Benjamin Lincoln Papers, 1635-1964 » Feb.–Dec. 1787  

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This reel consists of letters and other documents detailing Lincoln's command of the Massachusetts militia during the final months of Shays' Rebellion and his membership on a special commission created by the General Court to deal with the late insurgents. The first document is a letterbook (volume 4) containing Lincoln's official letters as commander of the militia. The 148 letters, dating from January 5 to March 25, 1787, consist of daily instructions to his commanders, daily reports to Governor Bowdoin, and a few requests addressed to Governor Clinton of New York. Most of the papers in this section deal with the final military measures that brought the rebellion to a close in March. Also included on this reel are a considerable number of letters between Benjamin Lincoln, Jr., and two of his friends, Tobias Lear at Mt. Vernon and Thomas Porter at Alexandria; a renewal of the correspondence between the Lincoln and his eldest son; and a 22-page essay by Lincoln on the value of the Eastern Provinces and their use to Massachusetts, dated December 3, 1787.