William Eustis (June 10, 1753 – February 6, 1825) was an early American
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
, politician, and
statesman from
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
. Trained in medicine, he served as a military surgeon during the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, notably at the
Battle of Bunker Hill. He resumed medical practice after the war, but soon entered politics.
After several terms in the state legislature, Eustis won election to the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
in 1800, serving as a moderate
Democratic-Republican. He briefly returned to state politics after losing reelection in 1804, and was chosen to be
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
in 1809 by President
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...
. Due in part to his inexperience at managing the army and a lack of preparedness, the military failures in the early months of the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
were laid on his shoulders, leading to his resignation.
Madison then appointed Eustis
Minister to the Netherlands, a post he held from 1814 until 1818. After another period in Congress, he was elected
Governor of Massachusetts
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Massachuset ...
in 1822. A popular successor to long-serving
John Brooks, Eustis died in office in 1825. His Boston mansion, built in the 1750s by royal governor
William Shirley
William Shirley (2 December 1694 – 24 March 1771) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of the British American colonies of Massachusetts Bay and the Bahamas. He is best known for his role in organi ...
, is known as the
Shirley-Eustis House and is a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.
Early years and military service
William Eustis was born on June 10, 1753 in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
, to Benjamin Eustis, a prominent
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
doctor, and Elizabeth (Hill) Eustis.
[ He was the second surviving son of twelve children. He was educated at the Boston Latin School before he entered ]Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
, from which he graduated in 1772.[Sobel, p. 117] While at Harvard he belonged to an undergraduate militia unit called the Martimercurian Band.
After graduation he studied medicine under Dr. Joseph Warren, a well-known Patriot
A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism.
Patriot may also refer to:
Political and military groups United States
* Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution
* Patriot m ...
political leader. When the Battles of Lexington and Concord sparked the American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
in April 1775, Warren and Eustis both worked in the field, tending the injured revolutionaries. Warren secured for Eustis a commission as regimental surgeon to the rebel artillery. Eustis helped care for the wounded at the June 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill, in which Warren was killed.[ He served with the Continental Army in the New York and New Jersey campaign, refusing a lieutenant colonel's commission offered by artillery chief ]Henry Knox
Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 – October 25, 1806), a Founding Father of the United States, was a senior general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, serving as chief of artillery in most of Washington's campaigns. Following the ...
.[ During his Continental Army service, Eustis met and established an enduring friendship with New Jersey native Aaron Burr.
In 1777 Eustis was placed in command of a military hospital established at the former residence of Loyalist Beverley Robinson north of ]New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, where he remained for the duration of the war. In September 1780 he played a minor role in events surrounding the flight of traitor Benedict Arnold: he treated Arnold's wife Peggy, who was seemingly hysterical over the sudden departure of her husband and the discovery of his plot.[Pilcher, p. 107]
After the war Eustis returned to medical practice in Boston. He was once again called on to serve in military matters when Shays' Rebellion broke out in western Massachusetts in 1786, becoming surgeon to the militia force raised by General Benjamin Lincoln
Benjamin Lincoln (January 24, 1733 ( O.S. January 13, 1733) – May 9, 1810) was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln was involved in three major surrenders ...
that quashed the rebellion in the early months of 1787.[ Eustis was admitted as an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati in the state of Massachusetts when it was established in 1783. He later served as Vice President of the Massachusetts Society from 1786 to 1810, and again from 1820 to 1821.][ Eustis, p. 9]
Legislator
Eustis was elected to the Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from th ...
(the state legislature) from 1788 to 1794, which he left because he was "sick of" the political gamesmanship in the body. He was thereafter chosen to serve on the Governor's Council The governments of the Thirteen Colonies of British America developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the British constitution. After the Thirteen Colonies had become the United States, the experience under colonial rule would ...
for two years. In 1800 he ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. During his successful campaign against Josiah Quincy, Eustis was charged with either authoring, or being complicit in the production of, letters that formed a part of the 1783 Newburgh Conspiracy
The Newburgh Conspiracy was a failed apparent threat by leaders of the Continental Army in March 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War. The Army's commander, George Washington, successfully calmed the soldiers and helped secure back ...
, a threatened uprising in the Continental Army. Eustis publicly denied being the author of the letters, but was silent on his role in the affair. ( John Armstrong later admitted to writing the letters, and Eustis acknowledged some years later that he was privy to the plot.)
