In Thomaston, Maine, Ellen S. Dyer, director of the Montpelier Museum, and archivist Sophia Mendoza spent several days helping me identify historical sources, local papers, and books that provided insights and critiques of the Knoxes and their impact upon that region. Following that visit, Ms. Dyer suggested additional sources, background information, and local legends about the Knoxes. Thanks are also due to Norma Jane Langford, communications professor at Northeastern University, who shared her knowledge about the American Loyalists who emigrated to the North American British colonial provinces during the Revolutionary era. An invaluable historical expert on Benedict Arnold was author James Kirby Martin, Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Houston, who not only provided suggestions for sources and sites in the United States and England but also generously read portions of the manuscript, sent comments, and enthusiastically supported the scope of this project.
Phillip Seitz, Curator of History and Fermentation at Cliveden, a historic mansion in Philadelphia owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, graciously cleared his calendar to talk with me and suggested key background materials on eighteenth-century Philadelphia and its residents. Thanks are also due to the staff at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, especially Cary Majewicz and Dana Dorman, for help with the Shippen Family Papers and online access to early editions of the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Amanda Fulcher, archivist at the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, provided invaluable information about the Henry Knox Papers and the reminiscences of his daughter Lucy Knox Thatcher.
Several Canadian researchers enhanced research on Benedict Arnold’s years in Saint John, New Brunswick, among them Amber McAlpine of the New Brunswick Museum Archives and Research Library for her guidance on the Arnold collections in Canada, and her colleague Jennifer Longon for permission to reprint letters from the Benedict Arnold Fonds. My thanks also to Francesca Holyoke, head of the Archives and Special Collections at the University of New Brunswick Archives Library for her conscientious efforts to send me to the Benedict Arnold-Munson Hayt Fonds. Margaret Conrad, professor emerita of history at the University of New Brunswick, graciously read a draft of the manuscript, made several important suggestions, and alerted me to the historical distortions often associated with Arnold’s life in Saint John.
Marla Miller, director of the Public History Program at the University of Massachusetts, took time from her busy schedule to read a draft of the manuscript and provided a thoughtful comment. In London’s St. Mary’s Church in Battersea, the burial place of Benedict and Peggy Shippen Arnold, Sunny Walker-Kier gave me a tour of the parish church, followed by a discussion with the reverends Peter Wintgren and Adam Boulter about the Arnolds and other prominent individuals buried there. I am especially grateful to the Battersea Parish Church’s archivist, Sven Tester, for help with the history of the Arnold tomb, the Benedict Arnold stained-glass window, his comments on a draft of the manuscript, and his outreach to a historical scholar on behalf of this book.
For public opinions on Arnold in England, the British Library’s Newspaper Archive at Colindale, North London, provided a wealth of historical articles. With my appreciation also to Dr. Tony Trowles, head of the Abbey Collections and librarian at Westminster Abbey, for access to a photograph of the John André tomb. While researching Peggy Shippen Arnold in England, I also found information at the Bath and North East Somerset Record Office on the lifestyles of affluent eighteenth-century visitors.
Research librarians Lauren Robinson and Colleen Hayes of the Sandwich, Massachusetts, Public Library, cheerfully and tirelessly accessed two centuries of books, articles, and monographs on the Knoxes, the Arnolds, and the American Revolution that were indispensable to this work. Often, Ms. Robinson and Ms. Hayes ensured extensions for those books beyond their renewal dates so that I could complete the research.
With my appreciation to Jude Pfister, chief of cultural resources at the Morristown National Historical Park for information about their archives, and to Moor Park ranger and historian Eric Olsen for references to the “hard winter” of 1779–80. Robin Ray, recreation director of the Township of Bedminster, New Jersey, and Marie Crenshaw at the Clarence Dillon Library provided little-known important information on the Pluckemin Artillery Cantonment. I also thank Dr. Herbert Bischoff, director of historical studies at the Hermitage Museum in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, for his insightful comments on Theodosia Prevost and Peggy Shippen Arnold. Author Clare S. Brandt also offered information on her earlier research efforts on Benedict Arnold in England.
