The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 521 - Benedict Arnold - Part 2

Episode Date: February 22, 2022

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine American great Benedict Arnold.  Sources Tour Dates Redbubble Merch

You're listening to the dollop on the All Things Comedy Network. This is an American History podcast where each week I, Dave Anthony, read a story from American history to my friend. Uh, Gareth Reynolds, who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. It's about China. It'd be strange. It'd be a departure. The off-brand.

It's so funny. People always say, I have a great recommendation. And I'm like, yo, it's an American History podcast, not Czechoslovakian. They just said, you made a bad deal. Yeah, I'm allowed to do it internationally. No, I didn't make a bad deal because I don't know who you signed with. Here's the problem with other countries, histories is I can, I can go and read about something and write it, write it up and do a story about something that happened in Czechoslovakia.

But I might be unwittingly because I don't know the nuances of the history, like, like propagating some right-wing bullshit. You know what I mean? Like I might fall into a trap where I am. But that's, that, that, that's where the audience is. I think the more that, you know, you're, you're ignoring a huge segment. People got really mad about the Satchel Page episode and rightfully so because I based it on one book and in the book, the guy is a sports guy who wrote it and he totally played

down the racism in the Dominican Republic. And so I just said, yeah, because Satchel Page always said it wasn't that big of a deal either for him. So I played it down, but I also said, like, oh, by the way, they massacred Haitians using the anti-immigrant, but whatever. But people got bad about that. It's like, yeah, sometimes I'm going to read a book. It's not going to paint the full picture and I don't actually have time to do 20 more

hours of research to make sure everything's right. So that's actually a good case of I went into a foreign place and I fucked up. I know American history. I know all the nuances, but if I start going into foreign places and, and reading their history and I'm going to miss some shit, that's because I'm not, look, I'm American. We don't learn about other places. Yeah. This is Americans talking about things.

It's supposed to be inaccurate often and called it, quote, his jam patch. I'm the fucking hippo guy. My name's Gary. My name's Gary. Wait. Is it for fun? And this is not going to come to Tigglypock. Okay.

This is like an on a five-part coefficient. My room's a place. Now hit him with a puppy. You both present sick arguments. No sleep, no hippo. No sleep, no hippo. Actually, pardon me. Hi, Gary.

No. Has he done, my friend? No. No. Roder, Roder in the cork. Okay. Part two. So here's, here's where we left off.

So a boy, our boy, Benedict Arnold had, you know, he, a great military leader, then just shit on by Congress and these guys undermining him, right? Money lover. Yeah. Calling him a money lover, greedy guy. And so basically he, he ends up leaving the army and then Washington is like, Hey, can you go run the situation in Philadelphia, which is bad because you have post war. You have the, the loyalists and, and then the Patriots and they fucking hate each other

because what, what is, okay. So what, just so I know, what is the deal with, what is the difference between the two? Okay. So loyalists basically were Americans who supported the British in the war. Okay. Okay. And then because. And then the Patriots cheated football.

Yes. Because Philadelphia was controlled by the British. Those people who were fighting the British were really persecuted. Their houses taken over. And those are the Patriots. Remember that British soldiers literally carved holes in their living room floors and shit and uses his toilet. So yeah, it's a, it's a, it's been a bad run.

So there's a, he's coming in a situation where there's in the city, a lot of animosity towards each other. So would they just like, they would just like go into their homes and then on like the second floor, just put a hole in it or are they doing that through the roofs? No, they would do it. Oh, they just do it on the first floor. And so it would go underneath the house. So underneath the house, like in the tree.

Okay. So your foundation is. Well, I'd say that just the, the dirt under your house is just soaked with human excrement. Yeah. No, it's not, no, it's not great. That's totally. Unless you're into it. And then it's great.

Like everybody's got their own fetish. Then it's great. So there was like, there was like two people who were like, Oh, wow, Oh, finally. What are the odds? I actually, I should have written a date down here. I did not, but let's just say 1991, let's say 1991. So in Philadelphia, the Patriot groups, the two groups are not getting along. The Patriots and the Loyalists amongst the Patriots.

Okay. So there's the Patriots and then there's moderate Patriots and radical Patriots. There are Patriots who are like, I mean, we could kind of be English. And then other Patriots are like, no, fuck them basically. So the moderates want reconciliation with the Loyalists. They're like, we can get along with these guys. All they did was try to keep us, you know, subservient to the British. And the radicals are like, no, we need to take revenge on these motherfuckers.

They've been pooping in our houses. You can never get past that because you're like, we just need to get along. And they're like, they shit in my house. I know, but they were mad. Okay. So Philadelphia has an executive council and it's run by the radicals. The ones who want revenge on the Loyalists. The pissed off ones, right?

Okay. And one guy specifically is the leader of them, Joseph Reed. And he immediately did not like Benedict Arnold. Okay. So Reed was a leader amongst the radicals and a reader, a reader, leader, did I say reader? No, you said leader. I'm having fun.

So he he's the state president. So he has special license with his powers to prosecute Loyalists. Okay. And he's really, really into hanging them. He's like, I want to hang them all. Okay. They're there. He had a list of 500 Loyalists in Philadelphia.

He wanted to hang. He had a shit list. Okay. Wow. 500. They're like, we don't have enough rope. This is my, I got to say, this is my type of guy. Yeah.

Completely. This is the, this is the, this is the blocking. This guy would be blocking people on Twitter. This would be the modern age. Yes. How you handle it. Right. So he and why doesn't he like Benedict Arnold?

Well, so Benedict, because Benedict Arnold hates the British too, but he doesn't think you should kill the Loyalists. Okay. Oh, okay. I get you. Right. He's like, let's, right. Okay.

Gotcha. And, and that, and because he came out and said, we shouldn't hang them. Reed was like, Oh, Benedict Arnold is a secret Loyalist. Okay. Wow. Which can't be true. He literally led the fucking, yeah, he's fighting the shit out of the British. So Reed now decides he wants to move into a mansion that is owned by a Loyalist woman.

Okay. He's like, I'm going to take that house. He wants to take it over. So he has the militia come and literally carry her out of the house in a chair that she refused to get out of. This is like a Jewish wedding moment. It's, it's right. It's a bar mitzvah situation.

No, no, no wedding. They don't do that. Have you ever been to a bar mitzvah? No. Good Lord. God, come on. Keep going. So the chair, the chair thing is never a bar mitzvah?

Why did I think that was a bar mitzvah to do? Because I, you can, you've conflated. No, that's, well, isn't this on the Jewish people for never inviting me? It really is. I mean, I boy, I'll tell you, I bet you don't even know how to spell Yamaha. I got invited to one in January, but it ended up being on zoom. So not the same. Listen, it being a grown ass man going to a bar mitzvah much different.

You need to go in your 13. I was the entertainment. I was a clown. I wanted to convert to Judaism. Sure. Purely for the bar mitzvah. Yeah, yeah. You know, the, that's why I wanted to be, I mean, there was a lot of Baruch atah deny

that seemed to be a little much because you had to like memorize so much Hebrew and sing it. And I mean, talk about singing at a horrible age, right when your voice is like this and you got to be like Baruch atah, you know, but still at the end of it, you were just, it was just a lavish party. You were a cock of the walk. You had inflatable instruments. You were dancing around.

The DJ would just be like, all right. Yeah. Well, I mean, everyone circle around Rami, I'd be like, oh God, this is the religion. Well, that's why. This is the one. That's why I always want to be a young Mexican girl because I could have my quinceanera, you know. Absolutely.

Yeah. So same, same for a, yeah, same thing. Absolutely. We're talking about the same thing. Pretty much. Okay. So, so Benedict doesn't want this stuff to go on and so he's like, carried out of her house on a chair.

