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Benedict
Arnold
After Arnold had officially changed sides, he was commissioned as a brigadier general in the Royal Army and led
troops against his former countrymen in Virginia briefly and also a raid on Fort Griswold that ended with Arnold’s
troops killing many of the surrendering American militiamen, possibly in confusion, and the British troops also
suffered high casualties. With the surrender at Yorktown and peace negotiations, Arnold’s fight against his former
countrymen was over, but he traveled to England to encourage the king to keep fighting.
While in England, Arnold also made attempts to obtain various higher commissions, but the end of the war plus
hostility toward a provincial “turncoat” or mercenary prevented him from acquire a lucrative position. Instead, he
moved to Saint John, New Brunswick, in the mid-1780s and established himself as a merchant, but his various
business and legal intrigues led to hostility leading him to relocate his family to London in 1791. There he
continued to be a divisive figure, fighting a duel after his honor was insulted in the House of Lords. During the
French Revolutionary Wars, he acted as an English privateer and was captured by the French in the West Indies
but escaped and fought in the West Indies as the leader of troops on some of the British islands and earned a land
grant in Renfrew, Ontario. He died in 1801 and was buried in England. His sons John and Richard both died in
Ontario, Canada, as did many of Arnold’s grandchildren. None of them were named Benedict Arnold.
Long after his death, Arnold’s treachery has continued to remain his legacy. Contemporary American’s hated
him for his betrayal, and the British did not trust a man who turned on his own country. Following his death,
biographies and histories portrayed him as a the arch traitor. During the antebellum era and Civil War, Jefferson
Davis and other secessionists were compared to Benedict Arnold for betraying the United States. He has continued
to be seen as the archetypal traitor. In multiple depictions of Arnold in film and television, he has been portrayed
armed with similar pistols, including in the series “Turn: Washington’s Spies,” where he is notably portrayed armed
with a pair of Sea Service pistols during his flight to the HMS Vulture.
CONDITION: Good overall with dark patina and a dark coating overall on the iron, aged patina, generally moderate
overall wear, minimal wear on the replacement belt hook, cracks and chips in the stock, and mostly distinct
markings, including a crisp inscription on the side plate. Mechanically fine.
Provenance: The Dr. Ambrose Lawrence Collection; The A.J. Woodbury Collection; Property of a Gentleman.
Estimate: 55,000 - 85,000