It is January 17th. Welcome to Episode 17 of History in a Year. Today, while the war rages in the South, the American Revolution nearly dies from a knife in the back in the North. Benedict Arnold, the “Hero of Saratoga,” decides to sell West Point to the British for £20,000. We explore the dark psychology of a hero scorned, the manipulation by his young wife Peggy Shippen, and the dramatic capture of the spy Major John André that saved the Hudson River just in time.
—
STEPHEN:
Welcome to History in a Year: America’s First 250 Years.
LEAH:
Join us every single day as we journey from the Revolution of 1776 to the 250th anniversary of the United States.
STEPHEN:
You can find every episode and join the discussion at PointedWords.com. I’m Stephen.
LEAH:
And I’m Leah.
STEPHEN:
It is January 17th. Welcome to Episode 17. Yesterday, we watched the British invade the South, capturing Charleston and destroying the American army at Camden. The situation in 1780 was desperate.
LEAH:
But while the Americans were losing battles in the South, they were—without knowing it—about to lose their very soul in the North.
STEPHEN:
Today, we have to talk about Benedict Arnold. And to understand what happened in September 1780, we have to remember who this man was. He wasn’t just a general. He was the general.
LEAH:
He was the American Hannibal. He led the march through the Maine wilderness. He took a bullet in the leg at Quebec. He built a navy from scratch on Lake Champlain. And, as we saw in our flashback, he personally led the charge that won the Battle of Saratoga.
STEPHEN:
George Washington loved him. He looked at Arnold and saw the fighting spirit of the Revolution. But by 1780, Benedict Arnold was a broken man.
LEAH:
Physically, he was in agony. His leg, shattered at Saratoga, had healed poorly. It was two inches shorter than the other. He walked with a cane and was in constant, chronic pain.
STEPHEN:
But the psychological pain was worse. Arnold had a massive ego, and he felt the country had spit on him. Congress had promoted five junior officers over his head. They investigated his expense reports over pennies while he was spending his own fortune to feed his troops.
LEAH:
And he was bitter about the credit. Horatio Gates got a gold medal for Saratoga. Benedict Arnold got a crippled leg and a court-martial for “misconduct” regarding his finances.
STEPHEN:
In 1778, Washington tried to help him. He appointed Arnold as the Military Governor of Philadelphia. But that was a mistake. Arnold loved the high life. He bought a mansion. He threw expensive parties. He rode around in a carriage with liveried servants. He was spending money he didn’t have.
LEAH:
And he fell in love. He met Margaret “Peggy” Shippen.
STEPHEN:
Peggy was 18 years old. She was the “It Girl” of Philadelphia society. She was blonde, beautiful, and came from a very wealthy family. But she was also a Loyalist sympathizer.
LEAH:
During the British occupation of Philadelphia, Peggy had been very friendly with the British officers. Specifically, she had a flirtatious friendship with a young, artistic officer named Major John André.
STEPHEN:
Historians have debated this for years, but the evidence now suggests that Peggy Shippen was the catalyst. She was the Lady Macbeth. She tapped into Arnold’s anger. She whispered in his ear: “Why fight for a country that treats you like a criminal? The British would respect you. The British would pay you.”
LEAH:
And they needed the money. They were drowning in debt. So, in May 1779, Arnold made his decision. He reached out to the British.
STEPHEN:
And who was the British contact? It was Peggy’s old friend, Major John André, who was now the head of British Intelligence.
LEAH:
For over a year, they exchanged letters. Arnold used the code name “Gustavus.” André used the name “John Anderson.” They wrote in invisible ink, using stain solutions that could only be read if you applied acid and heat.
STEPHEN:
At first, Arnold just gave them small intelligence—troop movements, supply numbers. But the British Commander, Sir Henry Clinton, wasn’t impressed. He told Arnold, essentially, “If you want the big money, you have to give us something that ends the war.”
LEAH:
So, Arnold decided to sell the crown jewel. West Point.
STEPHEN:
West Point was the “Gibraltar of America.” It was a massive fortress complex on a sharp S-curve of the Hudson River. A massive iron chain was stretched across the river to stop British ships. If the British captured West Point, they would control the river, split New England from the rest of the colonies, and the war would be over.
LEAH:
Arnold lobbied Washington for the command. Washington was surprised—he wanted Arnold to lead the army in the field—but he gave him the post. In August 1780, Arnold took command of West Point.
STEPHEN:
He immediately started sabotage. He sent soldiers away on useless errands to weaken the garrison. He stopped repairs on the walls. He purposely neglected the great iron chain. He was preparing the fort to fall.
LEAH:
But to finalize the deal, Arnold demanded a face-to-face meeting. He wanted to guarantee his payment: £20,000 (which is millions today) and a commission as a General in the British army.
STEPHEN:
On the night of September 21, 1780, Major André sailed up the Hudson on a British sloop-of-war called the Vulture. He rowed ashore in a small boat to meet Arnold in the woods near Haverstraw, New York.
LEAH:
They met in the dark fir trees. Arnold gave André the detailed plans of West Point’s defenses. He told him exactly where the weak spots were.
STEPHEN:
But while they were talking, American troops on the shore saw the Vulture and opened fire with a cannon. The ship was hit and forced to retreat downriver.
LEAH:
André was stranded. He couldn’t get back to his ship. He was trapped behind American lines.
