Jack Kelly, the author of the highly acclaimed 2023 book, “God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hated Man” said recently that he was “very interested” when he read about Benedict Arnold’s connection to the Upper Delaware region, and now he is coming to Fort Delaware.

Kelly will be discussing his book as part of the Bold Gold Media Speaker Series at Fort Delaware on Saturday, June 14. The date is significant: It was on June 14, 1801, that Benedict Arnold died in London at the age of 60.

The program starts at 4pm and is free and open to the public. It is the second of three distinct programs about Benedict Arnold on this year’s Fort Delaware schedule, following this columnist’s “The Benedict Arnold Connection” in May and preceding Matthew E. Reardon’ presentation, “The Traitor’s Homecoming”– about the raid on New London, Connecticut by the British under Arnold’s command after he had switched sides –  on August 9.

Arnold, of course, is a fascinating character, and his life is a true paradox, almost from beginning to end. Furthermore, the recent discovery that he and his father were among the original investors in each of the three land purchases that led to the establishment of Cushetunk, the first permanent European settlement in the Upper Delaware, makes his story even more relevant to those interested in local history.

The connection of the Arnolds, and a number of their relatives, to the movement of Connecticut citizens westward to the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers, is not well known. Kelly was not aware of it, nor were a number of other historians contacted about it over the past year. That seems fitting, since there is so much about Benedict Arnold that is unknown.

“Most Americans know one thing about Benedict Arnold: he betrayed his country,” Kelly writes. “Arnold’s treason was real and serious. But [he] was a hero as well as a traitor.”

Kelly contends that while Arnold’s treachery could have been catastrophic to the Patriot cause had it been successful, there is another side to the man that deserves to be considered.

“If he had, as planned, surrendered to the British the important fort at West Point, it is possible that American patriots would have faced defeat in the war for independence,” he writes, adding that prior to his decision to turn on his country, Arnold had “provided backbone to the armed rebellion during its first critical years. He helped push toward a dramatic change, one that would be labeled a ‘new order for the ages.’”

Make no mistake about it, Kelly does not let Benedict Arnold off the hook for being a turncoat. As it is noted on his book’s dust jacket, “the book does not exonerate him for his treason. The stain on his character is permanent. But Jack Kelly’s insight into Arnold’s personality and his flaming depiction of Arnold’s career as a warrior give this gutsy and enigmatic figure a human dimension. ’God Save Benedict Arnold’ offers a fresh perspective on the reasons for Arnold’s momentous change of heart.”

Kelly maintains that “for all his excuses, Arnold never thought of himself as treasonous.”

“True, Arnold felt neither remorse nor shame,” Kelly writes. “He cared about no man’s judgement but his own, and he saw his actions, both before and after changing sides, as honorable.”

 While Kelly does not give in to speculation – either about how different things would have turned out had Arnold’s intended surrender of West Point been successful, or about what would have become of America’s most hated man if he had not changed sides at all – it is impossible not to consider the “what ifs” surrounding Benedict Arnold’s life.

For those interested in the history of the Upper Delaware, any such speculation must include consideration of how history would have been impacted had Benedict Arnold’s father become not just an investor in the Cushetunk settlement, but had followed some of his wife’s relatives and actually relocated here from Connecticut. Many lives would no doubt have been changed.

Jack Kelly might not be able to shed any light on that possibility, but his program certainly will lead to a more complete understanding of the enigma that was Benedict Arnold, “America’s most hated man.”

Fort Delaware is located on the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway at 6615 Route 97 in Narrowsburg, NY. The Fort is open from 10am to 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays in May, June, September and October, and Thursday through Sunday in July and August. It is also open Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day. Fort Delaware is owned by Sullivan County and operated by The Delaware Company.

John Conway is the Sullivan County Historian and a founder and president of The Delaware Company. Email him at jconway52@hotmail.com.  

Contributed Photo

Author Jack Kelly will be at Fort Delaware on Saturday, June 14.