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A Prank Led to America’s First Nominated Female to Office, and Other Lesser Known American History Facts

Khalid Elhassan December 13, 2019 33 min

5. Unmasking and Flight

A French map of West Point in 1780. Wikimedia

Benedict Arnold was placed in charge of American fortifications at West Point on the Hudson River, upstream from British-occupied New York City and barring the enemy from sailing upriver. He plotted to sell plans of the fortifications to the enemy, and contrived to deliver them into British hands, for £20,000. However, Arnold’s British contact, Major John Andre, was captured, along with incriminating documents. Arnold managed to flee to the British in the nick of time, to evade arrest.

He was made a brigadier general in the British army and led soldiers against the American side. However, the British never fully warmed to him, and after the war, he was unable to secure a regular commission. He pursued a variety of ventures, including privateering and land speculation in Canada, before finally settling in London, where he died in 1801.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.