnold. Schuyler's endorsement of the change in plans arrived shortly afterwards with additional word that Schuyler would be setting out from Albany to attack Montreal on August 30th. Washington named Benedict Arnold a colonel in the Continental Army.

Col. Arnold

On September 2, 1775 Washington, accompanied by Arnold, conducted an inspection of the entire sixteen thousand man army, stopping at each unit and calling for volunteers for the expedition to attack Canada. Four thousand volunteered and Arnold carefully selected 747 of them.

Washington assigned an additional three hundred Pennsylvania and Virginia riflemen under Captain Daniel Morgan to Arnold's force as well. Morgan's Rifles had proven their endurance by marching the 650 miles from Lancaster in 21 days, stopping only to tar and feather Tories along the way. Still despite their physical and patriotic talents they were an undisciplined crowd and Washington was more than happy to get them out of the way.

The March North

Arnold, using his map as a guide, estimated that once he arrived at the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine the planned march would take 20 days to cover the approximately 180 miles. While this was optimistic it was not unreasonable considering much of the trip was down river. Unfortunately Arnold's map was inaccurate. The original, rough to begin with, had been purposely altered by British authorities before publication. This was standard practice to confuse potential enemies with distances and routes changed.

Additionally the man Arnold selected to make copies of the map for his commanders was himself a Tory who modified it even more. The truth was that Arnold was facing a journey of nearly 400 miles, not the 180 he was planning for. Murphy's Law was not done with Arnold and his men. When Arnold ordered his boats he sent word that he wanted bateaux which on Long Island meant 25 foot long whale boats, constructed of seasoned oak and pointed at both ends. Instead he was given 200 small, heavy (400 pound) boats constructed of thick green pine boards, rectangular in shape with steep vertical sides that let in spray which in turn ruined supplies — what the local Maine residents called a bateaux.

Water levels were also unusually low. The weather turned nasty with violent rainstorms and hurricane like winds that cause unbelievable flooding, swamped boats and a loss of rations. One third of the attack force, under Lt. Colonel Roger Enos, made an independent withdrawal without Arnold's knowledge, taking most of the food with them. Arnold's remaining men were forced to eat a pet Newfoundlander dog, then their shoes, tree bark, and anything else they could get their hands on. Two wives, those of a Private Warner and a Sergeant Grier, who were accompanying their husbands died. The men became scattered, many of them became lost and perished.

Incredibly Arnold's first scouts made it to the St. Lawrence River by October 20 only ten days late. These were his best woodsmen and had traveled in birch bark canoes. Welcomed with open arms into a nearby French Canadian settlement they were fed, clothed and greeted as saviors. Small groups went out to round up the others with the last of them arriving outside Quebec on November 10. When Arnold took stock his force had been reduced to only 675 men with a mere five rounds of ammunition per man.

To the south the colonials were not faring much better. Montreal held out until November 13th, surrendering to General Richard Montgomery, who had replaced the ailing Schuyler.

Attack on Quebec

Unbeknownst to Arnold, the British were fully aware of the colonial plan. During the march north Arnold had written a letter to Schuyler advising him of the group's progress and gave it to an Indian for delivery. The Indian turned the letter over to British authorities. Reading its contents and aware of Arnold's previous successes in taking Ticonderoga and Saint John's, Carleton conscripted every available man and sent them to fortify Quebec.

Meanwhile Montgomery took three hundred men north to join Arnold at Quebec, garrisoning Montreal with the remainder. Arnold and Montgomery, aware that the enlistment period of their troops ran out on January 1, 1776, planned a New Year's Eve assault. To the troops they explained their choice as a move intended to take advantage of the less alert state of the Quebec garrison because of the holiday.

In the midst of a snowstorm, Arnold and Montgomery launched their attack on the Canadian city from two directions. Within minutes the alarm was sounded and the British garrison was alerted. A drunken sailor, barely able to stand and fight, lit off a cannon full of grape shot at a group of colonials attacking a blockhouse. Among those cut to shreds was Montgomery. With their general dead, his attack force fled the field, demoralized and in disarray.

Meanwhile Arnold and his force, unaware that the Montgomery had been killed, waited for him to join in the main assault. Then suddenly, Carleton, rallying his troops charged out of the city, turning the would be attackers into defenders. A musket ball struck Arnold in the leg and he was removed from the field. The leaderless men fell back, the battle lost.

American losses were approximately 50 dead including Montgomery and 35 wounded, among them Arnold. Another 290 were taken prisoner. Arnold and the remaining men withdrew to Montreal. Hearing of his actions, Congress, on Washington's recommendation, promoted Arnold to Brigadier General and ordered 2500 reinforcements north.

Arnold held Montreal and maintained the siege of Quebec under a succession of incompetent superiors, commanding a starving army in the midst of a smallpox epidemic. A delegation of members of Congress came to negotiate with Canada but diplomacy failed. The arrival of a new British army from England spelled the end of the invasion.

Arnold successfully supervised the evacuation of Montreal. Seizures of stores were ordered to supply the needy troops and Arnold plundered efficiently and "legally." Even in retreat Arnold was resourceful, felling trees, destroying bridges, scuttling his unwanted boats and harrying the following British. He himself was one of the last to leave the Canadian shoreline on the retreat south.

Returning to America

On his return to the colonies in June 1776, Arnold found a much changed America. His arch nemesis, Church, had been arrested as a British spy. Silas Deane, his personal friend and confidant, had secured repayment from Congress of the money owed him from the earlier invasion. And Virginia had proposed independence. In March Knox returned to Boston with the cannon Arnold had captured at Crown Point and Ticonderoga. Their presence on the Dorchester Heights, overlooking the city, was enough to convince the British commander to withdraw from the city.

So ends the second chapter in this enigmatic warrior's military career, one which even his enemy admired, in the words of Lord Sackville, the British Secretary of War: "Arnold has shown himself the most enterprising man among the rebels".

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