Susan Lintelmann, manuscript coordinator at the library of the West Point Military Academy, answered questions and provided suggestions for original Arnold materials. Elaine McConnell, rare books coordinator of that library, provided for references to the West Point birthday celebration for the French dauphin. Thanks also to Richard Hoch of the White Plains Historical Society for background materials on the famous battle and the army camp at White Plains. Nor can I forget a fascinating conversation with Gary Petagine and Sean Grady, impersonators of Benedict Arnold, and their suggestions for additional source materials on Joshua Hett Smith, West Point, and the Hudson.
This list would not be complete without expressing appreciation to the board members of the Women Writing Women’s Lives Seminar of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, who invited me to speak about the challenges of writing a double biography at that university’s Leon Levy Biography Center in April 2011. Wallace Exman, former Manhattan editor and vice president of the Cape Cod Writers Center, generously agreed to read a draft of the book and offered a number of important suggestions for the early chapters.
From the book’s inception through the research and writing process, Beacon Press executive editor Gayatri Patnaik has been a consistent source of inspiration, encouragement, and support, for which I am deeply grateful. Praise is also due to her assistant, Rachael Marks, for her attention to myriad details and enthusiasm for this work. I also want to thank Beacon Press managing editor Susan Lumenello, who conscientiously copyedited the book and did so with verve and patience.
Writing can be a lonely and isolating process, but that was greatly ameliorated by the forbearance of my dear husband, Bill, the first reader of these pages, whose astute analysis and suggestions helped improve the manuscript. For that and a thousand other kindnesses, I am indebted.
NOTES
ABBREVIATIONS
Archives
BAP Benedict Arnold Fonds, New Brunswick Museum
CMHS Henry Knox Papers, Collections of the Maine Historical Society
CP Henry Clinton Papers, University of Michigan
GWP George Washington Papers, Library of Congress
HKP Henry Knox Papers, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
MHS Henry Knox Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society
NSDAR Henry Knox Letters, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Americana Collection
Individuals
BA Benedict Arnold
MA Margaret (Peggy) Shippen Arnold
GW George Washington
HC Henry Clinton
HF Hannah Flucker
HJ Henry Jackson
HJK Henry Jackson Knox
HK Henry Knox
JA John André
JB Jonathan Bliss
LK Lucy Knox
NG Nathanael Greene
SS Samuel Shaw
TF Thomas Flucker
WK William Knox
PREFACE
1. LK to HK, August 23, 1777, HKP.
2. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 25: 461.
CHAPTER 1
“The Handsomest Woman in America”
1. Engle, Women in the American Revolution, 156.
2. Hatch, Major John André, 90.
3. Adams Family Correspondence, 2: 169–70.
4. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 24: 414.
5. Bland Papers, �
�From a Lady in Philadelphia to Mrs. Theodorick Bland, Jr.,” 92.
6. Trevelyan, American Revolution, 280.
7. Franks, “A Letter,” 216.
8. Faris, Romance of Old Philadelphia, 116–17.
9. Extracts from the Journal of Elizabeth Drinker, 48.
10. Letters of John Adams, 1: 194.
11. Duane, Extracts from the Diary of Christopher Marshall, 107.
12. Wainwright, “A Diary of Trifling Occurrences,” 450.
13. Hatch, Major John André, 82.
14. Silverman, Cultural History, 336.
15. “From a Late Philadelphia Paper,” Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser, July 30, 1778.
16. Wainwright, “A Diary of Trifling Occurrences,” 462.
17. Hatch, Major John André, 93.
18. André, “Particulars of the Mischianza,” 353.
19. Ibid., 354–55.
20. Ibid., 356.
21. Ibid., 354.
22. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 24: 414.
23. Ibid.
24. Lewis, Memoir of Edward Shippen, 16.
25. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 24: 414.
26. Ibid.
27. Lewis, Memoir of Edward Shippen, 16.
28. Smith, Authentic Narrative, 45.
29. Callahan, Peggy, 25.
30. Todd, Real Benedict Arnold, 171.
31. Extracts from the Journal of Elizabeth Drinker, 103.
32. Stedman, History of the Origin, 385.
33. André, “Particulars of the Mischianza,” 356.
34. Pennsylvania Packet, May 13, 1778.
35. Extracts from the Journal of Elizabeth Drinker, 102.
36. Sally Wister’s Journal, 180.
37. Armes, Nancy Shippen, 64–65.
38. Clinton, American Rebellion, 86.
39. Boylan, Benedict Arnold, 147–48.
40. Papers of Nathanael Greene, 2: 444.
CHAPTER 2
“The Best and Tenderest of Friends”
1. Drake, Life and Correspondence, 15.
2. Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, 3: 445–46.
