Portal:Military of the United States/Selected biography/11

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Benedict Arnold (January 14, 1741 – June 14, 1801) was a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is best known for plotting to surrender the American fort at West Point, New York, to the British during the American Revolution. Arnold had distinguished himself as a hero of the revolution early in the war through acts of cunning and bravery at Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. Arnold strongly opposed the decision by the Continental Congress to form an alliance with France.

In September 1780, he formulated his scheme, which, if successful, would have given British forces control of the Hudson River valley and split the colonies in half. The plot was thwarted, but Arnold managed to flee to British forces in New York, where he was rewarded with a commission as a Brigadier General in the British Army, along with a reduced award of £6,000 sterling. In the United States, Arnold's name remains synonymous with treason.