Peggy shippen. She is probably the most dangerous teenage girl in American History. [laughter] her husband is much more famous. It is just a story that nobody really knew. In fact, it was poorly understood at the time even, and by the time anyone understood what the story was, no one seemed to care anymore. Was mrs. Benedict arnold, and she liked it that way. She would rather be the victimized wife of a traitor, rather than the real truth, which was a coconspirator to try to bring down the American Revolution, who had full be Founding Fathers and got off scott free which is exactly what she did. More than a century after her death, british papers are studied by american scholars. And they find out there is all of this really important circumstantial evidence to isicate that Peggy Shippen certainly part of the plot. There is no smoking gun, but there is tons of circumstantial evidence. I think any reasonable person would agree she knew all about it. But she had gotten a pass from history. And i wanted to bring this story to another generation and focus the story on peggy. She has been a supporting character in a lot of biographies on Benedict Arnold and we wanted to write it in a different way. Do you want to Start Talking about her a little bit, stephen . Stephen imagine we were in damascus, syria. Not long ago, violence directed in the distant cities of aleppo it took a while to get to damascus. And you are a prominent accountant, professional of some kind. What do you do about this war that is suddenly in the capital city where you have achieved prosperity and prominence . Do you support the insurgents . . O you support the government or do you just try to say, how do i get through this and come out with one piece with my life and my family intact . That is what this story of Peggy Shippen and her family is. Its all about philadelphia from 1774 to shortly before 1780. Katies grandfather was a cofounder of what is now rinsed peggysrsity grandfather was a cofounder of what is now princeton university. Very wealthy. The family were slave owners, still reporting in the 1790 census they had three slaves. They had several children. Mark and i think the father decided to play the war by being as neutral as he could get away , leaving no clear message to the children about which side they were on. So, what happens . September, the First Continental Congress meets in philadelphia. George washington shows up. He shows up at the shippen home. Peggy met him and got to know him very well until she has a falling out. Then we get the declaration of independence when she is 16, which is literally signed a block and a half around the fancy from the familys home and then we get to september 1777 and the british. The chosen person to be the director of the philadelphia area is Benedict Arnold. He is he has proven himself to be the most audacious and able battlefield commander on the Continental Army side. Recognize that way by George Washington. And take he is 18 when they marry. They have a courtship of about a year. This happens let me back up just a little bit. Kind of this society debutante at the age of 16 or 17. Shortly after the declaration of independence was signed and the war really started in earnest. The british ended up taking philadelphia and holding it for about nine months. During that time, peggy became very friendly with some of the british officers. There is a guy, john andre, who , played the flute. He spent a lot of time at peggys house and became a great friend of hers. The british ultimately had to leave philadelphia and go back to new york. He is nothing like andre. And benedicte arnold by that point is grievously wounded and limping around. [indiscernible] stephen and i,k with the help of a Brilliant Team of academic researchers that stephen recruited and worked on a great document for us because we could not have done it alone there was this i had never heard of. Its this big Blowout Party at the time of the occupation by the british. The Continental Army is at valley forge. The people are dying. The horses are dying. The british are having a great time in philadelphia. And peggy is, too. It is the worst time in many peoples lives, but it may be the best time of hers. Nd they had this party of dresses were sold conversion to modern currency we use in the book, they are really rough. An ungodly amount of money. They have these bands floating on barges of the delaware river. Theyd take over the wharton mansion because wharton was a patriot and had to flee. Even the wharton mansion was not big enough for this party. They built a separate dining hall for the event. They are spending incredible amounts of money. John andre and his dashing officers are pretty much in charge of designing everything. He designed what colors the rooms would be, things like that. Absurd away so its in the middle of this terrible war. So, the british leave peggy there in disappointment, Benedict Arnold comes. He immediately she is known as the most beautiful woman in philadelphia or is later described as the most beautiful woman in north america, and later when she goes into exile in london spoiler alert there [laughter] late. Too she ends up she is called the most beautiful woman in england. So, she is very highly regarded. Makes sure that Benedict Arnold spends a lot of money on parties, and, you know, lavish stuff. If you want to get into a little bit of this why arnold would have turned traitor . He was a feisty guy who did not fit well into groups. With people in the caribbean. He had been in the shipping business. He was serving after the british left as the military commander of philadelphia and my candidate for the bad guy in this story is the civilian head of government, a man named joseph reed, who was exactly the same age. Not terribly well supported by the record, aroma that many things i have read give me a connecticut man surfaced in surfaced as one of the richest man in town and he saw arnold as