Benedict Arnold

:For other people of the same name, see Benedict Arnold (disambiguation).

Early life

Benedict Arnold V was born the second of six children to Benedict Arnold III and Hannah Waterman King in Norwich, Connecticut. He was named after his great-grandfather, an early colonial governor of Rhode Island. His parents had another son, named Benedict Arnold IV, who died in infancy before Benedict Arnold V was born. Only Benedict and his sister Hannah survived to adulthood, the other four siblings succumbed to yellow fever while still children.

Related Topics:
Benedict Arnold III - Hannah Waterman King - Norwich - Connecticut - Rhode Island - Yellow fever

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The Arnold family was financially well-to-do until Arnold's father made several bad business deals that plunged the family into debt. When this happened Arnold senior turned to alcohol for solace. At age fourteen Benedict was forced to withdraw from school because the family could no longer afford the cost.

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His father's abuse of alcohol and his ill health prevented him from training his son in the family mercantile business, but his mother's family connections secured an apprenticeship for him with two of her cousins, the brothers Daniel and Joshua Lathrop. The two ran a successful apothecary and general merchandise trade in Norwich.

Related Topics:
Apothecary - Norwich

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At age fifteen Benedict ran away and enlisted in the Connecticut militia, marching to Albany and Lake George to resist the French invasion from Canada during the French and Indian War. (See Battle of Fort William Henry).

Related Topics:
Militia - French and Indian War - Fort William Henry

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It is not clear if Benedict Arnold took part in the battle. Some sources claim he deserted and made his way home alone through the wilderness. Another source states his mother used her influence to obtain his discharge based on his young age.

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In any case the British suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the French under the command of Louis Joseph Marquis de Montcalm. Subsequent to the British surrender, the native warrior allies of the French were filled with outrage by the easy terms offered to the British and Colonial forces. They had been promised scalps, arms and booty, and none was forth coming. They fell upon the prisoners as they were being escorted away and as many as 180 were massacred. The French regulars were powerless to stop them. See Fort William Henry Massacre{{ref|Massacre}}. It is mere speculation, but this event may have created an abiding hatred for the French on a young and impressionable Arnold that influenced his actions later in life.

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Arnold's mother, to whom he was especially close, died in 1759. The youth took on the responsibility of supporting his ailing father and younger sister. His father's alcoholism became worse after the death of his wife and he was arrested on several occasions for public drunkeness, and also refused communion by his church. With his father's death in 1761, the then twenty-one year old Benedict Arnold resolved to return his family name to the elevated status it had once enjoyed.

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