Continental army officer in the American Revolution who rendered distinguished service in the northern campaigns early in the war, but was forced to surrender with about 7,000 troops at Charleston, S.C., May 12, 1780.

A small-town farmer, Lincoln held local offices and was a member of the Massachusetts militia (1755–76). In May 1776 he was appointed major general in the Continental Army and in 1778 was placed in command of Continental forces in the South. He was widely criticized for the Charleston defeat, although no formal action was taken against him. Released in a prisoner exchange, he participated in the Yorktown campaign in 1781, then served the Continental Congress as secretary of war (1781–83). Shays's Rebellion (brought on in Massachusetts in 1786 by business depression and heavy taxes) was quelled by militiamen led by Lincoln. He was elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts (1788) and was collector for the port of Boston (1789–1809).