Benedict+Arnold

[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Benedict_arnold_illustration.jpg/400px-Benedict_arnold_illustration.jpg width="280" height="420" align="right"]]Benedict Arnold
By Coleton

 Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741, in the little village of Norwich, Connecticut. In 1774, Benedict Arnold volunteered for the New Haven, Connecticut, Militia. In 1775 he was elected captain of the group. Once his group was ready for battle they marched to Lexington, Massachusetts, but they arrived too late to participate in the battle there. Arnold designed a plan of his own. He decided he would capture British held Fort Ticonderoga, located in northern New York. Arnold heard that another group (the Green Mountain Boys) also was planning to capture the fort. In 1775 he was commissioned as a colonel in the patriot forces. Him and Ethan Allen led the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, in New York, on May 10,1775. In 1776, he distinguished himself during the Battle of Valcour Island, a naval battle on Lake Champlain. Arnold was talked out of leaving the army by General George Washington. in the second Battle of Saratoga on October 7, 1777, Arnold led a headlong charge, captured a redcoat, was again wounded, and made the British surrender inevitable. When he was promoted to major general in February 1777, others he thought less deserving preceded him in rank. Arnold went to England in 1781 and turned to trade. Worn by depression, and suffering from a nervous disease, Benedict Arnold died in London on June 14, 1801.