Benedict Arnold | The Hero of Saratoga

Benedict Arnold’s name is synonymous with treason, but before he became the most infamous traitor in American history, he was one of its greatest heroes. The morning of September 25, 1780, captures the moment his double life collapsed. At his home in Garrison, New York, Arnold learned that his British contact, Major John André, had been captured with papers in Arnold’s own hand—plans for West Point. As George Washington was expected any minute, Arnold fled to a British ship on the Hudson, leaving his wife Peggy to face the commander in chief. “What am I to say to him?” she asked. “That I was urgently called to West Point,” Arnold replied. “Tell him I’ll return before dinner. When he finds out the truth? Say that I lied to you too, that you knew nothing of what I planned. He’ll believe you.” The episode traces how a man who nearly gave his life for the revolution came to betray it.

The Hero of Saratoga

In September 1777, the American Revolution was hanging by a thread. The British controlled New York City and were advancing up the Hudson River Valley, aiming to split New England from the rest of the colonies. If they succeeded, the rebellion could be crushed. Standing in their path was Major General Benedict Arnold, second-in-command to General Horatio Gates at Bemis Heights.