Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 2,127

This is the grave of Benjamin Lincoln.

Born in 1733 in Higham, Massachusetts, Lincoln grew up pretty well off for this time and place. His father was an important political figure in the colony in the mid 18th century. But even being relatively wealthy here meant having a farm, even if you had other interests and so young Lincoln grew up working on it. He followed in his father’s footsteps from the beginning. He married the daughter of another locally elite family, they had a big family, and he ran for town clerk in 1757. He became a selectman in 1765, the year of the Stamp Act. He was a big sympathizer with the anti-Stamp Act cause and would remain closely associated with the Patriots’ cause. He was infuriated by the Boston Massacre and gladly joined the American Revolution.

Lincoln was elected to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and was put on committees dealing with logistics. He had a lot of merchant interests, which was how real money was forming in New England. He was key in gaining access to supplies of gunpowder and other necessary military supplies in the first year of the war. He was also in the militia and was key in driving British ships from Boston Harbor in 1776. He was then sent to George Washington’s army as an officer, despite a relative lack of experience. So sure, he was a major general, why not. But it’s not like capability or experience really mattered much in the Revolution to get a high commission. He was back and forth from Washington to Massachusetts to deal with its local issues. But he gained Washington’s trust and was sent to Saratoga. His troops didn’t see a ton of battle action on that campaign, but toward the end they did and he took a musket ball to the ankle, which shattered it. He never truly recovered from that.

But Lincoln returned and really became one of Washington’s most trusted advisors. He was perhaps the least prominent of the important circle of generals around Washington during the war, but that’s not to say he wasn’t a critical person. He was sent to the South, where the real fighting took place after 1778, with the Marquis de Lafayette and Henry “Light Horse” Lee, father of the traitor. It was hard. The colonists were so overmatched still. It’s really a miracle that the U.S. won the Revolutionary War. Most of Lincoln’s commands were well done losses. He was part of the siege of Savannah that French forces led. It didn’t work, but that wasn’t really his fault. He was then defending Charleston. He had to give that up, but he did so very effectively, allowing huge parts of the army to escape before he officially surrendered. This evidently was seen as un-gentlemenly by the British, who were really furious about this. Whatever, but they denied him the honors of surrendering when he did it.

Lincoln tried to get South Carolina planters to arm their slaves and let them fight. There was no way South Carolina planters were going to do that. They’d rather lose the war than see their slaves empowered and freed. That attitude would not change in future wars South Carolina planters would fight over slavery.

Lincoln was imprisoned by the British for awhile, but was exchanged in 1780. He was there at Yorktown and led troops in an important part of the siege.

After the war, the Continental Congress appointed Lincoln as Secretary at War (which was the official title at that time). Of course, the government under the Articles of Confederation was a total disaster. There wasn’t really anything he could do of course. He served in the position from 1781 to 1783, during which time there needed to be a war footing in case negotiations with the British broke down, but that really wasn’t going to happen with the French and Americans having defeated the British at Yorktown. He stepped down in 1783 and Henry Knox replaced him, going on to stay in the position in the first years of the Washington administration.

Lincoln was absolutely horrified at Shays’ Rebellion. This is exactly what the Founders feared–the people actually taking matters into their own hands and showing their own initiative and angry. George Washington and Alexander Hamilton especially wanted to put this down with maximum violence if needed. Lincoln was right there with him. Rich people in the state formed a private army of about 3,000 men to put it down. Lincoln was to lead it. Luckily, Shays and his western Massachusetts farmer movement disbanded before things got too bad. But the rebels had almost captured the arsenal at Springfield. This led to the final necessary push for a Constitutional Convention. Lincoln was a huge supporter of the new Constitution and voted to support it at the state ratification convention, which was surprising a close vote in Massachusetts.

After this, Lincoln stayed mostly in the background, but as an influential person. He was a strong Federalist, unsurprising given his reaction to Shays’ Rebellion. He was lieutenant governor of the state in 1788 and 1789. Sam Adams replaced him when Jeffersonians briefly took power in the state. He then became the collector of the Port of Boston. That was a well-paid position and a locally powerful one that allowed him to push forward his merchant interests and that of his state. When Lincoln tried to resign in 1806, Jefferson wouldn’t accept the resignation, asking him to stay on til the end of his term. This led to an attempt to impeach Jefferson from Federalists driven mad that he existed. Seems overwrought to me.

Also, just about anywhere in the South that you see something named Lincoln, it’s for Benjamin. It ain’t for Abraham, with the exception perhaps of Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee, which was a Unionist project in a Unionist part of the state.

Lincoln died at the age of 77.

Benjamin Lincoln is buried in Hingham Cemetery, Hingham, Massachusetts.

If you would like this series to visit other officers of the American Revolution, many of which are really totally forgotten today, you can donate to cover the required expenses here. Anthony Wayne is in Wayne, Pennsylvania and Daniel Morgan is in Winchester, Virginia. Previous posts in this series are archived here and here.