Yeah. He's like, that's a lot. So he hears what's going on. There's men over there to help this old woman pack up all her stuff and he sent a carriage so that she could take it away. He's like, let's at least treat them with respect. I like that the concession is just like, look, you are not going to go in there and break into her house and take her out of a chair.

We will allow her to pack some of her things and then you can have her house. We're not crazy people. Okay. But either way, he's getting her house. Yeah, but Reed is fucking livid that he is being nice to this woman. Right. Okay. So that, this is the first thing that happens between them, like right off the bat.

And so they're immediately do not like each other. Okay. So then Benedict falls in love with a woman named Peggy Shippen and she is the daughter from a loyalist family. Okay. Okay. So she's not going to help Reed take it all. She is crazy hot.

She's like the, some people say she's the hottest, the hottest woman in America. Like she's just, what? Yes. She is just stunning. Yes. But again, you didn't know anything beyond like 500 feet. Yeah. But everyone saw the paintings.

Oh God, that is amazing. Oh, excuse me. I'm going to take a trip to the toilet. Look at this painting. Well, I mean, there was a time when people jerked off to Sears catalog. So there's no way teenagers weren't jerking off the paintings. What do you think you're talking to? Listen.

Back in the day. Well, listen. I remember, look, I'm not going to get into it, but I mean, I remember, I remember regular TV having to find out what you were going to like jerk off to. You know what I mean? And you, the timing would be a major issue. Yeah. Because yeah, there's no like, oh, rewind.

You know, you were like, oh, it's a commercial. No. No. No. My whole day went up to this. Well, I mean, when you're in showbiz, the worst thing that ever happens if you have the TV on, you're jerking off and someone you know comes on the TV. Oh, I just hope on that for someone.

God, I hope on that for someone. So she's not only very, very, very attractive, but she's also very smart. She's super well informed. Her dad is one of the richest men in America. So. Okay. Benedict just starts moving on her. It totally endured.

He starts moving on her, but the dad is not into Benedict and the idea of them together. And he. It feels like Benedict never really found his people. Yeah. That's not right. Even what, whatever he was doing, there was always people are always like, oh, this guy. Well, but if you, if you listen to last week's and start to get it, it sounds like he's a bit of a dick.

Like he definitely seems to be rubbing everybody the wrong way. I think people don't just kind of randomly hate him. I think, I think he, I think he rubs people the wrong way. Okay. All right. And he's hoping that she'll rub him the right way. Yeah. Girl, girl.

Okay. He wondered, so the father wondered how a quote cripple could support his daughter. Oh, because of his leg? Yeah. Oh, okay. But nice. He eventually wears them down and they were married and pretty soon had a child on the way.

So he married the hottest lady in America. So he still needs to make money. He still doesn't have any money. Remember, he lost everything in the war. So he allows this shop to open when other shops couldn't open yet because everybody had to be inventoried by the army before they were allowed to open. Not shop. It's just a random shop.

So it's basically, he just allowed this shop to open without being inventoried. Okay. So he gave like treatment for this one shop. Now why? It's because he made a deal. The shop could open as long as they made items for his new mansion, clothing for the military and gave him a cut of it all. Well, that's not a good look.

I mean, it's like, we like, I, okay. But I was thinking like, you know, they really had kind of an, if you have this like stigma around you that you are in love with money, then you do something like this, like it's only going to stick, you know, because that is true. Okay. So yeah. Okay. So he also had a ship protected that was under attack for half.

So he used, he used his, his military might, his government, you know, whatever to protect this ship that's under attack. And from that, he got half the profits of the goods that were saved by saving the ship. So again, not a good look, not a good look, a little bit, a little bit of, that's corruption. I believe they call it in the business. Yeah. Yeah. Who knows at this point.

And he was also using city wagons to transport a business partners goods. So all this stuff is upsetting read in the council. They're like, what the fuck? Sure. Okay. They also didn't like how Benedict, an aide of Benedict's treated the son of a very prominent politician. So Benedict, Benedict has an aide and there's a prominent politician and that politicians

has a son who's a sergeant and he's working in the, in the city hall building, right? Uh-huh. Now Benedict's aide gets upset because he thought powder rubbed off on his wig and he tells the, he tells the sergeant, wait, wait, wait, hold on. What does that even mean that he's got the, he's got the white wig and he thought some powder rubbed off and he's upset about it. Like the white powder that you put in the wig came off. So he's mad that he's like, fuck my wigs.

I need, oh, the, the, the, the guy, his, the aide, Benedict's aide has a powdered wig and he gets upset because some powders rubbed off on it. So I guess it, maybe it's gray or something like, it doesn't look white enough in a patch. It's a patchy white wig. So who's he mad at? He's got no one to blame but himself in his wig. Well, he's mad about this already. He's frustrated.

Oh, so he's just a little hot. He's, he's fucking, he's got wig frustration. He's got, he's got wig. Yeah. There's a wig powder. Okay. Got you. And so he tells the sergeant to go find it.

Just so pissed off. To go find a barber. I'm having one of those days. My wiggest powder is just, it went everywhere. Yes, sir. Oh, so mad. Okay, sir. What, what, how can I help you?

I, there's nothing anyone could do. I'm, I'm inconsolable right now. It's just, um, God, I just can't stop thinking about, I mean, the wig, the powder off the wig. The wig is great. Wig powder. But some of the, you know, some of the powder came off. Yeah.

Do I need to spell it out? It's ridiculous. You do. I don't. The pow, I, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not mad at you. But all I ask is that when I powder my wig, I want the powder to just kind of be in the wig. And I don't need the powder to sort of poof off.

Oh God, I just, I can't, I'm reliving it. I am, God damn it. Oh, you ever heard of anything so horrible? Yeah. I mean, we just, we just literally lived through a whole like war and people were shitting in people's houses. That was weeks ago. Okay.

This is new. This is just. Yep. No, I know. The wig thing is just. Just be thrown in a fire and end it. Yeah. It's a, it's a.

End it. I mean, it's a wig. So I'm just saying like there's probably worse. It's, it's again, the issue's not with the wig. It's the powder. And I am just so pissed. I mean, look at me. I have a perfect white poofy wig that looks fine.

This looks normal. Here I am in my weird poofy wig that looks fine. Look at me. Hello. No, I'm looking. Absolutely not. Yes. Just a man with God hair.

But then the powder just sort of dusting off. It's just, I mean, it looks absurd. God. Oh, God. Damn it. Damn it. Oh, shit. Well, I'm going to go to bed.

I cannot. Okay. I can't take this anymore. Thank God. This day's a wash. Yes, please. But. So just, he tells the sergeant to go find a barber.

Look, you have to get on emergency barber. But the barber's not home. So he goes back and he says, look, the barber's not there. And the, and the. Oh my God. Slips the fuck out. What? The barber is not home.

So he goes back and he says, look, the barber's not there. And the, and the. Oh my God. Slips the fuck out. The barber is not there. He's like, you will go back to the barber, find him and make it happen. You will find a goddamn barber. This is an emergency.

So the sergeant goes to Benedict and he's like, look, this is a bit much. It's, I'm not a wig guy. I'm a sergeant. And so, and so Benedict's just like, you need to follow his orders. That's my aid. You follow what he said. Get a barber. Get a barber.

So then the sergeant goes and complains to his dad, which you don't hear a lot. The sergeant goes complains to his dad. The sergeant complains to his dad. Who's the prominent politician? The sergeant's dad. Permission to be your son. Well, it's his, remember his dad, his dad is a real problem. Right.