a rival for postwar political power. First there was a smear of arnold on various charges of wrongdoing of various kinds. This created a Congressional Committee hearing under a congressman from maryland. Nothing ever changes in this country. The Congressional Committee punted on the outcome. Did not want to criticize the finest field commander in the revolution so far, the hero of ticonderoga, the hero of saratoga, etc. , so they rebuffed it to George Washington with the suggestion of a courtmartial. Washington had no choice but to start courtmartial proceedings that arnold was really mad about it. This all broke at just about the time he married the 19yearold young lady who had had the not 10 monthsith, earlier, with the handsome 25yearold british officer john andre. So, what, mark . After theperiod wedding does the documentation show the communication with the british began on the spy scandal . And who do they communicate with . The arnold getk some kind of guy who really likes the british, but somehow has been able to maintain a residence in philadelphia. And he asks for john andre. , being such a brilliant and influential and wellliked guy, is the acting adjutant general of the entire chief of in fact, the staff to general clinton. He slowly takes over all spy duties. He becomes the spymaster of the British Forces in north america. So, here you have one of peggys best friends is suddenly the chief spy of the british army. So a month after their marriage, this letter goes out, hey, we want to join the british, do whatever we can to help. Wethe book we dont guess dont speculate much at all. We dont know how this came about. It could have been this, this, or this. She could have begged him to do it. We dont know. Is a careful, scholarly journalist. I think it was all her idea to begin with. At [laughter] mark well, it could have been. Monthre married and one later, they are sending spy information to the british, trying to make a deal. A letter toends peggy saying, i would be happy send you sewing supplies. I have a zeal to be employed by you. What did that letter not give us . Take the has a second peggy has a second level of andre. Tion with they are not getting the money they want. Withen they started 20,000 quids for the sale of arnold and all of his secrets. Mark right. So it takes more than a year to get to this point. Some of the circumstantial evidence is whenever arnold was a way from philadelphia, he was sending these letters to peggy that were chockfull of military information where armies were, were installations were weak, where they were strong, were plans for troop movements were. Its not pillow talk. Its not what a man since to his wife. Coincidentally, she found a way thean those messages to gobetween who took them to new york. Is that circumstantial evidence, or is that her as a spy . So, ultimately, they were about to come to an agreement. Stephen this goes on for what . Almost a year . Mark more than a year, really. They have this dramatic meeting at midnight. John andre and Benedict Arnold hold it while peggy is up in the house near west point where they have set up. Just wrote quickly, they washington wanted arnold to be a battlefield commander even though he had a shattered leg. Because he was so good. Arnold wanted to be the commander of west point, along the hudson river because it would be much easier to hand over to the british because it was a stationary place, rather than trying to surrender in the middle of the battle might be difficult stephen . At might be difficult. Stephen people in the room nor my age or member the 1960s when the news was full of reports who are my age remember the 1960s when the news was full of ho chi minhhe trail. No food, ammunition, no fighting army. If you go into a skyscraper in manhattan, on a high floor and look across the hudson river to the west, craning your head from left to right, you will see low ridges, 30 or 40 miles out of new jersey. Look to the right, its the route pose in southern new york, and further to the right of the river, it is the hudson. Most of the revolution was a stalemate. George Washingtons Army stretched from peekskill, new york all the way down to milford, new jersey and neither side, for various reasons, wanted to have it out with the other side. The surprise for those military crossed the haves and north of west point. Bluff, they had a chain build to cross it, all for the purpose of keeping the very powerful british navy from going up river beyond west point where it could interdict to be supply line. So, the reason why the u. S. Military academy is sanctum sanctorum of the regular army, key point was the strategic to victory. What you had was arnold and peggy conniving to secure command of that is szilagyi all that facility. Ark its interesting peggy was doing her own work to get him that appointment to west point. Arnolds sister city in a letter saying that she was flirting with a very powerful Stephen Peggy . Mark yes, peggy was. Which is interesting, she is never inappropriately flirtatious. She is always very appropriately flirtatious. [laughter] faithful to her husband and charming and proper. This is an aberration where arnoldss is true says, hey, she is flirting with this livingston. In the processis of deciding who will get that west point appointment. The theory is that peggy was working him to help get arnold the appointment. And indeed he got the appointment. Another great thing about that if he has a stationary appointment at west point, he ends up taking a house on the other side of the river that is two miles down, only 100 feet from the riverside. So, he can make an instant retreat, instant escape. And also peggy and their firstborn son edward, who has been worn by this time who has been borne by this time. They set all of this up and they had a meeting at midnight to make the last preparations how much he is going to get paid, how quickly the british navy is going to rush up the