Boot Monument
Monument to Benedict Arnold's injured foot at Saratoga National Historical Park
43°0′30.2″N 73°38′21.7″W / 43.008389°N 73.639361°W / 43.008389; -73.639361
LocationSaratoga National Historical Park
DesignerGeorge Edwin Bissell[1][2]
Dedicated toBenedict Arnold, although it does not mention his name

The Boot Monument is an American Revolutionary War memorial located in Saratoga National Historical Park, New York. Erected in 1887 by John Watts de Peyster, it commemorates Major General Benedict Arnold's service at the Battles of Saratoga in the Continental Army, but does not name him because of Arnold's betrayal to the British army. Instead, it commemorates Arnold as the "most brilliant soldier of the Continental Army".

While fighting at the Battle of Bemis Heights, Arnold was severely wounded after being shot in his leg. His horse, who was shot as well, fell on Arnold's leg and his leg shattered. After this, Arnold continued to grow more bitter towards the Continental Army when he was passed over for promotion, lost his business, and was court-martialed for abusing his power as military commander of Philadelphia. He later attempted to give crucial information about the fortification of West Point to the British.

Background

Battles of Saratoga

American General Benedict Arnold had contributed significantly to both Battles of Saratoga, although his contributions to the first battle, the Battle of Freeman's Farm on September 19, 1777, are disputed, with John Luzader, a former park historian at the Saratoga National Historical Park, saying that Arnold remained at General Horatio Gates' headquarters, receiving news and dispatching orders through messengers. However, many accounts of the history of the first battle say that Arnold directed action on the field,[3][4] such as James Kirby Martin, author of a biography on Arnold, who said that Arnold directed troops at Saratoga and had possibly led some charges before being ordered back to headquarters by Gates.[5]

In the second battle, the Battle of Bemis Heights on October 7, 1777, General Arnold unexpectedly joined the battle,[3][6] even after hostilities between him and Gates resulted in Arnold being removed from his command, and having it given to General Benjamin Lincoln.[4] Gates attempted to send Arnold back to camp, but Gates's orders did not reach Arnold until the battle was over.[6] Arnold led the American Continental Army in taking a redoubt commanded by Lord Balcarres.[6] However, at the end of the battle, Arnold's leg and horse were shot. When the horse fell, Arnold's leg shattered. British General John Burgoyne surrendered on October 17.[5]

Aftermath

Gates acknowledged that Arnold led a "gallant" attack on the redoubts while reporting on the aftermath of the battle, but, to Arnold's disgust, did not mention much of Arnold's contributions. Gates was awarded a gold metal by the Continental Congress even though Burgoyne said that Arnold was responsible for his defeat. Arnold had been passed over for promotion earlier in the war, but Congress finally restored his seniority after Saratoga. Yet Arnold thought that Congress only restored it because of sympathy for his wounds, and not an apology or recognition that they were righting a wrong.[7]

General Arnold after he was wounded in the Battle of Saratoga

General George Washington later named Arnold military commander of Philadelphia after the British withdrew from there in June 1778.[8] Because Arnold often made money off of his role, he often aggravated local politicians such as Joseph Reed, who publicly aired charges against Arnold.[8][5] During the summer of 1778, Arnold met Peggy Shippen, the 18-year-old daughter of Judge Edward Shippen (III), a Loyalist sympathizer who had done business with the British while they occupied the city. She and Arnold married on April 8, 1779.[9]

Arnold's Betrayal

Arnold had started to grow bitter after he had been badly wounded twice in battle, lost his business in Connecticut, and after Congress promoted some rival and younger generals ahead of him. He was also court-martialed after a long feud with the civil authorities in Philadelphia such as Joseph Reed, and was convicted of two minor charges for using his role as military commander of Philadelphia to make a profit, which made him feel a heightened sense of betrayal.[10][11]

