Arnold's Visit to the American Camp.—Washington Deceived by him.—Obtains the Command at West Point.
diency of giving Arnold the command of that station. Livingston cheerfully complied, but his letter had no appearance of being suggested by Arnold himself. Scarcely had Livingston's letter reached the camp, before Arnold appeared there in person. Under pretense of having private business in Connecticut, he passed through the camp, to pay his respects to the commander-in-chief. He made no allusion to his desire for an appointment to the command of West Point, and pursued his journey. On his return, he again called upon Washington at his quarters, and then suggested that, on joining the army, the command of that post would be best suited to his feelings and the state of his health. Washington was a little surprised that the impetuous Arnold should be willing to take command where there was no prospect of active operations. His surprise, however, had no mixture of suspicion Arnold visited and inspected all the fortifications, in company with General Robert Howe and then returned to Philadelphia.
Having resolved to join the army, Arnold applied to Congress for arrearages of pay, to enable him to furnish himself with a horse and equipage. Whether his application was successful no record explains. He reached the camp on the last day of July, while the army was crossing the Hudson from the west side, at King's Ferry (Verplanck's Point).
On the arrival of the French at Newport, Sir Henry Clinton made an effort to attack them before they could land and fortify themselves. The result we have already considered. This movement caused Washington, who was encamped between Haverstraw and Tappan, to cross the river, with the intention of attacking New York in the absence of Clinton. Arnold met Washington on horseback, just as the last division was crossing over, and asked if any place had been assigned to him. The commander-in-chief replied that he was to take command of the left wing, the post of honor. Arnold was disappointed, and perceiving it, Washington promised to meet him at his quarters, and have further conversation on the subject. He found Arnold's heart set upon the command of West Point. He was unable to account for this strange inconsistency with his previous ambition to serve in the most conspicuous place. Still he had no suspicion of wrong, and he complied with Arnold's request. The instructions which gave him command of "that post and its dependencies, in which all are included from Fishkill to King's Ferry," * were dated at Peekskill on the 3d of August, 1780. Arnold repaired immediately to the Highlands, and established his quarters at Colonel Robinson's house. Sir Henry Clinton having abandoned his expedition against the French at'= Newport, the American army retraced its steps, and, crossing the Hudson, marched down to Tappan and encamped, where it remained for several weeks. General Greene commanded the right wing, and Lord Stirling the left; six battalions of light infantry, stationed in advance, were commanded by La Fayette.
Thus far Arnold's plans had worked admirably. He had now been in correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton for eighteen months, ** both parties always writing over fictitious names, and, for a great portion of the time, without a knowledge, on the part of the British commander, of the name and character of the person with whom he was in communication. Arnold corresponded with Clinton through the hands of Major Andre. Writing in a dis-
* Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington, viii., 139.
** It is not positively known how early Arnold's correspondence with officers of the British army commenced, or at what precise period he first conceived the idea of betraying his country. The translator of the Marquis de Chastellux's Travels in North America, an English gentleman of distinction, and a resident here during our Revolution, says (i., page 97), "There is every reason to believe that Arnold's treachery took its date from his connection with Lieutenant Hele, killed afterward on board the Formidable, in the West Indies, and who was undoubtedly a very active and industrious spy at Philadelphia in the winter of 1778, whither he was sent for that purpose in a pretended flag of truce, which being wrecked in the Delaware, he was made prisoner by Congress, a subject of much discussion between them and the commander at New York. That the intended plot was known in England, and great hopes built upon it long before it was to take place, is certain. General Mathews and other officers, who returned in the autumn of 1780, being often heard to declare 'that it was all over with the rebels; that they were about to receive an irreparable blow, the news of which would soon arrive, &c., &c.' Their silence, from the moment in which they received an account of the failure of the plot and the discovery of the traitor, evidently pointed out the object of their allusions."
Correspondence of Arnold and André.—Proposed Plan of the British to gain Possession of West Point.
guised hand, he clothed his meaning in the ambiguous style of a commercial correspondence, and affixed to his letters the signature of Gustavus. Andre signed his John Anderson. He was an aid-de-camp of the commander-in-chief of the British forces, and was afterward the adjutant general of the British army.