Champe was born in Loudoun County, Virginia. Handpicked by George Washington and Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee for the mission, Champe "defected" to the British side where he was introduced to Arnold. Champe formulated a plot to capture Arnold on his regular evening stroll, and came very close to succeeding, but at the last moment Arnold changed plans and 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.