The bibliography of Arnold of Brescia is very vast and of very unequal
value. The following works will be found useful: W. von Giesebrecht,
_Arnold van Brescia_ (Munich, 1873); G. Gaggia, _Arnaldo da Brescia_
(Brescia, 1882); and notices by Vacandard in the _Revue des questions
historiques_ (Paris, 1884), pp. 52-114, by R. Breyer in the _Histor.
Taschenbuch_ (Leipzig, 1889), vol. viii. pp. 123-178, and by A.
Hausrath in _Neue Heidelberg. Jahrb._ (1891), Band i. pp. 72-144.
(P. A.)
ARNOLD, BENEDICT (1741-1801), American soldier, born in Norwich,
Connecticut, on the 14th of January 1741. He was the great-grandson of
Benedict Arnold (1615-1678), thrice colonial governor of Rhode Island
between 1663 and 1678; and was the fourth in direct descent to bear the
name. He received a fair education but was not studious, and his youth
was marked by the same waywardness which characterized his whole career.
At fifteen he ran away from home and took part in an expedition against
the French, but, restless under restraint, he soon deserted and returned
home. In 1762 he settled in New Haven, where he became the proprietor of
a drug and book shop; and he subsequently engaged successfully in trade
with the West Indies. Immediately after the battle of Lexington Arnold
led the local militia company, of which he was captain, and additional
volunteers to Cambridge, and on the 29th of April 1775 he proposed to
the Massachusetts Committee of Safety an expedition against Crown Point
and Ticonderoga. After a delay of four days the offer was accepted, and
as a colonel of Massachusetts militia he was directed to enlist in the
west part of Massachusetts and in the neighbouring colonies the men
necessary for the undertaking. He was forestalled, however, by Ethan
Allen (q.v.), acting on behalf of some members of the Connecticut
Assembly. Under him, reluctantly waiving his own claim to command,
Arnold served as a volunteer; and soon afterwards, Massachusetts having
yielded to Connecticut, and having angered Arnold by sending a committee
to make an inquiry into his conduct, he resigned and returned to
Cambridge. He was then ordered to co-operate with General Richard
Montgomery in the invasion of Canada, which he had been one of the first
to suggest to the Continental Congress. Starting with 1100 men from
Cambridge on the 17th of September 1775, he reached Gardiner, Maine, on
the 20th, advanced through the Maine woods, and after suffering terrible
privations and hardships, his little force, depleted by death and
desertion, reached Quebec on the 13th of November. The garrison had been
forewarned, and Arnold was compelled to await the coming of Montgomery
from Montreal. The combined attack on the 31st of December 1775 failed;
Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was severely wounded. Arnold, who had
been commissioned a brigadier-general in January 1776, remained in
Canada until the following June, being after April in command at
Montreal.
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