Benedict Arnold Saratoga Painting to Be Conserved for Display at State Military Museum

SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York - A massive painting memorializing Benedict Arnold's heroism during the 1777 Battle of Saratoga was unrolled for the first time since 2013 at the New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs, Jan. 16.

The 25-foot-long by seven-foot-high painting, "Benedict Arnold triumphant at Saratoga," was opened across eight tables so that a painting conservation expert could examine it.

The painting has been in storage since it was originally donated.

The goal, according to museum director Courtney Burns, is to have the painting restored and hung in the museum in time for the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Saratoga in 2027.

Arnold is remembered as an infamous traitor for attempting to betray the American forts at West Point and for visiting George Washington with the British during the American Revolution.

But prior to that, he played a key role in delaying a British invasion of northern New York and leading a key charge that forced the British to retreat during the fighting at Saratoga.

The painting by George Gray depicts Arnold leading American Soldiers in storming the Breymann Redoubt, a fortification held by Hessian troops.

The narration in the painting, explaining the scene's significance, is by Kenneth Roberts, a historical novelist from the 1920s to 1940s who wrote two books featuring Arnold as a heroic figure.

John Lippert, a partner in the firm of Foreground Conservation & Decorative Arts, a Livingston, New York, company that specializes in restoring artwork, looked the painting over and took photographs.

Lippert said his company will clean the painting and do touch-up work to bring out the original colors. Since it was painted in 1937, the varnish on the painting has darkened, he explained, so his team will remove it.

The conservators will also need to repair a corner of the painting where an inset depicting Arnold at the 1776 naval battle at Lake Champlain's Valcour Island was cut out, Lippert said.

The military museum has that piece, so that will be worked back into the painting, Lippert said.

His team will also put the painting onto a wooden frame, so it is ready to be hung in the museum, Lippert said.

The work will likely take about six months, he added.

Lippert's company has repaired other historic paintings for the Division of Military and Naval Affairs, Burns said. This includes artwork in the Lexington Avenue Armory in Manhattan and the Jamaica Armory in Queens, he said.

Burns said the project's cost could reach $30,000.

The money, he said, is being provided by the Friends of the New York State Military Museum, a private, not-for-profit organization. That organization is receiving funding from an anonymous donor, Burns said.

The painting was donated to the New York State Military Museum in 2013 by the H. Lee White Marine Museum in Oswego, New York.

It was one of 233 Gray completed for the American Hotel Corporation in the 1930s to commemorate local history in their hotels, according to a 2025 article in the Lehigh Valley News.

In this case, the painting was in the Hendrick Hudson Hotel in Troy, which closed in 1966.

A companion piece by Gray, which also hung in the Hendrick Hudson Hotel and commemorated the 27th Division of the New York National Guard in World War I, is currently on display at the military museum.

Arnold played a critical role in military campaigns in Canada and northern New York in the early years of the Revolutionary War. He led an attack on Quebec through the Maine wilderness, fought a naval battle on Lake Champlain that delayed a British attack south for a year, and then picked the ground where the successful Battle of Saratoga was fought.

The New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center tells the story of New York State's rich military history and the service and sacrifice of its citizens through interpretive exhibitions, public programs, and the collection and preservation of artifacts and archival material related to the state's military forces and its veterans.

http://www.nationalguard.mil

https://www.facebook.com/TheNationalGuard

https://x.com/USNationalGuard