Benedict Arnold (January 14, 1741 - June 14, 1801) was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He distinguished himself through acts of intelligence and bravery with the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, tactics at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, relief of the Siege of Fort Stanwix, and key actions during the pivotal Battles of Saratoga. Despite his successes, he was passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress while other officers claimed credit for some of his accomplishments. Frustrated and bitter at this, as well the alliance with France and failure of Congress to accept Britain's 1778 proposal to grant full self-governance in the colonies, Arnold decided to change sides and opened secret negotiations with the British. He obtained command of the fortifications at West Point, New York, overlooking the cliffs at the Hudson River, and planned to surrender it to the British forces. After the plan was exposed in September 1780, he was commissioned into the British Army as a brigadier general. His name quickly became a byword for treason or betrayal. He returned to London to settle permanently in 1791, where he died ten years later, at the age of 60.