Task: Question Answering
Input (English): Passage: Following the British capture of Ticonderoga, it and the surrounding defenses were garrisoned by 700 British and Hessian troops under the command of Brigadier General Henry Watson Powell.  Most of these forces were on Mount Independence, with only 100 each at Fort Ticonderoga and a blockhouse they were constructing on top of Mount Defiance.  George Washington sent General Benjamin Lincoln into Vermont to "divide and distract the enemy".  Aware that the British were housing American prisoners in the area, Lincoln decided to test the British defenses.  On September 13, he sent 500 men to Skenesboro, which they found the British had abandoned, and 500 each against the defenses on either side of the lake at Ticonderoga.  Colonel John Brown led the troops on the west side, with instructions to release prisoners if possible, and attack the fort if it seemed feasible.
Early on September 18, Brown's troops surprised a British contingent holding some prisoners near the Lake George landing, while a detachment of his troops sneaked up Mount Defiance, and captured most of the sleeping construction crew.  Brown and his men then moved down the portage trail toward the fort, surprising more troops and releasing prisoners along the way.  The fort's occupants were unaware of the action until Brown's men and British troops occupying the old French lines skirmished.  At this point Brown's men dragged two captured six-pound guns up to the lines, and began firing on the fort.  The men who had captured Mount Defiance began firing a twelve-pounder from that site.  The column that was to attack Mount Independence was delayed, and its numerous defenders were alerted to the action at the fort below before the attack on their position began.  Their musket fire, as well as grapeshot fired from ships anchored nearby, intimidated the Americans sufficiently that they never launched an assault on the defensive positions on Mount Independence. A stalemate persisted, with regular exchanges of cannon fire, until September 21, when 100 Hessians, returning from the Mohawk Valley to support Burgoyne, arrived on the scene to provide reinforcement to the besieged fort.
Brown eventually sent a truce party to the fort to open negotiations; the party was fired on, and three of its five members were killed.  Brown, realizing that the weaponry they had was insufficient to take the fort, decided to withdraw.  Destroying many bateaux and seizing a ship on Lake George, he set off to annoy British positions on that lake.  His action resulted in the freeing of 118 Americans and the capture of 293 British troops, while suffering fewer than ten casualties. 
Question: What is the first name of the person who decided to test the British defenses?
Output (English): Benjamin.