Yeah. Right. And so he then writes publicly about the shabby treatment that his son received. From the man who's losing his mind. From Blaine's Benedict. Okay. Wow. Okay.

So his son's is, oh, he didn't write publicly yet. He, he wrote that to Benedict and Benedict writes back like, well, your, your son's a soldier and needs to get the fuck over it. Like soldiers are told what to do. That's how it works. And then you go do it. Even if it's, even if it's absurd, even if the order is go find a barber to deal with my powder wig.

Yeah. Even if it's wig time. You do it. Yeah. Could be a test. That's right. You ever pledged a frat? So then the dad says, look, I will fucking take this whole thing public.

And Benedict's like, yeah, I don't give a shit. Take it fucking public. So he does. Okay. And I bet people are like, this is weird. Or were they like, oh gosh, no, they were mostly like, this is an emergency. They were all like, why the fuck are you telling a sergeant to go get a wig? It's not a wig.

It's your own personal shit. Don't tell the sergeant to deal with your wig situation. Right. It's not a war. Right. Okay. So now Benedict is just like, this place is fucking crazy. He wants out of Philadelphia.

He's like, I can't. I can't remember, he can't get barbers when you want. People don't know what emergencies are. They're shitting in our floors. He's, he's, he's a soldier. He's not a politician. This is politics stuff. It's not what he's good at.

So he, he keeps asking Congress and Washington to send them somewhere else and they just blew them off. And he keeps clashing with the council and that is happening so much that he ends up challenging several of the council to duals. There it is. We're back. And we're back. Take my glove.

Here we go. They don't take him. No one takes him up on it. Joseph Reed then goes to Congress and is like, you got to get Benedict out of here quote for abuse of power and criminal acts. Okay. So he accuses Benedict of several charges and then he sends them to Washington and the governor of every state.

So he's just, now he's just like, fuck this guy. Yeah. It's like, why are you sending it to North Carolina? Like who the fuck is a shit? Well, you know, Benedict Donald lost his mind about a wig. So he then published the charges in a very popular newspaper. And then he said he wouldn't send out the state militia as long as Benedict remains in charge.

So he's like, okay, all my powers I have, he's been over leveraged. Yeah. So once again, Benedict is like, I got to clear my name again of these charges. And Washington tells him to have a congressional committee investigate. But Benedict's like, no, I'd prefer it. Washington was like, why don't you just have him do the sort of lower frill hair? I've always loved that look. I like, you know, kind of like I've been wearing a hat all day.

And then you sort of, so you kind of do like, you know, flat kind of combi over up top. And then, and then I like, and then let it let it loose at the bottom. I feel, you know, kind of like three stooges, like Larry a little bit. I've always gone with that kind of white Larry look that I just think is pretty good. And I noticed that a lot of people aren't doing it. I don't know why people haven't been asking for the Washington. But it seems to me pretty good. Been pretty good for me.

So did you think about doing that at all? No, I didn't think of that. And it's not about the hair. It's about corruption, the other stuff. Right. But you'd admit that the hair I have is pretty cool. No, I don't. Kind of.

Look at this. It's great hair. Look at that. Put your hand through. No. No any women? No. Looking for a...

No. No. Okay. I'm the president. First one. Big, big fucking deal. So Benedict, Benedict would rather have a court martial than a congressional committee investigation. He figures he can depend on military men over politicians.

He's like military men will be honest and straightforward. The charges are all about the money making shit he had going on and... Which are not, it's not a good luck. Yeah. And then, but once the court martial is like, okay, it's happening, then Reed keeps dragging it on as long as possible. He's basically keeping Benedict in limbo. Where he can't clear his name and it's just bad shit all the time.

Press constantly. Okay. So things are getting worse in Philadelphia between the factions. Reed Ledmob surrounds the house of a moderate patriot. So not even a loyalist, just a moderate patriot. Right. And James Wilson and Benedict runs over to help or put a stop to it. Help the moderate.

And they pelt Benedict with stones. Jesus. So he pulls out his two guns and aims it at the crowd. And then instead of being scared, they just taunt him and start making fun of him. Oh God. It's like an anti-John womb. So luckily some troops arrive and they calm the situation down, but by calming the situation down, I mean they kill a bunch of people and shoot into the crowd.

That kind of thing. You know, like what happens when you have the military and the domestic situation and never. So shit's really fucking bad at this point. I mean, now they're killing the radicals. It's just a shit show. Right. So Benedict is now worried about his family's safety.

One day he got attacked on the street. A guy just, you know, started a fight with him. He kept seeing people just lurking outside of his house and trying to look in. And that's cool. That's cool. So he goes to, he goes to Congress. He's like, I need troops to protect my family. Quote.

These are not good looks. Quote this request, I presume, will not be denied to a man who has so often fought and bled for the defense of his country. His request was denied. But he also, like, it seems like even though in the stuff we heard in the first one, there was a lot of good, the way people view him is not that way. Right? Yeah.

I mean, yeah, for sure. I think that he's, he's trying to keep the peace. Right. And not to let people get killed and like mobs happen and stuff. And so for that, he's viewed by many as the bad guy. Okay. Right. So, okay.

So he, now his family, he's worried about his family and the, they're just basically like, yeah, you can live with lurkers who are like, that is going. Hey, hey, that looks pretty good. Yeah. That's my house. Yeah, if you could get off my lawn, that would be great. What are you going to wear to bed? I'm my night shirt, but also that's not a thing that you should be interested in.

You should be interested in your house. We was wondering if we could see you in your night shirt first. No, I don't think so. I'm, I'm, I'd rather you weren't out here lurking, you know, hanging out looking in and doing the thing. What are you guys doing? We're just going to see if we could see Benedict Arnold's night shirt. No.

Oh yeah. What, what kind of night shirt do you have, Mr. Arnold? That's actually none of your business. I'm not going to go into my night shirt situation. Well, then why did you present it like a show when I walked by? Actually, I just said, let's not, let's not do this is what I said. That's not at all.

Um, you know, Oh, mate, would it help if, if we took our shirts off? Nope. We ran to take our, I'll take my knife right now. No, sir. No. At my bottoms. We don't.

I'm naked. Oh God. Mr. Arnold, I'm feeling new now. Okay. That's pretty cool. It's not cool. I'm not going to get naked. I'm going to ask you to leave my property.

How do you get your night shirt on if you don't get naked? Why do I do it? I just do it. Did you put it on over your clothes and then sort of swap it like how a lady does it with her brazier, where sometimes she put it through the sleeves and then she can take it off and put, is that what you're fixing to do? Gentlemen. I'm freezing.

I'm going to. We're all real cold now that we're naked out here. I'm going to call on the army to kill you. A deal's a deal. Get nude. There was no deal made. This guy. It's true what they say about him.

He's a real asshole. So right. So they, Congress says we're not going to approve that, but you should get the council to give you guards, but the council is the people who are, he's scared of. Right. Okay. So that seems. So they're basically just like fuck off.

Yeah. So Reed finally takes his case to Congress. They dismissed six of the eight charges and then the court martial happens and it takes place at a tavern in New Jersey, which should still be where court marshals take place today in taverns. Completely. Yeah. Witnesses testified.

You guys want some Yeager? Yes. That's why I'm here. Okay. So this witness is testifying the soldier, uh, who quote, who was the sergeant who testified to his dismay at the order to fetch a barber. So the guy, which isn't criminal, it was like, it's not criminal. No, but it's still ridiculous.

Others went and said he was too, uh, too forgiving with loyalists. So it's not really criminal stuff. So Benedict answers every charge and he showed he had asked to leave the position. So he's like, they're telling me I'm profiting from something that I have been trying to get out of. So he, right, that's his argument against the corruption he's doing. He's like, I've been trying to leave this job. Why would I, why would I want to profit off?

