Benjamin B. Arnold

[wpbinzel]

In Come Retribution, Tidwell, Hall and Gaddy, highlight a throw-away paragraph in Osborn Oldroyd’s 1901 book, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In retracing Booth's escape route, Oldroyd found himself in the home of James A. Arnold:

“Mr. Arnold, keeper of the Lower Cedar Point light-house, left us, to remain at his station all night, but before going gave me proper directions to continue my walk to Port Conway, which point I expected to make the next day. Benjamin B. Arnold, the father of Mr. James A. Arnold, my genial host, died some years ago. Mr. Arnold, Sr., was engaged in the plot to abduct the President, and the part assigned him was to take charge of Mr. Lincoln on the Virginia side of the river and hurry him to Richmond. When the news of the President’s assassination reach the home of Mr. Arnold, which was at that time a few miles farther up the river, he expressed his regrets, saying: ‘I am very sorry the President was shot, but very glad they never succeeded in kidnapping him, for it let me out of a very dirty job.’” -- Osborn H. Oldroyd, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Washington, DC: O. H. Oldroyd, 1901), 283-4.

Tidwell, et al., attach significance that Benjamin Arnold was “assigned” a role in Booth’s plot to capture/kidnap Lincoln (as do I). But that begs the question, who was Benjamin Arnold?

Has anyone done any research on Benjamin B. Arnold and his role in the Civil War?