Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/117

Rh The last week in April 2,000 British troops under Gov. Tryon invaded Connecticut and destroyed the military stores at Danbury. They were opposed by Wooster with 600 men, and a skirmish ensued, in which that general was slain. By this time Arnold, who was at New Haven, on a visit to his family, arrived on the scene with several hundred militia, and there was a desperate fight at Ridgefield, in which Arnold had two horses shot from under him. The British were driven to their ships, and narrowly escaped capture. Arnold was now promoted to the rank of major-general and presented by congress with a fine horse, but his relative rank was not restored. While he was at Philadelphia inquiring into the reasons for the injustice that had been done him, the country was thrown into consternation by the news of Burgoyne's advance and the fall of Ticonderoga. At Washington's suggestion, Arnold again joined the northern army, and by a brilliant stratagem dispersed the army of St. Leger, which, in coöperation with Burgoyne, was coming down the Mohawk valley, and had laid siege to Fort Stanwix. After Schuyler had been superseded by Gates, Arnold was placed in command of the left wing of the army on Bemis heights. In the battle of 19 Sept., at Freeman's farm, he frustrated Burgoyne's attempt to turn the American left, and held the enemy at bay till nightfall. If properly reënforced by Gates, he would probably have inflicted a crushing defeat upon Burgoyne. But Gates, who had already begun to dislike him as a friend of Schuyler, was enraged by his criticisms on the battle of Freeman's farm, and sought to wreak his spite by withdrawing from his division some of its best troops. This gave rise to a fierce quarrel. Arnold asked permission to return to Philadelphia, and Gates granted it. But many officers, knowing that a decisive battle was imminent, and feeling no confidence in Gates, entreated Arnold to remain, and he did so. Gates issued no order directly superseding him, but took command of the left wing in person, giving the right wing to Lincoln. At the critical moment of the decisive battle of 7 Oct., Arnold rushed upon the field without orders, and in a series of magnificent charges broke through the British lines and put them to flight. The credit of this great victory, which secured for us the alliance with France, is due chiefly to Arnold, and in a less degree to Morgan. Gates was not on the field, and deserves no credit whatever. Just at the close of the battle Arnold was severely wounded in the leg that had been hurt at Quebec. He was carried on a litter to Albany, and remained there disabled until spring. On 20 Jan., 1778, he received from congress an antedated commission restoring him to his original seniority in the army. On 19 June, as he was still too lame for field service, Washington put him in command of Philadelphia, which the British had just evacuated. The tory sentiment in that city was strong, and had been strengthened by disgust at the alliance with France, a feeling which Arnold seems to have shared. He soon became engaged to a tory lady, Margaret, daughter of Edward Shippen, afterward chief justice of Pennsylvania. She was celebrated for her beauty, wit, and nobility of character. During the next two years Arnold associated much with the tories, and his views of public affairs were no doubt influenced by this association. He lived extravagantly, and became involved in debt. He got into quarrels with many persons, especially with Joseph Reed, president of the executive council of the state. These troubles wrought upon him until he made up his mind to resign his commission, obtain a grant of land in central New York, settle it

with some of his old soldiers, and end his days in rural seclusion. His request was favorably entertained by the New York legislature, but a long list of charges now brought against him by Reed drove the scheme from his mind. The charges were investigated by a committee of congress, and on all those that affected his integrity he was acquitted. Two charges &mdash; first, of having once in a hurry granted a pass in which some due forms were overlooked, and, secondly, of having once used some public wagons, which were standing idle, for saving private property in danger from the enemy &mdash; were proved against him; but the committee thought these things too trivial to notice, and recommended an unqualified verdict of acquittal. Arnold then, considering himself vindicated, resigned his command of Philadelphia. But as Reed now represented that further evidence was forthcoming, congress referred the matter to another committee, which shirked the responsibility through fear of offending Pennsylvania, and handed the affair over to a court-martial. Arnold clamored for a speedy trial, but Reed succeeded in delaying it several months under pretence of collecting evidence. On 20 Jan., 1780, the court-martial rendered its verdict, which agreed in every particular with that of the committee of congress; but for

the two trivial charges proved against Arnold, it was decided that he should receive a reprimand from the commander-in-chief. Washington, who considered Arnold the victim of persecution, couched the reprimand in such terms as to convert it into eulogy, and soon afterward offered Arnold the highest command under himself in the northern army for the next campaign. But Arnold in an evil hour had allowed himself to be persuaded into the course that has blackened his name forever. Three years had elapsed since Saratoga, and the fortunes of the Americans, instead of improving, had grown worse and worse. France had as yet done but little for us, our southern army had been annihilated, our paper money had become worthless, our credit abroad had hardly begun to exist. Even Washington wrote that &ldquo;he had almost ceased to hope.&rdquo; The army, clad in rags, half-starved and unpaid, was nearly ripe for the mutiny that broke out a few months later, and desertions to the British lines averaged more than 100 a month. The spirit of desertion now seized upon Arnold, with whom the British commander had for some time tampered through the mediation of John André and an American loyalist, Beverley Robinson. Stung by the injustice he had suffered, and influenced by his tory surroundings, Arnold made up his mind to play a part like that which Gen. Monk had played in the restoration of Charles II. to the British throne. By putting the British in possession of the Hudson river, he would give them all that they had sought to obtain by the campaigns of