Why would it be profiting off something I want to get the fuck out of? So, you know what? It's not a great argument. But he has been profiting. Yes, he has. Right. Okay. Yeah.

So he becomes very emotional, cries a little bit when he talks about his reputation being ripped apart by the people who benefit. I imagine that men in this time treated someone crying about a powdered wig drama with great sensitivity and were super understanding to it. Well, he's like, look, I risked my life for these people and now they're attacking me. So the court ends up finding him guilty of two counts. The one that he let a British ship enter the port and then he used city wagons for personal use.

Okay. So the sentence is a reprimand from George Washington. So that's what the court marshal, that's what they conclude is your sentence is that George Washington is going to talk some shit about you. Oh, damn, okay. But here's the thing. I mean, so it's just George Washington is just like, that was real shitty. Well, you shouldn't have done that.

Not really. Because George Washington is his hero, his father figure, the guy who always has his back. It's just fucking dude. And there's his amazing historical conversations about hair together. We've heard the hair. There's tons of those. They're called.

Yeah. Yeah. So Washington writes a very softly worded reprimand, the most softly worded he could and then included a personal note with the very public reprimand that is so sorry about this reprimand. Yeah. And then he shirt Benedict. I don't mean it.

I love you. You're awesome. You're my boy. You came over and we talked about my hair. It was one of my favorite moments. That's why we always call it the hairversation. We don't again. Not I think we do clicking super great.

We'd like to have her say tomorrow, but Conver like a Conver session. That would work. That's just so hair station easy, easy to just not hear the harder to do where it's not as good. It's not talking about hair clearly. It doesn't. Yeah. Conver hair.

I don't come. What is it? Conv hair here. I can barely hear it. I can barely hear the hair. Yeah. Well, that's what's good about. You want that.

That's what you want. You want a. That's how it works. You're a hair to it. That's why that doesn't work either. That's not. No. No.

Like if you were to say you're being unfair, that would be great, but you're just not finding it the right. It's not. You're subtle to the point that it's not a thing. It's you want that that success. Fuck sake. All right. Whatever.

My God. There's three naked men out there. Those are my bros. So he a Washington in this includes this thing that he's he is sure as Benedict that he'll give him opportunities to save his reputation, but so that's a great reprimandation. But Benedict is just fucking shocked that the one guy he who had always had his back and he thought would always had his back who he is like this is my father figure would send the reprimand at all.

He was like, Washington's not going to do this. Did he have a choice that could I mean, I guess Washington could deny doing that. I mean, he's the president. Washington was pretty like by the book. Yeah. Covered you by the book. So. Right.

Okay. Anyway, Benedict is fucking done. He's done. Okay. Pissed. That was like that. I mean, essentially Washington was his last connection to right America. Like he's been fighting for America and taking fucking shit from everybody.

He's a great general. Everyone's like, go fuck yourself. Washington is always the guy that has back. Like it's really the last guy that's keeping him connected. And then that guy. Okay. So now he's done. Yeah.

He's fucking done. He's in the sense that he's just like what he's just like. Fuck America. Yeah. Oh, okay. Because he's done so much and everyone's just shit and fucked like every which way. Okay. Shit and fucked him is a bad saying.

I was just going to say they shouldn't fuck them. Yeah. But it's also great that I took it without question. Okay. They should fuck them. They should and fuck them. Oh boy. He's getting it from all ends.

So a British colonel sends Benedict a letter saying if the war kept going, America would be quote a scene of desolation. Okay. He brought up soldiers like like Benedict who had been crippled by the war. Oh boy. He's the term crippled by the war. And he said Benedict could be the guy who could bring peace. Oh boy.

Now have I got an opportunity? Now Peggy could have had a hand in the introductions to British officers because she's a lot of loyalists. She for sure knew them. She hung out with them. Sure. But Benedict starts working with a friend, a good friend of Peggy's named John Andre. And he is the head of the British Secret Service.

Okay. So basically he is so rubbed by the Washington situation which is just sort of the culmination of all this other shit. And that broke the cameras back for sure. And so because his wife Peggy is a loyalist, she based, so he's now a traitor essentially. Well he's becoming one, yes. Or about to be, right. So he starts writing back and forth to John Andre using coded letters.

I would love to see what like, what kind of coding. I'm sure there wasn't that primitive. It's just like, yeah. It had to have been decent. I would love to take a walk. We should make sure that the walk is the last time we walk together. And when we take this walk, people will understand why we walked. Exactly Benedict.

You've got it exactly. I don't know what you're talking about. I don't care to walk. Okay. Yeah. How do you even start your code? I don't know. Like in prison there's like certain ways to do it.

But there's symbols. So he's sending these, they're sending these letters back and forth and Andre's like, look, you'll be rewarded for information or we'll fucking cash money. But Benedict is like, well, I need money now before I give you information because he does need money because they haven't paid him for all the fucking soldiering time. Because they keep saying he owes them money when he's actually paying his soldiers. So not only is he losing money by paying for his soldier's needs, they're also never paying him his salary.

So he fucking needs money. I mean, it really has become so self-fulfilling. They were like, oh, all this guy cares about his money. And it's like, well, yeah, because he never got paid. So it's like an issue. Yeah. So he's got all this back pay he's owed and he's fucking struggling financially. But the British are like, not, they're avoiding specifically naming mounts or any specifics

about what reward he'll get. We're not going to get into the numbers again with your name. It's not right. Yeah. He just sent the information, yes, Cheerio. So he gives in. He finally is like, OK, and he starts sending information. For no money.

No money. For, OK, he's going to get future profits. So Andre is adamant that he land a leadership position in an important place, like a port. He's like, you got to get yourself into a spot that will really help us. OK. Wow. This is like a place that'll help the British like in an attack, just take out the states in one fell swoop, right?

Right. So Benedict was like, fucking show me the money then. Show me the money. And at the same time, he still, he starts going to Washington being like, can you give me a post outside Philadelphia? But he's still not asking for the ones, like Andre's given him a list of ones to go for it. He's still not asking for those.

So it's like this murky kind of doing it, kind of not area. He's hokey pokey. Yeah, a little bit. And is he doing that because he is morally conflicted? Yeah, probably. Like I can't really say for sure, but it seems like that would be. Or maybe it's partially because he's like, if he's not getting paid, he's like maybe buying some more time before like, yeah, OK, OK.

But either way, Washington at this point would then be like, gosh, you really took that reprimandation pretty well. I got to be honest. You're kind of, you know, it's a lot of people said that you would kind of lose your shit, but here you are handling it really well, man. That's awesome. And now the only note I would have for you would be the hair. You know, let's do some cut it real short up top situation is just bad.

It's bad. I don't think you should have a way. What? Wait, do I have a wig? Yeah. Oh, that's what my hair. What is my hair like under this? It's just bald.

Well, I'm just totally bald and I have just why did I choose this kind of style? Everybody's doing it. Like sure. Yeah, but mine is particularly like crazy. Isn't it? It's like it's like if in the 90s you had the Rachel, like it's just what everyone's doing. It's kind of the mullet though.

Yeah. Wait, but George Washington's wig is crazy. Are you looking at pictures right now? Yeah. I mean, it's like if you were going to go with a wig, I know, but they like a lot of them had that kind of like flow. Yeah. The long ones.

Yeah. And he was like, no, make it look like, well, there's just George Washington costumes coming up. Well, his is shorter, right? George's is shorter. And it's also like kind of balding a little bit like it recedes back. Yeah. Why would you get a balding wig?