STEPHEN:
Arnold made a fatal mistake. He told André, “Don’t worry. I’ll give you a pass.” He wrote a pass for “John Anderson” to go through the lines.
LEAH:
But André had to do two things that violated his orders. First, he took off his British uniform and put on a civilian coat. Second, he hid the secret papers inside his stocking, under the sole of his boot.
STEPHEN:
By doing that, he ceased to be a soldier and became a spy.
LEAH:
André started riding south toward British-held New York. He made it through the American lines. He was in “No Man’s Land”—a lawless area near Tarrytown. He was only a few miles from safety.
STEPHEN:
Then, three men stepped out of the bushes. John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart, and David Williams.
LEAH:
These guys were basically highwaymen. They were militiamen, but they were mostly looking for loot. One of them was wearing a stolen Hessian coat.
STEPHEN:
When André saw the Hessian coat, he assumed they were Loyalists. He said, “Thank God, I am among friends.” He told them he was a British officer.
LEAH:
The men leveled their muskets and said, “We are Americans.”
STEPHEN:
André panicked. He showed them Arnold’s pass. But the men were suspicious. They searched him. They stripped him naked. Finally, they pulled off his boots and heard the crinkle of paper.
LEAH:
They found the plans for West Point. One of the men, who could read, looked at them and said, “My God, he is a spy.”
STEPHEN:
André offered them his gold watch. He offered them 100 guineas. He promised them anything if they would let him go. But—whether out of patriotism or just suspicion—they refused. They marched him to the nearest American outpost.
LEAH:
Now, here is where the story becomes a tragedy for Washington. The officer who received the prisoner didn’t realize Arnold was the traitor. He thought Arnold was the commander! So, he sent a letter to Arnold saying, “We caught a spy with a pass signed by you.”
STEPHEN:
On the morning of September 25th, George Washington was scheduled to have breakfast with Benedict Arnold at his house.
LEAH:
Washington was running late. He sent his aides, Alexander Hamilton and Lafayette, ahead to start eating. They were sitting at the table with Arnold and Peggy when a messenger arrived with the letter.
STEPHEN:
Arnold opened the letter. He read that André was captured. He knew the jig was up.
LEAH:
He didn’t panic. He calmly excused himself from the table, claiming an urgent issue at the fort. He went upstairs to the bedroom where Peggy was. He told her, “It’s over. We are discovered.”
STEPHEN:
He kissed his sleeping baby son. He ran out the back door, scrambled down a steep ravine to the river, jumped into his barge, and ordered his rowers to row like hell. He told them he had urgent business on the Vulture.
LEAH:
He escaped. An hour later, Washington arrived. He expected a tour of the fort. Instead, he found the defenses in shambles and Arnold missing.
STEPHEN:
Then, the packet of captured papers arrived. Washington opened them. He saw the handwriting. He saw the plans. He realized instantly what had happened.
LEAH:
Lafayette was in the room. He said later that Washington’s hands started to shake. He looked like a man who had been punched in the soul. He turned to Lafayette and Knox, tears in his eyes, and said the famous words: “Arnold is a traitor, and has betrayed me. Whom can we trust now?”
STEPHEN:
Upstairs, Peggy Shippen heard the news. She knew she had to act fast to save herself. She went into a performance worthy of an Academy Award.
LEAH:
She started screaming. She tore her hair. She ripped her clothes. When Washington came up to check on her, she was raving. She claimed she saw spirits. She accused Washington of being a murderer coming to kill her baby.
STEPHEN:
It worked. Washington and Hamilton were complete gentlemen. They assumed she was an innocent victim, driven mad by her husband’s betrayal. Hamilton wrote a letter saying, “It was the most affecting scene I was ever witness to.”
LEAH:
They let her go. She traveled to New York to join Arnold. We know now, from British records, that she was paid a pension for her services as a spy. She fooled them all.
STEPHEN:
But John André wasn’t so lucky. Washington had a hard decision to make.
LEAH:
The Americans liked André. He was charming, he was an artist, he was young. Washington offered the British a trade: “Give me Arnold, and I will give you André.”
STEPHEN:
He wanted to hang the traitor, not the spy. But Sir Henry Clinton couldn’t do it. If the British handed over a defector, no one would ever defect to them again. He refused.
LEAH:
So, the law had to take its course. On October 2, 1780, at Tappan, New York, John André was led to the gallows.
STEPHEN:
He asked to be shot like a soldier, but Washington refused. Spies are hanged. André adjusted the noose around his own neck. He told the crowd, “I pray you to bear me witness that I meet my fate like a brave man.”
LEAH:
He died instantly. The American officers wept openly. Alexander Hamilton was furious that such a fine man died while the real villain escaped.
STEPHEN:
The treason of Benedict Arnold was a knife in the heart of the Revolution. But in a strange way, it helped. It woke the country up. It reminded them that the war wasn’t won yet.
LEAH:
And they would need that resolve immediately. Because while Washington was grieving in New York, the people of the South were fighting for their lives.
STEPHEN:
Join us tomorrow for Episode 18. We return to the Carolinas to meet the ghosts of the swamp. Francis Marion and the “Overmountain Men” turn the tide of the war with sweet potatoes and rifles at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
LEAH:
I’m Leah.
STEPHEN:
And I’m Stephen.
STEPHEN:
You can find every episode at PointedWords.com. And this… is our story.