Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/766

728 and promptness of the relief given, from Wheel- ing to New Orleans, to those suffering from the freat floods of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in 'ebruary, 1884. In the latter year Mr. Lincoln was prominently spoken of for the presidency : but as President Arthur was a candidate before the Republican convention, Lincoln refused to allow his name to be presented for either place on the ticket. He returned to Chicago, and in the spring of 1889 he was appointed minister to Great Britain. LINCOLN, Benjamin, soldier, b. in Hingham, Mass., 24 Jan., 1733 ; d. there, 9 May, 1810. His father, Benjamin, was born in Hingham in 1700, his family having been among the first settlers, the name of Thomas Lincoln, a cooper, appearing on the town-records as early as 1636. He received only a common-school education, and was a farmer until 1773, holding the offices of magistrate, repre- sentative in the provincial legislature, and colonel of militia. He was also a member of the provin- cial congresses of Massachusetts, of which he was secretary, and served on its committee of corre- spondence. He was active in organizing and train- ing the Continental troops, and was appointed major-general of state militia in 1776, and on 23 May, 1776, was placed at the head of a committee to prepare instructions for the representatives of the town in the general court, previous to the Dec- laration of Independence. The following is an ex- tract from his instructions entered on the records of the town : " You are instructed and directed at all times to give your vote and interest in support of the present struggle with Great Britain. We ask nothing of her but peace, liberty, and safety. You will never recede from that claim, and, agree- ably to a resolve of the late house of representa- tives, in case the honorable Continental congress declare themselves independent of Great Britain, solemnly engage, in behalf of your constituents, that they will, with their lives and fortunes, sup- port them in the measure." In June of that year he commanded the expedition that cleared Boston harbor of British vessels. After the American de- feat on Long Island he was despatched by the council of Massachusetts to re-enforce Washington with a body of militia, and he subsequently partici- pated in the battle of White Plains and other en- gagements. At the close of 1776 Lincoln, with the greater part of 6,000 militia, was engaged with Gen. William Heath in the attack on Port Inde- pendence, which resulted disastrously. In the be- ginning of 1777 he joined Washington at Morris- town with a new levy of militia, and on 19 Feb. was promoted to major-general, having been rec- ommended by Washington in a letter to congress dated 20 Dec, 1776 : " In speaking of Gen. Lincoln, I should not do him justice were I not to add that he is a gentleman well worthy of notice in the military line. He commanded the militia from Mas- sachusetts last summer, or fall rather, and much to my satisfaction, having proved himself, on all occa- sions, an active, spirited, sensible man. I do not know whether it is his wish to remain in the military line, or whether, if he should, anything under the rank he now holds in the state he comes from would satisfy him." He was then stationed at Bound Brook, N. J., the advanced post of the British, where he was surprised by a party of 2,000 men under Lord Cornwallis and Gen. James Grant on 13 April, but escaped with his aides before he was surrounded. He remained attached to Washington's command till July, when he was sent with Gen. Benedict Ar- nold to act under Gen. Schuyler against Burgoyne, for which purpose he raised a body of New Eng- land militia. He sent out a successful expedition, which seized the posts of the enemy at Lake George, and broke Burgoyne's line of communication. Gen. Lincoln then joined Gen. Gates at Stillwater, and took command of the right wing. During the bat- tle of Bemis's Heights he com- manded inside the American works, and on the next day, in leading a small force to a post in the rear of Bur- goyne's army, fell in with a party of British, supposing them to be Ameri- cans, and re- ceived a severe wound, which forced him to retire for a year and lamed him for life. He rejoined the army in August, 1778, on 25 Sept. was appointed by congress to the chief command of the southern department, and for several months he was engaged in protecting Charleston against Gen. Augustine Prevost. Upon the arrival of Count d'Estaing he co-operated with the French troops and fleet in the unsuccessful assault on Savannah ; but from the unwillingness of his allies to continue the siege he was forced to return to Charleston, where in the spring of 1780 he was besieged by a superior British force under Sir Henry Clinton. After an obstinate defence he was obliged in May to capitulate, and in November retired to Massachusetts oh parole. In the spring of 1781 he was exchanged, and immediately joined Washington on Hudson river. He participated in the siege of Yorktown, and Washington appointed him to receive the sword of Cornwallis on the surrender of the British forces. He held the office of secretary of war from 1781 till 1784, after which he retired to his farm, receiving the thanks of congress for his services. In 1787 he commanded the forces that quelled Shays's rebellion in western Massachusetts, and in that year was elected lieutenant-governor of the state. Upon the establishment of the Federal government he received from Washington the appointment of collector of the port of Boston, from which office he retired about two years before his death. He was a member of the commission that made a treaty with the Creek Indians in 1789, and of the one that in 1793 unsuccessfully attempted to enter into negotiations with the Indians north of the Ohio, the other members including Thomas Pickering and Beverly Randolph, of Virginia, the place appointed for the conference being Sandusky. He kept a journal of this expedition, which was published entire in the collections of the Massachusetts historical society (series iii., vol. v.). Accompanying this is an engraving of an outline sketch taken by a British officer present at the meeting of the Indians on Buffalo creek, representing Randolph, Pickering, and Lincoln, Gen. Chapin, several Quakers, two British officers, the Indian orator, and the interpreter. He was also a member of the Massachusetts convention that ratified the U. S. constitution and president of the Massachusetts society of the Cincinnati from its organization until his death. He was much esteemed by Gen. Washington, who presented him with a set of epaulettes and sword-knots, which he had received from a French officer. He devoted his last years to literary and scientific pur-