<P> In 1780 , Clinton launched an attempt to retake New Jersey . On June 7 , 6,000 men invaded under Hessian general Wilhelm von Knyphausen , but they met stiff resistance from the local militia . The British held the field , but Knyphausen feared a general engagement with Washington 's main army and withdrew . Knyphausen and Clinton decided upon a second attempt two weeks later which was soundly defeated at Springfield , effectively ending British ambitions in New Jersey . Meanwhile , American general Benedict Arnold had defected to the British , and he conspired to betray the key American fortress of West Point by surrendering it to the enemy . The plot was foiled when British spy master John André was captured , so Arnold fled to British lines in New York . He attempted to justify his betrayal by appealing to Loyalist public opinion , but the Patriots strongly condemned him as a coward and turncoat . </P>
<P> In 1780 , Clinton launched an attempt to retake New Jersey . On June 7 , 6,000 men invaded under Hessian general Wilhelm von Knyphausen , but they met stiff resistance from the local militia . The British held the field , but Knyphausen feared a general engagement with Washington 's main army and withdrew . Knyphausen and Clinton decided upon a second attempt two weeks later which was soundly defeated at Springfield , effectively ending British ambitions in New Jersey . Meanwhile , American general Benedict Arnold had defected to the British , and he conspired to betray the key American fortress of West Point by surrendering it to the enemy . The plot was foiled when British spy master John André was captured , so Arnold fled to British lines in New York . He attempted to justify his betrayal by appealing to Loyalist public opinion , but the Patriots strongly condemned him as a coward and turncoat . </P>
who fought on both sides of the revolutionary war
who fought on both sides of the revolutionary war
American general Benedict Arnold
American general Benedict Arnold