3. Chastellux, Travels in North-America, 112.
4. HK to LF, March 1774, HKP.
5. Drake, Life and Correspondence, 16.
6. Thatcher, “Reminiscences,” 3, NSDAR.
7. Ibid.
8. John Murray to HK, August 11, 1774, HKP.
9. Griffiths, Major General Henry Knox, 44.
10. Ibid.
11. Thacher, Military Journal, 484.
12. LK to HK, April 1776, HKP.
13. HK to LK, January 2, 1776, HKP.
14. HK to LK, July 6, 1775, HKP.
15. HK to LK, July 9, 1775, HKP.
16. Callahan, Henry Knox, 39.
17. John Adams to James Warren, July 23, 1775, Warren-Adams Letters, 1: 87.
18. Lea, Hero and a Spy, 44.
19. HK to LK, November 16, 1775, HKP.
20. HK to LK, November 27, 1775, HKP.
21. HK to LK, January 5, 1777, HKP.
22. Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, 2: 227.
23. GW to LK and HK, February 1, 1776, HKP.
24. HK to William Burbeck, February 25, 1776, HKP.
25. Fleming, 1776, 181.
26. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, 8.
27. LK to HK, April 1776, HKP.
28. Ibid.
29. HK to LK, May 20, 1776, HKP.
30. HK to WK, July 11, 1776, HKP.
31. Ibid.
32. HK to LK, July 8, 1776, HKP.
33. LK to HK, July 1776, HKP.
34. Ibid.
35. HK to LK, July 11, 1776, HKP.
36. LK to HK, July 18, 1776, HKP.
37. WK to LK, July 11, 1776, HKP.
38. LK to HK, July 18, 1776, HKP.
39. LK to HK, July 13, 1776, HKP.
40. HK, to LK, August 1, 1776, HKP.
41. HK to LK, November 1, 1776, HKP.
42. LK to HK, November 6, 1776, HKP.
43. Ibid.
44. Washington, Writings, 282.
45. Brooks, Henry Knox, 79.
46. HK to LK, January 2, 1777, HKP.
47. Brooks, Henry Knox, 60.
48. BA to LK, March 4, 1777, HKP.
49. LK to HK, April 3, 1777, HKP.
50. Writings of George Washington, 7: 352–53.
51. HK to LK, April 1, 1777, HKP.
52. David Franks to LK, December 17, 1777, HKP.
53. LK to HK, April 3, 1777, HKP.
54. HK to LK, April 26, 1777, HKP.
55. LK to HK, April 31, 1777, HKP.
56. HK to LK, April 26, 1777, HKP.
57. LK to HK, May 8, 1777, HKP.
58. HK to LK, May 17, 1777, HKP.
59. LK to HK, May 26, 1777, HKP.
60. LK to HK, July 17, 1777, HKP.
61. Martin, Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, 170.
62. HK to LK, December 2, 1777, HKP.
63. HK to LK, October 29, 1777, HKP.
64. HK to LK, December 22, 1777, HKP.
65. Drake, Life and Correspondence of Henry Knox, 56.
66. Arnold, Life of Benedict Arnold, 215.
67. Decker, Benedict Arnold, 285–86.
CHAPTER 3
“The Delight, and Comfort of Her Adoring General”
1. HK to WK, May 27, 1778, HKP.
2. Ibid.
3. Boyle, Writings from the Valley Forge Encampment, 131.
4. Papers of General Nathanael Greene, 2: 444.
5. HK to WK, September 23, 1776, HKP.
6. HK to WK, May 27, 1778, HKP.
7. HK to LK, June 29, 1778, HKP.
8. Wainwright, “A Diary of Trifling Occurrences,” 463.
9. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 25: 480.
10. Lea, Hero and a Spy, 298.
11. “Benedict Arnold’s Oath of Allegiance.”
