Flash! Fiction by Peter McMillan - HTML preview

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In Search of History — An Apocryphal Tale From grade school on, Benedict Arnold is the name we Americans are taught to hate more than any, Satan included. Everybody, from five or six up, knows the name is synonymous with traitor though many get some of the details, like century, wrong.

Several artifacts recently recovered during the excavation of a long-abandoned farmhouse in Connecticut have just been authenticated by New Have scholars. Among the pieces discovered are frag-ments from the journal of someone named George. Not much is known about this person, but he appears to have been close to none other than Benedict Arnold. Even more interesting to scholars is that some of the entries, dated in 1780, mention things that appeared in Arnold's "Letter to the Inhabitants of America," published in October of that year. Early speculation has it that this discovery could lead to important re-understandings of American Revolution-ary-era history, which would, in turn, require years of research grants, peer review, and re-education.

For instance there are references to the dangers of an "entangled alliance with the enemy of the Protestant faith" on one hand and "a precipitate declaration of independence" on the other. In addition, and most importantly for the New Haven community, we see evidence for the first time that Arnold may have been guided by mystical influences. Given to bouts of excruciating pain from a war injury to his leg, he reportedly saw things during his tortured sleep.

Until now, none of this has been corroborated. But with George's journal the historical record now contains three separate occasions when Arnold's nightly visions were documented.

The dates for these particular entries are April 30th, June 15th and July 14th. The April 30th entry, which inexplicably contains the 81

Faustian line, " Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust, Die eine will sich von der andern trennen" suggests the profound inner tur-moil that Arnold must have felt and provides valuable context not only for the other two nightly episodes but also for the fateful decision that exposed Arnold's treason and which he ultimately came to understand more fully and defend vigorously.

George's notes from June 15th and July 14th are notable for their prophetic geopolitical references. On the night of the 15th of June, Arnold, delirious and troubled, "Under the tyranny of usurpers another George will come, and he will betray you and you will see that I was right to try and return to the bosom of our familial Britain, where the monarchy protects us from an insidious enemy disguised as friend who avows the greatest affection for the liberties of man-kind."

On July 14th, George's notes reflect great passion and anxiety in Arnold's words. "The prisons ... take care ... the prisons are thrown open and the vile and dirty creatures emerge from the dark, stripping away crucifixes and trampling them in the dust, massing and surging through the streets and shops and villas until all is laid waste to the accompaniment of the metrical rising and falling of the guillotine."

A gap of nearly five months breaks the continuity of George's journal, but the existing historical record is helpful here. In September Arnold's bold plot to surrender the strategic American fort at West Point to the British was foiled and Arnold defected. On October 11th Arnold's famous open letter in defense of his changing sides was published in the New York Royal Gazette. In light of the farmhouse documents, it is now much clearer just how much he struggled with the decision that he now elaborates with great conviction. Once justified he never seemed to turn back. Two months later George's journal picks up with Arnold, by then a brigadier general in the 82

King's army, leading successful campaigns against American forc-es in Richmond, Virginia and New London, Connecticut.

Arnold's visions, as recorded by George, appear to be sufficiently detailed and interesting to authorize grants for a diverse group of academic departments — Psychology, Philosophy, Political Science, Germanic Literatures, and Anglo-French History come to mind — as well as for the paranormal research community.

Long held in disrepute, Arnold's image among Americans will not likely be rehabilitated as a result of these findings; however, for Arnoldian scholars in New Haven and beyond, there will be a comfortable supply of work for at least another generation.

First published in The Copperfield Review, Volume 10, Number 4, Autumn 2011.