1. Margaret Shippen was the second wife of General Benedict Arnold.
24 Facts About Peggy Shippen
2.
Peggy Shippen has been described as "the highest-paid spy in the American Revolution".
3.
Peggy Shippen was born into a prominent Philadelphia family with Loyalist tendencies.
4.
Peggy Shippen met Arnold during his tenure as military commander of the city following the British withdrawal in 1778.
5.
Peggy Shippen died in 1804, having borne seven children, five of whom survived infancy.
6.
Edward Peggy Shippen was a judge and member of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania; the Peggy Shippen family was politically divided, and the judge was considered either a "Neutralist" or a covert "Tory " with allegiance to the British crown.
7.
Two younger boys died in infancy, and Peggy Shippen grew up as the baby of the family and was the "family's darling".
8.
Peggy Shippen looked up to her father and, under his tutelage, learned about politics, finance, and the forces which led to the American Revolution.
9.
In late summer of 1778, Peggy Shippen met Arnold, the Continental military commander of Philadelphia, and he began courting her despite the differences between himself and Judge Peggy Shippen.
10.
Shortly after, Arnold sent her father a letter asking for her hand, but Peggy Shippen was skeptical of Arnold due to Arnold's legal problems.
11.
Some historians believe that Peggy Shippen instigated the correspondence between Arnold and Andre and sent military secrets to the British before her wedding.
12.
Arnold first dashed upstairs to Peggy Shippen, then fled, eventually reaching HMS Vulture on the Hudson River.
13.
Peggy Shippen was then dressing in anticipation of hosting a breakfast for Washington and his party.
14.
Peggy Shippen told Washington and his aides that her husband had been carried through the ceiling by "spirits".
15.
Peggy Shippen played the innocent when asked about her husband, even though she knew his whereabouts.
16.
Peggy Shippen sailed to Saint John to join her husband in 1787, leaving her two older sons with a private family in London; in New Brunswick, Peggy Shippen gave birth to son George in 1787; their last child William Fitch was born in 1794 after their return to London.
17.
Peggy Shippen was treated coldly by Philadelphians in spite of her father's considerable influence.
18.
Peggy Shippen died in London in 1804, reportedly of cancer, and was buried with her husband at St Mary's Church in Battersea on August 25,1804.
19.
James Parton, a biographer of Aaron Burr, published an account in the 19th century, after all of the principal actors had died, implying that Peggy Shippen Arnold had manipulated or persuaded Benedict to change sides.
20.
Randall notes that ample further evidence has since come to light showing that Peggy Shippen Arnold played an active role in the conspiracy.
21.
Peggy Shippen had seven children with Benedict Arnold, of whom five survived to adulthood:.
22.
Peggy Shippen is portrayed by Erin McGathy and Winona Ryder in the Drunk History episode on Philadelphia.
23.
Peggy Shippen is portrayed in the TV miniseries George Washington by Megan Gallagher, in the TV movie Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor by Flora Montgomery, and in the Revolutionary War drama Turn: Washington's Spies by Ksenia Solo.
24.
Peggy Shippen was voiced by Maria Shriver in the animated series Liberty's Kids.