Book Quote #7- Benedict Arnold's Betrayal

Arnold’s treason reverberated throughout the country. In Philadelphia, for example, citizens burned Arnold in effigy a few days after his plot was exposed. His effigy was drawn through the city in a cart, and his head was given two faces, representing his deceit and duplicity. Arnold, however, shared some defects with some of his fellow officers. The Continental Army was thought to contain a number of officers and soldiers not fully committed to the cause. John André had suggested to Arnold that many Americans might return to the British camp with a little convincing. One of Arnold’s chief grievances was being repeatedly overlooked for promotion—a frustration shared by many officers, which bred discord and resentment throughout the ranks. Washington remained deeply concerned, noting in a letter to Samuel Huntington that some men “murmur—brood over their discontents, and have lately shown a disposition to enter into seditious combinations.” Washington identified currency depreciation, no or low pay, and supply shortages as major causes of these rumblings. Immediately after Arnold’s defection, Colonel Alexander Scammell wrote to Nathaniel Peabody. “We were all in astonishment,” he wrote, “each peeping at his next-door neighbor to see if any treason was hanging about him: nay, we even descended to a critical examination of ourselves.” Major Henry Lee inquired of General Anthony Wayne, “Have any other defection, have more conspirators come out?” 

In the end, Arnold had hoped his defection to the British would spur a movement to put an end to republican dreams for the United States. He had the opposite effect. Instead, there was a rejuvenation, a renewed commitment to a better way of life that did not include the British Empire. Arnold incidentally signaled to the American people that placing their own interests ahead of those of the fledgling nation almost resulted in a national catastrophe. The worst possible punishment for Arnold was the one from within—a life riddled with guilt.