British spy of the American Revolution. Her
husband, unfortunately, remained a pariah,
with few friends and fewer prospects for suc-
cess. For many years he worked abroad in
Canada and as a privateer while Margaret
struggled to raise their five children. The for-
mer general was heavily in debt, but his wife,
a talented business manager, paid these off by
the time he died in 1801. She herself died from
cancer in London on August 24, 1804, a loyal
British subject to the end. Not surprisingly,
her four sons became officers in the British
army, and her daughter married a general.
The devoted spymistress also kept Andre’s
lock of hair as a lifelong memento of her
lamented, lost friend.
See also
Arnold, BenedictBibliography
Goodfriend, Joyce D. “The Widowhood of Margaret
Shippen Arnold: Letters from England, 1801–1808.”
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biogra-
phy115 (1991): 221–255; Randall, Willard S. “Mrs.
Benedict Arnold.” MHQ 4, no. 2 (1992): 80–91;
Thomas, Cynthia L. “Margaret Shippen Arnold: The
Life of an Eighteenth-Century Upper Class Ameri-
can Woman.” Unpublished master’s thesis, Univer-
sity of Houston, 1962; Tillotson, Harry S. The Ex-
quisite Exile: The Life and Fortunes of Mrs.
Benedict Arnold.Boston: Lothrop, Lee, and Shep-
pard, 1932.ASHBY, TURNER
Ashby, Turner
(October 23, 1828–June 6, 1862)
Confederate General
I
mpetuous and disdaining discipline, the
gallant Turner Ashby was one of the most
talented Confederate cavalry leaders of
the Civil War. He rendered exemplary service
throughout the famous Shenandoah cam-
paign, only to die in a minor skirmish.
Turner Ashby was born in Fauquier County,
Virginia, on October 23, 1828, the son of a pros-
perous planter. He matured into a quiet, unob-
trusive individual, possessing distinctly pierc-
ing black eyes and a flowing black beard.
Ashby was also a first-class horseman and, nat-
urally, drawn to the mounted arm. When aboli-
tionist John Brown staged his famous raid
upon the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry in
October 1859, Ashby, a strident Southerner,
raised a volunteer cavalry company to help
suppress it. Brown’s insurrection was put
down before Ashby’s men arrived, but they
subsequently performed picket duty in Charles
Town, West Virginia, during Brown’s trial and
execution. When the Civil War erupted in April
1861, Ashby helped originate a plan to seize
Harpers Ferry for the South, although this was
thwarted when the Union garrison burned it to
the ground. In June 1861, his brother Richard
Ashby was subsequently killed in a skirmish
with soldiers of the 11th Indiana Regiment
under Col. Lew Wallace. Having closely exam-
ined the corpse, Ashby became convinced that
his brother had been bayoneted while trying to
surrender. Thereafter, he nursed a growing ha-
tred for Yankees and grim determination for re-
venge. Eventually, his energetic service came
to the attention of Col. Thomas J. Jackson,
the legendary “Stonewall” Jackson, who con-
tinually employed Ashby’s men as cavalry
scouts and screens. Jackson ultimately pre-
vailed upon Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to
commission Ashby a lieutenant colonel of the
Seventh Virginia Cavalry, which was accom-
plished on July 23, 1861.
In short order, Ashby became renowned as
one of the South’s most daring cavalry lead-