It's more natural. It's a more natural. But if you're going to get a wig, well, maybe that's his hair, whatever. I don't know. But now it's a wig. I mean, maybe it's his hair. I don't know. And he had a ponytail kind of.

I mean, a lot of that. So well, how did that even come about? How why just because that was how you were like sort of identified as kind of a dignitary or something or like an official, I don't know, governmental person. I don't know. These questions are going to come up. We can do a hair podcast. Please.

Well, but we did do a wig doll. Okay. We can call it a kind of hair station. But I don't I don't know how the the the the tail came off. I don't know how to. Yeah. Who was just someone's going to write us and say he didn't wear a wig. And I'm going to be like, all right, let's, you know, put it in a satchel page file.

There we go. Let's turn the satchel page. So so right. So it's it's going back and forth. It's kind of he's getting ignored for all his requests to Washington about a port about taking another job. And then Congress said they went they they looked over his Quebec campaign. It was a total failure.

And they're like, you actually owe us a thousand pounds on top of all this shit. You are you are shitting in the wrong floorboard right now, baby, because they owe him money. So he just fucking lose. Yeah. That's right. Okay. He's absolutely done. And he comes up.

This is very much. This is a villain origin. Yeah, it really is. So he comes up with a plan to get a commission at West Point on the Hudson River, which Washington called quote, the key to the continent. Oh, dearie me. Oh, boy. Now, Americans had spent years creating a massive 1700 foot iron chain that spanned the

river to damage damage any enemy ships that would come in. Okay. So this would be like the most secure spot. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Okay. So Benedict asks Washington for the command of West Point, and then he goes to the British

and he goes, look, if I get this, I want 10,000 pounds. Okay. Show me the money. Right. And he said, if he was able to give them West Point, if he was able to, you know, take the chain, make it happen, make it happen, he wanted 20,000. What an amazing moment where he's like, hey, let's just take the defense down for a little while.

Huh? What? Yeah. Let's clean it. Should we just clean it? Let's clean the chain. It's so rusty. Yeah.

Well, I mean, yeah. I mean, there's ways you can do it. Okay. So I'm sorry. I'm looking up how much 20,000 is in 1776 to today. It's going to be a shit load. It says 32 cents. Oh, wow.

So it's not a lot at all. Why would he do this all for 32 cents? I must have put in the wrong thing. When I was doing this thing with my mother the other day, the story about this goose, that is just a little thing I filmed, I Googled, she has a goose in her town. It's crazy. And I Googled the lifespan of a goose and the first thing that came up was 200 to 300 years.

Oh my God, really? No, it's not true. But I was like, you know, it's just like, you know, how you get information, you're just like, what is the, oh yeah, they lived to be 300. Yeah. Okay. Who knew? I mean, you said that.

And the first thing I thought was the geese are the turtle of birds. Like that was, I was very excited. Yes. Bird turtles. Completely. Yes. It would be amazing. Okay.

So he is asking for $650,000. Wow. Okay. Which, I mean, you know, you're talking about, you know, throwing the war like, yeah, yeah, but I would even think it would be more. Yeah, yeah. I really would. I like for all, but I guess because he's been so starved of cash, he's probably just

like, whatever. So he's already given them a bunch of logistical information on what Washington's up to. But he's, he's not going to give him West Point without the money. So after a while, the British finally agreed to it. They're like, okay, but they said, if the plan failed to get them West Point, he would have to forfeit the 20 grand, though he could still, he could still get a position in the British military once it was over. Right.

So he gets a job out of it if it fails. Worst case. Worst case. A job. So he goes to me with Washington and he's like expecting Washington to give him West Point. Instead, Washington asks, um, I want you to lead my left flank in this, in this battle. We're about to partake in. Okay.

So this is his against the British. This is his dream, like getting to be Washington's left flank. It's like, you just got drafted number one in the NBA. It's like, this is everything he ever fucking wanted. Like this is what his life has been about. You know, you've been so cool about the whole wig thing and everything that I just feel like you deserve. You deserve this and he's like, I just sold out though, dude, uh, you have made this offer

two months ago to me. Yeah. So, you know, it's a command of elite troops in a major battle with his buddy, George. Like it's just so you and me back to back doing it right, wigs, guns, the whole nine baby. It's also going to redeem his reputation and show that Washington trust him after the court martial, like it's all, it's everything I know, okay, but he's already, he's in too deep.

I mean, he's like Donnie Braskin. Well, here's the big problem. He actually has to pass because, because he's, uh, he's in the middle of trade ring. Yeah. So he's like, um, and Washington was probably just like, wait, what exactly, um, uh, I'm going to pass. Well, he's, he uses the excuse. He says my wag is my wag, my leg is too weak.

My leg is too weak. Thank you. But, uh, I'm going to pass. And he says, can I please take the West Point command and I just, I just feel like I'd rather just sit in a chair at the port. Honestly, just, uh, wow, that must have been very, very difficult. Washington said Benedict's face changed and he quote appeared to be quite fallen. And instead of thanking me or expressing any pleasure at the appointment, never opened

his mouth. Uh, Washington knows that feeling. So Washington thought that he was like, this guy's going to be over the moon when I tell him, and other, other officers said, Benedict's face when Washington asked him almost turned purple. So he's not really hiding. Yeah. Anyway.

Egg planted. Washington's like, okay, you can have the West Point command. Sure, cause this is like your dream. Yeah. It's just my leg. So fuck. So I'm immediately when he gets there and he takes over, he goes to work and he says, the big iron chain needs to be repaired and he ordered it removed to take it down from

the river. Let's get it down. Let's get it down from the river. Right now. War. So we should take our thing down. Are you sure? Sir?

Yes. It certainly listen to me. We're in the middle of a war. Right. And that's going to be my point to you through right. So we need to keep that chain tip of the top of the top, top, top. Yeah. I just would worry.

What if the British come? I mean, look at why should you call this the key link? Every single. Feel it. It's going to take weeks. It. Hold it in your hand. It'll take weeks.

We'll have a. We'll have a. That's going to take weeks. A rope pull type contest with the chain to make sure it's strong and firm. It is strong. That's why we built it. And it's just yellow. That I don't hate.

I honestly, we've been saying it could be painted, but shouldn't we leave it up while the war is active? It feels like ribbon around it, you know, so it looks like festive. Like I love a lot of it. I love a lot of these ideas. It's just it feels like we should do that after the war. I forgot to say wash it with toothbrushes. And then we have.

And then we put it back up and now it's ready for war. Now it's painted yellow. Then cleaned and got the ribbons on it. Now the British will be, they'll think twice. And I just think based on what I know about the British, um, they will honor the fact that we've momentarily taken this down to fix it. The British won't attack at that time because they've been like the worst, but then we just be scallywags.

So let's not. That's just not. Honor. Let's not honor. So they've been shitting on our floors. That's right. You made my point. Now I don't think I made my, okay.

So get it. All right. Did they shit on the floor? No, they should. No, through it. Into the foundation. So that's very honorable, gentlemanly. Sort of.

No, it's worse. We couldn't get it out. I knew a guy who hung out in a porta potty. Oh, yeah. I know. Yeah. That, that we get. That's awesome.

It's a dream. Great. Take the wig off. There we go. All right. So, so yeah, so he gets the, he gets the chain taken down and. They must have been like, what the fuck is he talking about? He go, I know, right?

He goes to the British and tells him about all the sorry state of the defenses at West Point. He then pretends two cannons are not up to snuff and sends them off to be fixed. You know what else? These cannons are just aesthetically so displeasing. Let's just get them out of here and let's, let's clean them. Let's clean the cannons, boys. Only cannons, so we need them.

