Writing of the court martial to his friend, General George Washington, and complaining of “my suffering,” Benedict Arnold believed the charges were unfounded. Washington was especially chagrined. He called the charges against Arnold “peculiarly reprehensible.”

Convicted on two counts (personally using government wagons and giving preferential treatment to a ship he later invested in), Arnold’s character flaws began to surface. Injured first in a failed assault against Quebec (in 1775) and again at the battle of Saratoga (in 1777), Benedict Arnold was intelligent, daring and courageous. (Don't miss the Saratoga battle animation from the U.S. Military Academy.) But his other side - the side where pride ruled - began to take hold of his reasoning.

He complained to Washington:

Having...become a cripple in the service of my country, I little expected to meet [such] ungrateful returns.

By the spring of 1779 he was talking with the British. Perhaps they would treat him with more respect.