This week two-hundred and twenty-nine-years-ago, after a siege that began on April 2, 1780, the Continental Army suffered it’s worst defeat of the revolution with the unconditional surrender of Major General Benjamin Lincoln to British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton and his army of 10,000 at Charleston, South Carolina. However, this would not be the last time these two men would meet.
Having suffered the humiliation of surrendering to the British at Charleston, Major General Lincoln was able to turn the tables and accept Cornwallis’ ceremonial surrender to General George Washington at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.

And with the remembrance this week of the loss of Charleston during the Revolutionary War, we can also celebrate the life of Major General Benjamin Lincoln as he gallantly fought back against the British and ultimately received the honors bestowed upon him by the Commander-in-Chief, General George Washington at Yorktown.

Here is his story.

Cornwallis surrenders and Lincoln accepts on behalf of General Washington

Benjamin Lincoln was a successful farmer when the colony of Massachusetts Bay revolted against British rule. It was April, 1775. Born in 1733, Lincoln was also a military man and a local politician. He was a Lt. Colonel in the Massachusetts militia. He had also served for two decades as a local politician from the community of Hingham. Lincoln served as a representative in the Massachusetts colonial legislature and the Provincial Congress. He was a well respected man in Massachusetts. He was an important member of the Committee of Correspondence. The Committee of Correspondence was just another name for the Committee of Safety or the Sons of Liberty. This secret society was comprised of patriot radicals. They were the men who led the rebellion against British rule in the thirteen colonies. Lincoln was one of these men.

Benjamin Lincoln, as with most of his peers, felt American independence was worth his fight. One of Lincoln’s reasons, for pursuing independence, was that the “common man” could not own property in Europe. Why did this trouble him so much about a continent far across the ocean? Lincoln felt that European royalty held to much power over their people. Free men could own property in the colonies, but Lincoln was concerned that these rights might be taken away by the British Crown. Lincoln was waging war so that these rights would never be taken away in the new land of opportunity. For Lincoln, this land was Massachusetts and the other twelve colonies of America.

In 1775, Lincoln was under the direct command of General George Washington. This was during the siege of Boston. In 1776, Lincoln was promoted to major general in the Massachusetts militia. He helped train the American troops camped in Cambridge. Lincoln rejoined the Commander-in-Chief, in New York, later that year. He had stayed behind in Boston, with orders to clear Boston harbor of British vessels after the evacuation of the city.

The Commander-in-Chief General George Washington, knowing that Lincoln held only a Massachusetts militia commission, wrote to Congress asking for a Continental Army commission. General Washington gained his wish. Lincoln and sixteen other men were appointed major generals. In his letter to Congress, General Washington said, “Lincoln is an excellent officer worthy of command in the Continental Line.”

Major General Lincoln participated in the Battle of White Plains, New York. Three months later, in January of 1777, Lincoln and his 6,000 troops from Massachusetts were fighting alongside General William Heath of Massachusetts in the disastrous attack on Fort Independence. At this battle, the Americans embolden by the recent victories at Trenton and Princeton, believed that they could drive the enemy forces out of New Jersey. Initial victories along the route towards Fort Independence, encouraged the Americans to demand a surrender of Fort Independence. The Hessian commander ignored the American demand to surrender. Instead, he started to fire his cannons at the American Army. The Americans instead of attacking Fort Independence, started to fall back. They were then making plans to attack the fort at a later time. The indecisiveness of the American command allowed the enemy to regroup and attack American positions near the fort and inflict heavy losses on the American Army.

By early 1777, Lincoln again rejoined General Washington at Morristown, New Jersey. It was here that Lincoln received his Continental Army major general commission. Lincoln was ordered to Delaware, but was reordered shortly afterwards to join General Schuyler in Northern New York. The Americans were trying to stem the progress of British General Johnny Burgoyne’s offensive coming down from Canada. Upon arriving at the American camp to take command of the New England militia, Major General Lincoln successfully quelled a potential disaster. He discovered that General John Stark of New Hampshire, then in charge of the New England militia, refused to recognize the authority of Congress. Stark felt that he had been overlooked in the promotion as a major general. Stark was still serving as only a militia general and told Lincoln that he only took orders from the people who gave him his commission. He would not take orders from a Congress who had ignored him. Major General Lincoln, needing Stark and his men, allowed Stark to continue in his command and let him participate in the Battle of Saratoga, regardless of his insubordination. Luckily for the American cause, excellent results were produced. General Burgoyne surrendered his army to the Americans and this opened up the involvement of French military participation on behalf of the American patriots.

During the Battle of Saratoga, Major General Lincoln unfortunately received a severe leg wound that would put him out of action for nearly one year. Lincoln went home to Massachusetts where he was rehabilitated, but the injury left him permanently lame.

On his return to active duty, Lincoln marched from Philadelphia to South Carolina. He was appointed by Congress to command the Southern American Army. He enjoyed some early successes in small skirmishes, but on May 12, 1780 he surrendered Charleston, South Carolina, to the British. A large British Army commanded by General Henry Clinton surrounded the city of Charleston. The Americans were badly out-numbered, nearly six-to-one. The Americans, after a gallant fight, ran out of provisions. The Americans were reduced to loading their guns with scrap iron and glass. With the capitulation of the city, Lincoln was made a prisoner of war. He was, however, paroled by the enemy in exchange for British officers. He returned to Philadelphia waiting for orders.

Major General Lincoln returned home to Massachusetts to raise recruits and supplies for the Continental Army. He then took command of troops near the British stronghold of New York City. Lincoln marched his troops to rejoin the Commander-in-Chief General George Washington, in the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. When British General Lord Cornwallis capitulated, Lincoln was the American general who officially accepted the British sword at the surrender ceremonies. During the surrender, the British band played a song called, “The World Turned Upside Down”. American and French victors looked on with pride at their stunning victory.

After Yorktown, Major General Lincoln accepted the position of Secretary of War. He held this job from 1781 to 1784. He was also a member of the convention in 1788 that ratified the United States Constitution. He became Lt. Governor of Massachusetts in 1788. Lincoln published extensive papers ranging from the climate and soil of Maine titled, “Observations on the Climate, Soil and Value of the Eastern Counties in the District of Maine”, to the state of native peoples titled, “Indian Tribes, the Causes of their Decrease, Their Claims, etc.” (3) Lincoln died at his home in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1810. Lincoln was a respectable old age of seventy-seven when he died. The local politician had served his nation well. He was an American Revolutionary War hero.