"Benedict Arnold's Body Lies in the Wall of a Kindergarten" Topic

…Had he not become the most famous turncoat in U.S. history, his remains might have been interred in a grand or historically meaningful tomb, visited by thousands every year. Arnold's betrayal, however, overshadows any contribution to American independence, and his tomb is visited by only a dozen or so every day.

The only problem is those visitors are around five years old and have no idea who he was, if they know he's there at all. Today, his London crypt has been repurposed as a kindergarten classroom…

Military: link

Well, he's doing some good, then. May his spirit guard the children as he should have guarded his nation in life.

The man had too much pride and too little humility. Less of one and more of the other would have eventually earned him the lauds of his native land. He may have been farsighted as a commander, but he was shortsighted as a man.

Thanks for the link, Bill!

Interesting.

Weird.

History creates greater, more surprising stories than fiction.

Yes if he hadn't turned traitor he would likely be remember as one of our best generals from the revolution. Towns would have been named after him ect.

Shrug. It can be safely said that without him we would not have been victorious.

Agreed, Augustus. Had he had less pride and more patience, he'd have gained everything he sought.

Arnold deserves some credit. He fought well for the Continental Army, Canada, Great Lakes and especially Saratoga. Sad he was wounded, fell in love with a Tory, had an overriding ego and a persecution complex(although justified at times). Also finally turning traitor to the cause.

I don't know why, I actually like him better then Lord Stanley who turned on Richard III. Not sure why, just don't like Stanley.

Loads of people swapped sides during the American Revolution, its a shame a great general like Benedict Arnold got so vilified. Though I suppose it was because he was comparatively well known at the time?

But loads of generals did not change sides. That makes a world of difference. Even the Brits held him in low esteem.

If you are going to be a traitor pick the winning side. If the Brits had won, he would be considered a patriot and the rebel leaders would have ended up viewed as traitors to the crown in America.

As is said, the winners write the history. Canada would be emptier without all those loyalists who fled there after the Revolution.

Brig. Gen. Andrew Williamson of the South Carolina militia. The Benedict Arnold of the south who was luck enough to have the right friends, or a master double agent. Its still not clear. If Williamson did betray the Revolution after Charleston fell, he was somewhat ambivalent about it. Arnold fully embraced his role as traitor.

I've always found James Wilkinson to be more evil and unworthy of any respect, yet there is a street named after him in Dayton. If I was one of those offended by names, I would complain. 🙂 Also one named after that moron Arthur St Clair who got 2 Regiments, Militia and civilians destroyed in the worst disaster of US forces against native tribes at the Battle of the Wabash.

I suspect the General's bones are, or were, more likely to be under the floor than in the wall.

No, Herkybird. He's not vilified for "swapping sides:" A very small number of other officers resigned a commission on one side and took one on the other, just as Robert E. Lee resigned a US commission, and took up a Virginia one when his home state was threatened. No one much cares about that unless, like Lee, they become famous for their battlefield performance.

What Arnold did was much worse. While wearing the uniform and drawing the pay of a general in the Continental Army, he wrote the British offering to betray any unit or fortress he was given command of if the British could make his price. He begged and pleaded for the West Point assignment so he could get more money for betraying people who trusted him, which puts him several grades below a mercenary and infinitely below any actual believer in the royal cause. That's why Peggy (Shippen) Arnold "would be received anywhere [in London], if only her husband were dead" and why a Canadian jury assessed the value of Arnold's reputation as two shillings. People use traitors. They don't like or trust them.

Any civil war involves conflicting claims to loyalty, and so people like Robert E. Lee--or Charles Lee, come to that. But people with the morality of a Benedict Arnold are mercifully quite rare.

Yep. It wasn't as if he said, "I've had enough. You guys suck; I'm gonna go fight for King George— at least he'll promote me" and stormed out in a huff. That ain't exactly respectable, but it's not what he did. He kept his change a secret, essentially condemned his own men to a bloody death or at best a torturous imprisonment which would likely result in the same, and attempted to sell out his own mentor and number one supporter, the man who had consistently praised him and promoted him and considered him a friend and brother in arms— General George Washington.
And that's what made his name synonymous with treason, up there with Judas and Brutus.

Absolutely. No comparison with Lee. Arnold had a lot of talent, but in the end he was just a cheap crook.