Benjamin Lincoln was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln was involved in three major surrenders during the war: his participation in the Battles of Saratoga 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.
1784 portrait by Charles Wilson Peale
Continental Congress Broadside, 1777 mentions Gen. Lincoln's letter.
The Hon. B. Lincoln, Esq. Major General, Continental Army.
Tomb of Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, Hingham Cemetery, Hingham, Massachusetts
The Battles of Saratoga marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led an invasion army of 7,200–8,000 men southward from Canada in the Champlain Valley, hoping to meet a similar British force marching northward from New York City and another British force marching eastward from Lake Ontario; the goal was to take Albany, New York. The southern and western forces never arrived, and Burgoyne was surrounded by American forces in upstate New York 15 miles (24 km) short of his goal. He fought two battles which took place 18 days apart on the same ground 9 miles (14 km) south of Saratoga, New York. He gained a victory in the first battle despite being outnumbered, but lost the second battle after the Americans returned with an even larger force.
Surrender of General Burgoyne, an 1822 portrait by John Trumbull depicting John Burgoyne, a British Army general, surrendering to General Horatio Gates, who refused to take his sword. The painting presently hangs in the United States Capitol Rotunda.
General Horatio Gates, portrait by Gilbert Stuart
General John Burgoyne by Sir Joshua Reynolds
The slaying of Jane McCrae by Native Americans under Burgoyne's command was widely published in newspapers throughout the colonies. This led to a massive turnout of colonial militia, outnumbering Burgoyne's army by two to one.