Audio Transcript: On September 25, 1780, General George Washington received the stunning news that one of his best generals had defected to the British. According to James Thomas Flexner, “Treason was so alien to [Washington’s] nature that the treason of a fighter he had admired, a man he had trusted, shook his being to its very foundations.”1 Despite his shock, Washington knew he needed to do more than simply inform the American people that the now former Continental General Benedict Arnold had almost succeeded in handing over the pivotal American fort of West Point to British hands. Rather, Washington had to do something that would also serve as damage control for the present crisis. Arnold’s treason exposed the vulnerabilities of the Continental army. It also, Washington saw, had the power to inspire dissent among Continental ranks and lower American morale. To remedy the situation, Washington portrayed Arnold very explicitly as the antithesis to American honor and virtue in his General Orders:
Treason of the blackest dye was yesterday discovered. General Arnold, who commanded at West Point, lost to every sentiment of honor, of public virtue and private obligation, was about to deliver up that important post to the hands of the enemy. Such an event must have given the American cause a dangerous, if not a fatal wound; but the treason has been timely discovered.2
George Washington’s General Orders established the narrative that would forever cast Arnold out of America’s social fraternity, by making Arnold’s treason about a lack of honor and virtue. In doing so, Washington set the parameters for others to be a part of the “imagined community” of the emerging American nation.3 In the early years of nationhood, Arnold’s legacy survived as a constant reminder of its need for virtue and honor to ensure American independence.
Moving away from America’s early years, Arnold’s legacy evolved from its original meaning and shifted to more generalized discussions of American loyalty. What has remained constant is that he will always be remembered as America’s greatest traitor.
Please visit the following exhibits to learn about Benedict Arnold and his legacy:
BENEDICT ARNOLD'S ROLE IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION