The Curious London Legacy of Benedict Arnold

More than 200 years after his death, the most notorious traitor of the Revolutionary War has an unlikely supporter

  • By John Hanc
  • Smithsonian.com, July 09, 2010, Subscribe
 
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold, shown on the left concealing his plans in John André's boot, has become synonymous with treason but before he betrayed America, he saved it. (Bettmann / Corbis)

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“You have five minutes,” the vicar said, as he led us through the foyer of St. Mary’s church in the Battersea section of London. “I’m sorry I can’t give you more time, but we have a meeting down there that’s about to start.”

And with that, we descended a flight of stairs to see the tomb of America’s most infamous turncoat.

I was on a London “Tory Tour” —an afternoon-long look at sites associated with the 7,000 American Loyalists who fled to England’s capital during the Revolution. Our tour guide, Tom Sebrell, a young historian from Virginia currently living and teaching in London, made the crypt of Benedict Arnold the first stop. Our group included a couple of American expats, an Oxford-educated Brit who confessed to knowing little about the Loyalists or Arnold; a young Chinese graduate student; and two American-born professors of journalism at Concordia University in Montreal, both in London for a conference.

“In Canada, the United Empire Loyalists, as they’re called there, are well respected,” says Brian Gabrial, one of the Concordia professors. “I’m interested to see how they’re remembered here.”

So was I. In particular, Arnold who, though not technically a Loyalist (he fought for five years on the side of the rebels), was certainly among the most prominent Americans in exile after the Revolution.

Instead of crypt-like shadows, we emerged into the glare of fluorescent lights. St. Mary’s Sunday school is held in the basement level; during the week, it’s rented by a private kindergarten. On this Saturday, a meeting was indeed underway. Folding chairs gathered in a circle, plastic foam cups and minutes in hand, a group of parishioners looked curiously at the group of eight who came traipsing past them, led by the apologetic vicar, the Rev. Paul Kennington. In a corner on the far side of the room, we found the ceiling festooned with colorful balloons. There were crayon drawings by the children; a fish tank—and Benedict Arnold.

While a church has been on this spot since the Middle Ages, the current St. Mary’s was only 18 years old when the general and his family arrived in London in 1795. Arnold—embroiled in controversy, as always, this time over bad investments in Canada—spent the last five years of his life here as a member of St. Mary’s. His remains, and those of his wife, the former Margaret Shippen, and their daughter lie here. The headstone, we notice as we cluster around it, looks surprisingly new and identifies Arnold as the “Sometime General in the Army of George Washington …The Two Nations Whom He Served In Turn in the Years of their Enmity Have United in Enduring Friendship.”

Very diplomatic; but who would have put up a new headstone of Arnold down here? “An American,” answered the vicar.

We looked at each other, dumbfounded. An American erecting a monument to one of the most infamous villains in our history?

Upon investigation, we learned that this benefactor, Bill Stanley of Norwich, Connecticut, was a former state senator, president of the Norwich Historical Society, and an oft-quoted, indefatigable defender of Norwich native Benedict Arnold (“If we can forgive the Japanese for Pearl Harbor, can’t we forgive him?” Stanley once said to a reporter).

“Bill felt that Arnold never got enough credit for what he did before he became a traitor,” says Olive Buddington, a close friend of Stanley’s and colleague in the historical society.


“You have five minutes,” the vicar said, as he led us through the foyer of St. Mary’s church in the Battersea section of London. “I’m sorry I can’t give you more time, but we have a meeting down there that’s about to start.”

And with that, we descended a flight of stairs to see the tomb of America’s most infamous turncoat.

I was on a London “Tory Tour” —an afternoon-long look at sites associated with the 7,000 American Loyalists who fled to England’s capital during the Revolution. Our tour guide, Tom Sebrell, a young historian from Virginia currently living and teaching in London, made the crypt of Benedict Arnold the first stop. Our group included a couple of American expats, an Oxford-educated Brit who confessed to knowing little about the Loyalists or Arnold; a young Chinese graduate student; and two American-born professors of journalism at Concordia University in Montreal, both in London for a conference.

“In Canada, the United Empire Loyalists, as they’re called there, are well respected,” says Brian Gabrial, one of the Concordia professors. “I’m interested to see how they’re remembered here.”

So was I. In particular, Arnold who, though not technically a Loyalist (he fought for five years on the side of the rebels), was certainly among the most prominent Americans in exile after the Revolution.

Instead of crypt-like shadows, we emerged into the glare of fluorescent lights. St. Mary’s Sunday school is held in the basement level; during the week, it’s rented by a private kindergarten. On this Saturday, a meeting was indeed underway. Folding chairs gathered in a circle, plastic foam cups and minutes in hand, a group of parishioners looked curiously at the group of eight who came traipsing past them, led by the apologetic vicar, the Rev. Paul Kennington. In a corner on the far side of the room, we found the ceiling festooned with colorful balloons. There were crayon drawings by the children; a fish tank—and Benedict Arnold.

While a church has been on this spot since the Middle Ages, the current St. Mary’s was only 18 years old when the general and his family arrived in London in 1795. Arnold—embroiled in controversy, as always, this time over bad investments in Canada—spent the last five years of his life here as a member of St. Mary’s. His remains, and those of his wife, the former Margaret Shippen, and their daughter lie here. The headstone, we notice as we cluster around it, looks surprisingly new and identifies Arnold as the “Sometime General in the Army of George Washington …The Two Nations Whom He Served In Turn in the Years of their Enmity Have United in Enduring Friendship.”

Very diplomatic; but who would have put up a new headstone of Arnold down here? “An American,” answered the vicar.

We looked at each other, dumbfounded. An American erecting a monument to one of the most infamous villains in our history?

Upon investigation, we learned that this benefactor, Bill Stanley of Norwich, Connecticut, was a former state senator, president of the Norwich Historical Society, and an oft-quoted, indefatigable defender of Norwich native Benedict Arnold (“If we can forgive the Japanese for Pearl Harbor, can’t we forgive him?” Stanley once said to a reporter).

“Bill felt that Arnold never got enough credit for what he did before he became a traitor,” says Olive Buddington, a close friend of Stanley’s and colleague in the historical society.

In articles and speeches over four decades, Stanley—who died in April, at age 79—cited as proof of Arnold’s greatness his epic march to Quebec in 1775; his brilliant naval engagement at Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in 1776 (an action that delayed a British invasion from the north that could have destroyed the rebellion); and ultimately, his heroic charge at Freeman’s Farm, during the decisive 1777 Battle of Saratoga. Of course, there was also that little matter in West Point in 1780, when Arnold’s plot to turn over the American fort to the British was uncovered. His contact, the gallant British officer John André, was caught and hanged as a spy; Arnold made a beeline for the Brits, and …well, you know the rest of that story: Benedict Arnold became Benedict Arnold—a synonym for treason to this day.

Stanley did not deny Arnold’s treachery. He just felt the man should have gotten more credit for what he did prior to switching sides. “He saved America, before he betrayed it,” he once said.

On a trip to London, Stanley and his wife, Peggy, visited St. Mary’s and found a faded painted epitaph on Arnold’s basement crypt. “He said that when he saw the seeming insignificance marking [Arnold’s] burial site, he almost cried,” recalls his son, Bill Stanley Jr. of New London, Connecticut. “He said, ‘This guy deserves better than this.’ But you can’t exactly call the American government and say ‘We need a better monument to Benedict Arnold!’ ” (Indeed, in the United States, there are some tributes to Arnold—including one at Saratoga National Historic Park and another at West Point—that note his “pre-treasonous” achievements, while pointedly omitting his name.)

Stanley decided to undertake the project himself. Using his own money, he paid $15,000 to have a granite headstone cut and the epitaph inscribed. The church agreed to install it and in May, 2004, Stanley, his wife, son and daughter, and about 25 other friends and members of the Norwich Historical Society flew to London for the installation of the new headstone at St. Mary’s. At a special Sunday service—with the 160-pound headstone displayed on the altar—the “enduring friendship” between the United States and Great Britain was extolled, and Stanley, although weak from gallbladder surgery (one of a succession of maladies that would keep him in and out of hospital for the last six years of his life) felt vindicated. “He literally almost died doing this,” says Bill Jr. “But I think his feeling was that after he’d gotten the headstone over there that his mission was accomplished. Arnold to some degree had been exonerated, or at least recognized.”

Though impressed by the efforts of this determined man from Connecticut to honor his hero, Gabrial, the Concordia professor, for one, wasn’t buying the revisionist perspective on Arnold—nor was he moved to tears by the obscurity of his final resting place. “As an American, I’m quite pleased to see that, in death, Benedict Arnold is hardly a celebrated figure to most Brits,” he said.

And being buried in the basement, next to a fish tank?

“Serves him right.”

Still, as we learned on the Tory Tour, the late Bill Stanley was not alone among his countrymen in his views on Arnold. A magnificent stained-glass tribute to Arnold at St. Mary’s was donated by American Vincent Lindner in 1976; and at the last stop of Sebrell’s tour, Arnold’s home in the fashionable Marylebone neighborhood, another surprise awaited us. On the door of the handsome three-story town house on Gloucester Place, a plaque—not, Sebrell noted, one of the official National Trust plaques usually accorded to historic homes in Britain—identifies Arnold as an “American Patriot.”

A patriot? Without even an acknowledgement of his treachery? “It might be someone’s idea of a joke…or irony,” Sebrell speculated. After all, even the tireless Bill Stanley didn’t try to defend the “second half” of Benedict Arnold’s career. “He knew it was a tough sell,” his son acknowledged. “It was like trying to get people to look at all the great things O.J. did before the Bronco.”

For more information on St. Mary’s of Battersea, and Arnold’s grave, visit http://home.clara.net/pkennington/index.htm


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Arnold defected before America was ordained by the constitution as the USA, therefore technically he thought it best not to fight on the side of the anarchic revolutionists but instead remain British. Ironically, just like OJ, whose wife was still alive talking by phone to her mother as Simpson departed for LAX, exonerating information known to the courts and the LAPD but hidden from the jury and the public, Arnold goes down as the paramount traitor.

Posted by Henry S. Johnson MD on October 15,2012 | 09:40 PM

Arnold was a brilliant soldier but he had no moral compass. He fought ferociously on both sides, and his main remorse is that he ended his life as a loser. It's unfortunate about the unfair criticism that he received from Gates and others, but other American generals (Greene, Morgan, even Washington) were also subjected to this and did not betray their cause. When Arnold died in 1801 he knew that he could have been a widely-admired hero if he hadn't been a selfish traitor.

Posted by Pat MacAuley on August 2,2012 | 10:38 PM

To Elizabeth 032512 posting: I believe that I too am related to Benedict Arnold. My Great-Great Grandfather was Colonel Henry J. Arnold of Virginia. Benedict had a son by his first marriage named Henry J. Arnold died 1826 but reputed to have moved to Virginia. I believe my Henry J. Arnold was his son, making me the Great-Great-Great-Great Grandson of Benedict Arnold. Unfortunately my search ends with Henry J. moving from Virginia, marrying and then moving his family and my Great Grandfather, a decorated twice wounded Confederate Calvary Soldier to Missouri... Can we collaborate on our connection with Benedict? Thank you, Don Arnold

Posted by Donald K. on July 6,2012 | 10:33 AM

Interesting story. Benedict Arnold is one of my ancestors and I've always preferred to focus on the positives in his work. I grew up in Vermont, where Arnold's battles on Lake Champlain are highlighted by the maritime museum and his diary entries are the reason one ship has been replicated. It's interesting that some call Stanley's perspective "revisionist history" as so much of what our children learn in school is already revisionist history.

Posted by Elizabeth on March 25,2012 | 09:36 PM

One thing leads to another. North America is an open, fresh chessboard which is still being played by Freemasons.

Posted by H.I.M. Prince Corey U.E. on November 26,2011 | 03:42 AM

The story of the 'Tories' in London is an interesting one that needs more exploration. Are there actually 'Tory Tours'?

Posted by Richard Hornsby on November 1,2011 | 07:06 PM

Interesting. A number of dissatisfied British subjects (Washington, Adams, Franklin, Hancock etc) commit treason and start open war against their government, and Arnold, who actually betrayed all sides, is the only one known as a traitor.

Posted by Pat Farrell on October 16,2011 | 07:00 AM

If anyone should be spat upon, it would be the idiots in Congress, & jealous fellow Officers & officials, who drove Arnold mad with their lack of support or recognition. We should have or could have recognized Arnold as America's greatest military hero and most tragic figure. He gave his all and was backstabbed constantly by his fellow countrymen. A tragedy.

