John Champe (soldier)

John Champe
"The Escape of Sergeant Champe": Lithograph: New York: Currier & Ives, c. 1876.
Allegiance	United States of America
Born	1752 Aldie
Died	30 September 1798 Prickett's Fort
Spouse	Phebe Susan Barnard
Children	William Champ, Mary Champ, Susann Champ, Eleanor Champ, Amelia Champ, John Champ, Nathaniel Champ

Sergeant Major John Champe (ca. 1752– 30 September 1798) was a Revolutionary War senior enlisted soldier in the Continental Army who became a double agent in a failed attempt to capture the American traitor General Benedict Arnold (1741-1801).

Champe was born about 1752 near what is now Aldie in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Champe enlisted in the Virginia Cavalry from Loudoun County in 1776 and was made sergeant major in "Lee's Legion", a unit commanded by (then Major) Henry Lee III, later and better known as Colonel "Light-horse Harry" Lee (and father of Gen. Robert E. Lee). Champe's family was said to be well known to Major Lee. A plan was formulated to kidnap the defecting General Benedict Arnold and bring him back to American lines to face court martial. A key motivation for the operation was to obtain information as to the possibility of other high-ranking American officers being involved in the treasonous Arnold's activities. Handpicked by George Washington and Lee for the spy mission, in 1780 Champe "defected" to the British side where he was introduced to Arnold and soon gathered intelligence that established that there were no other American generals involved with Arnold. Champe formulated a plot to capture Arnold on his regular evening stroll, but before he could act the entire British unit, Champe included, embarked in New York on the Virginia Campaign of 1780-81. Thus, the whole endeavor had to be called off.

After the failed attempt, Champe served in the British army for many months before finding a way to escape back to the Continental Army. Upon rejoining the Americans, Champe voiced a desire to continue his service fighting the British, but Lee dissuaded him from it — pointing out that if captured, he could now be hanged as a spy. Nevertheless, Lee believed that Champe had acquitted himself well and had him discharged honorably from the Continental Army.