Well, I'm not going to sit here with a filthy cannon, honestly. That's the last thing we want, believe me. If the British see cannons like this, they're not going to respect us and they will attack anyway. So, yeah, let's get the cannons down and then I'm also going to say we're all going to take naps now from three to eight and that's mandatory five hour midday naps. So just in summation, take the chain down completely. That's got to go for a while.

Lose the cannons, long naps for everybody and yeah, that's pretty good for me. So yeah. You actually got pretty close. He sent 500 soldiers out into the forest to cut down firewood. So guys, go get a bunch of wood for, go get enough wood for the rest of our lives. That's who we're really fighting is that forest. He also told the British of Washington's plan to surprise attack in New York. So Andre and Benedict meet in the middle of the night on a riverbank and Andre tries to

talk Benedict into taking 4,000 pounds less with everything he's done. We don't have all of it. We're only Britain. We have 16 for you and 16 and a bottle of rum. So that's pretty good. What if, and hear me out, what if we just shave off 20% right? We just take off 20% and then we just. I've had him take down everything and then we just do it.

I passed on my dream job. Right. But I think you would show how. You would get 20 grand. You son of a bitch. I think you would show how much you cared if you just. I don't care. I just want the money.

To put less money. I just want the money. That was the whole fucking deal. And you'll get it just less of it. Like it's. No, you said you'd give it to me now. Why do I believe? It's still a pile.

Why would I believe? It's still a pile of money. I put 500 men in the forest to get tinder. And that's great. We love that. Yes, but I did that because you, do you even know how bribing works? This is like the most important part. What are bribing is just being bros, you know, and talking it out and being like.

No, we're not. No, no, no, no. Look, I give a little, you give a little like you gave me information. Now you give up the money. That sounds like I'm giving the most. I've been very giving. That's you're a giver. We're takers.

No, I'm a taker. I'm a taker who's trapped in a giver's nightmare that we agree. I mean, yeah, at that point, he's just like, look, we don't have it, man. Well, Benedict fucking, so Benedict is just absolutely furious and he's like, I need all the money I can get to escape. And Andre's like, okay, I will try to sort it out. All right, well, well, now that we know you really want all of it so much, we'll try. And then Benedict gives him he, the reason they're meeting, he's got a bunch of documents

about West Point's defenses. And he also had a signed pass for Andre in case he gets stopped by any security forces on the way back from this meeting. That's like, it's like a get out of jail free card, right? Show them this. So Audrey takes all the papers and puts them in his stocking. There we go. Nice.

Now I don't use pockets. I don't believe in them. The next morning, Benedict and Peggy are preparing to host George Washington, Lafayette, Hamilton, and a bunch of other big wigs for breakfast at their house. Weird wigs. Okay. So I mean, stress, stressful time. So everybody's there except Washington.

Washington's not there yet. He'll a late because he decided on a whim to stop to check the defensive fortification fortifications head over to West Point for a little while, just on a bit of a whim. You know, I know you're doing great, but I just want to see what it's like. I'm sure everyone's there not collecting firewood and there's cannons and all those defenses as we said. So what happened to John Andre that night, the night before? I love that he's meeting with the head of British secret intelligence and then having

breakfast with like Hamilton and all these bros. That's what I mean. It is Donnie Brasco. You have to be so stressed out like when you're in the midst of this, the money's not coming in like the way it's supposed to. And then you're sitting in the line. I mean, you're hosting. Yeah.

Benedict, you look tired. What's going on? You know, you're just like, I'm good. Shut the fuck up. Sorry. I don't mean to shout at you. Why is your wig so wet with sweatiness? It's not wet.

It's not that sweating. It's wet. It's wet. I went swimming in the wing. You never swam in a wig before? What do you guys think you're so much better than me just because you never swam in a wig before? Oh my God.

I'm just sick of the glares. I didn't do shit, assholes. What? Okay. I didn't do shit, assholes. I'm not mad at you. Look, everything's normal. What?

Oh my God. Let me guess. You guys are wondering, am I up to something? Well, no, I'm not. Who wants a gin giblet? What? Who wants a gin giblet? It's morning.

Oh, sorry. I forgot. Time is kind of irrelevant in a fine way. I made a choice to ignore time for a little while. Oh man. You know what we should do? We should all just start over. Let's just all start the day over again.

I'll be honest. You guys are acting a little shady right now. Some people are whispering, wondering what's going on with you guys. Pouring sweat and won't stop talking. I have yellow fever. Jesus, why are we here? Yeah, no, you shouldn't be. That's what I'm saying.

So get out. Everyone leave. I'm dying. I'm going to die. I'm dying right now. Wait. Wait, I'm better. I love you guys.

I love my country so much. So what had happened the night before was Andre was walking back and three local militiamen stopped him and asked for his ID, papers, whatever. Are you, if you're in the British Army, like how open are you about being in the British Army? He's not, though. He's Secret Service. So he is essentially a spy on American soil.

OK. OK. Got it. So they search him, they find the documents, they quickly realize he's a spy, and they take him to an army post where the papers are shown to this colonel, Colonel Jamison, and an army intelligence officer, Major Talmage. Now Talmage is like, this is fucking treason. Benedict Arnold is, this is treason.

And Benedict Arnold is completely connected to this. So he must have been, and then it's the same day he's hosting all these legends. OK. Do they, they don't know that. So Talmage is like, we can't tell Benedict anything because he's involved in this. And Jamison is like, well, that would be in sort of in subordination because Benedict is our, is our, our, our Tiffany Topkai. Well, yeah.

But, yeah. But if you're like, if your commanding officer's been flipped, you're not like, we should go to him with this information that he's flipped. Well, Jamison, the colonel, outranks Talmage. So he sends a message to Benedict right as Talmage sends the papers to Washington. So. Oh, shit. So he basically warns Benedict.

I don't think meaning to. He's just like, I have to follow the way command works. So he sends. I'm sure there's a rational explanation for all these incriminating papers we found in this man's stockings that you signed. So the papers are going to two different places at once, right? And both, right. One to the guy who's in trouble and the other who's the guy who, if he knows what Benedict

is done, will fucking lose his mind. So now as Benedict is sitting at breakfast chatting with Hamilton Lafayette and all these other fucking. I love eggs. Eggs are so good. Don't you love eggs? Boy, I love eggs with bread. Ha, ha, ha.

A messenger shows up with a note and he reads it and it says John Andre has been captured and inside his boot were documents in Benedict's handwriting detailing West Point's defenses, a pass for getting through and information on a recent war council Washington had. And that I was hacked and that those papers were now being sent to Washington. That goes to Benedict at this breakfast. And only he reads this. So he's like, Oh, okay. Um, okay.

I'm going to. Excuse myself, gentlemen, and jump on my horse and just ride fast away. I'm going to go outside for a little while and maybe not be back. So thanks for coming. Well, he runs upstairs to Peggy, who was upstairs for some reason and. What the hell was she doing upstairs? He's like, I am running immediately to the British. I wonder if she's like, I married a real bad person.

No, because she's like, because she's a loyalist. She's, there's a lot of what did she know? What didn't she know? A lot of people think not only she know a lot, but she was very, very. I know, but I wonder if she knew she was marrying like the 1700s uncut gem star, like the level of stress of the needles he's trying to thread and the way the plan is falling apart. So she faints when he tells her.

Oh, that's good. He then runs downstairs. I mean, can you imagine fainting when someone tells like that is some dark. That's the dark shit. Oh, God, I told my wife what's happening and she died. So Benedict runs downstairs and as an 80 goes, go get me a horse alerts his barge crew that he needs to cross the river. Goes and checks in with his guests and is like, won't be more than a minute.

