Life and Treason of Benedict Arnold

by Jared Sparks

General Warren had been dead five years, and the annual amount of half-pay was somewhat more than thirteen hundred dollars, making the sum due nearly seven thousand dollars besides the future stipend. In the congratulatory letter, which Arnold wrote to Miss Scollay on this event, only six weeks before the consummation of his treachery, he reiterated his ardent concern for the welfare of the children, but complained that his application to Congress had been opposed from the beginning by all the Massachusetts delegates except one. They looked upon the case as appertaining only to the State of Massachusetts, and as not coming within the jurisdiction of Congress. Others had the same opinion. The success of the measure, which every benevolent mind must heartily approve, may be fairly ascribed to the zeal and perseverance of Arnold.

On various occasions, from the first week of his arrival in Philadelphia, he had contrived to involve himself in difficulties with the President and Council of Pennsylvania, which, at the end of seven months, had become so formidable and aggravated as to draw from that body a severe public censure upon his conduct. At a meeting of the board it was unanimously resolved, that the tenor and course of his military command in the city had been "in many respects oppressive, unworthy of his rank and station, highly discouraging to those who had manifested an attachment to the liberties and interests of America, and disrespectful to the supreme executive authority of the State." At the same time the attorney-general was authorized to prosecute him for such "illegal and oppressive acts, as were cognizable in the courts of law." To show the grounds of these proceedings, and to present the subject in a tangible form, the Council issued eight articles, or charges, containing an enumeration of his offensive acts. Some of these were set forth as of a criminal nature, and they all implied a wilful abuse of power, disregard of the rights of the people, or an unjustifiable interference with the government of Pennsylvania.

General Arnold being a United States' officer, it was deemed proper to make an appeal to Congress; and accordingly a list of the charges, accompanied by a letter from the President of Pennsylvania and divers other papers, was laid before that assembly. In the usual course of business these documents were referred to a committee of inquiry. The result was a vindication of General Arnold from any criminality in the matters charged against him. It appeared, however, that a misunderstanding existed between the committee and the Council, which prevented the latter from furnishing such testimony as was necessary to sustain their articles of censure. For this reason, probably, the report of the committee was not acted upon by Congress; but, in accordance with an agreement between the parties, the subject was referred anew to a joint committee of Congress and of the Assembly and Council of Pennsylvania.

After some progress had been made in the investigation, and the business was found to be clogged with many embarrassments, it was proposed by the Council, that the affair should be put into the hands of the Commander-in-chief, and submitted to a military tribunal. This arrangement, having been agreed to by the joint committee, was approved by Congress; but it was decided that four of the charges only were cognizable by a court-martial. These were transmitted to General Washington, who ordered a court to be convened, appointed the time of trial, and gave notice of the same to the respective parties.

With this course Arnold was highly displeased, and he expressed himself in no measured terms of dissatisfaction, both in his letters to Congress and to General Washington. He affected to regard this disposition of the matter as a compromise between Congress and the authorities of Pennsylvania, and insinuated that he was sacrificed by the former to prevent a serious breach or collision with the latter. He complained of the injustice and partiality of Congress, in throwing aside the report of their own committee, by which he had been fully acquitted, and listening to the proposals of men, who, he said, were moved by personal enmity, and had practised unworthy artifices to cause delay. He acquiesced, however, and desired that the trial might be brought on as soon as possible, declaring his conviction, that justice would be rendered to him by a court-martial.

The Council of Pennsylvania were not ready for the trial at the time first appointed by General Washington, and it was put off at their request to give them time to collect evidence. Arnold considered this a subterfuge and an additional grievance. More than three months had elapsed since the charges were presented to Congress, a space of time amply sufficient in his opinion for making every necessary preparation. The demand of a longer period he represented as a pretence to delay the trial, and to keep him under the odium of a public accusation.

The form of the trial, as notified by the Commander-in-chief, was not acceptable to the Council. They were called on as the accusing party to defend their charges before the court-martial.

President Reed wrote a letter to General Washington, in the name of the Council, expressing surprise that such a turn should be given to the affair, and that they should be looked upon in the light of the prosecuting party. He said it had never been their intention to exhibit charges, but only to convey their sense of the conduct of General Arnold, and to state their reasons. It was no part of their purpose to become prosecutors. Duty required them to make known their opinion to General Arnold's superiors and to the public, but farther than this they did not consider themselves bound to go. And, indeed, they conceived it to be inconsistent with the dignity of the executive authority of a state to appear before a military tribunal and prosecute an individual, who was amenable to another power for his conduct. They thought it the business of Congress, or of the Commander-in-chief, to institute a form of trial, which should put the prosecution upon a different footing. That the course of justice might not be obstructed, however, by points of etiquette or punctilious scruples, they professed a willingness to proceed with the trial, according to the mode appointed by the Commander-inchief, requesting only such delay as would enable them to procure the proper testimony.

As soon as the committee of Congress had reported on the charges submitted by the Council of Pennsylvania, General Arnold resigned his command in Philadelphia. This occurred on the 18th of March, 1779. He had obtained permission of the Commander-in-chief to resign in January, but had deferred it, as he said in his letter to Congress, till the charges should be examined by that body, lest his enemies should misrepresent his motives, and ascribe his resignation to the fear of a disgraceful suspension in consequence of those charges. He was the more disappointed and vexed, therefore, that Congress, instead of calling up and sanctioning the report, yielded to the solicitation of his enemies for a military trial.

The day finally agreed upon for the assembling of the court-martial was the 1st of June. Head-quarters were then at Middlebrook. Unfortunately just at that time the enemy in New York gave indications of a sudden movement, either into New Jersey, or up the North River; and a council of war decided, that the exigency of the service required every officer to be at his post, and rendered it necessary to defer the courtmartial, till, in the judgment of the Commander-in-chief, the state of affairs would permit the members to be assembled. This renewed disappointment was severely felt by Arnold, as there was now but a slender hope, that the trial could take place during the campaign; while he in the mean time would be destitute of employment, and his character must suffer from the suspicions excited in the public mind by the charges, which had been promulgated against him. Patience was his only resource; and, while practising this virtue so adverse to his habits, he had ample leisure to brood over his ills, cherish the bitter recollections of the past, and mature schemes for the future, which opened the way and hurried him onward to his ruin.