ARNOLD, Benedict. (1741-1801). Autograph document signed ("B. Arnold," with circular flourish), as Brigadier General, Royal Army, countersigned by three witnesses: Robert and Rebecca Bayard and Catherine McEvers, New York, November 1781.

Three pages, bifolium, 328 x 202mm. (partial fold separation to first leaf). With black wax seal affixed to final page.

The last will and testament of a notorious traitor, drafted in British-occupied New York. After the dramatic exposure of his treasonous plans in September 1780, Arnold fled to British-held New York, where he was commissioned Brigadier General and led several ambitious and incendiary raids (on Norfolk, Virginia and New London, Connecticut). The present Last Will and Testament was apparently drawn up, signed and sealed just before Arnold returned to England in a effort to convince the ministry to continue the unwinnable war in North America. "I Benedict Arnold of the City of New York Gentleman, being of sound Mind and Memory do make constitute this my last Will and Testament..." To "my dearly beloved wife" (the former Peggy Shippen of Philadelphia), he leaves "£2,000 sterling of Great Britain, which I have in the British Funds." A further £1,000 in the British funds he leaves to his wife "so long as she shall remain a widow"; if she dies or re-marries the amount is to be divided among their children. "I also give to my Dear Wife all my Hous[e]hold Furniture, Books, Plate, Carriage & Servants [slaves?] which I now have or may die Possessed of." Other sums are left to his sister, Hannah Arnold, and an uncle Oliver Arnold.

Either unaware or in denial that his properties had been confiscated by the United States, Arnold directs that his children are to divide "my House, Lands, Tenements etc. upon the Schuylkill, commonly called Mount Pleasant...after the decease of my dear wife." (A fine Georgian mansion, Mount Pleasant had been purchased in 1779 by Arnold as a wedding gift for his wife, a year prior to his treason. The same year that Arnold penned these directions, Mount Pleasant had been sold to Colonel Richard Hampton, and by 1784 the property was owned by Edward Shippen who leased the property to Major General Baron von Steuben.[1] In a similar gesture of defiance, Arnold bequeaths to his children another "House, Land and Tenement" in New Haven, Connecticut…." But although that proved something out his power to grant, he also ensured that "any money remaining in the British Funds, "or elsewhere in England" be paid to them as well.

In the event that Mrs. Arnold has a daughter, she is to receive a double portion of such funds. His eldest sons, for their educations, are to receive "a sum of money sufficient to bear the Expenses of their Education" to age 10. His wife, Edward Shippen (her father) and Robert Bayard are named executors, and he concludes by stating "It is also my will & pleasure that my Children shall have the most Liberal Education that my Fortune will Allow..."

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[1] Mount Pleasant Fairmount Park Philadelphia built by John MacPherson 1761. ([Philadelphia:] The Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, 1927).

Philip Sang (sale, Sotheby's, New York, 20 June 1979, lot 616. – The Forbes Collection of American Historical Documents, Part V, Christie's, New York, 2 November 2006, lot 15.