Homegrown Terror: Benedict Arnold and the Burning of New London

Abstract

Homegrown Terror: Benedict Arnold and the Burning of New London. Eric D. Lehman. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2014. 261 pages. $30.00 (hardcover).Most Americans are familiar with the name Benedict Arnold and instantly associate it with the word treason. We may know that he turned traitor during the Revolutionary War in a plot involving West Point but, for most of us, that is the end of the story. Homegrown Terror corrects this knowledge gap by recounting Arnold's wartime exploits both before and after his notorious volte-face. The book convincingly levels the additional charge of domestic terrorism against Arnold and leaves little doubt that his name will remain forever infamous. This is not a revisionist history. If anything, it represents a well-deserved "piling on" of additional charges that have been lost, and now revived, to general knowledge and to history.The story of Benedict Arnold is akin to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Before the war he was an affluent merchant in Norwich, Connecticut, with family and commercial ties to New London. An early "Son of Liberty," during the war he participated in many battles, distinguishing himself as a legitimate hero in the effort to gain independence from Britain. He and Ethan Allen captured Fort Ticonderoga without firing a shot. He led the disastrous attack upon Quebec, which was doomed to failure anyway due to poor planning and logistics and unrealistic expectations. Ironically, he was also instrumental in beating back an early British attack on Connecticut. Arnold was the real hero of the pivotal Battle of Saratoga, though his commanding officer, Horatio Gates, gained most of the laurels.Throughout his career, early warning signs ofa difficult and prickly personality emerged. He was arrested for assaulting a Loyalist before the war began. He repeatedly threatened to resign when he did not receive promotions fast enough to keep pace with his ambition. On the personal side, he became deeply indebted and married a beautiful Tory from an affluent family. As military governor of Pennsylvania, he was known as a hothead and was charged with misconduct and peculation (embezzlement). He resigned this post, was court-martialed and acquitted, and was reprimanded by Washington. This led to his fateful correspondence with the British and the eventual betrayal of his friends, family, and country.Arnold was offered a British generalship and twenty thousand pounds to turn West Point over to his former enemies. If the conspiracy had not been discovered, it is not unreasonable to believe that the entire course of the Revolutionary War may have been upended. Control of the Hudson was considered vital to the war on both sides, analogous to control of the Mississippi River during the Civil War. Of course, the conspiracy was discovered and disaster averted, but Arnold would exact his revenge in two distinctive campaigns. …