Ambassador won't be Wandsworth's only significant American

6:10pm Friday 10th October 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

News that the American Embassy will be coming to Wandsworth was greeted with great cheer last week.

However one man likely to be turning in his grave - ironically just a stone’s throw from where the embassy site is planned - is Benedict Arnold, who fought in the American War of Independence on the side of the Americans before switching sides to join the British.

His name is synonymous for treachery in the US, but the reasons behind his decision to defect have been used as a political simile ever since.

Arnold, who was born on January 14, 1741, and died on June 14, 1801, was considered by many to be the best general in the Continental Army.

Many commentators believe without his earlier contributions to the ‘rebels’ cause, the American Revolution might well have swung the way of the British.

His early military career in the war included many successful campaigns, but his greatest was the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 - in which he was seriously wounded in the leg.

The victory was seen as the turning point of the conflict as it convinced the French to align with the US, who then went on to win the war.

But, over looked for promotion by Congress, Arnold felt that other generals were taking the credit for his victories.

At the same time he was building up massive debt, his accounts were investigated by congress, and charges of corruption were brought against him - backed by his political opponents.

Increasingly frustrated by the lack of recognition, Arnold was then stunned by the decision to ally with France.

It was the straw that broke the camels back and Arnold, courted by the British, plotted to change sides.

In July 1780 he obtained command of the area of West Point in order to surrender it to the British. And the British would have had it, had his scheme not been detected when American forces captured British Major John André, who found him to be carrying papers which revealed the plan.

Learning of Major André's capture, Arnold escaped down the Hudson River into the arms of the British - narrowly avoiding capture by the forces of General Washington .

He was given a commission as a Brigadier General in the British Army (with an annual pension of £360, and a lump sum said to be 17 times that amount).

After the war he entered into mercantile business in Canada, but returned to London permanently in 1791 (after an angry mob overran the front lawn of his home, burning an effigy labelled "traitor").

Arnold is buried at St Mary's Church in Battersea and is still revered, somewhat paradoxically, as a hero in the US.

On the battlefield at Saratoga there is a lone monument to an un-named soldier. The inscription reads: “In memory of the most brilliant soldier of the Continental army, who was desperately wounded on this spot, winning for his countrymen the decisive battle of the American Revolution, and for himself the rank of Major General.”

It is a certainty that the story of Arnold will be resurrected many times before the new embassy is built.