Benjamin Lincoln

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Benjamin Lincoln (1733–1810) was a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

The honle. B. Lincoln, Esq., major general in the American Army. Etching from 1782.

Benjamin Lincoln. Painted by Charles Wilson Peale ca. 1784.

Birthplace of General Benjamin Lincoln in Hingham, Massachusetts. Photo from 1936.

Lincoln was born in Hingham, Massachusetts in 1733. He followed in his father's footsteps into local office. He also worked his way up in the local militia until he was a lieutenant colonel by 1772. In 1776, he was promoted to brigadier general, then major general, then commander of all Massachusetts troops in the Boston area. After the British evacuation of Boston, Lincoln joined General George Washington at New York, commanding the right wing at the Battle of White Plains. Shortly after seeing action at Fort Independence, he was commissioned into the Continental Army as a major general.

Lincoln moved south with General Washington, and then was sent to the Northern Department to help against Maj. Gen. John Burgoyne's campaign. After recovering from a severe wound, Lincoln was appointed Southern Department Commander in September 1778. He failed to reclaim Georgia, was encircled and forced to surrender Charleston in May 1780, one of the worst Continental defeats of the war. He was denied the honors of war in surrendering, which deeply rankled.

After being exchanged, Lincoln soon returned to Washington's main army, even leading it south to Virginia and playing a major role in the Yorktown surrender on October 20, 1781. General Lord Cornwallis was so humiliated by his defeat at the hands of the "Colonials" that he refused to personally surrender his sword to General George Washington, sending his second-in-command, General Charles O'Hara, in his stead. In response, General Washington sent his subordinate, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, to accept Cornwallis's sword after the defeat at Yorktown.

Lincoln later helped to suppress the 1787 Shays' Rebellion. He stayed active in public life in various capacities until his retirement in 1809. He died in Hingham in 1810.

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