12. Extracts from the Journal of Elizabeth Drinker, 106.
13. Arnold, Proceedings of a General Court Martial, 21.
14. Extracts from the Journal of Elizabeth Drinker, 106.
15. Sally Wister’s Journal, 62.
16. BA to HJ, June 1778, HKP.
17. HK to WK, June 25, 1778, HKP.
18. Flexner, Traitor and the Spy, 223.
19. Decker, Benedict Arnold, 302.
20. Lewis, Memoir of Edward Shippen, 18.
21. Hazard, Register of Pennsylvania, 389.
22. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 24: 417.
23. Arnold, Life of Benedict Arnold, 240.
24. Hart, Mary White, n.p.
25. Ibid.
26. Lea, Hero and a Spy, 306.
27. Ibid., 305–6.
28. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 25: 37.
29. Flexner, Traitor and the Spy, 241.
30. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 25: 480.
31. Lea, Hero and a Spy, 307.
32. Ibid., 308.
33. Brandt, Man in the Mirror, 162.
34. Letters of Delegates to Congress, January 27, 1779, 523.
35. Pennsylvania Packet, November 14, 1778.
36. Arnold, Proceedings of a General Court Martial, 12.
37. Ibid.; Joseph Reed to John Jay, January 25, 1779, 13; Joseph Reed to GW, April 24, 1779, both in Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives, 337f.
38. John Cadwalader to NG, December 5, 1778, Lee Papers, 270.
39. Brandt, Man in the Mirror, 163.
40. Ibid., 165–66.
41. Flexner, Traitor and the Spy, 36.
42. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 25: 35–36.
43. Ibid., 38.
44. Arnold, Life of Benedict Arnold, 230.
45. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 25: 38.
46. Lewis, Memoir of Edward Shippen, 7–8.
47. HK to WK, February 2, 1779, HKP.
48. Lea, Hero and a Spy, 317.
49. Ibid., 317–19.
50. Arnold, Life
of Benedict Arnold, 231.
51. Flexner, Traitor and the Spy, 245.
52. Arnold, Life of Benedict Arnold, 230.
53. Ibid.
54. HK to WK, February 13, 1779, HKP.
55. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 25: 39.
56. Adams Family Papers, 2: 183.
57. Flexner, Traitor and the Spy, 253.
58. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 25: 40.
CHAPTER 4
“Our Sweetest Hopes Embittered by Disappointment”
1. HK to WK, November 16, 1778, HKP.
2. Writings of George Washington, 14: 122.
3. HK to WK, November 15, 1778, HKP.
4. HK to WK, February 28, 1779, HKP.
5. Thacher, Military Journal, 159.
6. Pennsylvania Packet, March 6, 1779.
7. “Ball at Pluckemin in 1779 Was Big Social Event of the Revolution,” Somerset (NJ) Messenger-Gazette, May 17, 1939.
8. Papers of General Nathanael Greene, 3: 354.
9. Pennsylvania Packet, March 6, 1779.
10. Ibid.
11. New Jersey Journal, February 23, 1779.
12. HK to WK, February 28, 1779, HKP.
13. HK to WK, April 3, 1779, HKP.
14. HK to WK, April 24, 1779, HKP.
15. HK to WK, May 7, 1779, HKP.
16. HK to WK, May 18, 1779, HKP.
17. Clinton, American Rebellion, 125n7.
18. HK to LK, June 14, 1779, HKP.
19. HK to LK, June 29, 1779, HKP.
20. Mellick, Story of an Old Farm, 471.
21. Papers of General Nathanael Greene, 4: 244.
22. HK to LK, August 8, 1779, HKP.
23. Cadou, George Washington Collection, 75.
24. Boswell, Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson, 160.
25. Van Doren, Secret History, 287.
26. Walker, “Life of Margaret Shippen,” 25: 453.
27. Lea, Hero and a Spy, 324.
28. Chesterfield, Letters, 256–57.
29. Lea, Hero and a Spy, 325–26.
30. Ibid., 326.
31. Ibid., 327–28.
32. Ibid., 330.
33. MA to Edward Shippen, July 5, 1801, Shippen Family Papers.
34. Pope, Poetical Works, 145.
35. Van Doren, Secret History, 196.
36. Ibid., 439–40.
37. Lea, Hero and a Spy, 339.
38. Ibid.
39. BA to GW, May 15, 1779, GWP.
Defiant Brides: The Untold Story of Two Revolutionary-Era Women and the Radical Men They Married Page 24