Benjamin Lincoln
| Benjamin Lincoln | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 1st Collector of the Port of Boston | |
|
In office 1789–1809 |
|
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Henry Dearborn |
| 2nd Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts | |
|
In office 1788–1789 |
|
| Governor | John Hancock |
| Preceded by | Thomas Cushing |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Adams |
| 1st United States Secretary at War | |
|
In office 1781–1783 |
|
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Henry Knox |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 24, 1733 Hingham, Massachusetts Bay, British America |
| Died | May 9, 1810 (aged 77) Hingham, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Resting place | Old Ship Burying Ground, Hingham |
| Political party | Federalist |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Cushing |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Great Britain United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
Massachusetts provincial militia Continental Army  United States Army
|
| Years of service | Militia (1755–1777) Continental Army (1777–1781) |
| Rank |
 Major general
|
| Commands | Massachusetts provincial militia Bound Brook Southern Department |
| Battles/wars |
American Revolutionary War • Boston campaign • Battle of White Plains • Battle of Bound Brook • Second Battle of Saratoga (Bemis Heights) • Siege of Savannah • Siege of Charleston • Yorktown campaign Shays' Rebellion |
Benjamin Lincoln (January 24, 1733 (O.S. January 13, 1732) – May 9, 1810) was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln is notable for being 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. 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.
Benjamin Lincoln was born on January 24, 1733, in Hingham, Province of Massachusetts Bay the sixth child and first son of Colonel Benjamin Lincoln and his second wife Elizabeth Thaxter Lincoln. Lincoln's ancestors were among those who first settled in Hingham, beginning with Thomas Lincoln 'the cooper,' who was among several Lincolns who settled in Hingham when it was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Lincoln's father, one of the wealthiest men in Suffolk County, served as a member of the governor's council from 1753 until 1770, and occupied many other civic posts before his death in 1771. Lincoln's maternal grandfather, Col. Samuel Thaxter, one of the most prominent and influential citizens in Hingham, Ma, became Colonel in a regiment and one of those commissioned to settle the boundary between Massachusetts and Rhode Island in 1719.
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