Insult, alienation, and want of money made him easy prey for André, who passed messages between Arnold and British general Sir Henry Clinton. For what would now be around half a million dollars, Arnold agreed to hand over West Point—the patriots’ strategically key fortress on the Hudson River—to the British, along with Washington himself.20 Had Washington been captured, he would likely have been taken to London, tried, and hanged. Coupled with the loss of West Point, which Washington called “the most important Post in America,” Arnold’s betrayal might have ended the Revolution.
