Major General Benjamin Lincoln and His Division

Major General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered Charleston, South Carolina, and his army of 5,000 soldiers to the British on May 12, 1780. That fall, he rejoined the Continental Army after being exchanged for a British and a German general captured at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. At Yorktown, as the senior ranking major general, he served as second-in-command of the American forces and commanded a division of seasoned Continental Army soldiers from New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. His troops shared duties with the other two divisions and were usually in the siege lines every third day of the siege. After the siege, he oversaw the return of troops and military equipment to New York, then soon accepted a congressional appointment as Secretary of War, explaining to his son that continued service was necessary because Britain's growing encroachments otherwise would have fallen heavily on his children and deprived them of the sweetness of life.

Virginia · United States