ARNOLD, Benedict, a noted officer in the war of American Independence. He was born in Connecticut in 1740; engaged with zeal in the cause of his countrymen, and rose to be a general of brigade. He was appointed, after a wound in the leg, to the command of Philadelphia, where he committed such acts of rapacity, that he was tried by a court-martial in 1779, and reprimanded. On this he resigned his commission; and appears from that time to have entered on the dishonourable scheme, for which now he is chiefly remembered, that of betraying his country to the British. These negotiations led to the death of the gallant and unfortunate Major André, while the guilty Arnold escaped to the British headquarters. He retained in the British the rank he had held in the American army, and was employed in Virginia and Connecticut; in both of which he committed great devastation, especially in his native province, where he butchered the garrison of Fort Turnbull, and burnt New London. He was taken by the French while in our service in the West Indies, but made his escape. On the peace, he retired to Britain, where he died in 1801. His duel with Lord Lauderdale, in 1792, on account of some vituperative expressions used by his Lordship at a public meeting, is well known. (r. s. t.)
Arnold. ARNOLD STRUTHAN VON WINCKELRIED, one of the heroes of Swiss independence. When Leopold Duke of Austria, in conjunction with the nobles of Switzerland, attempted in 1386 to destroy the liberty of the people, the whole force which the Swiss had to oppose a regular army of 4000 soldiers amounted but to 1400 men, undisciplined and badly armed. They met under the walls of Sempach in Lucerne, and the Swiss were about to retreat, when the fate of the day was decided by Arnold, who rushed forward, and seizing in his arms the spears pointed against his friends, received them in his bosom. The enemy was routed; Leopold and most of his noble followers being slain; and the independence of Switzerland was secured. See SWITZERLAND.