Reflections of An Uncommon Common Man

Benedict Arnold   Joe Biden For years the name Benedict Arnold was synonymous with someone who was a traitor to his country or anyone who was a backstabber. We would call someone fitting this description a Benedict Arnold. Yet, when you study the life of Benedict Arnold he was actually a valuable asset for America until he decided to try and sell us out. In my opinion he was our greatest general in the American Revolution. Even better than George Washington. It was his leadership at the battle of Saratoga that won that battle. Saratoga is called the turning point of the American Revolution because France decided to become our ally because the victory was so decisive. During the battle Arnold was severely wounded in the leg and would limp for the remainder of his life. When Arnold decided to turn traitor and hand our stronghold at West Point over to the British it would be the equivalent of Generals the likes of Ulysses S. Grant, John J. Pershing, George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, or No

  Eric Erickson and Mike Cannon standing in front of my rebel battle flag in Turkey I can't remember exactly when or how I became interested in the Civil War. Maybe it was the articles and pictures of the Civil War in the World Book Encyclopedias that my parents bought for us in 1957. They were our Google of the 1950's. Or the day that my mother picked me up from school and just the two of us went to see a movie called the Horse Soldiers with John Wayne and William Holden. Two of my favorite movie stars. The Horse Soldiers was Hollywood's version of an actual Union cavalry raid during the Vicksburg campaign. Although Hollywood many times puts it' spin on history or embellishes the story a movie can inspire a child's imagination to be the catalyst for their desire to learn more about a particular historical event or person from history. When I was in Mrs. Hearn's sixth grade class at Charlotte Park elementary she assigned a class project. We were asked to create