d nerve were the perfection
of martial merit. It has been stated by one or two historians of
good repute that Arnold was not present at all during the battle of
Saratoga; but the latest and most trustworthy researches on this
point would seem to indicate that he commanded there with discretion
and skill. He was now a major-general, but his irascible spirit had
previously been hurt by the tardiness with which this honor was
conferred upon him, five of his juniors having received it before
himself. He strongly disliked General Gates, too, and quarrelled
with him because of what he held to be unfair behavior during the
engagement at Bemis's Heights. At Stillwater, a month or so later in
the same year (1777), he issued orders without Gates's permission,
and conducted himself on the field with a kind of mad frenzy, riding
hither and thither and seeking the most dangerous spots. All concur
in stating, however, that his disregard of life was admirable, in
spite of its foolish rashness. In this action he was also severely
wounded.

One year later he was appointed to the command of Philadelphia, and
here he married the daughter of a prominent citizen, Edward Shippen.
This was his second marriage; he had been a widower for a number of
years before its occurrence, and the father of three sons. Every
chance was now afforded Arnold of wise and just rulership. In spite
of past disputes and adventures not wholly creditable, he still
presented before the world a fairly clean record, and whatever minor
blemishes may have spotted his good name, these were obscured by the
almost dazzling lustre of his soldierly career. But no sooner was he
installed in his new position at Philadelphia than he began to show,
with wilful perversity, those evil impulses which thus far had
remained relatively latent. Almost as soon as he entered the town he
disclosed to its citizens the most offensive traits of arrogance and
tyranny. But this was not all. Not merely was he accused on every
side of such faults as the improper issuing of passes, the closing
of Philadelphia shops on his arrival, the imposition of menial
offices upon the sons of freemen performing military duty, the use
of wagons furnished by the State for transporting private property;
but misdeeds of a far graver nature were traced to him, savoring of
the criminality that prisons are built to punish. The scandalous
gain with which he sought to fill a spendthrift purse caused wide
and vehement