The Life of Lieutenant Samuel Benjamin
Lieutenant Samuel Benjamin was the maternal grandfather of the Washburn children. Click on the map below to learn about his life and service in the Revolutionary War.
1. Watertown, Massachusetts
February 1753 – Spring 1775
Samuel Benjamin was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1753. He was twenty-two years old at the start of the Revolution, when he joined the Watertown Company “Minute Men.” He was appointed first sergeant and clerk.
2. Lexington, Massachusetts
April 19, 1775
At the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, Benjamin’s company responded to the Lexington alarm and joined other companies of Minute Men who attacked the British troops as they marched back to Boston from Concord. The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the Revolutionary War.
3. Concord, Massachusetts
May 1775
After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress assembled at Concord to organize the existing New England militia into the Continental Army. They decided to raise an army of 13,000 men who would serve until January 1, 1776. This was called “the eight months service.” Samuel Benjamin enlisted under his old commander. Enlisting was so popular that within a few weeks Benjamin’s regiment was full and ordered to duty.
4. Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 1775 – June 1775
Benjamin’s regiment was stationed at Cambridge, where they remained until the Battle of Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, Benjamin’s regiment took part in the Battle of Bunker Hill, sustaining seven casualties and eight wounded.
5. Somerville, Massachusetts
June 1775 – March 1776
After Bunker Hill, the regiment was stationed on Prospect Hill in Somerville. Benjamin’s regiment remained at Somerville until the British evacuated Boston in March of 1776. It was a strategic position for being the far left of the Provincial line and for its closeness to the British batteries on Copps Hill. During his time at Somerville, Benjamin’s enlistment term expired. He immediately re-enlisted in the same company, this time for a year’s service.
6. Ticonderoga, New York
March 1776 – January 1777
After the British evacuated Boston, Benjamin’s regiment was ordered to the northern frontier, headquartered at Ticonderoga. The aim was to strengthen the northern posts and maintain control of the waterway between the St. Lawrence and Hudson Rivers. While at Ticonderoga, in November of 1776, Benjamin was appointed Ensign in the Continental Army. His new position came into effect when his term of service expired in January 1777. His commission was signed by John Hancock on January 1, 1777, and Benjamin joined a new regiment that was stationed at West Point on the Hudson River.
7. West Point, New York
January 1777 – July 1777
While at West Point, Benjamin came down with bilious dysentery, rendering him unable to serve in the field. While he recovered, he was ordered into the recruiting service in western Massachusetts and New York.
8. Western Massachusetts
July 1777 – Winter 1777
Benjamin was so successful at recruiting that he remained in the recruiting service for six months.
9. Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
Winter 1777 – Summer 1778
After his service in the recruiting service, Benjamin rejoined his regiment at Valley Forge. In his absence, his regiment had taken part in the Battle of Saratoga and was commended for its services. At Valley Forge, the Continental troops camped for six months and suffered greatly from lack of supplies, harsh weather, and disease. The conditions led to a conspiracy to depose George Washington, the Commander in Chief. The plot was known as the “Conway Cabal.” In order to test patriotism and devotion, the Continental Congress required that each commissioned officer take an “Oath of Fidelity.” Benjamin signed his oath on May 13, 1778.
10. Freehold Township, New Jersey
June 1778
The British abandoned Philadelphia in June of 1778. On June 28, 1778, Washington led the Continental troops in an attack against the British in Freehold Township, New Jersey. The battle was known as the Battle of Monmouth. While not a clear victory, with both sides sustaining losses and intense heat fatiguing troops, Monmouth was claimed as a victory for the Continental Army. The British troops retreated by night. Benjamin’s regiment, the 8th Massachusetts, played an active role in the battle.
