Although his name has since become synonymous with the word “traitor,” during the earliest years of the Revolutionary War Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) was widely regarded as one of America’s foremost military heroes. Seriously wounded in the leg while participating in the Continental Army’s ill-fated assault on Quebec (31 December 1775), Arnold’s extraordinary field generalship at the Battle of Bemis Heights (7 October 1777) during the Siege of Saratoga led one of his soldiers to christen him “the very genius of war.” Alas, for Arnold, heroism came at a price. As the battle was winding down, he was wounded again in the same leg — first by a bullet and then by his horse. Shot out from underneath him, the animal collapsed, landing with its full weight on top of Arnold’s shattered appendage. Ouch.

Embittered by what he thought was inadequate recognition of his contributions by Congress and the Continental Army, Arnold began plotting to switch sides. In early 1780, he offered to turn over the American fort at West Point (which he commanded) to the British, but the plot was exposed before it could be enacted. Arnold escaped to join the Redcoats, finishing out the war as a brigadier general in service to the Crown. (And, ultimately, providing fodder for some pretty decent AC3 DLC).

Despite his treasonous behavior, Arnold’s earlier, exemplary, service to the cause of Revolution has not been entirely ignored by posterity. During the American Civil War a former Major General of the New York Militia donated money to erect a monument on the spot where Arnold fell during the Battle of Saratoga.

Dedicated to the “memory of the ‘most brilliant soldier’ of the Continental Army who was desperately wounded on this spot,” the monument does not mention the traitor Arnold by name. Instead, it pays homage to his heroism in the form of a boot.