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Lot 189
Infamous Traitor Benedict Arnold Approves Receipt After Capture of Forts Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and St. Jean, Penned a Few Days Before Bunker Hill
Description:

IInfamous Traitor Benedict Arnold Approves Receipt After Capture of Forts Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and St. Jean, Penned a Few Days Before Bunker Hill

Colonel Benedict Arnold of Connecticut, commissioned by Massachusetts, approves a receipt for 2,500 feet of boards delivered by Zadock Everest to Collin Mackenzie on June 13, 1775, at Fort Crown Point or Fort Ticonderoga. Everest was one of Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys who had captured the fort. Mackenzie was a local settler in Crown Point, New York, who later fled to Canada and joined a loyalist regiment.

When Arnold's men, raised in Massachusetts, arrived, they began rebuilding the barracks at Fort Ticonderoga and fitting out two large ships for use on Lake Champlain. Perhaps this lumber was used for those purposes.

BENEDICT ARNOLD, Autograph Endorsement Signed, on receipt, June 13, 1775, [Crown Point, New York]. 1 p., 5.25" x 2.75". Professionally inlaid into 6.5" x 4.5" light green sheet; irregular staining and toning; very good.

Complete Transcript
Received twenty five Hundred feete Boards of Zadock Everest for [Colonel Arnold?]
13 June 1775                                                            Collin Mackenzie

[Endorsement by Arnold:]
Accepted
                                                                                   B. Arnold

Historical Background
In April 1775, just after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Benedict Arnold, the captain of a company of Connecticut volunteers, suggested a surprise attack on Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety. They commissioned him as a colonel on May 3 and authorized him to raise troops for the expedition. He soon learned that Ethan Allen and his "Green Mountain Boys" from the New Hampshire Grants (future Vermont) were already on their way, and he rode off to meet them in time to participate in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga on May 10/11. Although Arnold asserted that he outranked Allen and should have command, the troops refused to give it to him. After the capture of the fort, he also insisted he should assume command to comply with his orders from the Massachusetts Committee of Safety to send the cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston for use in the siege of the British forces there.

In mid-May, the first troops from Massachusetts raised under the orders to Arnold arrived at Fort Ticonderoga with a captured British vessel. Arnold took the men and schooner and sailed north down the lake to Fort St. Jean, where he surprised and captured the British garrison and seized their supplies. Connecticut sent about 1,000 men under Colonel Benjamin Hinman to hold Fort Ticonderoga. When he arrived in mid-June, there was another clash over leadership, because Massachusetts authorities had not instructed Arnold to act under Hinman, and Hinman's instructions included only Fort Ticonderoga, not Fort Crown Point.

On June 15, 1775, Arnold wrote a Declaration of Principles at Crown Point, which read in part, "Persuaded, that the Salvation of the Rights and Liberties of America, depends, Under GOD, on the firm Union of its Inhabitants, in a Vigorous Prosecution of the Measures necessary for its Safety And Convinced of the Necessity of preventing the Anarchy and Confusion which attend a Dissolution of the Powers of Government, WE, the Freeman, Freeholders, and Inhabitants of the Province of New York, being greatly alarmed at the avowed Design of the Ministry to raise a Revenue in America; and, Shocked by the bloody Scene now Acting in the Massachusetts Bay, DO, in the most Solemn Manner Resolve never to become Slaves; and do Associate under all the Ties of Religion, Honour, and Love to our Country, to Adopt and endeavour to Carry into Execution whatever Measures may be Recommended by the Continental Congress...." Zadock Everest was among the thirty-two signers of the document.

Hearing of Arnold's quarrels over command, the Massachusetts revolutionary government sent three of their members to investigate the situation and perhaps command Arnold to return to Massachusetts to give an account. Their arrival on June 22 outraged Arnold, who two days later wrote a letter of resignation, discharged his men, and returned to Cambridge, where he arrived in July. Washington later declared that the appearance of the Massachusetts committee at Crown Point "was the first of a series of acts of injustice which resulted in his inexcusable crime."

