Benedict+Arnold's+Treason+at+West+Point

=__Treachery unveiled at West Point! Benedict Arnold flees!__=

__Secret correspondence between Arnold and Andre uncovered!__
In an act of treachery, [|Benedict Arnold] has been planning to surrender the troops at West Point to the British. A correspondence between Arnold and British Major __[|John Andre]__ was revealed when Andre was captured near Tarrytown by three Westchester patriots. Andre had been going back to New York overland when he was captured. The pass that Arnold had written for him to allow him to cross the lines, as well as a written copy of the plans to surrender West Point were found on Andre's person. Arnold learned of Andre's capture the next morning while waiting to have breakfast with Washington. He received Colonel John Jameson's message that the papers had been sent to Washington, and so he fled to New York immediately. Once in New York, Arnold asked for and was granted safe passage for his wife to her family in Philadelphia. Arnold had begun communications with Andre over a year before. He supplied the British with information including troop location and strength, as well as supply storage locations. Arnold turned to the British army, because he felt jipped and unrewarded for his successes. He didn't get the attention, praises, or promotions that he thought he deserved. He was eventually given command of West Point. He asked for 20,000 pounds and no indemnification for his losses, which was agreed upon. Arnold planned a meeting with Andre, which had to be postponed due to uninformed British gunboats firing on his ship. They finally met in September, and Andre was captured after leaving their meetin and traveling across lines to New York.

Arnold escaped and moved to London, but the British army never trusted him enough to give him any real position of authority. Andre was hanged in Tappan, New York after the British refused to trade him for Arnold. The British reactions to him were varied; some welcomed him, others scorned him for his traitorous nature. After commanding some small forces in a few vistories, Arnold's fatality rate was more than the vistory was worth and one of his commanders granted his request to go to England and relate his views on the war to Lord Germain. The British nobility and military personnel generally agreed to not put Arnold in charge of the British army, lest his loyalty again be compromised. He and his son tried to open up a trade business, with the West Indies, which failed. Eventually he died.

__Questions?__ 1. What were the reasons for Benedict Arnold's betrayal?

2. Who was Arnold's main British correspondence?

3. Explain Arnold's plan.

4. Explain how Arnold's plan failed.



The backstory http://americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/arnold.htm http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312848/barnold.htm http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Benedict_Arnold.jpg [] []