But his indefatigable industry and
diplomatic energy enabled him in the following June to take the field.
Such was his popularity with the army and the whole country that when
he rejoined the army in 1781 to co-operate with the southern army, he
had the high satisfaction of taking part in the reduction of Yorktown
and of conducting the defeated army to the field, where they were to
lay down their arms at the feet of the illustrious Washington.
General Lincoln took the sword from Lord Cornwallis and delivered it
to his Commander-in-Chief, Washington.
[Illustration: Major-General Benjamin Lincoln, of the War of the
Revolution. He was the grandfather of Mr. George H. Blake and the
great-grandfather of George Lincoln Blake and William Ellery Blake,
sons of Mrs. Blake-Alverson.]
I feel justly proud with my sons, George Lincoln Blake and William
Ellery Blake, to claim such illustrious descendants of our great
republic, especially Lincoln, who gained such high recognition from
our government for his patriotism and diplomatic energy in the
beginning of our republic. He quelled the famous Shay's insurrection
in 1786-87. He held the post of Lieutenant-Governor, was member of the
convention called to ratify the new Constitution, and for years was
collector of port in Boston and besides filled many minor offices. He
received from Harvard University the degree of Master of Arts, was a
member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as of the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and was president of the Society
of Cincinnati from its organization to the day of his death.
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