In May 1779, Philadelphia merchant Joseph Stansbury, who had previously helped Peggy Shippen talk with British Army officers, "went secretly to New York with a tender of [Arnold's] services to Sir Henry Clinton" after Arnold had met with him.[9] This started a secret correspondence with Arnold and British Major John André.[5] By July 1779, Arnold was providing the British with valuable information regarding troops and supplies. Later, on July 7, 1780, Arnold wrote to Clinton, saying that he would be able to obtain command of West Point, a key fortification on the Hudson River, that the British would be able to "take [West Point] without loss", and that Arnold might provide plans to West Point. He obtained command of West Point on August 3, 1780. He was finally offered £20,000 for the capture of West Point, with no indemnification for his losses, in a letter sent on August 15.[9]

Arnold and André met on September 21 at the Joshua Hett Smith House, discussing plans for West Point. On September 22, André was supposed to return to New York, which was controlled by the British, but the ship that he was to ride home on, the HMS Vulture, was fired upon, and therefore led the Vulture to retreat making André unable to sail home and forced him to go by land. Arnold wrote a pass for André and gave him plans to West Point.[12][13][9]

On September 23, André was captured by three militiamen near Tarrytown, New York. The militamen found the plans to West Point and passed them on to their superiors.[14] After André was captured, he was hanged at Tappan, New York, on October 2.[15] Arnold fled to the British lines, was made a brigadier general; and was given £6,315 plus an annual pension of £360, yet not the original planned amount of £20,000 since his plot failed.[16] After some service with the British army, the war ended, and he and his family moved to Saint John, New Brunswick but later moved to London in December 1791.[8][9]

Based on one of the raids that Arnold performed while serving in the British military, an apocryphal story that has circulated in various versions states:

When Benedict Arnold was leading the forces of the King against his former compatriots in Virginia, among his prisoners was a certain plucky and witty officer, who, in answer to Arnold's question, "What will the Americans do with me if they catch me?" replied, "They will cut off the leg which was wounded when you were fighting so gloriously for the cause of liberty, and bury it with the honors of war, and hang the rest of your body on a gibbet."[17][18]

Arnold died on June 14, 1801, at age 60.[19]

Creation of the monument

John Watts de Peyster, a former major general for the New York State Militia during the American Civil War[20] and writer of several military histories about the Battle of Saratoga, erected the monument in 1887 to commemorate Arnold's contribution to the Continental Army's victory over the British.[21] De Peyster considered Arnold a traitor, but "could not deny" his contributions at Saratoga. He wanted to "honor some of Arnold's deeds without honoring the man."[1] He thought that simply a slab of granite to commemorate Arnold "would not do," so he commissioned George Edwin Bissell,[22] who had designed other statues that Peyster had erected,[1] to sculpt a marker in white marble.[22] Arnold was wounded in the leg during the Battle of Quebec, and suffered further injury in the Battle of Ridgefield when his horse was shot out from under him. His last battle injury was at Saratoga,[9] and it occurred near where the monument is located at Tour Stop #7,[23] the Breymann Redoubt.[1]

Appearance

The Boot Monument from the back, where the inscription is written

The inscription on the monument reads:

Erected 1887 By
JOHN WATTS de PEYSTER
Brev: Maj: Gen: S.N.Y.
2nd V. Pres't Saratoga Mon't Ass't'n:
In memory of
the "most brilliant soldier" of the
Continental Army
who was desperately wounded
on this spot the sally port of
BURGOYNES GREAT WESTERN REDOUBT
7th October, 1777
winning for his countrymen
the decisive battle of the
American Revolution
and for himself the rank of
Major General.

The monument features a howitzer barrel, with a boot and a two-star epaulette on top of the barrel. A Laurel leaf wreath sits atop the howitzer.[23] One error in the inscription was that Arnold did not earn the rank of Major General prior to, and because of, Saratoga, but he did regain his seniority.[1]

Similarly to how Arnold's name does not appear on the Boot Monument,[24] the Saratoga Battle Monument honors Gates, General Philip Schuyler, Arnold, and Colonel Daniel Morgan, but the place where Arnold's statue should stand in the monument is an empty niche. In an old cadet chapel at West Point, Revolutionary War generals are honored there with a plaque on the wall, but Arnold's plaque only mentions his date of birth and death date, but not his name.[25]

