He was one of six children born to Benedict and Hannah Arnold in Norwich, Connecticut in January of 1741. He was named after his great-grandfather who had been an early governor of the Colony of Rhode Island, and after his older brother, Benedict IV, who died in infancy. Only Benedict and his sister Hannah would survive to adulthood, his other siblings succumbing to yellow fever. His father was successful businessman, however the death of most of his children lead him to take up drinking. His alcoholism would lead to the ruin of business. He would accept an apprenticeship with his mothers cousins as an apothecary. He ran away from home several times during the French and Indian wars. He dreamed of glory in the military, but was always ashamed of his family, and constantly felt the drive to rise above the circumstances his father drove he and his family into. In 1775 he would get his chance to make a name for himself by leading an attack on Fort Ticonderoga with Ethan Allen, and invading Quebec. However he received no credit for the former, and the latter was a failure.
In 1777 he would have his chance. In Spring of 1777, the British began a new campaign in the north, designed and led by General John Burgoyne. He marches south from Quebec with an army of 8000 men, while a diversionary campaign is being led through the Mohawk River Valley by Colonel Barry St. Leger, and Iroquois leader Joseph Brant. The goal of this campaign was to capture Albany and take control of the Hudson river, cutting New England off from the rest of the colonies. The American camp was becoming uneasy after Arnold’s return from Fort Stanwix. It was not so evident yet, but tension between Benedict Arnold and Horatio Gates would eventually boil over. On September 18, Burgoyne’s vanguard was just north of Saratoga, and about 4 miles away from the American lines.
Skirmishes occurred between the British vanguard and the American scouting parties. On the 19th, Arnold begs Gates for the chance to attack the British, and after enough pestering, Gates allows him to take the left wing and nothing else. Arnold takes his troops and goes to where the skirmishes are occurring. As the battle continues, Arnold detects a gap in the British line and orders several charges in order to break through. According to one officer Arnold seems to have been “inspired by the furry of a demon”. At a critical moment, Arnold believes he can take the field and defeat the red coats if he only had more troops. He rides back to camp and implores gates for reinforcements. Gates gives in and allows him to take 1 regiment. As Arnold heads back toward the battlefield, Gates orders him back and strips him of field command and ordered him to stay at camp. The Troops marching out under Gates are not inspired and do not want to follow him. The Americans loose momentum, and the fighting ends. The British eventually take the field when they send as many of their reserves as they can afford to send to attack the Right Wing of the army. The Americans retreated, giving the British a Technical victory. Burgoyne had 600 men killed or wounded, and the Americans had only 300 killed or wounded.
The tensions that had been boiling between Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold finally spill over after the battle. Gates refuses to acknowledge Arnolds contributions in the battle, and Arnold confronts him about it. After a strong shouting match and a threat by Gates to have Arnold removed and replaced, Arnold requests a pass to go join Washington’s army in Pennsylvania. Gates is only too willing to get rid of him. Word spreads among the troops of Arnold’s departure. The officers sign a petition to get Arnold to stay. Seeing this loyalty among his men, Arnold reconsiders and decides to stay with the Army. This, however does not bode well with Gates. Arnold was not allowed to leave camp, and when battle would come this meant that he couldn’t lead his men.
After the battle on September 19th, Burgoyne pushes his men forward closer to the American lines in order to consolidate their position. He receives a message Henry Clinton dated September 12th, saying that he was taking a fort just south of West Point, and would be there in 10 days. This meant that Clinton would not be close enough to Saratoga by the end of September in order to assist. With their supplies running low, Burgoyne decided to hold on and not push forward. With their supplies dwindling, and Burgoyne refusing to consider retreat, on October 4th, they agreed to launch an attack on the American Left Wing on the 7th. They engaged the Americans once again outside of Saratoga, this time at a place known as Bemis Heights.
After Gates had stripped Arnold of field command he would take command of the American left himself and give control of the right to Benjamin Lincoln. In the chaos of battle, a stray bullet hit General Horatio gates in the heart, knocking him from his horse, mortally wounding him. News of Gate’s death quickly reached the camp. When Arnold heard word of this he mounted his horse and dashed quickly to the battlefield. When he arrived the left wing of the army was collapsing, but when the men saw their commander arrive their spirits were rejuvenated and they turned back to face the British. Arnold would lead his men from the front, bullets whizzing past him. At one moment he was almost shot out from under his horse, but he managed to stay mounted the whole time. By the end of the day the field was in American hands. Days later Burgoyne’s army surrendered to Arnold and the Northern Army.
Arnold became more famous throughout the colonies. There were those who wanted to replace George Washington with Benedict Arnold, but Arnold refused. In December of 1777 Arnold would be given official command of the northern army, with Benjamin Lincoln as his right hand. Throughout the war Arnold would repel several invasion attempts by the British out of Canada, and attempt at least one invasion himself, but would be stopped by the winter cold. He led an attack on New York city in the Spring of 1781. He would lose the battle, but like the many battles of the American Revolution, the British losses far outnumbered the American losses. Arnold regretted not being present at the Battle of York Town in Virginia, but he would still be one of the most famous Generals throughout the entire revolution.
