Turncoats Traitors And Heroes

On the Military Intelligence Branch History Reading List.

Besides reexamining in fresh perspective such well-known figures as Paul Revere, Nathan Hale, Benedict Arnold, and John André, the author, a former general staff intelligence officer in World War II, reveals the exploits and tribulations of scores of other spies: Ann Bates, the Tory agent who spied at Washington's headquarters and who, when fleeing for her life, paused to count American artillery; the high-ranking traitor Dr. Benjamin Church, the Continental Army's Director General of Hospitals, caught as a result of a careless mistress; Sergeant Major John Champe, who posed as a deserter from the rebel army in order to capture Benedict Arnold; and many others. From the plot to kidnap George Washington to the fall of Yorktown, here are the clandestine activities of the spies, counterspies, and double agents who risked life and honor in a silent, anonymous shadow war.

Spies! Loyalists! Tories! Conspiracy! Strange messages? Codes in invisible ink? The American Revolution was first and foremost a civil war that tore at the very fabric of families as well as society. Patriots were determined to separate from England; while Loyalists were just as determined to defeat what they saw as a rebellion. Many do not know that during several critical periods the war was almost fatally undermined by English sympathizers or in some cases opportunistic Patriots. Patriots and Spies in Revolutionary New York is a compilation of twelve stories regarding important moments in New York State's history during the American Revolution.

Men and women who serve in the armed forces are subject to a different legal code than those they protect. Throughout American history, some have--through action or failure to act or by circumstances--found themselves facing prosecution by the United States military. One measure of a nation's sense of justice is how it treats those who surrender some of their rights to defend the rights of fellow citizens. Beginning with the first court-martial (predating the nation itself) and continuing to the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the War on Terror, this book examines the proceedings of 15 courts-martial that raised such important legal questions as: When does advocacy become treason? Who bears ultimate responsibility when troops act illegally? What are the limits in protesting injustice? The defendants include such familiar names as Paul Revere and William Calley. The authors examine such overlooked cases as the Somers Mutiny, the trial of the San Patricios and the Port Chicago Mutiny. These trials demonstrate that guaranteeing military justice--especially in the midst of armed conflict--is both a challenge and a necessity in a free society.

The history of Staten Island from early settlements to revolutionary battleground is explored in this local history. The shores of Staten Island were one of the first places Giovanni da Verrazzano and Henry Hudson landed in North America, and they became a safe harbor for thousands of refugees fleeing religious conflicts in Europe. As Dutch Staaten Eylandt and then English Richmond County, the island played a vital role in colonial development of the continent and the American Revolution. Rebel raids along the kills and inlets kept British forces and local Tories constantly battling for position, while Hessian and British troops occupied the island longer than any other county during the war. Staten Island’s strategic location was used to launch counterstrikes against Washington’s forces in New Jersey, while Major General John Sullivan led Continental army troops in defeat at the Battle of Staten Island. Author Joe Borelli reveals the colonial history of Richmond County and its role in the fight for American independence.

A historian examines how a once-ardent hero of the American Revolutionary cause became its most dishonored traitor. General Benedict Arnold’s failed attempt to betray the fortress of West Point to the British in 1780 stands as one of the most infamous episodes in American history. In the light of a shining record of bravery and unquestioned commitment to the Revolution, Arnold’s defection came as an appalling shock. Contemporaries believed he had been corrupted by greed; historians have theorized that he had come to resent the lack of recognition for his merits and sacrifices. In this provocative book Stephen Brumwell challenges such interpretations and draws on unexplored archives to reveal other crucial factors that illuminate Arnold’s abandonment of the revolutionary cause he once championed. This work traces Arnold’s journey from enthusiastic support of American independence to his spectacularly traitorous acts and narrow escape. Brumwell’s research leads to an unexpected conclusion: Arnold’s mystifying betrayal was driven by a staunch conviction that America’s best interests would be served by halting the bloodshed and reuniting the fractured British Empire. “Gripping… In a time when charges of treason and disloyalty intrude into our daily politics, Turncoat is essential reading.”—R. R. B. Bernstein, City College of New York “The most balanced and insightful assessment of Benedict Arnold to date. Utilizing fresh manuscript sources, Brumwell reasserts the crucial importance of human agency in history.”—Edward G. Lengel, author of General George Washington “An incisive study of the war and the very meaning of the American Revolution itself…. The defining portrait of Arnold for the twenty-first century.”—Francis D. Cogliano, author of Revolutionary America