Donovan Kelly

Benedict Arnold foiled the Loudoun Outhouse Plot.
(Courtesy National Archives).

It was the worst of times: Sept. 23, 1780. Headlines might have read: General Benedict Arnold A Traitor! British Spy Andre Caught with Maps of Vital West Point Defenses! Are Other American Officers Involved? Is the American Revolution Doomed? George Washington Asks Loudoun Men For Help.

“Get Benedict Arnold!” George Washington might have roared at the tall, young soldier from Loudoun. “Bring him back to me alive so I can question him!”

But Washington probably didn’t talk directly to Sergeant-Major John Champe, one of Loudoun’s first heroes. Instead, he approved the plot that was cooked up by Major “Light Horse Harry” Lee, of the Leesburg Lees, thus keeping the Commander in Chief at a safe deniable distance from the wild scheme.

Wait, there’s another Loudoun connection to Benedict Arnold!

Loudoun also had a hand in the hanging of Major Andre.
(Courtesy of National Archives.)

Perhaps the most tragic victim of Arnold’s treason was British Major Andre, who was reluctantly hung by the Americans as a spy after he was caught out of uniform and carrying papers from Arnold that described the defenses at West Point. Andre was seized and turned over to the Continental Army by three militiamen, who may have been moonlighting as Robin Hoodlums, robbing British loyalists and giving to poor militiamen. One was David Williams, who returned home to Hillsboro after being rewarded by Congress with a medal and a pension. Williams returned to Loudoun in poor health and died shortly after peace was declared.

The scheme being that a trusted American soldier would desert to the British, get close to Arnold, and then kidnap him. Washington wanted Arnold alive so that he could be questioned about the involvement of other American officers in his plot. But who could pull off such a dangerous plan? Lee selected Sergeant-Major Champe from his own troops. Champe was a native of Loudoun, about twenty-three years old, who had enlisted in 1776. Lee described him as “rather above the common size – full of bone and muscle, with a saturnine countenance, grave, thoughtful, and taciturn – of tried courage and inflexible perseverance. ” In other words, a typical Loudoun male.

The risks to Champe began with the faked desertion. Because it had to look real, the troops who chased Champe in New Jersey were told he was a real deserter and shot real bullets at him. About the time they captured his horse, the saddle still warm, Champe was wading into Newark Bay and desperately waving at some British gunboats. Fortunately for Champe, a British officer had seen the chase and sent a boat to pick him up.

Within hours after being interrogated by the British in New York City and convincing them he was a turncoat, Champe managed to bump into Benedict Arnold, now a British General. Arnold immediately offered Champe a position on his own staff, which allowed Champe to keep a close eye on Arnold. In particular he noticed Arnold’s regular habit of taking a long midnight walk to the outhouse before going to bed.

Thus was hatched the outhouse plot. Champe and a comrade planned to seize Arnold on his regular midnight outing on December 11, 1780. They would drag him to a boat that stood ready to carry Arnold back to New Jersey where Major Lee and his dragoons waited.

Alas, Arnold had decided that December 11 was also the perfect day to order all his troops -- including Champe -- aboard ships for an invasion of -- wait for it -- Virginia. Champe was forced to sail away. He spent several weeks posing as a British soldier and fighting against his own Virginia comrades until he could desert again and return to the American forces. Meanwhile, Arnold burned Richmond and sent Governor Thomas Jefferson packing.

Loudoun's first hero, little noted nor long remembered.
(Photo by Kelly.)

Although Champe failed to capture Arnold, he did establish that no other American officers were involved in the treason that could have split American forces and cost us the war. George Washington personally commended Champe for his efforts and insisted that the brave soldier be discharged for his own safety and sent back to his home on Route 50 near Aldie. Some say he was eventually driven out of Loudoun by neighbors who still thought he was a deserter.

The site of his Loudoun home is now marked by a shabby state historical marker, a small stone monument on private land and a narrow rutted lane called Champe Ford Road, the only reminders that one of Loudoun’s first heroes lived here.

Additional Reading:

• “Benedict Arnold, Patriot and Traitor,” by Willard Sterne Randall, William Morrow and Company, Inc., New York, 1990, 667 p.
• “Story of John Champe,” by Daniel Van Winkle, The Historical Society of Hudson County, NJ, Jersey City, 2003. (Available online at http://www.cityofjerseycity.org/champe/index.shtml)