Benedict Arnold is a well-known villain in American History… a traitor of the highest order. He not only conspired to turn over the important American forts at West Point over to the British, Arnold also plotted to have his greatest supporter, George Washington, captured by the British. Despicable though these acts were, Arnold, up until that point, had been one of the great American heroes of the Revolution. He had demonstrated incredible personal courage, leadership as well as tactical and strategic brilliance in a number of campaigns. A descendant of old stock Puritans, Arnold was regarded by the British and George Washington as the most capable battlefield commander in the American army. His fall was a Shakespearian tragedy of the highest order. But it also reflected a little appreciated dark phase of the American War for Independence.