American Army Officer and traitor to the Revolution Benedict Arnold
By early 1777, Benedict Arnold was leading troops in the Continental Army. Around this time, he learned that he was passed over for a promotion. He offered his resignation to George Washington, but it was refused. Arnold would later receive the honor, but not the seniority that came along with the rank. Dismayed by a lack of respect, he began communicating with the British Army, but it would be his battlefield actions that caused him to be court-martialed. In the trial, convened in Philadelphia in 1779, he was charged with 13 counts of misbehavior, including illegally buying and selling goods and misusing government wagons. Afterward, Arnold began further discussions with the British about changing sides. Once his plan to surrender West Point, which was under his command, was publicized in 1780, he defected to the British. America’s first traitor eventually settled in London and died in 1801.