Benedict Arnold after the American Revolution

 

After betraying his country, Benedict Arnold accepted a commission in the British army.  After the war Benedict Arnold was not celebrated when he arrived in England.  

He tried to advise British politicians to continue the fight for America despite the defeat at Yorktown.  Members of Parliament expressed the hope that the government would never put Arnold at the head of a part of the British army lest “the sentiments of true honour, which every British officer (holds) dearer than life, should be (offended).”  

Arnold next tried his hand at business.  He was turned down for a position in the East India Company where great fortunes were being made with the explanation that the purity of his conduct was generally thought low.  

In 1785, Arnold tried land speculation in Canada and trading in the West Indies.  The entire family moved to Canada in 1787, where the quarrelsome Arnold became involved in a series of bad business deals and petty lawsuits.  He became so unpopular that the townspeople of Saint John, New Brunswick burned him in effigy in front of his house as his family watched.  

The family returned to London in 1791. In July 1792, Arnold fought a duel with the Earl of Lauderdale who had impugned his honor.  When war broke out with France he outfitted a privateer and sailed for the West Indies.  By 1801 Arnold’s health began to fail.  After four days of delirium he died on June 14, 1801 at the age of sixty leaving debts and a name synonymous with treachery.