Benedict Arnold IV

[planetrockford]

I love the images.

[1988scottcarey]

hitler was a bigger traitor he had everyone fooled when he attacked the soviet union

[catshavesouls]

So we celebrate traitors now. How come this country is going to hell again?

[danning1]

@catshavesouls The younger generation doesn't know enough about U.S. history as it is, sir. If the complexity of the issue of Benedict Arnold's treason gets people interested in the Revolution again then that to me is a good thing. At the very least the story is not simplistic, Arnold was partly driven to his treason and I sincerely believe he eventually regretted what he did.  Even in "Amadeus" you feel a bit sorry for Salieri at the end, right?

[BarryPuppetSoetoro61]

How many times do you have to get Shot to be a Hero?....

[ED86023]

Benedict Arnold was disrespected by the Early U.S. that led him to do what he did. It is a shame that Country was brought about by lies. I am a direct descendent of Benedict Arnold and this Country owes a lot to us. General Horatio Gates should be shun for his disgrace and have it written that the real hero was and is Benedict Arnold.

[GUALLACOL]

@ED86023 I agree. Gen Benedict Arnold was in for Glory. He was not the only one, there were more officers who wanted glory for themselves too. He was not credited properly for Ticonderoga and Sarratoga. I believe he was fed up with the lack of recognition and that is why he went to the other side.

[imperatorcaesar100]

General Horatio gates was a fool, and was not a tactician, or a strategist, he was later found attempting to replace Washington as the continental army's commander in chief. He also took all the credit for winning the battle of bemis heights during the battle of saratoga for himself, when a large part of that credit was due to Benedict Arnold.

[imperatorcaesar100]

I saw the movie Benedict Arnold with Aidan Quinn as Benedict Arnold, Kelsey Grammer as George Washington, and Flora Montgomerey as Peggy Shippen. I wonder how much of that film was factual compared to fictional?

[woodbineRed]

Gates (commander of American forces) accepted Burgoyne's sword in surrender because it was the etiquette of war that the ceremony be performed between officers of the same rank. If Gates had sent Arnold, it might have been viewed as an insult. This is what Cornwallis tried at Yorktown, in sending a lower-grade officer to hand his sword over to Washington. Washington refused it, directing his 2nd-in-command to accept it instead.

[GoMidoriIsCool]

@woodbineRed gates was a redcoat actlley but nice facts! :)

[woodbineRed]

Yes, in his earlier days (during the French & Indian War), Gates served with the British army, as did Washington, Morgan, Charles Lee, and many of the older soldiers and officers who later became American revolutionaries. While Gates comes off rather badly in this biography, he was ahead of his time in one way--unlike Washington and Jefferson, Gates freed his slaves during his own lifetime, which was unusual in those days.

[danning1]

@woodbineRed Washington did free his slaves eventually, Jefferson never did. But why give Gates credit for freeing his slaves when a lot of our Founding Fathers (i.e. all the Adams, for example) never owned any to begin with?

[woodbineRed]

@danning1 Very true. Perhaps I should say, comparing Virginian Founding Fathers, since Washington, Jefferson and Gates all hailed from Virginia.