American Minute with Bill Federer
Spies & Traitors leaked, betrayed America: "Enemies Foreign & Domestic"
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Oath of military enlistment:
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against
all enemies, foreign and
domestic ..."
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Who were some of the most famous
"domestic" enemies?
In July of 1775, General Washington appointed
Dr. Benjamin Church
as the
first surgeon general of the Continental Army.
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Three months later, Washington discovered
Dr. Benjamin Church
had been spying for the British.
He wrote coded messages of the Continental Army's plans and
leaked
them to
British officer, Major Crane
.
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When
Dr. Church
exposed as the
leaker, Washington
informed the Continental Congress, October 5, 1775:
"I have now a
painful tho' a Necessary Duty
to perform respecting
Doctor Church, Director General of the Hospital."
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Another painful betrayal during the Revolution was that of
Benedict Arnold.
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Benedict Arnold
was one of America's most popular leaders, renown for helping Ethan Allen capture
Fort Ticonderoga
in 1775.
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Arnold fought courageously on Lake Champlain at the
Battle of Valcour Island in 1776.
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He fought in the
Battle of Ridgefield,
Connecticut and came to the rescue at the
Siege of Fort Stanwix.
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Benedict Arnold
was considered the hero of the pivotal
Battle of Saratoga
in 1777, leading a daring flanking charge, though he disobey a direct order to do so.
Shot in the leg in the battle, his career was sidelined for a season.
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Arnold
was given the position of military commander of
Philadelphia.
Philadelphia was the
largest city in America at the time, with a population of 43,000; followed by New York City with 25,000; Boston with 16,000; Charleston with 12,000; and Newport, Rhode Island with 11,000.
A year earlier, when the Americans lost the
Battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777,
the British Army, under General William Howe,
had occupied Philadelphia.
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As
Philadelphia
had a significant population of
Quakers,
who refused for religious reasons to take up arms in defense of America,
citizens who were still loyal to Britain could blend in.
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While military commander of Philadelphia,
Benedict Arnold
became captivated by
Peggy Shippen,
the
daughter
of a wealthy
loyalist-leaning judge.
At the same time,
Arnold
was accused of using his position for his own financial benefit and, as a result, had to endure a court-martial trial.
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Arnold
and
Peggy
were married in 1779.
During the draining trial,
Arnold
boldly accused his prosecutors of being disloyal to the patriot cause.
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He was eventually cleared of wrong-doing, but the ordeal, along with his being passed over for promotion, confirmed to his
loyalist-leaning wife,
Peggy,
that the Americans did not appreciate her husband.
Meanwhile,
Arnold
incurred much debt attempting to
maintain his wife's upper-class lifestyle.
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All the while,
Peggy
had maintained communication with a
British spy
in Philadelphia named
Major John Andre.
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After a year of coaxing,
Peggy
finally convinced
Benedict
to meet with
Andre.
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That same year, 1779, the Continental Congress declared a
Day of Public Prayer to Almighty God.
Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson
observed this by signing a State Proclamation of Prayer:
"Congress ... hath thought proper ... to recommend to the several States ... a day of public and solemn Thanksgiving to
Almighty God,
for his mercies, and of Prayer, for the continuance of his favor ...
That He would go forth with our hosts and crown our arms with victory;
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That He would
grant to His church, the plentiful effusions of Divine Grace,
and
pour out His Holy Spirit on all Ministers of the Gospel;
That He would bless and prosper the means of education, and
spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth ...
I do therefore ... issue this proclamation ... appointing ... a day of public and solemn thanksgiving and prayer to
Almighty God ...
Given under by hand ... this 11th day of November,
in the year of our Lord,
1779 ...
Thomas Jefferson."
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The next spring, April 6, 1780,
General Washington
issued the order from his headquarters at Morristown, New Jersey:
"Congress having been pleased by their Proclamation of the 11th of last month to appoint Wednesday the 22nd instant to be set apart and observed as
a day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer ...
there should be no labor or recreations on that day."
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General Benedict Arnold
lobbied
General Washington
to put him in charge of
West Point,
which he did on August 3, 1780.
Because of
Arnold's
previous heroic reputation,
Washington
had a blind spot when it came to suspecting
Arnold's betrayal.
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The fort at
West Point
was
America's largest and most important fort,
designed by the
Polish freedom fighter Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
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West Point
controlled the
Hudson River Valley,
which stretched from near
Canada in the North
to
New York City in the south.
