Within weeks of arriving in Philadelphia in June 1778, the 36-year-old Benedict Arnold (a widower) met 18-year-old Peggy Shippen, described as one of the most beautiful women in the city. Less than a year later they were married.

Peggy was from a prominent Philadelphia family. Her father, Edward, may have had loyalist sympathies while her elder sister, Elizabeth, was married to a colonel in Washington’ army. Historian James Martin notes that Shippen had contacts with British officers including a long friendship with Maj. John Andre, an aide to British Gen. Henry Clinton, who was in command of a spy ring. A month after Arnold and Peggy were married in April 1779, Arnold sent a letter — via local loyalists — to Clinton offering his services to the Crown.

It’s unclear whether Arnold’s young wife was instrumental in his decision to commit treason, or if she was complicit in her husband’s treachery after he had decided to betray his country. A more sinister interpretation is that Peggy — a staunch loyalist working for the British — came on to Arnold with the goal of marrying the patriot general, then convincing him to betray his country.

Historian Nathaniel Philbrick reports that Peggy considered the Revolutionary War a disaster. The conflict had taken a heavy toll on her father’s health, and the days of parties and balls with British Army officers courting the young ladies of Philadelphia were over. Now increasingly attached to her wounded husband, Peggy despised the Continental Congress she thought was attempting to destroy him.

When Gen. Washington asked Arnold if he was capable of rejoining the army, Arnold requested command of the Hudson Valley region that included West Point, the strategic fort on the lower Hudson River only 60 miles from New York City. Washington agreed, ordering Arnold to strengthen that installation against a future attack. Arnold did just the opposite, weakening the fort’s defenses and reducing its supplies.

By the end of 1779, Philbrick writes, Arnold had come to believe the colonial experiment for independence had failed and “the British had a higher regard for his abilities than his own country did.” Passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress that also failed to reimburse him for money he spent in the war effort, suffering two serious leg wounds, and needing funds to support his young wife’s lavish lifestyle, Arnold made the treasonous decision.

Via correspondence with British Gen. Henry Clinton, Arnold agreed to surrender West Point to the English for a command in the British Army and 20,000 pounds (about $455,000 today). After midnight on Sept. 22, 1790, Arnold and John Andre met in Haverstraw, New York, about 42 miles north of New York City, to make final plans for the surrender of West Point. Andre was captured as he was making his way back to British-controlled New York City. Hidden in his boot were documents outlining the fortifications and troop strength of West Point given to him by Arnold.

Upon learning of Arnold’s treason, a shocked George Washington said: “Whom can we trust now?” He wanted to exchange Andre for Arnold but Gen. Clinton refused. After a brief military trial, Andre was convicted of spying. He asked to be executed by a firing squad as befitting a soldier. Washington declined, Philbrick writes, as he was determined to drive home the point that treason in the “new, half-formed country was not to be tolerated …” Andre was hanged as a spy.

In one sense it’s amazing the American Revolution — also a civil war — was successful as there was constant tension, bickering, and, at times, outright hostility within the Continental Congress, between the Continental Army and the Congress, and within the Continental Army. Horatio Gates, for example, believed that he should command the Continental Army, and not Washington whom he slandered in a series of letters.

Arnold was commissioned a brigadier general by the British and led attacks in Virginia and Connecticut. According to the National Constitution Center, an infuriated George Washington ordered that Arnold be killed on sight.

In December 1781, Arnold and his family moved to England. The next year Peggy was given an annual pension of 500 pounds (about $114,000 today) by King George III, “obtained for her services, which were very meritorious.” The specifics of this “meritorious” service was not mentioned. Arnold was never accepted or trusted by the British, and at times, treated with contempt. He died in 1801 at 60 years of age of gout and other health problems. Peggy died four years later, likely of cancer. She was 45 years old.

Philbrick writes that while the American people had come to revere George Washington, “a hero alone was not sufficient to bring them together. Now they had the despised villain, Benedict Arnold. They knew what they were fighting for and against. Arnold’s treason awakened them to the realization that the War of Independence was theirs to lose.”

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George J. Bryjak lives in Bloomingdale and is retired after 24 years of teaching sociology at the University of San Diego. A list of sources for both the first and second part will accompany the second part accompany this commentary online.

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Sources

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“Arnold has betrayed us” (accessed 2024) American Corner, www.americancorner.com

“Battle of Saratoga” (accessed 2023) History, www.history.com

“Benedict Arnold” (accessed 2024) George Washington’s Mount Vernon, www.mountvernon.org

Brumwell, S. (2018) “Benedict Arnold is America’s most famous traitor. But you probable don’t know his whole story,” July 30, Time, https://time.com

“From hero to traitor: Benedict Arnold’s day of infamy” (2020) September 20, National Constitution Center, https://constitutioncenter.org

Griffith, R. (2024) “10 Facts: Benedict Arnold and Peggy Shippen,” January 12, American Battlefield Trust, www.battlefields.org

“Horatio Gates” (accessed 2024) American Battlefield Trust, www.battlefields.org

“John Andre: officer, gentleman…and spymaster” (accessed 2024) INTEL.gov – www.inelligence.gov

“Joseph Reed” (accessed 2024) George Washington’s Mount Vernon, www.mountvernon.org

Martin, J. (2020) Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered, NYU Press: New York

“Peggy Shippen” (accessed 2024) American Battlefield Trust, www.battlefields.org

“Peggy Shippen: socialite & accomplice” (accessed 2024) INTEL.gov – www.inelligence.gov

Philbrick, N. (2016) Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold and the Fate of the American Revolution, Viking: New York

Philbrick, N. (2016) “Why Benedict Arnold turned traitor against the American Revolution,” May, Smithsonian Magazine, www.smithsonian.org

The American Revolution (2005) The History Channel, www.history.com

“Valcour Island” (accessed 2023) American Battlefield Trust, http://www.battlefields.org

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of the commentary inadvertently swapped the words “pounds” for “euros.” The Enterprise regrets the error.