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THBBenedict Arnold ALS with News on Cornwallis and Clinton
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LiveApr 12, 2023
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- Lot Description
Revolutionary War-dated ALS signed “B. Arnold,” one page both sides, 7.25 x 9, January 16, 1782. Handwritten letter from Penzance to a "Lord," evidently Lord Germain, conveying dispatches from Henry Clinton, formerly the British Commander-in-Chief in North America who had secured Arnold's treasonous alliance.
In full: "On the 15th Ulto. a Fleet of one hundred & twenty odd Merchantmen, under Convoy of the Robust & James, sailed from New York, for Portsmouth, a few days after the Fleet sailed most of the convoy parted in a gale of wind, on the 25th the Robust sprang a Leake & bore away for the West Indies. On the 27th Lord Cornwallis his suite, & a number of Officers who came Passengers in the Robust left her, when Capt. Corby requested me to take charge of Sir Henry Clinton's Dispatches for your Lordship, which Capt. Ramsey will have the honor to deliver, to whom I beg leave to refer your Lordship for particulars. Mrs. Arnold being with me & both her & myself much fatigued prevents my doing myself the honor of Delivering these Dispatches myself." In fine condition.
After the failure of his plan to surrender West Point to the British, Benedict Arnold defected and was commissioned a brigadier general in the British army. He led marauding expeditions in Virginia and Connecticut in 1780-81, before sailing for England with his family as part of Lord Cornwallis's convoy in mid-December 1781. This letter, written from the famous port city of Penzance in Cornwall, dates to just after his arrival in the United Kingdom.
The circumstances of this journey, outlined in the present letter, are elaborated on in the introduction to the book The Campaign in Virginia 1781, edited by Benjamin Franklin Stevens: "Cornwallis sailed from New York for England, 15 December 1781, on the 'Robust,' 3rd rate, 74 guns, 600 men, Capt. Phs. Cosby, convoying a fleet of 120 merchantmen. On Dec. 25 the Robust sprang a leak, and made for the West Indies. The Log of the Robust says: 'Thursday 27 Dec. fresh gales and hazey, made the Sig'l to bear up and bore up and made the Greyhounds Sig'l to follow us‰Û_pumps constantly going‰Û_28 Dec. (a.m.), left the Ship to Go on b'd the Greyhound Lord Cornwallis‰Û_cheer'd him‰Û_.Bearings at Noon, Bermudas, 61 W, Dist. 113 Leagues.' General Benedict Arnold accompanied Cornwallis, and took charge of Clinton's dispatches to Lord George Germain. It is curious to note parenthetically that the 'Greyhound' was chased by a French privateer and obliged to run into Penzance, so escaping capture by our allies, the French."
George Germain, then serving as Secretary of State for the Colonies, consulted Arnold about the conduct of the war; Arnold urged Germain and King George III to renew the fight against the Americans. However, when the Tories went out of power in early 1782, Arnold found himself increasingly unpopular in England. He spent the rest of his life between Canada, the West Indies, and England, with a foray into outfitting privateers during the war with France. Plagued by debt and poor business decisions, he died broken and bankrupt in 1801. - Shipping Info
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