Papers : 1783-1796.

            Benedict Arnold was born in Norwich, Connecticut. He apprenticed as an apothecary, served with a New York company in the Seven Years War, and later established a trading company in New Haven. With the start of the American Revolution, Arnold offered his services against the British and served with Montgomery in the attempt to invade Canada. He distinguished himself with bravery in every campaign, reaching the rank of major-general. Arnold defected to the British side in 1780, raised the American Legion, moved to London in 1781, and then to Saint John, New Brunswick, in 1786, where he engaged in a West Indian trading business with partners Monson Hayt/Hoyt, a former Loyalist officer, and Arnold's son, Richard.  Controversy surrounded Arnold even in Saint John where his firm launched several suits against its debtors.  Feeling insulted at the result of a series of legal actions, in particular between Arnold and his partner Monson Hayt, Arnold returned to England in 1791 and died there on 14 June 1801.            

            The papers were filmed chronologically within each section as follows: correspondence, 1791-1802 and 1792-1800, primarily between Benedict Arnold and Jonathan Bliss (1742-1822), including letters from Mrs. Arnold, Amos Botsford, Daniel Lyman, E. Putnam and others (a nominal index is included at the end of each section); land papers, 1786-1796; legal papers, 1783-1794, particularly concerning a dispute between Arnold and Monson Hayt, Arnold's business partner; and statements of accounts, receipts and bills of exchange, 1785-1786, 1791.            

            Several brief lists of contents are found at the beginning of each section of the reel. 

Each section of correspondence is followed by a nominal/subject index.
 
The list of contents and the indexes are available in print.