Eustis was a moderate Democratic-Republican who did not seek the significant reforms more radical Republicans wanted. He demonstrated this by voting against President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
's repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801
The Midnight Judges Act (also known as the Judiciary Act of 1801; , and officially An act to provide for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States) represented an effort to solve an issue in the U.S. Supreme Court during ...
, a Federalist bill passed in the late days of the John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
administration that had greatly expanded the number of seats on the federal bench. In 1802 Eustis was reelected, defeating John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...
, and in a rematch of the 1800 election with Quincy, Eustis was defeated by fewer than 100 votes. While in the House, he was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1804 to conduct the impeachment proceedings (the first such action to succeed) against John Pickering, judge of the United States District Court for New Hampshire. In 1804 he argued in favor of arming merchant vessels headed for the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
.
Secretary of War
When James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...
became president in 1809, he sought to enhance the status of the Democratic-Republicans in Federalist-dominated New England. To that end he chose Eustis to be his Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
. Eustis was not a good choice for the post, lacking the necessary administrative skills and detailed military background. He also had difficult relations with James Wilkinson and Wade Hampton Wade Hampton may refer to the following people:
People
* Wade Hampton I (1752–1835), American soldier in Revolutionary War and War of 1812 and U.S. congressman
*Wade Hampton II (1791–1858), American plantation owner and soldier in War of 1812
* ...
, two senior army commanders.[Heidler and Heidler, p. 176]
Eustis made a major push to update the military's field manuals, which had not changed since the Revolutionary War. After acquiring copies of manuals published in 1791 for use by the armies of the French Republic, Eustis commissioned a translation and lobbied for adoption of new manuals based on French tactics. Although a new manual was ready for use in 1812, it was not well received by the officer corps, and was not used in the war that broke out that year.
As tensions grew between the United States and Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
, Eustis made modest moves to improve military readiness, but did not otherwise distinguish himself or introduce other initiatives or proposals. When the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
began, the army's logistics were in shambles, and it had no overall commander, forcing Eustis to make detailed decisions for nine military districts. When the war began poorly with the surrender of General William Hull
William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and was appointed as Governor of Michigan Territory (1805–13), gaining large land cessions from several Am ...
at Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
, Eustis was severely criticized.[ Treasury Secretary ]Albert Gallatin
Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan–American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years o ...
wrote that there was "a total want of confidence" in Eustis that was felt "through every ramification of the public service." Eustis tendered his resignation in December 1812, and Secretary of State James Monroe
James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
took over his duties until John Armstrong assumed the office on February 13, 1813.
Netherlands minister
Eustis was next appointed minister of the United States to the Netherlands by President Madison, serving from 1814 to 1818. Madison believed the post to be important for sounding out conditions in Europe due to The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
's historical use as a neutral ground for negotiations, and he instructed Eustis to track European diplomatic sentiment. However, the status of the Dutch declined after the defeat of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, and the post was not particularly active. Eustis unsuccessfully pursued claims against the Dutch for seizures of American goods and ships that had taken place during the reign of Louis Bonaparte
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...
over the Kingdom of Holland
The Kingdom of Holland ( nl, Holland (contemporary), (modern); french: Royaume de Hollande) was created by Napoleon Bonaparte, overthrowing the Batavian Republic in March 1806 in order to better control the Netherlands. Since becoming Empero ...
(the claims were eventually acknowledged by France). Eustis was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...
in 1815. Eustis and Albert Gallatin, then the US Ambassador to France, negotiated a new commerce treaty with the Dutch government in 1817; it was ratified in 1818. Eustis was at a disadvantage due to his lack of French language skill, and was recalled in 1818 after the Dutch government reduced its American delegation head to a chargé d'affaires. While in Europe Eustis renewed an acquaintance with the Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
, with whom he had served in the Revolutionary War.
Later offices
Upon his return from Europe, Eustis purchased the mansion in Roxbury built by royal governor William Shirley
William Shirley (2 December 1694 – 24 March 1771) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of the British American colonies of Massachusetts Bay and the Bahamas. He is best known for his role in organi ...
in the 1750s (which is now known as the Shirley-Eustis House).[ Eustis was again elected to Congress in a special election called after the resignation of Representative Edward Dowse. He served from 1820 to 1823, presiding as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Military Affairs. In the debate on the admission of ]Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
as a state (leading to the Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and ...