The monument is made of white marble.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Murphy, Jim (2007). The Real Benedict Arnold. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-395-77609-4.
  2. ↑ Strange, Carolyn (April 2015). "THE BATTLEFIELDS OF PERSONAL AND PUBLIC MEMORY: COMMEMORATING THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA (1777) IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY". The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. 14 (2): 194–221. doi:10.1017/S1537781414000796. S2CID 162888801.
  3. 1 2 Luzader, John F. (2008). Saratoga: a military history of the decisive campaign of the American revolution (1st ed.). New York: Savas Beatie. ISBN 978-1-932714-44-9.
  4. 1 2 Ketchum, Richard M (1997). Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 978-0-8050-6123-9. OCLC 41397623. (Paperback ISBN 0-8050-6123-1)
  5. 1 2 3 4 Martin, James Kirby (1997). Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered. New York University Press. pp. 378–381, 514. ISBN 0814755607.
  6. 1 2 3 Frothingham, Thomas G.; Nickerson, Hoffman. "The Turning Point of the Revolution". The New England Quarterly. 1 (4): 594. doi:10.2307/359542. ISSN 0028-4866. JSTOR 359542. Archived from the original on 2023-12-17. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  7. ↑ Palmer, Dave Richard; Washington, George; Arnold, Benedict (2006). George Washington and Benedict Arnold: a tale of two patriots. Washington, D.C: Regnery Publ. ISBN 978-1-59698-020-4.
  8. 1 2 3 Brandt, Clare (1993). The man in the mirror: a life of Benedict Arnold (1st ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-40106-3.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Randall, Willard Sterne (1990). Benedict Arnold: patriot and traitor (1st ed.). New York, N.Y: Morrow. ISBN 978-1-55710-034-4.
  10. ↑ Nathaniel Philbrick, Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution (2016) pp. 321–26.
  11. ↑ Michael Dolan, "Hero and Villain" American History (2016) 51#3 pp. 12–13.
  12. ↑ G.P. Wygant (October 19, 1936). "Peterson and Sherwood, Local Men Real Heroes of "Vulture" Episode". Peekskill Evening Star.
  13. ↑ "The Shrine of the Memorial Museum". The Putnam County Courier. November 28, 1963.
  14. ↑ Van Doren, Carl (1969). Secret History of the American Revolution. Popular Library. p. 340. LCCN 41-24478.
  15. ↑ Lossing, Benson John (1852). The Pictorial Field-book of the Revolution ; Or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence. Harper & Bros. Archived from the original on 2023-12-17. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  16. ↑ Fahey, Curtis (1983). "Arnold, Benedict Archived 2020-06-27 at the Wayback Machine". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. V (1801–1820) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
  17. ↑ Dunnack, Henry E. The Maine Book [publisher not identified], Augusta, ME (1920), p. 52. OCLC 383608
  18. ↑ Unger, Harlow G (2002). Lafayette. New York: John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 978-0-471-39432-7. OCLC 186158241. Archived 2023-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ Lomask, Milton (October 1967). "Benedict Arnold: The Aftermath of Treason". American Heritage Magazine. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008.
  20. ↑ Leopold, Robert. A Guide to Early African Collections in the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution, August 1994.
  21. ↑ "Digital Collections : Still Image : Monument dedicated by John Watts de Peyster, Brev: Maj. Gen. S.N.Y. [NYSA_14297-87_3626]". digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  22. 1 2 Strange, Carolyn (April 2015). "THE BATTLEFIELDS OF PERSONAL AND PUBLIC MEMORY: COMMEMORATING THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA (1777) IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY". The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. 14 (2): 194–221. doi:10.1017/S1537781414000796. S2CID 162888801.
  23. 1 2 "Boot Monument (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Archived from the original on 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  24. ↑ Williams, Marie Danielle Annette (2013-07-02). The Revolutionary War in the Adirondacks: Raids in the Wilderness. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-7023-1. Archived from the original on 2023-12-17. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  25. ↑ Groark, Virginia (21 April 2002). "Beloved Hero and Despised Traitor". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  26. ↑ Strange, Carolyn (April 2015). "THE BATTLEFIELDS OF PERSONAL AND PUBLIC MEMORY: COMMEMORATING THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA (1777) IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY". The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. 14 (2): 194–221. doi:10.1017/S1537781414000796. S2CID 162888801.
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