Lincoln, Benjamin, 1733-1810

Dates

• Existence: 1733 - 1810

Biography

Benjamin Lincoln (January 24, 1733 (O.S. January 13, 1732)[1] – May 9, 1810) was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln was involved in three major surrenders during the war: his participation in the Battles of Saratoga (sustaining a wound shortly afterward) contributed to John Burgoyne's surrender of a British army, he oversaw the largest American surrender of the war at the 1780 Siege of Charleston, and, as George Washington's second in command, he formally accepted the British surrender at Yorktown. After the war Lincoln was active in politics in his native Massachusetts, running several times for lieutenant governor but only winning one term in that office. He served from 1781 to 1783 as the first United States Secretary of War during the American Revolutionary War under Washington. In 1787, Lincoln led a militia army (privately funded by Massachusetts merchants) in the suppression of Shays' Rebellion, and was a strong supporter of the new United States Constitution. He was for many of his later years the politically influential customs collector of the Port of Boston.

Found in 7 Collections and/or Records: