“… I have suffered, in seeing the fair fabric of reputation… undermined by those, whose posterity (as well as themselves) will feel the blessed effects of my efforts.”

–Benedict Arnold, January, 1780

By Joyce Lee Malcolm

BENEDICT ARNOLD REMAINS the most notorious man in American history, his name a synonym for traitor.

“Since the fall of Lucifer,” General Nathanial Greene judged, “nothing has equaled the fall of Arnold.”

Yet Arnold’s accomplishments for the patriot cause were extraordinary. Without his brilliant military exploits, America might never have won its independence. He led his men on a harrowing trek through the Maine wilderness to Canada, kept a British fleet from conquering Albany in 1776, saved Fort Stanwix and commanded the victorious charge at Saratoga in 1777, an attack in which he was grievously wounded. Dishonored by Congress and beset by political foes, he turned to the enemy. When his plan to surrender West Point was discovered he fled to British-occupied New York City and, after the war, sailed into exile never to return.

Here are 10 things you might not know about Benedict Arnold.

Arnold was the best officer on either side

Although having no military experience before the Revolutionary War, Arnold has been judged the best officer on either side. In his classic work on the British army, J.W. Fortescue wrote:

“In natural military genius neither Washington nor Greene are to my mind comparable with Benedict Arnold. He possessed all the gifts of a great commander. To boundless energy and enterprise, he united quick insight into a situation, sound strategic instinct, audacity of movement, wealth of resource, a swift and unerring eye in action, great personal daring, and true magic of leadership. He was brave, daring, had great strategic insight and that rare magic of leadership that made men follow him.”

He was forced to quit prep school and bail his family out of debt

Although Arnold was destined to go to Yale, when his father became an alcoholic and his business collapsed Arnold was pulled from prep school and apprenticed to apothecaries. He worked hard, learned, started his own business in New Haven, Connecticut, repaid his family’s debts, and became a successful merchant seaman sailing his ships north to Canada, south to the Caribbean and across the Atlantic to Great Britain.

He commanded the Continental’s siege of Quebec

After Richard Montgomery, Washington’s commander of the 1775 assault on Quebec, was killed, it fell to Arnold, the ranking officer, seriously wounded himself, to take charge of the rigorous winter siege. Congress refused his request to appoint a paymaster for its army at Quebec, but nevertheless Arnold was later charged with misusing funds spent for his force in Canada and for his arduous trek with his men through the wilderness of Maine.

He used his own money to pay his men

When Congress failed to pay Arnold’s troops, he paid them from his own pocket, despite the fact that his shipping business was hard hit by the British blockade. Congress failed to pay him as well, but expected him to keep exact records of any funds it advanced. Later it would charge that he owed the United States £1,000.

He built a freshwater navy to oppose the British

To counter a powerful British fleet preparing to sail down Lake Champlain, Arnold was charged with building a fleet of ships in three months to combat them. With extraordinary skill and energy, he supervised the construction and manning of a small flotilla, then led his tiny navy onto the lake to await the British. They met in a fierce battle which, and although not failing to win the day, the Americans persuaded the British to retreat to Canada protecting New York for another year.

He led a victorious charge at Saratoga while holding no official command

Although his jealous commander, General Horatio Gates, confined Arnold to his tent during the battle of Saratoga, the future turncoat galloped onto the field to the cheers of the men. Though without official command, he led them in a victorious assault on British lines. Arnold’s horse was shot and his leg shattered during the charge. Despite remaining in his own tent for much of the day, General Gates took credit for the victory.

Peggy Arnold knew nothing of his plot

Numerous recent books and television movies accuse Arnold’s lovely wife, Peggy Shippen, of instigating his treason or being complicit in it. However, she was, as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Lafayette and others who knew her believed, innocent, and shocked at his betrayal. Nevertheless, after his treason was discovered and she returned to her family in Philadelphia, the cautious Pennsylvania government forced her to leave and go into exile with her husband.

Arnold led British troops in battle

After his defection, Arnold led British troops against Washington’s army in Virginia, chasing Thomas Jefferson, governor of the state, from his home. In a second campaign, this time against his home state of Connecticut, Arnold’s soldiers seized a fort but left New London in flames.

Despite his treason, there’s a monument of Arnold’s Boot at Saratoga

A monument of a boot, symbolizing Arnold’s shattered leg, was erected on the battlefield at Saratoga in 1887 by a Civil War General of the New York militia. It is the only American war memorial that does not bear the name of its honoree.

Joyce Lee Malcolm is the author of The Tragedy of Benedict Arnold: An American Life. She is a historian and constitutional scholar who holds the Patrick Henry Chair of Constitutional Law and the Second Amendment at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. Malcolm’s work on constitutional law has been widely cited including by the Supreme Court and her essays have appeared in major newspapers and online. She is a native of New York State now living in Alexandria, Virginia.