<Tr> <Th> Signature </Th> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <P> This monument was erected under the patronage of the State of Connecticut in the 55th year of the Independence of the U.S.A. in memory of the brave patriots massacred at Fort Griswold near this spot on the 6th of Sept . AD 1781, when the British, under the command of the Traitor Benedict Arnold, burnt the towns of New London and Groton and spread desolation and woe throughout the region . </P> <P> Benedict Arnold (January 14, 1741 (O.S. January 3, 1740)--June 14, 1801) was a general during the American Revolutionary War, who fought for the American Continental Army, and later famously defected to the British Army . While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fortifications at West Point, New York (which after 1802 would become the site of the U.S. Military Academy), overlooking the cliffs at the Hudson River (upriver from British - occupied New York City), and planned to surrender them to British forces . This plan was exposed in September 1780 . He was commissioned into the British Army as a brigadier general . </P> <P> Arnold was born in Connecticut and was a merchant operating ships on the Atlantic Ocean when the war broke out in 1775 . He joined the growing army outside Boston and distinguished himself through acts of intelligence and bravery . His actions included the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775, defensive and delaying tactics at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in 1776 (allowing American forces time to prepare New York's defenses), the Battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut (after which he was promoted to major general), operations in relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix, and key actions during the pivotal Battles of Saratoga in 1777, in which he suffered leg injuries that halted his combat career for several years . </P>

Who was a traitor in the revolutionary war