Having Benedict Arnold’s Best Day

Last updated on: October 17, 2015 at 10:43 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

Having Benedict Arnold’s Best Day 2015-10-15T16:50:20-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When I took students to Saratoga, one of the greatest military victories in American history, I would ask them to find a monument with a boot and no name. Nobody ever failed to find it. Here it is with an inscription that reads:

“In memory of
the “most brilliant soldier” of the
Continental Army
who was desperately wounded
on this spot the sally port of
BORGOYNES GREAT WESTERN REDOUBT
7th October, 1777
winning for his countrymen
the decisive battle of the
American Revolution
and for himself the rank of Major General.”

The British had most of the great victories early in the War of Independence. American troops were not good in traditional battles and the well trained British troops occupied the cities of Boston and New York with ease. Washington could not stop careful British attack. What Washington did do was keep an army in the field and this would doom the British long term.

Thoughtful men like the father of conservatism Edmund Burke told the British parliament that Washington and the Americans were fighting for the rights of Englishmen. The cause of the patriots had merit and the force used by George III was disastrous. If we could endure, we could win, but to endure we needed allies. Like the Confederacy in 1861, many European powers, especially France, sympathized with our struggle. The Confederacy never convinced France they could win. The defeat of Lee at Gettysburg may have sealed the doom of the CSA (thanks be to God and General Meade!) by convincing the European powers, a military victory was impossible. At the Battle of Saratoga, the Americans did the opposite: we defeated a fine British army which may have helped persuade the French we could win. Always eager to take on their historic foe, France intervened and provided the fleet and the military aide Washington needed.

Oddly, the victory of Saratoga was not Washington’s but of an incompetent American General Horatio Gates who proves that sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. Gates was lucky in his opponent, Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne, who would have made a better name for a fine whiskey than a general. Gates was lucky in the terrain and in his army. (Some would say God blessed!) Most of all, the man they called Granny Gates was lucky to have in his command a dashing American hero: Benedict Arnold.

No man other than Washington had given more to the American cause and no man deserved promotion more than Arnold. He was checked by fatuous Congressional politics . . . not a first in American history . . . and would marry a delectable wife who demanded a lifestyle greater than he could command. Benedict Arnold would become an embittered man, a byword for betrayal, and would attempt to sell out his country for money to the British.

Benedict Arnold is the Judas of American history and he deserves the rebuke. He did not offer the British his services for any great moral transformation, but for money and power.

All of that would be sad enough, but Arnold has been a great man. At Saratoga, he saved the battle and received a crippling injury he would carry the rest of his life. The Boot Monument represents the Arnold who swung the tide of the key battle of the War for Independence by his courage, daring, and sheer audacity. There is no name because this hero fouled his name by the love of money, the root of all kinds of evil.

To me, Benedict Arnold stands as a great warning: end well, don’t foul your heritage.

Who hasn’t known men who were great, but who frittered away their greatness, their heroism, for money, power, or sex? They are Benedict Arnold. Great traitors can only get to the position of great betrayal by being skilled enough, great enough, to reach positions of trust and authority. His victories and his injury put him in a position to potentially deliver the key fort of West Point to the British. Arnold ended up trying to sell control of the Hudson, the very thing Saratoga had saved, to the men he had defeated.

Benedict Arnold used his greatness to achieve infamy.

And so it is today in our communities, churches, schools, and businesses. The Benedict Arnolds are not the men who are obviously evil, but the heroes who betray us. They are the narcissistic personalities that cannot stand losing out on promotion. They are the greedy men who sell their greatness for gold. They are driven by a sense of destiny to the point where they will dishonor their own accomplishment to try for something “greater.”

God help us all to avoid being Benedict Arnold: a man who on his greatest day made a monument for himself and then made sure that his name would be stricken from that same shrine. He became less than his greatest day.

God save us all.

Culture

Previous Post

October 16, 2015

Rest in Peace Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France

Next Post

October 18, 2015 Goodbye, Tsarist Alaska!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Naphtali" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

My struggle Chosen One The Lord is my strength God is my rock

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »