Benedict Arnold Life In The American Revolution Term paper

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Benedict Arnold: Life in the American Revolution

On January 14, 1741, Benedict Arnold was born in Norwich, Connecticut. (B Arnold) Arnold’s father, also named Benedict, had a drinking problem and his mother Hannah often worried. (B Arnold) Arnold received his schooling at Canterbury. (B Arnold) While away at school, a few of Arnold’s siblings passed away from Yellow

Fever. (B Arnold) Arnold was a troublesome kid that would try just about anything. (B

Arnold) As a rebellious 14-year-old boy, he ran away from home to fight in the French

and Indian War. (B Arnold) Later, Benedict Arnold deserted and returned home through

the wilderness alone to work with his cousins. (B Arnold) The army had excused him

without penalty because of his tender, young age. In 1762, when Benedict was just

twenty-one years old, he went to New Haven, Connecticut where he managed a book and

drug store and carried on trade with the West Indies. (B Arnold) In 1767, he married

Margaret Mansfield, a daughter of a sheriff of New Haven County. (B Arnold) They had

three sons together. (B Arnold) When the Revolutionary War was just beginning to

break out, Benedict Arnold became a prosperous ship owner, merchant, and trader. (Lake

Champlain) Within days, Arnold became very interested in the war once again and joined

the American Army. All of the battles Arnold commanded over showed immense courage

and bravery, but he was soon known as America’s greatest traitor due to his betrayal of

the American’s.

As the Revolutionary War broke out, Benedict Arnold decided to volunteer to

head over 1,000 men up to Maine. (Lake Champlain) He asked for additional men from

his companies to join the army. Arnold then became a captain in the Connecticut Militia.

General George Washington had his favorites, which Arnold was among the very few.

(Macks 118) So, Benedict Arnold was sent on a infernal 500 mile march to Maine by

Washington also known as “The Rock”. (Macks 72, 118) There, he met up with General

Richard Montgomery. (Macks 72) The relentless Benedict Arnold and only about fifty

percent of his original soldiers made it to the St. Lawrence River where they met up with

General Montgomery. (Macks 72) Their plan was to attack the British Army by surprise

in Quebec City, Canada. (Lake Champlain and Macks 72) Both Montgomery and Arnold

arranged to start on the lofty mountain sides of Quebec. (Macks 72) Arnold and his

soldiers found themselves trapped by the British. A member of the British Army shot a

musket ball directly towards Arnold’s leg. (Macks 73) His leg was badly broken and he

had to be taken to a hospital bed almost a mile away from the attack. (Macks 73) The

courageous and brave Arnold relentlessly hollered orders from his bed, as his hard

working troopers were overthrown by the British Army. (Macks 73) The attack had

lasted fifty days and the secret journey resulted in a catastrophe for the volunteer soldiers

who marched away. (Lake Champlain) The conditions were horrendous. It was said that

almost fifty percent of the men froze, starved, and even made broth for nourishment by

boiling leather from their shoes. (Lake Champlain) Forty, of the fifty percent of the worn

out men died before returning home. (Lake Champlain) During this time, Arnold had

tremendous leadership and courage in those woods. Many people believed that they

would have all perished if it were not for dauntless and extraordinary field general-ship.

(Lake Champlain)

The Massachusetts Committee of Safety became suspicious of Arnold’s behavior

and conduct. Benedict was fed up so he resigned his commission at Crown Point, New

York. (M. Flynn) While Benedict was on his way back to Connecticut, he first dropped

by Albany, New York where he talked with the commander of the Northern Army, Major

General Philip Schuyler. (M. Flynn) Arnold tried to persuade the General into letting him

invade Quebec. Arnold understood that he would later face consequences with the

Massachusetts Committee because of his actions, but he prepared himself. (M. Flynn)

Benedict came up with a petition and accumulated over 500 signatures from Northern

New Yorkers. (M. Flynn) The petition showed the American’s appreciation of his

accomplishments and good deeds. (M. Flynn) The petition soon became useless.

Arnold’s wife had been sick with an illness for quite some time. (B Arnold) The news

soon made it to him that Margaret had passed away. (M. Flynn) Arnold proceeded back

to New Haven to bury his wife and sort through her belongings. (M. Flynn) He soon

returned to the same spot, but this time he had a new method of taking control of Quebec.

(M. Flynn)

Arnold met with General Washington once again and informed him of his plan to

invade Quebec City for the second time. Both Arnold and General Philip Schuyler, a

well-educated man from the upper class, would take different routes up to Canada. (M.