11. Hudson Highlands, New York
July 1778 – August 1781
In 1778, the Continental Congress authorized a reorganization of the army. In June of 1779, Washington created a special unit of men to be known as the “Corps of Light Infantry.” The division was a small, elite unit made up of carefully selected men from each regiment who represented the best of the army. The unit’s role was to take the front, perform outpost duty, and surveil the enemy. Ensign Benjamin was selected for the corps. The unit was commanded by General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. After Monmouth, Benjamin’s regiment was again stationed on the Hudson River. The Hudson campaigns during 1778 and 1779 were mostly defensive, except for the midnight assault and capture at the Battle of Stony Point. On July 16, 1779, General Washington and General Mad Anthony led the Corps of Light Infantry in a stealth, bayonets-only assault on the British fortress at Stony Point. They captured the heavily fortified fortress in only twenty-five minutes. That October, Benjamin was promoted to Lieutenant. In early 1780, Lafayette took command of the Corps of Light Infantry. Lieutenant Benjamin was made adjutant—assistant to the commander—of the Massachusetts battalions.
12. Yorktown, Virginia
August 1781 – October 1781
In the spring of 1781, Lafayette brought a small army, including part of the Corps of Light Infantry, to the aid of the Continental Army in the south. Lieutenant Benjamin remained with the rest of the Light Infantry on the Hudson until August 18, 1781, when they embarked on the 400 mile march to Virginia for the Battle of Yorktown. The Light Infantry landed at Williamsburg on the James River on September 20, 1781, and encamped on the far right of the American line on the York River. Fighting began on the 28th, when the Continental Army and French troops encircled the British and began a siege of Yorktown. On September 7th, the first Continental troops to occupy the trenches that had been dug around the British defenses were the Light Infantry under Lafayette. On the 14th, Lieutenant Benjamin was ordered with his company to prevent British escape from the garrison rear. The garrison was captured quickly. Two days later negotiations for surrender were opened. On October 19th, 1781, British General Cornwallis and his army surrendered.
13. Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
November 1781
Despite serving continuously for seven years and participating in several of the larger battles in addition to smaller missions, Lieutenant Benjamin was not wounded in action. After the surrender, the Light Infantry was ordered to aid with non-combat tasks. While loading cannon and shells aboard ships, two shells exploded. Two men were killed and many of Benjamin’s battalion were injured. One of Benjamin’s diary entries from this period indicates he may have been among the wounded.
14. Hudson Highlands, New York
December 1781 – August 1782
After seventeen days on a ship from Yorktown to the Chesapeake Bay, the Light Infantry was broken up and the men returned to their respective commands. Lieutenant Benjamin returned home on furlough in December of 1781, during which he married Tabitha Livermore in Waltham on January 16th. He then returned to the Hudson Highlands where he remained at West Point until he was formally discharged on August 6, 1782. He had served seven years, three months, and seventeen days. For his Revolutionary services, Benjamin would receive a pension of $20 per month.
15. Watertown, Massachusetts
August 1782
The war being over, Benjamin returned home to his wife in Massachusetts.
16. Livermore, Maine
Fall 1782
While searching for a place to raise his family, Lieutenant Benjamin travelled in fall of 1782 to a township in Maine known as Port Royal. The township had been granted to his wife’s relative, Samuel Livermore, and was first settled by one of her second cousins, Elijah Livermore. Pleased with the settlement, Benjamin decided to move his family to Maine. In October of 1782, he bought roughly 120 acres from Elijah Livermore for thirty pounds. He returned to Watertown through the winter and in March of 1783, moved his wife to Port Royal. Benjamin was the fourth settler with a family to come to Port Royal. In 1795 the town was renamed Livermore after Elijah Livermore. In Livermore, Benjamin bought shares in a grist and saw-mill and operated a saw-mill off the Androscoggin River. He also owned a blacksmith shop and a ferry. Active in the town, Benjamin served on the committee to divide the town into school districts and served as school agent for several years. He was chosen as selectman from 1801 until 1805, and was Surveyor of Highways for several years. Upon coming to Livermore, Benjamin identified with the Universalist faith rather than the Puritanism of his own family and upbringing. He and Tabitha had ten children, four girls and six boys. One of his daughters was Martha Benjamin, the mother of the Washburn children. Benjamin died at age 72 and was buried with military honors in a Livermore cemetery.