1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff, Lauren 2 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: bobebam here. One of the oddest monuments in America is 3 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: the Boot Monument in Saratoga National Park in New York, 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,159 Speaker 1: which commemorates, but does not name, a soldier on the 5 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 1: American side of the Revolution who was wounded and nearly 6 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: lost his leg as he led troops in the defeat 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: of the British and the Battle of Saratoga in October 8 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: of seventeen seventy seven. But this isn't a Boot of 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: the Unknown Soldier kind of situation. The hero's name was 10 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:39,919 Speaker 1: left off of the monument for a reason. Benedict Arnold, 11 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: despite his bravery on the battlefield, eventually switched sides and 12 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: became the most infamous trader in American history. After trying 13 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: and failing to hand the Continental fort at West Point 14 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: over to the British, he joined the Royal Army and 15 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: took up arms against the rebellious colonists and even put 16 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: a Connecticut town to the torch. For the article, this 17 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with Steve Shinkin, 18 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: the author of an award winning biography for young adult readers. 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: Called the Notorious Benedict Arnold a true story of adventure, 20 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 1: heroism and treachery. He said, there's no other story like Arnold's. 21 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: He was at the absolute top, one of the great 22 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: American heroes, and fell all the way to the bottom, 23 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,559 Speaker 1: a kind of devil figure. And in both cases rise 24 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: and fall, he did it by himself. It's a measure 25 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:34,199 Speaker 1: of Arnold's infamy that nearly two centuries after his death 26 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: he remained so infamously reviled that Americans still sometimes refer 27 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: to someone viewed as disloyal as a Benedict Arnold. Houstuff 28 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: Works also spoke by email with Eric D. Lemmon, an 29 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: associate professor of English at the University of Bridgeport and 30 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: author of Homegrown Terror, Benedict Arnold and the Burning of 31 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: New London. He said Arnold's case is so disturbing not 32 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: because he decided to back the British, which which many 33 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: others in America did. It's because he was a hero 34 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: to the American side. First, because he had so many 35 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: friends and comrades who fought beside him. To fight beside 36 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: someone and then to switch sides and fight against them 37 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,839 Speaker 1: is anathema to most people. It is so much more 38 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: troubling than the mere political betrayal, and that is why 39 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: it's so incredibly rare, particularly for a general in the army. 40 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: Lemon sees parallels between Arnold and another infamous figure in 41 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: early American history, Aaron Burr, who yes killed Alexander Hamilton 42 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: in a duel, but was also later tried unsuccessfully for 43 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: treason for his role in an ill fated plot to 44 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,119 Speaker 1: lore States to leave the US and join a new empire. 45 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 1: Lemon said both were competent war heroes who, in one 46 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: way or another, had their careers stalled or ruined by 47 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: their own actions, and then plotted against their perceived enemies 48 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: in the American government. Both had the misperception or a flaw, 49 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 1: that the government was the name, and when elements in 50 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,839 Speaker 1: that government, in Arnold's case, Congress or in Burr's case, 51 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: Thomas Jefferson became antagonistic to them, they responded by trying 52 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: to burn the whole thing down. In some ways, Arnold's 53 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: treachery may have been forged by resentment and frustration. Born 54 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: in Norwich, Connecticut, in seventeen forty one, he spent his 55 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: youth preparing to attend Yale, but the bankruptcy of his 56 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: alcoholic father dashed those dreams. He instead apprenticed as an 57 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: apothecary the eighteenth century version of a pharmacy, and served 58 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,559 Speaker 1: in the French and Indian War before settling in New Haven, Connecticut, 59 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: where he built a drug store business and worked as 60 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: a merchant and sea captain, involved in trade with the 61 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: Caribbean and Canada. By the time Arnold was in his 62 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: mid thirties, he had become successful enough to build one 63 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: of the grandest homes in New Haven, but he was 64 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: never quite content. A lemon said, he had great gifts 65 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: of intelligence and physical prowess. He always felt that they 66 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: were being overlooked. He had the sort of prickly personality 67 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: that took offense very easily. He was often threatening to 68 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: quit or to fight a duel with someone who insulted him. 69 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: I would say he was certainly a narcissist, but the 70 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: tragedy is that he could have gone another way. He 71 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: had a lot of people pulling for him, helping him 72 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 1: and loving him, but he ultimately chose to betray many 73 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: of them. In the spring of seventeen seventy five, Arnold 74 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: was serving as the captain of a local militia in 75 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: new Haven. When the British attacked Lexington in Concord, Arnold 76 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: took some of New Haven's gunpowder supply and headed to 77 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: Massachusetts to join the fight. Early on, Arnold distinguished himself 78 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: as a competent, even gifted military leader, but one who 79 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: frequently became immersed in political squabbles that stymied his rise. 80 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: Arnold got Massachusetts officials to back his plan to capture 81 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: Fort Taekwonderoga in New York so that the rebels could 82 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: seize its eighty or so cannons. But as it turned out, 83 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: Arnold wasn't the only one who wanted that artillery, and 84 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: when he got to New York with his expedition, he 85 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: was compelled to team up with Ethan Allen and his 86 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: Green Mountain Boys. The Americans rode across Lake Champlain from 87 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: what's now Vermont and staged daring late night surprise attack 88 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,119 Speaker 1: to seize the fort. Their success was a major early 89 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 1: victory in the war. Though Arnold and Alan coled the raid, 90 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: it was Allan who rashly demanded the British render quote 91 