re in the name of "Almighty God and the Continental
Congress," need not be rehearsed here. Allen took possession of
Ticonderoga, its garrison, and its valuable military property with the
aid of Connecticut and Berkshire men, and at his request Brown rode
his horse rapidly to Philadelphia to announce to the Continental
Congress the capture which was attained without their authority or
aid. At this point Benedict Arnold must be referred to. In April,
1775, he had broken open an arsenal at New Haven, and with his militia
company hurried to Cambridge. As he rode one day from New Haven
towards Cambridge, he met Captain Parsons, who was going to Hartford
to plan with some Connecticut leaders for the capture of Ticonderoga.
Hearing Parsons's plan, Arnold pushed on to Watertown and got a
commission from the Massachusetts government as colonel as well as an
order for power to recruit men, for horses and ammunition. Meeting
Ethan Allen on his way to Ticonderoga, Arnold produced his
Massachusetts authority, but not his men, on the same day that Allen
was fully prepared for his work. Arnold began his interference with
the concerted plan, hoping for a separate command and the glory of
victory. He promised payments of money to Berkshire men from the
southern towns, which he failed to pay from funds given him for that
purpose. This was the beginning of an angry and long-continued dispute
between Easton, Brown's colonel, and Brown, on the one hand, and
Arnold, on the other. Unhappily for Easton and Brown, as for all men
who possess the truth about the characters of men who are undoubtedly
able to fight battles, though brutal and even wicked in their lives,
the controversy was long and bitter, but, while war exists, the common
law and legal procedure rarely have weight and even martial law
becomes ineffective.

"War is hell," said the great Sherman. Hell is irrational, as is war.
Reason fails to have even its usual part in man's destiny during all
wars. Chance has sway, and men often get what is called glory when
others, almost unknown to fame, should win the approval of all men.

Whether Washington had his doubts about Arnold's character may never
be known, but more than once he gave him opportunities to hold high
command because he fought battles through. So Lincoln, when told that
Grant drank whiskey, asked for more such whiskey for other generals.
Sparks, the historian, a Unitarian clergyman, when writing Arnold's
life, detailed h