Arnold Wounded at the Breymann Redoubt

# Arnold Wounded at the Breymann Redoubt

By the autumn of 1777, the American Revolution hung in a precarious balance. British General John Burgoyne had launched an ambitious campaign to split the rebellious colonies in two by driving south from Canada through the Hudson River Valley, intending to link up with British forces in New York City. If successful, the strategy would have isolated New England from the rest of the colonies and potentially crushed the revolt. But Burgoyne's army, slowed by difficult terrain, dwindling supplies, and increasingly effective American resistance, found itself bogged down near Saratoga in upstate New York. Opposing him was the Continental Army's Northern Department, commanded by Major General Horatio Gates, a cautious and politically shrewd officer who had established strong defensive positions on Bemis Heights overlooking the Hudson River. Among his subordinates was Major General Benedict Arnold, a fiery and aggressive battlefield commander who had already distinguished himself through acts of extraordinary courage earlier in the war, including a harrowing assault on Quebec City in late 1775 during which he suffered a serious wound to his left leg.

The tension between Gates and Arnold proved nearly as dramatic as the battles themselves. Arnold was bold and impulsive, eager to take the fight to the British. Gates preferred to let the enemy come to him, content to wait behind his fortifications. Their disagreements erupted into a bitter personal dispute following the first engagement at Freeman's Farm on September 19, 1777, where Arnold had played a crucial role in blunting a British advance but received little credit from Gates in official dispatches. The quarrel escalated to the point where Gates effectively stripped Arnold of his command authority, leaving him without any troops to lead. Many officers expected Arnold to leave camp entirely, but he refused to go, lingering in frustration as the campaign reached its climax.

On October 7, Burgoyne, desperate and running low on provisions, sent a reconnaissance force of roughly fifteen hundred men to probe the American left flank. Gates responded by dispatching troops to meet the threat, and the resulting engagement, known as the Second Battle of Bemis Heights, quickly turned into a fierce and chaotic fight. It was at this moment that Arnold, unable to contain himself any longer, mounted his horse and galloped onto the battlefield without orders and without any formal authority to command. What followed was one of the most remarkable individual performances of the entire war. Arnold raced from one unit to another, rallying men and directing attacks with reckless bravery. He led Continental soldiers in a sweeping assault that drove the British from their field positions and then turned his attention to the Breymann Redoubt, a fortified position of log and earth construction that anchored the far right of the British defensive line, commanded by German officer Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich Breymann. The redoubt was a critical strongpoint, and its capture would threaten Burgoyne's entire encampment.

Arnold led the final charge into the redoubt himself, plunging through heavy musket fire. During the assault, his horse was struck by a bullet and collapsed, falling directly onto Arnold's left leg — the very same leg that had been shattered by a musket ball during the attack on Quebec nearly two years earlier. The injury was devastating, leaving the leg badly fractured. Arnold refused amputation, enduring months of agonizing recovery that left the limb permanently shortened and largely useless. The Breymann Redoubt fell, Breymann himself was killed in the fighting, and Burgoyne's position became untenable. Ten days later, the British general surrendered his entire army, a momentous victory that convinced France to enter the war as an American ally, fundamentally transforming the conflict.

The bitter irony of Arnold's heroism at Saratoga has haunted American history ever since. His courage on October 7 was arguably the single most consequential individual act of bravery in the Revolution, and had he died from his wounds that day, he would almost certainly be remembered as one of the war's greatest martyrs. Instead, he survived, and the months of painful convalescence gave way to deepening resentment. Arnold felt that Congress and his fellow officers had repeatedly failed to recognize his sacrifices and contributions. Passed over for promotions, mired in disputes over expenses and accusations of misconduct, and consumed by a growing sense of grievance, he ultimately committed the most infamous act of betrayal in American history when he conspired to surrender the fortress at West Point to the British in 1780. The wounded hero of Saratoga became the nation's most reviled traitor, and the leg that nearly made him a legend instead carried him into lasting infamy.