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Show Where Benedict Arnold Plotted Deed of Blackest Treachery "Treason House" In West Havorstraw, Where Andre and Arnold Planned the Surrender of West Point. Raging at the treatment meted out to him by congress and the supreme executive council in Philadelphia, Benedict Ben-edict Arnold had come to West Point as commander of the post. He was the hero of Quebec and of Saratoga. One leg wounded in two places bore witness to his bravery on the field. He was Washington's most trusted general. gen-eral. He had a record for leadership and sacrifice in the Continental cause second to none. But he was a morose and embittered man. As governor of Philadelphia and as a brilliant soldier he had made many enemies. His foes In the governing council of Pennsylvania Pennsyl-vania had brought against him a series of charges of dereliction in duty. Arnold Ar-nold had demanded a trial by court-martial. court-martial. He had faced its board at Morristown, the winter headquarters of Washington. The result had been a sentence to a public reprimand. Un- down stream and out of range. Andre was frankly worried. Delay That Was Fatal. "It may not be so easy to get back to the ship," he said. Benedict Arnold thought for a moment. mo-ment. "I will give you a pass that will take you safely back to New York by land if you cannot reach the Vulture," he announced. The pass was duly written out authorizing the Continental guards to let "John Anderson" An-derson" through their lines. By now Andre had the complete data for the surrender of West Point in his possession pos-session and, acting on Arnold's suggestion, sugges-tion, had concealed the papers In the sole of his stocking. The plot had been launched. Arnold left Treason house for his own residence across the river. The two conspirators were never to meet again. All that day Andre remained In the upper room of Treason house looking out over the river at the far-off Vulture Vul-ture and counting the hours that remained re-mained until darkness should fall and he could attempt his escape from the American lines. Night came and he demanded of Smith, the house's owner, that he row Mm out to the British sloop. Here, however, an obstacle appeared. ap-peared. It seems that Smith was obdurate ob-durate in refusing to run the gantlet of possible Continental fire on the way to the ship. He offered instead to guide Andre down to New York by road, and with this offer Andre had to be content. Under cover of darkness they crossed to the other side of the river and began the journey that was to end in Andre's capture at Tarrytown. How-he How-he passed through the American lines until he met the three patriots John Paulding, Isaac van Wort and David Williams guarding the road, how he mistook them for British sympathizers and declared himself to be an officer of his majesty the king, how they seized him, searched him, refused his offers of tremendous sums and took him to the Continental authorities and the end that came to him as a wartime spy are familiar matters of history. That day's work in Treason house was to bring nothing but disaster to the men who engaged in it. British Gained Little. The defection of Arnold does not fcseem to have been of much service to the British cause. He led their troops in a number of expeditions, none of which were of any great Importance. The memory of that black day at Treason Trea-son house seems to have been with r7mn 41'- 4f 7 ? Benedict Arnold. der It his proud nature smarted unen-durably. unen-durably. There came then the indefensible, inde-fensible, treacherous step which' was to destroy his career in an hour. Writing under the name of "Gus-tavus," "Gus-tavus," he entered into communication with Sir Henry Clinton, commander of the British forces in New York, and' was answered by his aid, Andre, who assumed the name of "John Anderson." Ander-son." , Arnold offered to station his troops so that the British would encounter en-counter no difficulty in seizing West Point. It was a strategic post on which the British had long had their eyes. Possession of It would cut off New England from the lower colonies. It would open an easy route to Canada. Can-ada. The Continentals would be crushed by the loss of their most Important Im-portant fort and its great stdre of supplies. sup-plies. The correspondence went on. A personal meeting between Arnold and Andre became Imperative If the underhand scheme were to go through. The Conspirators Meet. And so one day the British sloop-of-war Vulture glided up the waters of the Hudson and anchored not far from Stony Point. Arnold had laid his plans well. When darkness came a small boat went alongside the Vulture Vul-ture and Joshua Smith boarded her. At Arnold's command he w-as seeking a man who was to "bring important news" to the West Point commander.' A long blue surtout covered Andre's uniform as he stepped Into the small boat, and Smith did not know that the silent passenger he was rowing to shore was a foe of the newly born republic. re-public. In a few minutes Andre had made his way through the thicket to the Bide of Benedict Arnold. A few words of identification were exchanged. In half whispers and carefully lowered voices the conversation proceeded. What was the number of troops in West Point, what was its armament, how many supplies were stored there, in what way would Arnold dispose his soldiers so that the British could enter en-ter without casualties? Arnold suggested to Andre that he stay one more night on shore, promising promis-ing he would be rowed safely out to the Vulture the following night. Andre An-dre fell in with the plan and they adjourned ad-journed to the Treason house. As over breakfast they went on with their discussion, they were Interrupted by an ominous sound. A detachment of Continental soldiers had seen the Vulture In the river and had brought a cannon down to the shore. The booming thunder of its shots was rolling roll-ing up and down the Hudson. Arnold and Andre looked out of the windows cf Trer.son house and saw the Vulture baul up its; anchor and move swiftly Major Andre. htm to'his death. The hatred of the countrymen he had betrayed reached over seas and struck him down. Brooding Brood-ing through the years, he fell victim to a racking nervous disease from which he died in 1801. And now Treason house itself is to disappear forever. Perhaps it is well. The recollections which it summons up out of the past are best forgotten. |