James Lingan

Infobox Military Person
name= James McCubbin Lingan
lived= May 15, 1751 – July 28, 1812


placeofbirth=
placeofdeath= Baltimore, Maryland
allegiance=
serviceyears= 1776 to 1812
rank= Brigadier General
branch= Continental Army
commands=
unit=
battles= American Revolutionary War
awards=
laterwork=

James McCubbin Lingan was an officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and subsequently a senior officer in the Maryland State Militia. He was taken prisoner at Fort Washington early in the war and spent several years aboard a prison hulk. After independence, Lingan served as a government official in Georgetown. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, Lingan was an outspoken advocate of freedom of the press and was murdered by a mob while defending the offices of an anti-war newspaper in Georgetown.

Military service

Lingan enlisted in the Continental Army on July 13, 1776, only nine days after the start of the Revolutionary War. He became a lieutenant in the Rawlings Additional Regiment, but was captured at Fort Washington on November 16, 1776. Imprisoned in the hulk HMS "Jersey", Lingan was initially kept in a cell in which he could neither lie down nor stand up. Approached by distant cousin Samuel Hood and offered £10,000 and a commission in the British Army if he agreed to switch sides in the conflict, Lingan was reported to have replied "I'll rot first". Later in his captivity, Lingan gain a reputation as a defender of prisoners rights, on one occasion defending the body of another, recently deceased, prisoner from guards who wanted to behead the corpse in order to make it fit into a small coffin.

Government service and death

Following his release at the end of the war, Lingan was made Collector of the Port of Georgetown by George Washington personally and became a Brigadier-General in the Maryland State Militia. He was also a founding member of the Society of the Cincinnati.

Throughout his life, Lingan was a strong advocate of the freedom of the press, and at the outbreak of the War of 1812 spoke out in opposition to those who favoured censorship. When the offices of the "Baltimore Federal Republican" were besieged and burnt by a mob angry at anti-war editorials run by the newspaper, Lingan protested at the act and sheltered the newspaper editor, Alexander Contee Hanson in Georgetown. On July 17 1812, Harrison resumed printing the newspaper at new offices in Baltimore and another mob formed within hours, again storming the building and destroying the presses. Hanson, with Lingan, Henry Lee III and others who had hastened from Washington to try to calm the crowd, were arrested by local militia and taken to Baltimore jail in an attempt to calm the situation, but the crowd followed them to the prison and stormed the building. Lingan attempted to stop the mob by displaying a bayonet wound he had received in the Revolutionary War, but this only inflamed the crowd and Hanson, Lingan and Lee were severely beaten and left for dead. Although Hanson and Lee survived, the latter never recovered from his injuries and was partially blinded after hot wax was poured into his eyes. Lingan however died from his serious injuries.

Lingan was buried at St. John's Church in Georgetown, at a funeral attended by thousands of mourners. George Washington Custis read the eulogy, praising Lingan's defence of free press and crying "Oh Maryland! Would that the waters of the Chesapeake could wash this foul stain from thy character!". 96 years later, Lingan's remains were removed from the burial ground in Georgetown and transferred to Arlington National Cemetery.Peters, p. 126–128]

Notes

References

*cite book
last = Peters
first = James Edward
authorlink =
year = 2000
chapter =
title = Arlington National Cemetery, Shrine to America's Heros
publisher = Woodbine House
location =
id = ISBN 1-89062-714-3

Persondata
NAME=Lingan, Jame McCubbin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Continental Army officer
DATE OF BIRTH= May 13, 1751
PLACE OF BIRTH=Unknown
DATE OF DEATH=July 28 1812
PLACE OF DEATH=Baltimore, Maryland