As Arnold was returning from Crown Point to Cambridge, his wife died on June 19 in New Haven, Connecticut, at the age of thirty. When he arrived at Cambridge, General George Washington had arrived to assume command only days earlier. Washington selected Arnold to lead an expedition over the mountains of Maine into Quebec, to capture Quebec City and cooperate with General Philip Schuyler, who would lead a separate force north through the lakes. Schuyler's ill health meant that command of his forces fell to General Richard Montgomery. Although Montgomery's force captured Montreal and united with Arnold's forces at Quebec City, the Americans were defeated in the Battle of Quebec at the end of December 1775.

George Washington appointed Benedict Arnold to take military command of Philadelphia after the British retreat in June 1778. During his controversial tenure, Arnold involved himself in business affairs, often for personal gain. He lived and entertained extravagantly, and his haughty behavior led the Executive Council of Pennsylvania to charge him with abuse of power. By December 1779, he was court-martialed though found not guilty. It was during this time that Arnold also began his close association with Margaret "Peggy" Shippen (whom he married in April 1779) and other Loyalists, laying the groundwork for his treason.

Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) was born in Connecticut and established himself as a pharmacist and bookseller. He became a successful merchant and opposed the Sugar Act and Stamp Act. During the Revolutionary War, he led a failed assault on and siege of Quebec City, for which he was promoted to brigadier general. He delayed British advances against Ticonderoga, and General George Washington assigned him to the defense of Rhode Island. Washington twice refused Arnold's resignation, and Arnold was promoted to major general and ordered north to assist in the defense after the fall of Fort Ticonderoga. At the Battles of Saratoga in the fall of 1777, Arnold distinguished himself and was wounded in the leg. He served as military commander of Philadelphia from 1778 to 1779. In May 1779, Arnold began a correspondence with British Major John André about offering his services to the British. Arnold used couriers to pass information regarding troop locations and strengths to the British. A court-martial cleared Arnold of all but two minor charges in January 1780. After publicizing this fact, Arnold received a formal rebuke from Washington and resigned his command in April 1780. Arnold took command of West Point in August 1780. He and André met on September 21 and 22 to discuss surrendering West Point to the British. American militiamen captured André on September 23, exposing Arnold's treason, and Arnold fled to British-held New York. As a British officer, Arnold led raids on Richmond, Virginia, and New London, Connecticut. He left for England in December 1781. From 1785 to 1791, Arnold lived as a merchant in Saint John, New Brunswick, where he and his son speculated in land and engaged in trade with the West Indies. He returned to London in December 1791 and died a decade later.

Zadock/Zadok Everest (1744-1825) was born in Connecticut, and in 1765, he moved to Addison, [Vermont]. Zadock Everest, like his brother Lieutenant Benjamin Everest, was part of Ethan Allen's force that captured Fort Ticonderoga. After the defeat of American forces on Lake Champlain in 1776, he was driven from his home by the enemy. He also served as a captain in Ira Allen's regiment in the Alarms of 1781 and 1782. He returned to Addison in 1784 after the end of the war, where he lived for the rest of his life. He represented Addison in the state legislature in 1788, 1789, and 1795. His home was used as the county courthouse for a time as well.

Collin/Colin McKenzie/Mackenzie (1746-ca. 1815) was born in Scotland and immigrated to America in 1767 as a soldier in the Royal Artillery. He settled at Crown Point, New York. He married Sarah Powers in the early 1770s, and they had at least five children. During the Revolutionary War, he acted as a guide to part of General John Burgoyne's army in 1776. After Burgoyne's defeat, Mackenzie and his family fled to St. John's, Quebec, in 1777. He served as a sergeant in Jessup's Loyal Rangers for two years beginning in 1780, and three of his teenage sons served as drummers in the same regiment. In 1784, he moved his family to the Bay of Quinte in Lake Ontario and then settled on nearby Amherst Island, where he died in 1815.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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