Beschreibung:

ARNOLD, BENEDICT, Major General, Continental Army, traitor . Autograph letter signed ("B Arnold") to General [Washington], Philadelphia 25 July 1778. One page, folio, laid down, paper damaged, dampstained and repaired, with partial or total loss to a dozen words . BENEDICT ARNOLD REPORTS TO WASHINGTON, TWO YEARS BEFORE HIS TREASON IS REVEALED At Bemis Heights, New York, on October 7, 1777, Arnold joined the second battle of Saratoga as a volunteer officer; rushing into the thick of the battle with characteristic bravery, he received a bullet in his thigh. During his convalescence, Congress finally acknowledged his services by granting him the long-delayed rank of Major-General, which in spite of Washington's support they had failed to do in the fall of 1776, promoting instead five brigadier-generals, all of whom were Arnold's juniors. Sufficiently recovered by May to join Washington at Valley Forge, Arnold was still in no condition for active duty, and the Commander-in-Chief assigned him to take command of Philadelphia, which the British had just evacuated after a nine-month occupation. Arnold writes somewhat cryptically during his sixth week as Commander of the city: "A flurry of business and Ill state of health, I am sure will plead an excuse with you for my long silence, my well hours have been so entirely ingrossed by business that I can Inform you no more of the affair we had in Contemplation, than you know of the matter. A few days I hope will bring me a leisure hour when I will write you fully on the subject. Tho late I beg leave to present you my[?] Congratulatory Compliments on the arrival of the French Fleet and Minister [Conrad Alexandre Gérard] & the pleasing Prospect of our affairs. The fleet has left its position and gone to Rhode Island from whence it is expected soon, I hope it will arrive in time to intercept the last fleet. I have sent his Excell.y a Box but in which is half a doz. for you if you will do me the fav.r to accept of them, with my best respects & hearty good wishes...". Arnold himself had been the first to inform Washington, in a letter dated 8 July, of the dispatch from Toulon of a French fleet under the command of Vice-Admiral Count d'Estaing (cf. D. Freeman, George W Washington , New York 1952, 5:45), for which information Washington congratulated him "as a matter worthy of credit" in his reply of 11 July (Fitzpatrick 12:168), and he was chosen by Congress to be the first host of Minister Gérard, who arrived on the July 12th. Washington and Arnold remained in close correspondence during this period, Washington keeping Arnold informed of political and military developments on various fronts. Arnold was meanwhile facing difficulties in Philadelphia, where his ostentatious style of living was running him into serious debt, while his speculative activities were earning him the enmity of prominent citizens. In January of the following year the city council charged him with using his military office for private gain, and using militia soldiers for menial and personal services, resulting, nearly a year later, in a Courts-martial and a reprimand from the Commander-in-Chief. But by that time Arnold had begun his treasonous correspondence with General Clinton, which is believed to have commenced in June 1779. Autograph letters from Arnold to Washington appear rarely on the market; the last one recorded in ABPC was sold in 1968.