Peggy Shippen

Uncommon card · No. 92929

Margaret Shippen (11 July 1760 – 24 August 1804) was the second wife of General Benedict Arnold. She has been described as "the highest-paid spy in the American Revolution". Shippen was born into a prominent Philadelphia family with Loyalist tendencies. She met Arnold during his tenure as military commander of the city following the British withdrawal in 1778. They were married in the Shippen townhouse on Fourth Street on 8 April 1779, and Arnold began conspiring with the British to change sides soon after. Peggy played a role in the conspiracy, which was exposed after British Major John André was arrested in September 1780 carrying documents concerning the planned surrender of the strategic Continental Army base at West Point. Arnold escaped to New York City, and Peggy followed. They traveled together to London at the end of 1781, where she established a home and Arnold rebuilt a trading business. In 1787, she joined him in Saint John, New Brunswick, where his difficulties with local businessmen...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Daniel Gardner, Public domain