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental 92 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 1: Congress who ended up with more of the credit. But 93 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: Arnold had even bigger ambitions. He pitched the Continental Congress 94 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: and George Washington, the new head of the American forces, 95 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,160 Speaker 1: on a scheme to invade Canada, overwhelmed the few hundred 96 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: troops that the British kept there, and emboldened Canadian colonists 97 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: to join the American cause. A Washington agreed, but appointed 98 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: Major General Richard Montgomery to head the effort and relegated 99 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,160 Speaker 1: Arnold to commanding a small force that made up its 100 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: way through the main wilderness to Quebec City. The New 101 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: Year's Eve assault on the Canadian city turned into a debacle, 102 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: in which Montgomery was killed. Arnold, though severely wounded, managed 103 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: to rally the remaining troops and continue the siege until spring, 104 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: when he was ordered to return home. Arnold went on 105 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,919 Speaker 1: to distinguish himself in September seventeen seventy seven in the 106 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: aforementioned Battle of Saratoga. He quarreled with Major General Horatio Gates, 107 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: his commander, who tried to keep him back at headquarters 108 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: as a punishment, but Arnold eventually ignored his orders and 109 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: rode his horse to the front, where he led a 110 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 1: charge that outflanked a force of German mercenaries. During the fighting, 111 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 1: Arnold was shot and a bullet killed his horse and 112 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: caused it to fall on him, crushing the leg had 113 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,039 Speaker 1: injured in Quebec. He had to be carried off the 114 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: field and walked with a limp for the rest of 115 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: his life. Arnold's courage had helped the Americans win a 116 00:06:56,440 --> 00:07:00,359 Speaker 1: crucial victory, but again he didn't get the credit or 117 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:05,360 Speaker 1: position he felt he deserved. Instead, in July seventeen seventy eight, 118 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: Washington put Arnold in charge of the city of Philadelphia, 119 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: which the British had abandoned kept out of action. Arnold 120 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: married the young daughter of a local judge, Peggy Shippen, 121 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: and the couple lived in extravagant lifestyle that was beyond 122 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: an American general's means. Congress refused to pay some of 123 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: his expense vouchers, and eventually, in June of seventeen seventy nine, 124 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: he was court martialed on charges of corruption. Although Arnold 125 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: eventually was acquitted, the humiliation might have been the final straw. 126 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: Even before the trial began, he secretly reached out to 127 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: the British and began communicating with British spy Major John 128 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: Andre through coded correspondence. Meanwhile, Arnold asked to be reassigned 129 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: to West Point, the fort that served as Washington's headquarters. 130 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: In September of seventeen eighty he met with Andre at 131 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: a house near the Hudson River and hatched a plot 132 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: to hand the fort over to the British in exchange 133 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: for command in the Royal Army and twenty thousand British 134 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: pounds that's worth something like four million pounds today or 135 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: about five million US dollars. But once again Arnold was 136 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: foiled by fate. Before John Andre could make his way 137 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 1: back into British held territory, he was captured by American militiamen. 138 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: When Arnold heard the news, he managed to escape on 139 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: the Hudson in a British ship, the Vulture. Before he 140 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: could be arrested. From on board, Arnold wrote a letter 141 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: to Washington complaining of the quote ingratitude of my country 142 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: and asking that his former superior protect Arnold's wife. He wrote, 143 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: it ought only to fall on me, and Arnold was 144 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: about to get even further into the thick of it. 145 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: In seventeen eighty one, having become a British officer. He 146 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: ordered his troops to burn the town of New London 147 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: in Connecticut, just ten miles away from where he was 148 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 1: born and raised. That's around fifteen kilometers. This action was 149 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 1: ostensibly meant to punish private who operated out of New 150 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:06,319 Speaker 1: London for capturing a British merchant ship. Arnold's forces torched 151 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: some one hundred and forty buildings, including residence homes, and 152 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,600 Speaker 1: after capturing the fort overlooking the town's harbor, slaughtered eighty 153 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: American militiamen who had already surrendered. Lemon said, I think 154 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: that once Arnold made the choice to go over to 155 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 1: the British, he knew he had to succeed, and he 156 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: was willing to do anything to make that happen. That's 157 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: a dangerous place to be in for anyone, and it 158 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: led him to a very dark place. In December of 159 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty one, Arnold and his wife and children went 160 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 1: to live in London, England, supported in part by a 161 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:43,079 Speaker 1: portion of the fee had been guaranteed for the failed 162 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:47,560 Speaker 1: West Point plot. After America's Revolutionary War was over, he 163 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: moved to Canada and tried to revive his career as 164 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: a merchant but his fortune was mostly gone by the 165 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: time he died in eighteen oh one. Shankin said, this 166 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: is a classic rise in falset. We see them over 167 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: and over, and of course it's usually some character flaw 168 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: that brings the hero down. That's not just in fiction 169 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: and theater. And that's happened throughout history and we'll continue 170 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: to happen. It's a dynamic and in some ways sympathetic story. 171 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 1: But to this day, in New London, the city Arnold torched, 172 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: local residents return the favor by burning an effigy of 173 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: him each September. Today's episode is based on the article 174 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: how did Benedict Arnold Become America's Most Infamous Trader? On 175 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 1: how Stuffworks dot Com written by Patrick J. Kyder. Brain 176 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,199 Speaker 1: Stuff is production of my Heart Radio in partnership with 177 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. 178 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,200 Speaker 1: Four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 179 00:10:47,280 --> 00:11:00,839 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.