Defiant Brides Read Free Page B

prime instigator of his treason. Among the most recent such portraits was the 2003 A&E drama
Benedict Arnold: A Man of Honor
, starring Aidan Quinn as Arnold and Flora Montgomery as a seditious Peggy.
    As described in the pages above, Arnold had repeatedly voiced his discontent with the leaders of the American Revolution well before his marriage to Peggy Shippen. That the eighteen-year old bride would naturally sympathize with her husband’s complaints is obvious to anyone who has been in love.
    Less predictable was the fascination with which we still regard the former Philadelphia belle today.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    THE CHALLENGE OF TRACING the elusive lives of Peggy Shippen Arnold and Lucy Flucker Knox could never have been achieved without help and interest from historical experts, scholars, librarians, editors, and colleagues. To all of them I express my deepest appreciation. Peter Drummey, the Massachusetts Historical Society’s Stephen T. Riley Librarian, suggested several little-known resources at that institution one wintery Saturday morning, including a silhouette of Lucy Flucker Knox, the only known representation of her, as well as the ring Benedict Arnold presented to his Boston sweetheart, Betsy DeBlois. As I continued my research, he provided other suggestions, including information about a Massachusetts militia. Numerous other staff members at the society became indispensable to my research, from head of research services Elaine Grublin to reference librarian Tracy Potter and Anna Cook, who gave permission to reprint Catherine Knox Snow’s August 16, 1822, letter to her friend.
    The daunting task of reading through over eight thousand letters in the Henry Knox collections was ameliorated by the discovery that the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History had digitized nearly all of General and Mrs. Knox’s correspondence. Special thanks are due to Sandra Trenholm, director of that institute, who tracked down some of the collection’s more obscure letters, suggested other sources, and expressed interest in the evolution of this work. With my appreciation also to Alyson Barrett-Ryan, former reference librarian at the Gilder Lehrman Institute, for help accessing the Henry Knox Papers on that site.
    In Thomaston, Maine, Ellen S. Dyer, director of the Montpelier Museum, and archivist Sophia Mendoza spent several days helping me identify historical sources, local papers, and books that provided insights and critiques of the Knoxes and their impact upon that region. Following that visit, Ms. Dyer suggested additional sources, background information, and local legends about the Knoxes. Thanks are also due to Norma Jane Langford, communications professor at Northeastern University, who shared her knowledge about the American Loyalists who emigrated to the North American British colonial provinces during the Revolutionary era. An invaluable historical expert on Benedict Arnold was author James Kirby Martin, Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Houston, who not only provided suggestions for sources and sites in the United States and England but also generously read portions of the manuscript, sent comments, and enthusiastically supported the scope of this project.
    Phillip Seitz, Curator of History and Fermentation at Cliveden, a historic mansion in Philadelphia owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, graciously cleared his calendar to talk with me and suggested key background materials on eighteenth-century Philadelphia and its residents. Thanks are also due to the staff at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, especially Cary Majewicz and Dana Dorman, for help with the Shippen Family Papers and online access to early editions of the
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
. Amanda Fulcher, archivist at the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, provided invaluable information about the Henry Knox Papers and the reminiscences of his daughter Lucy