And then he writes a note for Washington to read when Washington arrives saying, I'm going to West Point, but I'll be back soon. And at this point, Washington will have will have known. And but does Arnold know that the papers are going to Washington? He does. Right. Okay. Right.

Okay. So he runs outside. He grabs someone else's horse that's there and he fucking takes off. Oh, I hope he did the thing like cops do or it's like, I'm coming during your pony. He's done a horsejacking. No, it's one of the. It's one of the. That's actually a very different thing.

Dave, please. That's not a video. It's a no, but he, I mean, it could be Hamilton's horse. Like he grabs one of the horses of one of the guys there. Okay. Sure. Jesus. Washington then trots up to Benedict's home just after Bennett.

Hello, Benedict. Right after he flees, pulls in. And he is shocked at what he'd seen at West Point. Yeah. And he's also been told that Benedict has not been to West Point for days. So he's there. He's looking for Benedict and then a messenger rolls up and gives him the papers from Andre that they confiscated.

Oh, so he's like, oh, and a letter that Andre is now written confessing to his actual identity. Oh, my God. And Washington said, quote, Arnold has betrayed us. Who can we trust now? Oh, boy, Benedict had some of his men row him to a British ship. And then he goes up on board and then shouts down to his man, quote, my lads, I have quitted the rebel army and joined the standard of Britannic majesty. And they ask them if they will join him and he says, I'll give you commissions.

Two guys do the rest don't. And one said, I only like to wear one coat at a time. Well, that's a subtle way. You could, you could wear, but oh, I see, I get, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I thought you were going to sort of say it because they clashed. No, I get it. I get it. I get it.

You're making a very, I understand. I mean, you did it politically. It was nice the way you said it. I would have just said, I don't like to fight for two. No. Yes, never mind. I'm not a traitor. Wow.

Okay. So I, and he's, he's definitely on his toes, but okay, but since he's not done anything really. He has. I mean, oh, he has. That's enough. He gave, he gave all the information to the enemy. He's completely taken.

Full on treason at this point. Okay. Okay. So, but so he's done his job basically. For the British. Yeah. But then the British, the British guy got caught. And they could have worked.

Right. Benedict wrote two letters on the ship. One to Washington. F U. And dear penthouse for one to Washington and one to Peggy. He tells Washington everything he had ever done was because of his love of America. And even though his country never treated him well, Washington had. And then he begged Washington to ensure that Peggy would be protected as she was quote,

as good and innocent as an angel. Okay. He said his two close aides had nothing to do with it and didn't know and that Andre should be released. And then he asked Washington to send some clothes if possible. And also I own, I, in my hasty exit, I did not pack enough. I forgot to meet drawers, please. So Peggy is just in fucking hysterics.

So what now, where, where can he go? He can't. I mean, where does he have to stay like he can't go to American shore. Yeah. Right. Okay. Yeah. That's his option.

Okay. Man. So Peggy is in complete hysterics. She's just crying and screaming that Benedict has gone forever. Now we don't know if this is an act or not. Some people think it was an act. Some people don't. An aide came into her room and she just fucking went bananas screaming that he was coming

to kill her baby. Everyone who sees Peggy is like this. She's fucking gone. Alexander Hamilton wrote it was the quote most affecting scene he never witnessed. Everyone comes in to try to calm her down, but she gets more hysterical when she sees him yelling he was going to kill her baby. And she flailed until her gown fell off her shoulder, which embarrassed Washington and he left the room.

Oh my Lord. Well, I look and you can accuse me of killing a baby all you want. But if I see a shoulder, I'm going to masturbate. Oh boy. I've seen his shoulder. Okay. When she finally gathered herself, Washington gave her the choice to join Benedict or go back to her family.

And she chose to go back to her family in Philadelphia. Now word gets out and across the colonies, Benedict is burned in effigy. His father's grave is desecrated. His home is taken. His older sons were taken in by his friends who tried to shield them from all the shit that was going on. Don't look out the window. People are burning big dads.

His one of his sons, Henry stayed with his sister, Hannah, but they don't want Peggy in Philadelphia. Remember, Philadelphia is basically run by the radicals. Right. And so now here's the trader's wife, right? So she gets kicked out of the city by the executive council. They're like, you have to fucking go. And now go see Benedict, who is in New York City, which is controlled by the British at

this point. Oh, okay. Okay. So she goes to join him there. Wow. On her way there, she stopped at Theodosia, Provost's home. And Provost later would say Peggy dropped her facade and said she was tired of keeping up the theatrics.

So she is basically. So maybe she's okay. What would the theatrics be that this is so devastating to her? Like, is she she is she just kind of like, look, Benedict's a fucking idiot, like whatever. She's just kind of trying to save her. I didn't have any idea. How could he do this? Okay.

Yeah. I think it's all that kind of stuff. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Got you. Okay.

Now, do we trust Provost? I don't know, maybe, but anyway, that's what she said. So John Andre gets a death sentence. All right. Sweet. Cool. Benedict then asks to be traded for him, which would mean that Andre would live and he would die.

But the British were like, we're not doing that. Okay. So like we have you on another five years on your deal. So John Andre was hung on October 2nd, 1780. And his last words were quote. It will be nothing. Oopsie poopsie. Yeah.

Right. Oopsie poopsie. Oh, quote. It will be but a momentary pang. Well, yeah, I mean, I don't know, but imagine it really shows you like, because it seems like it's a lot more than just the moment. What's just such a British thing of just like, well, this is not a big deal. Right.

So don't mind it, it will be nice to get a bit of my neck's been sore anyway. Loosen up my shoulders a bit. I would just go, well, then then his last last words are actually no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's really smoke. I got it. Take it forever. Take it forever.

Take it forever. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I think the question that's been threatened him should Washington harm his family and said he'd take revenge in a deluge of blood. Sure. So little did he know that Washington was going to die in his own deluge of blood. That's right. People came over and just drained him. So Benedict is just maybe he was behind the George Washington blood draining.

No, that's what's going. So Benic. Look, he's hated by Americans. Sure. He does. So what? He doesn't have the trust or respect of the British, right? So he's a man without a con.

Yeah, because he was available. He's he's I mean, as well as he has this track record again of like being willing to just wanting money. And then eventually that became so self fulfilling that it's like, yeah. So now they're like, look, if you pay him, he'll do anything. Yeah. So yeah, it's it's obviously a absolute terrible situation. The British also blame him for the death of John Andre, who was beloved in England.

Right. And I mean, the what it it's so I mean, the papers he had in his stocking are just so like incriminating. So incriminating. It's just like, you know, Bob plans. Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh, God.

Okay. Yeah. So he's given command. Remember they promised him command. So but his officers fucking hate him. Sure. A lot of it. Well, he really fucked a lot of it is classism because they're British, right?

So they look down on this shitty little American thing. Sure. Sure. They also didn't like how he kept speaking how great Washington was because he's the enemy general. So he leads troops. They attack in Virginia. They attack in Connecticut, his home state.

I mean, he's fighting against. Yeah. So crazy. He burned New London to the ground. Fuck. So he I mean, yeah, I mean, look, it's a lot like when Favre went to the bike. It's exactly that. I'm sure a lot of historians view it like that.

On October 19th, 1781, the British surrendered, ending the Revolutionary War and Benedict and Peggy sailed to London. They ended up having three more kids, Margaret, the kids he had with Margaret stayed in America as did Hannah. But you know, and he can't really ever see them again. Not really. And life in England. I mean, he's basically in the witness protection program.

Well, yeah. I mean, he just can't go to America. His kids could come to England to visit. Right. But you know, life in England, not that great, but it's also like you and you also have fearless kids. You got to be like, dad, you really, really, really, really fucked up, like really, like they hate you, dad, crazy, like real bad, like real bad.