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The
Hudson River
effectively
divided colonial America in half,
with the
New England Colonies
on the east and the
Middle & Southern Colonies
on the west.
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The surrender of West Point would have
split the country
and possibly
cost the Americans the War.
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By August 30, 1780,
General Benedict Arnold
not only agreed to
betray West Point,
but he would do so
on the very day General Washington would be there,
so that Washington could be captured.
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In exchange for this betrayal,
Benedict Arnold
would be paid
20,000 British pounds,
the equivalent of
one million dollars today.
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Arnold
intentionally
weakened West Point's defenses
by neglecting repairs and removing supplies,
all the while complaining to General Washington of shortages.
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General George Washington
and
Major-General Lafayette
decided to ride to West Point to
inspect its defenses
The trap was set.
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On September 19, 1780,
British General Henry Clinton
left Charleston, South Carolina, and was readying his troops to capture West Point.
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On September 23, 1780,
Arnold
met with
British spy Major John Andre
to arranged the final details of the fort's surrender to
British General Clinton.
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Talking too long,
Andre
missed the rendezvous with his British boat.
This was due in part to some Americans, by chance, spotting the waiting British boat and firing shots at it, causing it to retreat down river.
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Arnold
then had
Andre
dress as a civilian and take the risky route back to the British lines by land, with the map of West Point hidden in his stocking.
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Historians question why
Arnold did not take more precaution to keep
Andre from being caught, and concluded that
Arnold may have been somewhat blinded by his resentment toward the younger and more handsome
Andre for the close relationship
Andre maintained with his wife,
Peggy.
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Andre
had almost made it to the British lines when, providentially, some random American sentries spotted him in the woods and decided to stop him for questioning.
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Trying to talk his way out of why he was there, the sentries were unconvinced.
They searched him once and again.
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They almost let him go when they decided to make him take off his boot.
There, in
Andre's
sagging stocking, they found the folded up
map of West Point.
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The American sentries arrested
Andre
and immediately sent word to
General Benedict Arnold,
who was waiting for General Washington to arrive at West Point for breakfast, where he would be captured.
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Major James McHenry,
for whom Fort McHenry was later named, rode ahead to let
Arnold
know that Washington had been delayed.
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By the time
Major McHenry
arrived,
Benedict Arnold
had realized his plot was discovered and he fled to the waiting British ship,
HMS Vulture.
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His wife,
Peggy,
feigned insanity to avoid being questioned by Washington.
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Washington
offered to do a prisoner exchange with the British.
He would return
John Andre
to the British in exchange for
Benedict Arnold
being returned to the Americans.
The British refused.
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Since the
British
earlier
hanged
the captured 21-year-old American spy,
Nathan Hale,
General Washington insisted that
the same fate
be administered to the captured British spy,
Major John Andre.
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Andre
was hung on October 2, 1780.
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Benedict Arnold
joined the British ranks, where he
fought and killed Americans,
even burning the city of New London, Connecticut, in 1781.
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The day after Arnold's plot was thwarted,
American General Nathaniel Greene
reported September 26, 1780:
"Treason of the blackest dye was yesterday discovered!
General Arnold
who commanded at
West Point,
was about to ... give the American cause a
deadly wound if not fatal stab.
Happily the
treason
had been timely discovered to prevent the fatal misfortune.
The
providential train of circumstances
which led to its discovery affords the most convincing proof that the
Liberties of America
are the object of
divine Protection."
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On May 8, 1783, Yale President Ezra Stiles stated:
"A providential miracle
at the last minute detected
the treacherous scheme of traitor Benedict Arnold,
which would have
delivered the American army,
including George Washington himself,
into the
hands of the enemy."
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The
Continental Congress
issued a Day of Thanksgiving, October 18, 1780:
"In the late remarkable
interposition of His watchful providence,
in the
rescuing the person of our Commander-in-Chief
and the army from imminent dangers,
at the moment when treason was ripened for execution ...
It is therefore recommended ...
a Day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer
... to
confess our unworthiness
... and to offer fervent supplications to the
God of all grace
... to
cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread over all the earth."
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John Jay,
who was later appointed by George Washington as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, stated September 8, 1777:
"This glorious revolution ... is distinguished by so many
marks of the Divine favor and interposition
... in a manner so singular, and I may say
miraculous,
that when future ages shall read its history they will be tempted to consider a great part of it as fabulous (exaggerated) ...
Will it not appear
extraordinary
... like the
emancipation of the Jews from Egyptian servitude."
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American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.
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Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924
wjfederer@gmail.com
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