Benjamin Lincoln (1733-1810)
Born in Hingham, Massachusetts, Benjamin Lincoln served in a militia regiment at the time of the French and Indian Wars and would see rapid promotion during the early months of the Revolution. Serving under Washington in 1776, he was placed in command of the Patriot right wing at White Plains, where his troops were driven off by a well-coordinated British attack. The next year, incapacitated by an ankle wound, he turned over his command to Benedict Arnold. Later chosen to command the Southern Department, Lincoln was surrounded and forced to surrender Charleston in 1779. Despite his hard luck on the battlefield, his devotion to the cause would be vindicated at Yorktown, where he played a key role and was tapped to receive the formal surrender.
« Back to Glossary Index