Chapter 1 An American Hero On October 7 1777 Benedict Arnold was ready to fight Arnold was a general in the American Continental Army during the Revolutionary War He wanted to help the thirteen colonies win independence from Great Britain But for the last two weeks Arnold had mostly been doing nothing He and his men were just sitting around and waiting for something to happen The American soldiers had already fought the British in one deadly battle near Saratoga New York The British lost 600 men the American army lost 300 After that battle both sides took a break The British army had been hoping for extra men to come help them fight But no one ever arrived The American army in the meantime was getting bigger and stronger as more and more men showed up to help 4
On October 7 after 18 days of waiting Benedict Arnold had finally had enough The British were moving into fighting position and Arnold knew the time to strike was now Arnold emerged from his tent ready to go Victory or death he yelled Some historians believe that Arnold disobeyed the orders of his boss General Horatio Gates Others believe that Gates gave Arnold permission to join the fight What we do know is on that day Arnold led a group of men right into the heart of the battle He rode his horse between two lines of enemy soldiers and his loyal men followed Come on brave boys come on Arnold shouted 6
Wounded in Battle The fighting was tough Both sides lost hundreds of men Arnold himself was shot in the leg When the horse he was riding was also shot it fell on top of that same leg crushing it and Arnold had to be carried from the field But he was carried off as a hero The Americans won the battle and experts today agree that it was one of the most important moments of the entire war Three years later Benedict Arnold became a spy and a traitor But it wasn’t always that way 7
