The military career of Benedict Arnold in 1781 consisted of service in the British Army. Arnold had changed sides in September 1780, after his plot to surrender the key Continental Army outpost at West Point was exposed. After spending the rest of 1780 recruiting Loyalists for a new regiment called the American Legion, Arnold was sent with 1,600 men in late December by General Sir Henry Clinton to Virginia, with instructions to raid Richmond and then establish a strong fortification at Portsmouth.
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| - Military career of Benedict Arnold, 1781
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| - The military career of Benedict Arnold in 1781 consisted of service in the British Army. Arnold had changed sides in September 1780, after his plot to surrender the key Continental Army outpost at West Point was exposed. After spending the rest of 1780 recruiting Loyalists for a new regiment called the American Legion, Arnold was sent with 1,600 men in late December by General Sir Henry Clinton to Virginia, with instructions to raid Richmond and then establish a strong fortification at Portsmouth.
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| - British Army: 1780–1781
- British colonial militia: 1757, 1775
- Continental Army: 1775–1780
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| - Benedict Arnold
- Copy of engraving by H.B. Hall after John Trumbull
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| Battles
| - American Revolutionary War, 1781
*Battle of Blandford
*Battle of Groton Heights
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| Source
| - — Hessian Captain Johann Ewald
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| - If [Arnold] really felt in his conscience that he had done wrong in siding against his mother country, he should have sheathed his sword and served no more [...] Gladly as I would have paid with my blood and my life for England's success in this war, this man remained so detestable to me that I had to use every effort to let him perceive, or even feel, the indignation of my soul.
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| abstract
| - The military career of Benedict Arnold in 1781 consisted of service in the British Army. Arnold had changed sides in September 1780, after his plot to surrender the key Continental Army outpost at West Point was exposed. After spending the rest of 1780 recruiting Loyalists for a new regiment called the American Legion, Arnold was sent with 1,600 men in late December by General Sir Henry Clinton to Virginia, with instructions to raid Richmond and then establish a strong fortification at Portsmouth. Landing in Virginia on January 4, 1781, he raided Richmond the next day. After raiding a few nearby communities, he returned to Portsmouth, where his troops established fortifications. They remained there until late March, when 2,000 reinforcements led by General William Phillips arrived. Phillips took command of the forces, and Arnold served under him as they resumed raiding operations aimed at potentially establishing a permanent presence at Richmond. Although they fought off a spirited militia defense in the Battle of Blandford in late April, the timely arrival of Continental forces under the Marquis de Lafayette prevented the taking of Richmond. Phillips continued to raid, but was ordered to Petersburg to effect a junction with General Charles Cornwallis, who was marching up from North Carolina. Phillips died on May 13 of a fever, and Arnold was briefly in command again until Cornwallis arrived a week later. Arnold returned to New York, suffering from a recurrence of gout. When French and American movements to encircle Cornwallis at Yorktown became apparent to General Clinton, he sent Arnold on a raiding expedition in early September to New London, Connecticut in an attempt to draw American resources away from Virginia. Arnold raided the port, but a detachment of his troops was involved in the bloody Battle of Groton Heights at a fort across the Thames River. The operation was the last command Arnold held. In December, he and General Cornwallis, who had been released on parole after his surrender at Yorktown, sailed for England. During his command of British troops, Arnold did not command a great deal of respect from other officers. His actions in Virginia and Connecticut were criticized, and allegations that he was primarily interested in money circulated in New York. On his arrival in England he was also unable to acquire new commands either in the army or with the British East India Company. He resumed his business and trade activities, and died in London in 1801.
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