), Eustis made an impassioned speech in opposition to proposed language in the Missouri Constitution
The Missouri Constitution is the state constitution of the U.S. State of Missouri. It is the supreme law formulating the law and government of Missouri, subject only to the federal Constitution, and the people. The fourth and current Missouri ...
forbidding the entry of free blacks into the state.
He ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Massachusetts
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Massachuset ...
three times (1820–22), losing each time to the popular moderate Federalist John Brooks. In 1823 Eustis won the seat in a highly contentious contest with the unpopular arch-Federalist Harrison Gray Otis. Republicans presented Eustis as a moderate successor to Brooks who would be less partisan than Otis, and also highlighted his Revolutionary War experience. He carried Federalist strongholds in Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
and Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
Counties, and very nearly defeated in Otis in Boston. Eustis' victory in the election (combined with a Republican sweep of the legislature the following year) marked the effective end of the Federalist Party in Massachusetts.
Eustis was a popular governor, continuing Brooks' moderate policies. He nominated his lieutenant governor, Levi Lincoln, Jr., to the state's high court, and won reelection in 1824 with former Representative Marcus Morton
Marcus Morton (1784 – February 6, 1864) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Taunton, Massachusetts. He served two terms as Governor of Massachusetts and several months as Acting Governor following the death in 1825 of Willia ...
as his lieutenant. While governor he received his old friend Lafayette when he toured the United States. In March–April 1824, perhaps due to his popularity, William Eustis was honored with a single vote at the Democratic-Republican Party
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the earl ...
Caucus to be the party's candidate for U.S. Vice President at the election later that year.
Eustis died in Boston of pneumonia while governor on February 6, 1825.[Sobel, p. 118] His funeral and temporary interment took place Boston's Granary Burying Ground
The Granary Burying Ground in Massachusetts is the city of Boston's third-oldest cemetery, founded in 1660 and located on Tremont Street. It is the final resting place for many notable Revolutionary War-era patriots, including Paul Revere, the ...
, and he was memorialized by his friend Edward Everett
Edward Everett (April 11, 1794 – January 15, 1865) was an American politician, Unitarian pastor, educator, diplomat, and orator from Massachusetts. Everett, as a Whig, served as U.S. representative, U.S. senator, the 15th governor of Mass ...
.Potter
A potter is someone who makes pottery.
Potter may also refer to:
Places United States
*Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US
* Potter, Arkansas
*Potter, Nebraska
* Potters, New Je ...
, p. 107 He was later reinterred at Lexington's Old Cemetery.
Personal life
During the Revolutionary War Eustis became close friends with Aaron Burr, a friendship that deepened in the 1790s. Burr and Eustis exchanged letters on the most intimate subjects, recommending potential romantic partners to each other and sharing a taste for well-educated women. Eustis aided Burr on one occasion by helping him find accommodations for a young woman whose mother had been involved in an adulterous relationship with Alexander Hamilton; she was placed in a Boston-area boarding school. Eustis may have also been the subject of a teenage crush by Burr's daughter Theodosia, who shared intimate details of her life with him (including medical conditions emanating from a difficult pregnancy) well into adulthood.
Eustis was for many years a confirmed bachelor, described as urbane and charming. He married Caroline Langdon in 1801; they had no children. She was the sister of Henry Sherburne Langdon, who had married Eustis' sister Ann, and the daughter of Woodbury Langdon
Woodbury Langdon (1739 – January 13, 1805) was a merchant, statesman and justice from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was the brother of John Langdon, a Founding Father who served as both senator from and Governor of New Hampshire, and father ...
, a prominent Portsmouth, New Hampshire merchant and judge. His wife survived him by forty years,[ after which his Boston property was divided among relatives. The mansion fell into decay, but was acquired by preservationists in 1913] and restored to its 19th-century grandeur in the late 20th century. It is now a house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a v ...
and a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.
Notes
References
* Adams, Henry. ''History of the United States during the Administrations of James Madison'' (5 vol 1890–1891; 2 vol Library of America, 1986)
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External links
The Society of the Cincinnati
The American Revolution Institute
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eustis, William
1753 births
1825 deaths
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American people of the War of 1812
Burials in Massachusetts
Governors of Massachusetts
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19th-century American politicians
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People from Cambridge, Massachusetts
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Eustis family
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