After leaving Cambridge, Arnold took his roughly 1,000-man contingent on an overland trek to Newburyport, Massachusetts—where a ship would take his forces up to Maine. From there, they would again travel on foot to Quebec.
To get to Newburyport, Arnold’s troops passed through the following Massachusetts towns: Malden, Lynn, Salem, Danvers, Beverly, Wenham, Ipswich and Rowley. In several of these locations, you can still see historical markers and milestones on their route along the old “Bay Road”.
The Quebec expedition itself turned out to be a dismal failure—as bad maps and a treacherous Maine wilderness bogged down the Americans. Many troops turned and went home and the depleted forces could not take the province from the British—instead ineffectively laying siege to Quebec City.
Arnold felt under-appreciated by the Continental Congress and so, in 1780, he planned to turn over the fort at West Point (which was under his command) to the British for the sum of 20,000 British pounds (about 3,000,000 pounds today). The plot was discovered and he defected to the other side, leading British troops in battle for the remainder of the war. He eventually fled to London, where he was celebrated by King George III, and died in 1801 at the age of 60.
So, this son of Connecticut—branded as a traitor forever—once led a band of men through Massachusetts towns on a decidedly patriotic mission that few remember.