Flynn) Arnold would go up the Kennebec River into northwest Maine and would then

travel through the woods, while Schuyler would head directly north. (M. Flynn)

Washington thought Arnold’s plan was brilliant and told him to go ahead with it but under

two conditions. (M. Flynn) First, Arnold had to talk to the Massachusetts Committee of

Safety in regards to previous accusations. Second, Benedict had to obtain General

Schuyler’s permission to accompany him on the invasion. (M. Flynn) Once these two

circumstances were met, Arnold would become a colonel and serve in the Continental

Army. (M. Flynn) After meeting with the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, Arnold

was dismissed of any errors. (M. Flynn) While patiently waiting for Schuylers decision,

Washington ordered Arnold to stay on campus until the word came through. Arnold

didn’t bother to listen to anything Washington had to say so he left for a close-by journey

to Watertown. (M. Flynn) He soon found out that General Philip Schuyler would be

setting out to attack Montreal on August 30. (M. Flynn) Arnold was overjoyed with the

news.

Colonel Arnold and General Washington validated sixteen thousand men on

September 2, 1775 before heading off to Canada. (M. Flynn) Arnold ended up choosing

a little under one thousand men to take with him on the attack. (M. Flynn) Washington

had additionally added three hundred more soldiers from Pennsylvania and Virginia to

proceed with Arnold. (M. Flynn) Arnold carefully followed a map to the mouth of the

Kennebec River. He soon realized that the map had been altered by British authorities

before it had been printed. (M. Flynn) Arnold also found out that the man he chose to

replicate the map was an undercover Tory. (M. Flynn) The man had changed the map

around even more and handed them out to all of Arnold’s men. (M. Flynn) Now, Arnold

was facing an extra two hundred and twenty miles to march. The weather soon became

horrendous. There were raging rainstorms and strong winds, almost like a hurricane. (M.

Flynn) Part of Arnold’s men backed out and returned home with most of the Army’s

food. (M. Flynn) The left over men were subdued to eating tree bark, leather from their

shoes, Newfoundlander dogs, and anything that could be digested. (M. Flynn) The men

were spread out and it was difficult for Arnold to keep count. (M. Flynn) The first men

to arrive at the St. Lawrence River in Quebec were only a week and a half late, even with

the extra miles added on. (M. Flynn) Montreal ended up surrendering to General Richard

Montgomery on November 13th. (M. Flynn) Montgomery had replaced Schuyler for an

unknown reason. (M. Flynn) The British were completely aware of Arnold’s plan to

attack Quebec once again. (M. Flynn) Arnold had written General Schuyler a letter

updating about the soldiers advancements. (M. Flynn) Benedict gave the letter to a well

trusted Indian so he could bring it to Schuyler. (M. Flynn) The Indian betrayed Arnold

and Schuyler’s trust by handing over the letter to the British. That’s how Arnold’s plan

was discovered by the enemies. (M. Flynn) On New Year’s Eve, in the middle of a

snowstorm, Montgomery and Arnold started their attack on Quebec City. (M. Flynn)

Within minutes, the British were alerted. (M. Flynn) Montgomery was killed by a cannon

ball. (M. Flynn) Without a leader, Montgomery’s forces headed off. Arnold was quickly

made Brigadier General by Congress and Washington’s approval. (M. Flynn) An

additional two thousand and five hundred soldiers were sent up due to the low number of

men left. (M. Flynn) About two hundred and ninety men were taken hostage as prisoners,

thirty-five were hurt, and fifty had died. (M. Flynn) A new British Army from England

disembarked and ended the invasion. (M. Flynn) The war was successful. Arnold was

the head of the evacuation of Montreal. Arnold was the last person to leave the Canadian

border to head down south. (M. Flynn) Benedict’s return back to the colonies with his

soldiers started in June of 1776. (M. Flynn) Arnold discovered exactly how much his

home country had changed since he was away. For example, Virginia became independent

and his church had been arrested because they were British spies. (M. Flynn) The war has

ended. American’s said, “Arnold showed himself as the most enterprising man among the

rebels”. (M. Flynn)

Arnold was determined to fight near Valcour Island, which is comfortably up

against the shoreline of New York. (Lake Champlain) In June of 1776, while the Battle

of Valcour Island just began, Arnold had hurt himself badly. (Lake Champlain) Despite

his pain, Arnold managed to lead his soldiers the rest of the way to Lake Champlain.

(Lake Champlain) July 7, 1776, Benedict and his men headed to Lake Champlain. (Lake

Champlain) They found refuge at the southern end of the lake. It turned out that Arnold

led his men into the exact spot they wanted to be in, which was Fort Amherst on Crown

Point. (Lake Champlain) They were all glad that the their travels were over. Benedict

and his soldiers rowed just about one hundred miles to reach their destination. (Lake

Champlain) It was a long and stressful journey. While Arnold had previously fought in

Canada, he picked up strategies to win wars just by watching every little move of the

British soldiers. (Lake Champlain) The British were powerful and compelling. Arnold

knew there was no possible way to defeat the Northern Army, at least not in 1776. He

told his fellow officers that the only thing America could hope for was to delay the

Northern Army. (Lake Champlain) Arnold’s ongoing energy and positive enthusiasm

kept his men on their toes. (Lake Champlain) A tiny group of fifteen boats finally formed

by late September. Arnold urged, prayed, badgered, and pleaded to Washington to put

together a navy of about five hundred men. (Lake Champlain) Arnold did not care

whether the men were unskilled or half-naked, he was...

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