Peggy
Shippen
1760-1804
Margaret "Peggy" Shippen was born into a prominent
Philadelphia
family with Loyalist tendencies. When
the British occupied Philadelphia in 1777, she became acquainted
with Major
John Andre, the British spymaster in North America. The next year, the
British
abandoned the city and the Americans moved in. Now she became
acquainted
with (and soon married to) Benedict Arnold, one of America's best
generals. Arnold had
a special knack for annoying people, but then he grew bitter about
being
repeatedly passed over for promotion. Peggy introduced her husband to
Major Andre. They hatched a plan for Arnold to betray the
American fortress at West Point in exchange for an officer's commission
and enough
money to live happily ever after.
Andre, however, was caught and hanged. Arnold skipped town before
General Washington could get a rope on him. When Washington and his
staff officers arrived to arrest Peggy, she swore up and down
that she had no idea what those two had been planning and then burst
into hysterics. This disconcerted them so much they allowed her to
follow her husband into exile.
