Benedict Arnold Betrays his Country

It was on this day in 1780 that Benedict Arnold betrayed his country.

Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741 and died on June 14, 1801. He was 60 years old. Arnold originally fought for American independence from the British Empire as a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, but later was engaged in a plot with British Major John André to turn West Point over to the British.

André was captured by the Americans with details of the betrayal hidden in his boot. Upon learning of André's capture, Benedict Arnold escaped down the Hudson River to the British Sloop-of-War, "Vulture", narrowly avoiding capture by the forces of General Washington who had departed for West Point immediately upon learning of Arnold's plan. For his efforts, Arnold received a commission as a Brigadier General in the British army and £6,000.

The measure of Arnold's treachery was made worse by the fact that he was considered by many to be the best general and most accomplished leader in the Continental Army. In fact, without Arnold's earlier contributions to the American cause, the American Revolution might well have been lost; notwithstanding, his name, has become a byword for treason.

Arnold distinguished himself early in the war through acts of cunning and bravery. His many successful campaigns included the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga (1775), the Invasion of Canada (1775), victory at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in 1776, the battles of Danbury and Ridgefield in Connecticut (after which he was promoted to Major General), and the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 where he severely injured his right leg.

A monument in Saratoga National Historical Park was erected in recognition of Arnold's victory, heroism and for the injury he sustained during the campaign. However, due to his later treachery it does not bear his name, only a cryptic dedication to "the most brilliant soldier of the Continental army . . . winning for his countrymen the decisive battle of the American Revolution and for himself the rank of Major General." It is the only war memorial in the United States that does not bear the name of its honoree.

Now, as an officer in the British army, Arnold led a force of 1,600 troops into Virginia and captured Richmond, cutting off the major artery of material to the southern colonial effort. It is said that Arnold asked an officer he had taken captive about what the Americans would do if they captured Arnold, and the captain is said to have replied "Cut off your right leg, bury it with full military honors, and then hang the rest of you on a gibbet."

On his death bed in London in 1801 at age 60, Arnold is reputed to have said "Let me die in this old uniform (Colonial) in which I fought my battles. May God forgive me for ever having put on another."

The situation in Jena, Lousiana made me think of my a neighbor who has some goats. They are nice goats and in the spring you can drive by their home and you see little baby goats nursing on their mothers milk. Everyone thinks they are cute. They hop around and sometimes a car will stop and people will want to pet the goats. They come over, "baah, baah" and put their heads up close so you can pet them. Cats and dogs will do the same thing.

I have never seen my neighbor mistreat any of the goats. Why would they? They milk the little goats and the goats have value.

These goats really like people. They want to be around people all the time. If you go out where the goats are they will come over to you and if you aren’t careful you will stumble over them. No matter where you go they will follow you. I recall years ago we had six goats and I have a picture of my wife walking down to the creek with all six goats following behind her.

The trouble with goats is they LOVE people too much. If you didn’t keep them in a pen they would be in the flowers, in the garden, on the porch, climbing on top of the car and going through the front door of your home if you left the door open.

This has nothing to do with living in the south. Northern goats act the same way. European goats act the same way as American goats.

In fact its the same for most all domesticated animals. They want to be around people!
As much as my neighbor loves her goats, she doesn’t want them in her house or sleeping on her bed.

She doesn’t hate her goats. She just wants to keep her house goat free!

And I have never seen her go down to the barn and sleep with the goats. It just isn’t the descent thing to do!

A while back my neighbor and their family were having a picnic around this old tree behind the house and someone left the gate open and right in the middle of their picnic goats started trampling around their picnic site. Goats really like being around people.

My neighbor told me, "I wish we could reason with these goats. I wish they would understand that we don’t hate them. We don’t care if the goats get together in a herd and go about doing the things goats want to do. In fact we like to see happy goats. It’s just I don’t want to hang out with the goats. I don’t want the goats climbing through our open doors and I don’t want the goats around all the time. I don’t want to be worried that an angry Billy Goat might try to ram me with his horns. So when the goats are around I can’t quite relax, I have to be careful and keep looking over my shoulder in case there might be an angry Billy goat."

My neighbors really do like their goats. They take pretty good care of them. They give them lots of feed, they keep their little goat house nice and warm in the winter and when the little baby goats get sick they make sure the little goat gets medical care.

My neighbor said, "The trouble with goats is no matter where we go they want to follow us. It’s almost impossible to get away from them. They can’t understand, we love them - we just don’t want them around all the time!

"I guess there is just something in their nature that won’t allow them to be happy unless we let them live with us."

The Victory Report is being prepared for mailing but it won’t be in today’s mail. But we will be able to mail it Monday. The plan is to record a program for the Global Minority Report radio program later today.

Don’t forget White Christian Heritage Festival - October 20.
Winter Fellowship Conference - December 1-2.
Thank you for your support and keep spreading the GOOD NEWS of White Christian Revival!