CHAPTER XLVIII. ARNOLD'S TREASON. 346. Benedict Arnold. Now we must have the record of one of the most painful events in the whole war. It is the story of the infamous. treachery of Benedict Arnold. He had proved himself brave and efficient, and a skilled military leader. Immediately after the battle of Lexington he raised a company of volunteers and marched to Cambridge. He was with Ethan Allen at the capture of Ticonderoga. At the head of one thousand men, he had heroically endured the sufferings of that terrible winter's march through the wilderness of Maine to Quebec, where he had formerly traded, intending to capture the city. Besides participating in other battles, he commanded the left wing at Stillwater, and fought with desperate courage at Bemis Heights, really winning the day. He was in command of the American forces at Philadelphia in 1778-79. Here he displayed extravagance, rapacity, and dishonesty. Tried by courtmartial, he was mildly sentenced to receive a reprimand from Washington. The evidence indicates that months before this he had begun his treasonable overtures to the enemy. 347. Sought the Command of West Point. He purposely sought the command of West Point, which had been fortified by Kosciusko, with the deliberate intention of betraying that important post into the hands of Sir Henry Clinton. Early in the autumn of 1780 his plans were discovered by the capture of Major André, and West Point was saved. 348. Major André. — André was a noble officer of high character, assistant adjutant-general to Clinton. At Arnold's request he was appointed by Clinton to meet him and arrange the details for the capture of West Point. He went up the Hudson and met Arnold secretly on the night of September 21st, and before morning they completed their plans. André received sketches of the fortifications, with a detailed account of the forces, where they were stationed, and such other information as was needful. Meantime the British vessel, the "Vulture," which carried him up the river, having been fired upon, had dropped down stream. This circumstance obliged André to make his way back to New York by land. Fortified with passes from Arnold in the name of John Anderson, he started on horseback upon his return. He passed the American lines in safety. 349. André arrested. At Tarrytown, September 23d, three militiamen at the roadside halted him, his manner having excited their suspicion. They searched him and found his papers secreted in his stockings, under his feet. He offered them his horse, watch, purse, and any sum of gold they might name, to release him. They were poor men. They knew the worth of money, but they were incorruptible patriots and despised a bribe. The three men who arrested André were John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wart. Congress rewarded these patriots by silver medals, inscribed on one side "Fidelity," and on the other, "Vincit Amor Patriæ," and pensions of two hundred dollars a year for life. Unlike Arnold, who for gold sold his good name and betrayed his country, these three men declared they would not release André for ten thousand guineas. 350. Arnold escapes. Arnold was notified of André's capture, through the stupidity of an officer, who thought the arrest important, but failed to realize Arnold's part in the transaction. He mounted his horse in haste, rode to a wild spot at the river-side where he had secreted his boat, jumped into it, and was rowed out to the "Vulture." He held the rowers of his boat as prisoners, but, with a finer sense of honor, Clinton released them at New York. He joined the British army, was made brigadier-general, and received a reward of £6,315 for his treachery, and Mrs. Arnold. was subsequently granted a pension of £500 per annum. But he justly merited the contempt of everybody, and the name of "Arnold the Traitor" will perpetuate his infamy through the ages. André was tried, condemned, and hanged as a spy. Every effort was made to save him from this ignominious fate, but, though all had great personal respect for him as an honorable soldier, yet the American cause required the execution of the sad sentence. 351. Character of Arnold. Arnold's treachery stands by itself in the annals of the history of all time, an emphatic warning to mankind against reckless selfishness, perfidy, immoral extravagance, and a total loss of upright moral character. When a boy, Arnold was mischievous, bold, headlong, and turbulent. He was apprenticed and ran away. He enlisted as a soldier and deserted. He became a bankrupt with the reputation of dishonesty. After joining the continental army, he showed everywhere great bravery and good generalship, and was highly esteemed by Washington. While in command at Philadelphia he became seriously involved in debt, and this financial embarrassment, together with an inordinate and selfish ambition for promotion, which he considered had not been accorded to him by Congress as rapidly as he deserved, John Champe, in his desertion and escape, showed himself worthy of the trust placed in him. His absence was discovered within half an hour, and Lee informed of it. A pursuing party was quickly put upon the road, with orders to take him alive, if possible, but to shoot him if he resisted. All night the pursued and pursuers were pushing on for New York. In the early dawn Champe was descried not more than half a mile in front. He at the same time discovered his pursuers. Both parties instantly put their horses to the top of their speed. Champe now changed his course and rode directly for the river, where two British galleys were anchored. He threw himself off his horse, pushed across the marsh, plunged into the water, and called upon the galleys for help. The pursuing party fired upon him without effect, and returned with his captured horse. After Champe reached Virginia, it was some months before he secured an induced in his mind, so utterly devoid of the true principles of rectitude, a willingness to sell his reputation and his country for British gold and military preferment. 352. Washington plans to to capture Arnold. As soon as Washington knew of the defection of Arnold, he promptly devised a plan to secure Arnold's immediate capture, selecting John Champe, the sergeant-major of Henry Lee's cavalry, for the purpose. The plan was that Champe should pretend to desert and join the British in New York, secure a position near Arnold, observe his habits, and watch for an opportunity to capture him. Champe joined Arnold's legion and soon arranged a scheme for his capture. Arnold was in the habit of walking in his garden every night about midnight, and with the assistance of one man Champe was to step quickly through the fence, boards being loosened for this purpose, place a gag in Arnold's mouth, and carry him away through the back alleys of the city to the river, representing him as a drunken soldier whom they were conveying to the guard-house. They would then row to the Jersey shore, and turn him over to Lee and a party of dragoons. The whole scheme failed, for a singular reason. On the day preceding the night fixed upon for the execution of the opportunity to escape. He made his way into North Carolina, where he joined his old corps under Major, now Lieutenant-Colonel, Lee. He was sent to General Washington, who promptly gave him discharge papers, lest he might by chance fall into the enemy's hands, when, if recognized, he would be sure to die upon the gallows. plot, Arnold had removed his headquarters to prepare for an expedition which he was fitting out against Virginia. Thus it happened that John Champe instead of crossing the Hudson that night was placed on board one of Arnold's transports, from which he did not depart until he landed with Arnold and his legion in Virginia. 353. Arnold a British Officer. Arnold's subsequent course, to the close of the war, was infamous in the extreme. In December he sailed for Virginia with sixteen hundred men. He set Richmond on fire, destroyed other property in the vicinity, and spent the spring and summer of 1781 in making raids through the State, burning and pillaging the country. In September he was commissioned to make an invasion of Connecticut, his native State. He captured Fort Griswold, opposite New London, and indiscriminately butchered the garrison after it had surrendered. He burned the town of New London, utterly forgetful of the fact that he was almost. within sight of his own birthplace. This was his last exploit in his native country. Here in reality he closed his military and public career. Robert Morris.-The American Commissary Department had never been well managed. Abuses had crept in. Frauds were not uncommon. The soldiers were suffering for want of clothing and proper provisions, and their pay had been kept back for months. Mutinies among the soldiers frequently took place, though they were promptly suppressed by the use of loyal troops. These troubles, however, produced good results. They aroused both the States and the Congress to make greater exertions to raise money to pay the soldiers, and to provide for their necessities. One of the strong men of the time was Robert Morris, a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia. He was appointed financial agent for the government, and it was largely through his efforts and ability that existing difficulties were overcome, and the army put in such condition as would give us the final victory. 354. Arnold's Subsequent Life. After the war was ended he went to England, and lived about twenty years, shunned and despised by every one. At one time Lord Surrey had risen in the House of Commons to speak, when, seeing Arnold in the gallery, he pointed to him and exclaimed, "I will not speak while that man is in the house." A well-known officer in the American army who had known Arnold in early life was in London. Arnold called at his door, and sent in his name. "Tell the gentleman I am not at home," said the officer, "and never shall be for General Arnold." CHAPTER XLIX. THE LAST CAMPAIGNS He was 355. General Greene. General Greene was appointed to succeed General Gates in command of the army at the South. He found, on taking command, that his force was very small, and was composed of halfclothed, half-starved men. Neverthe less, he at once sent General Morgan with a portion of the troops across the mountains, so as to threaten NinetySix, as well as the line of small posts in the rear of the British army. This was good strategy, but it left him with not more than two thousand men for immediate service. Cornwallis despatched Tarleton to strike Morgan while he himself should advance upon Greene. Morgan took position at the Cowpens, in an angle of the Broad River, where swiftness and depth of current made retreat impossible, and secreted his mounted men behind a hill in the rear. He then deliberately planned to destroy Tarleton's "hated" troops. Nathaniel Greene, a native of Rhode Island, was born in 1742 and died in 1786. He was a farmer and blacksmith. While working at his forge, he studied Euclid's geometry. Having natural military tastes, he carefully perused Cæsar's Commentaries, Marshal Turenne's works, Sharp's "Military Guide," Blackstone's Com. mentaries, and the works of Watts, Locke, and similar authors. also a member of a militia company, which had as instructor a British sergeant who had deserted at Boston. He was a member of the Rhode Island Legislature from 1770 until he took command of the Southern army. After the battle of Lexington, he led to Cambridge three regiments of militia from Rhode Island, of which he had been appointed brigadier-general. He was distinguished at Trenton, at Brandywine, and at Germantown. But his great success was in managing, with great skill, under adverse circumstances, the Southern campaign against a superior force. His celebrated retreat from South Carolina across North Carolina into Virginia won for him a high rank in the estimation of military men. Congress presented him with two pieces of ordnance taken from the British army, 66 as a public testimony of the wisdom, fortitude, and military skill which distinguished his command in the Southern department." The State of Georgia presented him with a fine plantation near Savannah, to which he removed his family in the autumn of 1785. and were confronted by the continentals. Tarleton spurred around the American left, in pursuit of the retiring militia, but an impetuous |