Overview
Benjamin Lincoln (1733-1810) was an American military officer and statesman who played a significant role during the American Revolutionary War. Born in Massachusetts, Lincoln initially worked as a farmer and a blacksmith before embracing a military career. He quickly rose through the ranks and eventually became a major general in the Continental Army. One of his notable contributions was his leadership at the pivotal Battle of Saratoga in 1777, where his strategic maneuvers helped secure a crucial victory for the American forces, boosting their morale and earning him recognition from General George Washington. Unfortunately, General Lincoln surrendered his Continental Army and Charleston to British forces in 1780. After being exchanged, he played a key role in negotiating the surrender of the British at Yorktown in 1781, a pivotal event that effectively ended the war
Lincoln’s service to his country extended beyond the battlefield. Lincoln served as the Secretary of War under the Continental Congress from 1781 to 1783, where he focused on rebuilding the American military and improving its infrastructure. He also held various political positions, including lieutenant governor and acting governor of Massachusetts. Benjamin Lincoln’s life and contributions exemplify the dedication and resilience of the American patriots during the Revolutionary War.
Memoirs and Papers
Benjamin Lincoln papers, Massachusetts Historical Society. Guide to the microfilm edition of the Benjamin Lincoln papers — Boston, Mass.: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1967. A copy is located at the Society of Cincinnati, Washington DC.
Benjamin Lincoln papers, 1778-1806. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. https://www.loc.gov/item/mm75093773/.
Original papers relating to the siege of Charleston, 1780: mostly selected from the papers of General Benjamin Lincoln, in the Thomas Addis Emmet Collection, Lenox Library, New York, and now first published / Lincoln, Benjamin, 1733-1810. — Charleston, S.C.: Press of Walker, Evans & Cogswell Co., 1898. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.originalpapersre00linc/?st=gallery.
New York Public Library, Digital Collections copy. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/bcdb8127-925d-9816-e040-e00a18060b50/book?parent=82132420-0026-0130-8b00-58d385a7bc34#page/19/mode/2up
Biographies
Bowen, Francis. Life of Benjamin Lincoln, major-general in the army of the Revolution. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1847.
Mattern, David B. Benjamin Lincoln and the American Revolution. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1998.
Journal Articles
McGrath, Lawrence R. The Massachusetts militia under Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, September-November 1776. Journal of the Company of Military Historians Vol.63 )Fall 2011), pp. 160-180.
Site of Benjamin Lincoln’s Surrender of Charleston, SC to the British in 1780