Yeah. It's and then they surrender. You're like, oh, God, that didn't work. I got traded to a losing franchise. So you know, life in England, very, very lonely as American friends living in England would not meet with him or talk to him. He's probably going on their Instagrams being like, oh, look at that. When Peggy and Benedict would walk down the street, people would hiss at them.

We shouldn't have moved to the cat district. Benedict was still Benedict. He had a duel with the Lord. He got thrown on a French prison ship when he was on a voyage and made a nighttime escape over the side, floating away on a few planks of wood. So he's just, he's doing classic Benedict shit. So that's, yeah, that's the boat guy from the first episode. Um, okay, right.

That's pretty bad ass, though. When Britain and France go to war in 1798, and he just got thrown on a French prison ship, like on accident, like a sack of potatoes, and then they're like, oh, that's right. Now you're a part of, now you're a convict, too. I didn't, I didn't look it up because it seems like it's too long. But I don't think you need to because it's obvious what happened. Look, if you're on this ship and you're not French, you are part of the prison population. So we don't give a fuck.

Now you're here. You're, it doesn't matter what your crime is. Well, he's British. They caught him. So they put him on a, I mean, it's the, they're at war with France. So when they caught the. Oh, I forgot about that part. Right.

Yes, of course. Right. So, so he, he begs the British to let him fight against France and they'd say no. And he complained to them that they were not allowing him to, quote, seek a soldier's death. So his life just sucks. He gets older. He gets more depressed. He gets further and further to debt.

He has painful gout. Oh, he's still got that gout going around, huh? And he's got that one leg. Now. Okay. Yeah. That's, that's tough. He knew that his family would.

He definitely made the wrong call. Did he get the money from John Andre? Was he allowed to keep that money or had he never gotten that money? I never, I never saw that. He must have gotten some money for sure. He must have. Okay. But not, I don't think the 20 grand, but yeah, right.

So he knows when he dies, his family is going to struggle because he doesn't have anything. When his oldest son was horribly wounded in the leg in a war and refused amputation. Just like dad. He died of the wound. So not as much like that. Different. Okay. Bennett died on June 14th, 1801 when he was 60 years old.

Family legend says that near death, he asked to be dressed in his American military uniform saying, quote, God, forgive me for ever putting on any other. Oh, God. Oh, God. That's so sad. Today, there is a monument to Benedict at Saratoga, but it does not mention his name. It is just a statue of his boot draped over a dude. It's a statue of his boot taped over a pillar.

Remember he lost his leg. Yeah. It does not mention it by name. At another monument for the battle, there are four places of commemoration, three occupied by men who led that day, including Gates. One spot is empty, representing Benedict's contribution, but not him. Wow. Damn, we're still punishing him.

We are still punishing him. We're still like, fuck you, dude. Wow. So crazy. Yeah. Man, I mean that, you talk about like, I mean, a divide in the road. I mean. I'm picking the wrong one.

Well, boy, it's really, it's really, you know, we, we grow up being told that he's this big trader, right? But then you hear the story. Right. There's no context. Yeah. There's no context. Like, what exactly was he, like how much shit was he supposed to take?

Yeah. Right? Like you're the fucking best general in the Revolutionary War and everybody is just fucking shitting on you and not paying you, you're living in fucking poverty, basically, because they won't give you money and they owe you for years. No, but, and all that is totally true. And yeah, I mean, it is like, you know, it is, it is bullshit. And you know, it's the start of a long line of not taking care of veterans.

But anyway, it also, even then, when Washington offers him his dream situation, like couldn't he have been like, couldn't he have taken it? It could like, couldn't he have gone back and been like, hey, the fence is clean now. And enough. We got enough firewood for a month. Those cannons actually will work for me. Get them back up. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I mean, I don't know if he's in too much of his, well, maybe he's in too much of a situation because if he, if he backs out then and he's already given information, the British could just be like, that guy's a traitor. Right. Right.

So he's kind of a fuck. Yeah. And also it's like, if you've been, you know, like if you've been burned so many times by putting your faith in the idea that the country will take care of you, like it could be, but I mean, he turned purple. So he knew he was like, oh, shit, oh, shit, man, that is crazy. Research for this was done by Brittany Cohen-Brown and the sources are Benedict Arnold, Patriot and Trader by Willard Stern Randall, and the tragedy of Benedict Arnold in American Life

by Joyce Lee Malcolm. Yeah. Man, you know, it's very, it's very interesting how we just hear the shit we hear growing up is just like, well, Benedict Arnold was a traitor, but man, that's a fucking crazy story just from the psychological aspect of like, how much can a man take? How much? It's just crazy. And it's not like we're talking about like, I mean, it's a revolutionary war.

So there's a lot of people who are like on the fence and don't want the war. So in America, you could be like, yeah, I'm going to switch to the British now, and there's still a third of the people in America. They're like, yeah, we're with you. You know what I mean? It's not like a US versus Japan and you and you underbrush it. It's complicated. Right.

Right. Yeah. Crazy. I mean, you know, it's like things are so bad all the time now, but you still are able to go like, man, that time is crazy as fuck. Yeah. Like that is a crazy time. And I mean, what isn't it crazy too that it's like money was still the big fucking issue?

Like just getting paid like fair, you know, getting getting paid and having money was still like what what drove people to decision making and I don't know. It's like, yeah, it just seems like, I don't know, it's it's relatable in many ways, even though it is extremely different. And I didn't even go into Peggy, who a lot of people like were like, it was all her fault. Like she took a lot of fucking heat, like just to blame fully put on her, like there's just so many different aspects to this. Well, we definitely have that like that, you know, that there's a history of that as well.

We got to blame the woman was telling him what to do. The woman did it. Wow. That is so nuts. I really, I don't even remember. I mean, again, like, obviously, I don't remember any of the history that I was taught. But I don't even remember any of this. No, we weren't taught.

I just remember he was a traitor. That's all we were taught. But I don't remember. But I don't even remember the context of how he was there was no context. There's absolutely none. Yeah. He's just a traitor. Okay.

There's no, I mean, it's the same thing. Like our history just doesn't like it's like, if we had been taught in in school, not that all of a sudden Hitler was there, but the pieces of the puzzle that went into creating fascism and then Hitler, we might have a completely different situation than we do now. I really not how any of our history works. We just go and then a thing and then a thing and then a thing. And there's no.

Yeah. Deep. No. And we don't, I mean, but also, yeah, you're in school. So you're just like, oh, okay, that's crazy. Yeah. What an asshole. Yeah.

You know, and I think what you're saying, which is true is like, Hitler was okay. Yeah. Is that your point? What? That's how it's coming. No, that's not. Sorry, Dave. You've been canceled.

Yeah. And I honestly think more and more, the more that we do this show, I, you know, I think I think at first I was just like, wow, it's crazy. I wasn't taught this. And then you get to the point where you're like, man, they are like, they do not want there's just like, you watch what's going on now with like, you know, CRT and all that shit. And they, they, there is a, the calculated decisions to not inform people so that they're

able to get away with it repeatedly. Well, imagine how fucking crazy it is that we already know our history is warped and fucking nonsense, but they're still upset that it tells too much. Yeah. It's fucking crazy. Yeah. Man, fucking nuts though. That is so crazy.

What a crazy story. All right. Now what? Now we say our ending prayer as we always do. Once again, this is the dollop on the Christian broadcasting network. Please remember Jesus. Oh, actually, but in all seriousness, if you guys do want to buy your holy cloths, we are still selling those on our website, dolloppodcast.com, get your holy cloth.

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