The war for American independence was approximately
twenty months old in early 1777. Since George
Washington had taken command of the Continental
Army, he had forced the British Army to leave Boston
and then found himself pushed out of New York and finally
through New Jersey and across the Delaware River
into Pennsylvania. The American attempt to invade Canada
had not worked as Washington planned, despite the
heroic efforts of Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery.
In October of 1776, Arnold had delayed the British counterattack from Canada as Commander on Lake Champlain and bought the Continental Army another winter of survival. Washington had made a daring raid on the British encampment at Trenton on Christmas morning of 1776 and had captured and effectively destroyed the British Army units stationed there for the winter.
He followed that victory with another at Princeton and then retired to his winter quarters in Morristown, New Jersey. Meanwhile, “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne, the flamboyant British Lieutenant General, was in England and had convinced the decision-makers there to give him an army to try a second invasion south from Canada to cut the colonies in half.
In late 1776, a British army under the command of Sir Henry Clinton captured Newport, Rhode Island and established a base of operations there. At the beginning of 1777, the British seemed to have the upper hand but victory was not certain for them and Washington was encouraged by his recent victories at Trenton and Princeton.
Major General Promotions By Continental Congress
The Continental Congress, acting at the behest of Washington to improve the organizational capacity of the army, promoted five Brigadiers to Major General in February of 1777. Benedict Arnold, who was a senior Brigadier and had been involved in some significant military actions since 1775, was not one of the five. It turned out that all of those promoted by the Congress were junior to Arnold in terms of appointment to Brigadier. This was a situation where political considerations completely out-weighed seniority or ability in the promotions.
Arnold, who was in Newport at the time the appointments were announced, had recently commanded the American forces in the naval battle on Lake Champlain. Some naval historians regard this battle as one of the finest examples of tenacity and courage combined with superb naval skills in delaying a far superior force. By his daring exploits, Arnold had demonstrated to the British that Americans could fight when led by an able leader.
Washington had informed Arnold by a March 3rd letter of the promotions made by the Congress and of his failure to get one of those promotions. Arnold was incensed over his slight by the Continental Congress, because he knew that he had proven himself time after time as a military commander. Not only that, but the summer before he had been forced to face a court-martial instigated by his enemies from Ticonderoga and Quebec -- Brown, Easton and Hazen.
Arnold spent some time in New Haven with his family after his success on Lake Champlain. He left New Haven in January of 1777 to assume second-in- command of the troops around Newport.
After he received Washington’s letter, he also spent some time trying to overturn the promotions or at least to get himself promoted with his seniority restored. By mid April, Arnold realized there was nothing to be achieved in Newport because there was no immediate American offensive planned but, more importantly, he needed to spend some time in Philadelphia dealing with the promotion issue. Arnold received permission to leave Newport to return to his family in New Haven before heading to Philadelphia. It was fortunate both for him and the American cause that he made that decision.
More Battle of Ridgefield
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© Copyright 2001 by David W. Tschanz.
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