of the victory, shows that the American cruisers were causing
great devastation to British commerce.

* * *

The exploits of Anthony Wayne and Paul Jones served to lighten the gloom
caused by the defeat of General Lincoln in his attempt to recapture
Savannah, and by the depressed condition of American finances, which made
it difficult to carry on the war. It was the earnest desire of Congress
to push the struggle vigorously, and large sums of money were necessary
for that purpose. The Continental currency issued under authority of
Congress had so decreased in purchasing power as to be almost worthless;
the army suffered great distress for lack of clothing and food, and the
supply of munitions of war fell far short of military needs. Benjamin
Franklin labored unceasingly to meet the incessant drafts upon him as
agent of the United States in France, and but for the unbounded
confidence which Louis XVI. and his great minister, Vergennes, had in
Franklin's assurances, the United States might have been so paralyzed
financially as to fall a prey to Great Britain. It was in the midst of
this gloom and uncertainty that General Benedict Arnold, the hero of
Quebec and Saratoga, sought to sell his country to the British.

An able general and as brave a soldier as wore the American uniform,
Arnold was bitterly disappointed because he failed to receive from
Congress all the recognition which he thought he deserved. He might not,
however, have become a traitor but for his pecuniary difficulties, while
undoubtedly the Tory sympathies of his wife, whom he married in
Philadelphia in 1778, had a marked influence upon him. In July. 1780,
Arnold, at his own request, was appointed by Washington to command West
Point, the great American fortress commanding the Hudson River. The
capture of West Point by the British would have accomplished for their
cause what Burgoyne had failed to achieve--the cutting off of the
Northern from the Middle and Southern States, and the establishment of
the British in an almost impregnable position on the Hudson. Arnold
entered into negotiations with Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander
at New York, for the surrender of West Point. For this service Arnold was
to be made a brigadier-general in the British army and to receive $50,000
in gold. Major John Andre, adjutant-general of the British army,
conducted the correspondence on behalf of Clinton. Andre went up the
H