The Betrayer Denied

I went to West Point, and we had an evening meeting in the old chapel. As we passed under the rear gallery to go out, one of the students stopped and said: “I wish you would look at that shield on the wall there; that is the most striking thing at the academy to me.” I looked at the wall; all around there were marble shields set in the wall, and on each shield was the name of one of our Revolutionary generals. Then I looked up at the particular shield to which attention had been called, and that shield was blank. It was there in form just as the others, but with no name on it; simply the words Major General, and the date of the unnamed general’s birth. “What does it mean?” I asked. “Well,” said the cadet, “that is the shield for Benedict Arnold. There is a shield for every Revolutionary general, and one for him too, but the nation would not cut his name on it nor the date of his death. He denied his country; his country has denied him.”