Joseph Palmer (March 31, 1716 – December 25, 1788) was an English-American general during the American Revolutionary War, beginning with the Siege of Boston and the Battle of Lexington.

A Cambridge Committee of Safety member, he issued the Lexington Alarm dispatch for Israel Bissell to ride to warn that the war with Britain had begun.

Due to the kindness of Abigail Adams, his wife Elizabeth and their daughters lived at her Old House (in Quincy, Massachusetts) after Palmer's death.

His son Joseph Pearse Palmer attended Harvard College, participated in the Boston Tea Party, and fought with his father during the war.

[3] Palmer served as an officer of the American patriot militia when the Revolutionary War broke out with the Siege of Boston on April 19, 1775.

[1] Issuing the Lexington Alarm, Palmer sent Israel Bissell on his ride to warn and rally colonists that the war with Britain had begun.

[3] To all the friends of American liberty be it known that this morning before break of day, a brigade, consisting of about 1,000 to 1,200 men landed at Phip's Farm, at Cambridge, and marched to Lexington, where they found a company of our colony militia in arms, upon whom they fired without any provocation, killed six men and wounded four others.

The Bearer, Israel Bissell, is charged to alarm the country quite to Connecticut, and all persons are desired to furnish him with fresh horses, as they may be needed.

[4] Heavy debt forced him to leave Germantown, and he started a salt factory on the Boston Neck in 1784,[3] which was a success.