Posted by Publius on May 14,2011 | 04:26 PM

Hello friends. Please read this carefully. Benedict Arnold did not betray America, Congress betrayed England. Congress was afraid of arrest for treason. Benedict Arnold loved his country. The problem for England was the 3,000 miles from her American children across the Atlantic Ocean. After great sums of money to remove the French and Indian threat, England needed help with expenses. But some Americans felt they could govern themselves and rebelled against requests (taxes). Congress was formed and was what the French needed to revenge the loss of North America to England. England ordered American weapons secured,causing unexpected battles at Lexington and Concord. Benedict Arnold was promoted by Massachusetts, not Congress on the way to Philadelphia for only its second meeting. England could not recruit people to fight American relatives, and hired Germans, and offered freedom to American slaves. There was no United States and Congress had no money or army. England could have closed every seaport. France, with spies in America and England's Parliament, knew that would never happen. Benedict Arnold used his fortune to create an army and navy. He constantly prevented the success of England's forces, and France secretly shipped weapons to Congress and built West Point. The first fort was 'Fort Arnold'. England's commanders had American wives, children, mistresses, and were interested in love not the rebellion, thinking it would end with peace negotiations. Benedict Arnold thought England would settle the rebellion, and, though respectful while Military Governor of Philadelphia, he never liked the French. He hated to see people suffer, and at all times, including at New London, Connecticut, near his birthplace Norwich, he tried his best to prevent any bloodshed. After spending his fortune, and mistreatment by Congress, he wanted to end the rebellion and allow England to restore peace to America and eventually the world.

Posted by Ellis on December 12,2010 | 06:43 PM

Surely the most infamous traitor of the American revolution was George Washington: the officer who had sworn allegiance to the Crown and then turned terrorist to slay his former comrades? Benedict Arnold may have been a late Loyalist, but at least he came to recognize the infidelity of those who abandonned their oaths to avoid taxes.

Posted by Nola Crewe on August 14,2010 | 07:40 AM

Shortly after his treason, a rally was held in Massachusetts at which Arnold was burned in effigy. Then someone remembered that Arnold was shot in the left leg at the Battle of Saratoga, in which he did, indeed, secure the American victory. Wait! someone cried, We can't burn that heroic leg! So, they cut the leg off the effigy & placed it on an altar, bedecked with flowers. Many raucous toasts were drunk to Arnold's gallant left leg -- while the rest of him burned.

Posted by John Hartwell on August 12,2010 | 07:35 PM

I am a firm believer in the repudiation of revisionist history, but I am also not fool enough to believe I know everything about everything. Arnold's actions -- both heroic and otherwise -- deserve at the very least a careful study before people recklessly rush to judgment. Yes, he turned against the cause at the end, but his actions for the side of the rebellion certainly accord him some credit. The person who noted that other people served the cause selflessly was correct, but we human beings are notoriously far from perfect. Given the circumstances under which Arnold turned to the British, we must ask ourselves what we might have done in the same situation. Frustration, humiliation, and anger, to name a few, can be powerful motivators, and they can cloud one's judgment to a great degree; it is very possible that this lapse in judgment can also be easily and readily self-justified based upon a particular set of circumstances. If any one of us can walk in Arnold's shoes for a while and then haughtily think of ourselves as being able to rise above the reasons for his turning, then we must very carefully consider what we might have done in his stead and not place an inordinate amount of faith in our own nobility. After all, as someone else above also commented, those were extremely trying times, and, during such times, none of us, NONE OF US, is above making a potentially damaging mistake, because we also might succumb to the pressures of all influencing factors and react with great emotion and impulsiveness, thinking, "Enough is enough!" We are all the same human beings we were back then. Perfection and self-control are still inconstant hallmarks of the human character. Casting stones from a distance of 200 years will still damage our glass houses.

Posted by Frank Chesnutt on August 11,2010 | 11:03 PM

Big deal - traitor/patriot, terrorist/freedom fighter, oppressor/defender-of-his-people, none of it matters because as soon as a regime changes all the names change anyway. Arnold just got stuck on the wrong side of the power shift, that's all.

Really not worth getting steamed about 200+ years later.

Posted by Dusty on August 11,2010 | 02:11 PM

Benedict Arnold and I share a common ancestor. Maybe that is why I am slightly sympathetic to him. Anyway, what has always bothered me is that someone can have a distinguished career, then do one bad thing, and be condemned forever. Yes, he was self centered and a traitor to the cause, but we might all be "speaking British" if not for him. We owe him a debt and at least a balanced account of his life.

Posted by Russ Martin on August 11,2010 | 11:13 AM



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