hudson, grab at west point, and possibly, by the way, capture George Washington is supposed to visit the arnold that very weekend. It is an amazing culmination. Stephen if it had worked, it might very well have set back or in did the American Revolution. But washington is on his way from hartford where he has been meeting with the french general rochambeau. They were the cheetah people who ultimately won the war at yorktown later. He is coming back to west point to inspect the works. After the midnight meeting, skipping a lot of amusing details, andre had to put on civilian clothes and go back to his headquarters in new york city by horseback. Washington headed to west point, andre back to new york city to get the troops mobilized, to invade west point when andre gets across the river, he is stopped by three men. Some people say they were thieves. Some people say they were militiamen on guard duty, and they could not agree on a price for andre to release him. Carrying spyas information. Some say to see if he had money in his boots. They found maps of west point and documents and arnolds handwriting. One said, we better turn this guy in. So they took him to a place in westchester where the colonel was, and the colonel was mystified. He did not know what to do. He knew washington was traveling to hartford. He sent a note to arnold with messengers and guards and he sent a note to general washington. Mark saying he had found something suspicious. In effect there is a race going on. Stephen washington is now in fishkill, one town away from where the Arnold Family is and he is expected for breakfast at 11 a. M. And he says to his entourage, lets stop. I want to inspect this. It was either lafayette or hamilton, according to washington irving, who said, oh, no, no, we have to go, your excellency. We will be late for breakfast with general arnold. And washington says, oh, i know. All you young men are in love with mrs. Arnold and you cannot wait to see her. Offers for them to go ahead, but they obeyed their commander. And we both know it was licketysplit for both men guess where the first note got to . Mark it gets to the robinson s werewere the arnold staying. Arnold reads the note. He quickly goes upstairs and tells peggy. It was a very quick conversation and suddenly he is out the door. He runs down to the waterside and orders his barge to go toward the british lines down the hudson. Not toward west point. They thought that was a little weird, but he promised them all a bunch of from if they got there fast. They finally get to the british boat that is called the vulture, and later thomas paine said that was one vulture injuring another. He gives up and said, all right, i am joining the british side. No, we are not. Were americans. So he took him prisoner so he took them prisoner instead. Stephen he said to the barge crew, take them prisoner. What a creep. Mark peggy has been told the jig is up. They the plot has failed. And she is holding the bag. Meanwhile, washington is moving within minutes of getting there. She stays upstairs and is very quiet. Washington shows up, but the note to him has not shown up yet. Weird. Seems a very he says its really weird that neither peggy nor Benedict Arnold are there to greet him. He says i will go over to west point and inspect. He goes over to inspect and is shocked i how badly the fortifications of been prepared, because Benedict Arnold, on purpose, was not doing a good job. Meanwhile, while washington is over in west point, what happens to peggy . Stephen she is upstairs and a note comes from the colonel in saying for his excellencys eyes only. Alexander hamilton, having had breakfast, goes to sleep in his chair. When general washington comes afternoon,0 in the mystified no 19gun salute for the commander, whats going on . The messenger brought this note for you. Washington opens it up and it all falls together because he has figured out that arnold what does he say . Oh, whom can we trust now . Arnold has betrayed us. In the meantime, no peggy. Mark right. So, Peggy Shippen upstairs as soon as she let washington get across west point, in effect to give her husband more time to escape she launches on something, the little bit of writtenthat has been about this calls the mad scene. We call it that, too. Peggy shippen goes completely crazy for an entire day. Hysterically mad. She starts shrieking there are hot coals in her husbands head ead. Hot coals in her h she says that he has flown through the ceiling and is gone, gone. She says general washington is turned to murder her child and she will not let him. She shrieks down the hallways, wearing few clothes also. Stephen one of the Staff Officers was richard barrick, later the merit of new york. He says, she came downstairs wearing so few clothes that not even a gentleman of the family should have seen her so attired, let alone so many strangers. [laughter] mark right. So, obviously you could genuinely see how a woman who was completely innocent of this plot had just found out her whole life at phone apart would be upset. So, it shocked to them, but i think they managed to process it in the way she wanted them to process it, which was she was just distraught over this. But also this incredibly youthful woman running around half closed probably made the men most likely to suspect or not suspect or a cousin were thinking about other things. [laughter] Stephen Alexander hamilton fell for it hook, line, and singer. If you really want to appreciate Alexander Hamilton, read his letter to his fiancee. He is writing his fiancee about how cool this woman is and how he wished he could be a brother to her. Mark what kind of brother . But anyway stephen after hamilton needed relief, lafayette took over. Leading one of lafayette fell biographers to suggest lafayette might have had sexual interest in mrs. Arnold. The George Washington shows up, washington being a family friend and i got to tell you. Two years of reading about the <