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Benedict Arnold's Early Life

Benedict Arnold was born on January 14, 1741, in Norwich, Connecticut. His mother came from a wealthy family, but his alcoholic father squandered their estate.

As a young man, Arnold apprenticed at an apothecary business and served in the militia during the French and Indian War.

In 1767, Arnold, who became a prosperous trader, married Margaret Mansfield.

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The couple had three children before Margaret’s death in 1775.

Arnold at Fort Ticonderoga

When the Revolutionary War broke out between Great Britain and its 13 American colonies in April 1775, Arnold joined the Continental Army.

Acting under a commission from the revolutionary government of Massachusetts, Arnold partnered with Vermont frontiersman Ethan Allen and Allen’s Green Mountain Boys to capture the unsuspecting British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York on May 10, 1775.

Later that year, Arnold led an ill-fated expedition on a harrowing trek from