William Eustis
12th Governor of Massachusetts
In office May 31, 1823 – February 6, 1825
Lieutenant	Levi Lincoln Jr. Marcus Morton
Preceded by	John Brooks
Succeeded by	Marcus Morton (acting)
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts's13th district
In office August 21, 1820 – March 3, 1823
Preceded by	Edward Dowse
Succeeded by	John Reed Jr.
In office March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1805
Preceded by	Harrison Otis
Succeeded by	Josiah Quincy III
Constituency	8th district (1801–03) 1st district (1803–05)
United States Envoy to the Netherlands
In office July 20, 1815 – May 5, 1818
President	James Madison James Monroe
Preceded by	William Vans Murray
Succeeded by	Alexander H. Everett(Acting)
6thUnited States Secretary of War
In office March 7, 1809 – January 13, 1813
President	James Madison
Preceded by	Henry Dearborn
Succeeded by	John Armstrong Jr.
Personal details
Born	(1753-06-10)June 10, 1753 Cambridge,Massachusetts Bay,British America
Died	February 6, 1825(1825-02-06) (aged 71) Boston,Massachusetts, U.S.
Party	Democratic-Republican
Spouse	Caroline Langdon
Education	Harvard College (BA)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	Continental Army
Years of service	1775–1783
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War Battles of Lexington and Concord Battle of Bunker Hill Siege of Boston Shays' Rebellion War of 1812

William Eustis (June 10, 1753 – February 6, 1825) was an early Americanphysician, politician, andstatesman fromMassachusetts. Trained in medicine, he served as a military surgeon during theAmerican Revolutionary War, notably at theBattle 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 theUnited States Congress in 1800, serving as a moderateDemocratic-Republican. He briefly returned to state politics after losing reelection in 1804, and was chosen to beSecretary of War in 1809 by PresidentJames Madison. Due in part to his inexperience at managing the army and a lack of preparedness, the military failures in the early months of theWar of 1812 were laid on his shoulders, leading to his resignation.

Madison then appointed EustisMinister to the Netherlands, a post he held from 1814 until 1818. After another period in Congress, he was electedGovernor of Massachusetts in 1822. A popular successor to long-servingJohn Brooks, Eustis died in office in 1825. His Boston mansion, built in the 1750s by royal governorWilliam Shirley, is known as theShirley-Eustis House and is aNational Historic Landmark.

William Eustis was born on June 10, 1753, inCambridge, to Benjamin Eustis, a prominentBoston doctor, and Elizabeth (Hill) Eustis.^[1] He was the second surviving son of twelve children.^[2] He was educated at theBoston Latin School before he enteredHarvard College, from which he graduated in 1772.^[1] While at Harvard he belonged to an undergraduate militia unit called the Martimercurian Band.^[3]

After graduation he studied medicine under Dr.Joseph Warren, a well-knownPatriot political leader. When theBattles of Lexington and Concord sparked theAmerican Revolutionary War 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.^[4] Eustis helped care for the wounded at the June 1775Battle of Bunker Hill, in which Warren was killed.^[1] He served with theContinental Army in theNew York and New Jersey campaign, refusing a lieutenant colonel's commission offered by artillery chiefHenry Knox.^[5] During his Continental Army service, Eustis met and established an enduring friendship with New Jersey nativeAaron Burr.^[6]

In 1777 Eustis was placed in command of a military hospital established at the former residence ofLoyalistBeverley Robinson north ofNew York City, where he remained for the duration of the war. In September 1780 he played a minor role in events surrounding the flight of traitorBenedict Arnold: he treated Arnold's wifePeggy, who was seemingly hysterical over the sudden departure of her husband and the discovery of his plot.^[5]

After the war Eustis returned to medical practice in Boston. He was once again called on to serve in military matters whenShays' Rebellion broke out in western Massachusetts in 1786, becoming surgeon to the militia force raised by GeneralBenjamin Lincoln that quashed the rebellion in the early months of 1787.^[5] Eustis was admitted as an original member of theSociety of the Cincinnati in the state of Massachusetts when it was established in 1783.^[7] He later served as Vice President of the Massachusetts Society from 1786 to 1810, and again from 1820 to 1821.^[8][9]

Eustis was elected to theMassachusetts General Court (the state legislature) from 1788 to 1794, which he left because he was "sick of" the political gamesmanship in the body.^[10] He was thereafter chosen to serve on theGovernor's Council for two years. In 1800 he ran for a seat in theUnited States House of Representatives. During his successful campaign againstJosiah Quincy,^[11] Eustis was charged with either authoring, or being complicit in the production of, letters that formed a part of the 1783Newburgh Conspiracy, 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.)^[12]

Eustis was a moderateDemocratic-Republican who did not seek the significant reforms more radical Republicans wanted.^[13] He demonstrated this by voting against PresidentThomas Jefferson's repeal of theJudiciary Act of 1801, aFederalist bill passed in the late days of theJohn Adams administration that had greatly expanded the number of seats on the federal bench.^[14] He was also one of six Democratic-Republicans in the House to oppose theTwelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.^[15] In 1802 Eustis was reelected, defeatingJohn Quincy Adams, and in a rematch of the 1800 election with Quincy, Eustis was defeated by fewer than 100 votes.^[16] While in the House, he was one of theimpeachment managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1804 to conduct theimpeachment proceedings (the first such action to succeed) againstJohn Pickering, judge of theUnited States District Court for New Hampshire.^[17] In 1804 he argued in favor of arming merchant vessels headed for theWest Indies.^[18]

WhenJames Madison 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 hisSecretary of War. Eustis was not a good choice for the post, lacking the necessary administrative skills and detailed military background.^[19] He also had difficult relations withJames Wilkinson andWade Hampton, two senior army commanders.^[20]

Eustis made a major push to updatethe 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 theFrench Republic, Eustis commissioned a translation and lobbied for adoption of new manuals based on French tactics.^[21] 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.^[22]

As tensions grew between the United States andGreat Britain, Eustis made modest moves to improve military readiness, but did not otherwise distinguish himself or introduce other initiatives or proposals. When theWar of 1812 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 GeneralWilliam Hull atDetroit, Eustis was severely criticized.^[20] Treasury SecretaryAlbert Gallatin wrote that there was "a total want of confidence" in Eustis that was felt "through every ramification of the public service."^[23] Eustis tendered his resignation in December 1812, and Secretary of StateJames Monroe took over his duties until John Armstrong assumed the office on February 13, 1813.^[24]

Eustis was next appointedminister of the United States to the Netherlands by President Madison, serving from 1814 to 1818.^[25] Madison believed the post to be important for sounding out conditions in Europe due toThe Hague'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 ofNapoleon, and the post was not particularly active.^[26] Eustis unsuccessfully pursued claims against the Dutch for seizures of American goods and ships that had taken place during the reign ofLouis Bonaparte over theKingdom of Holland (the claims were eventually acknowledged by France).^[27] Eustis was elected a member of theAmerican Antiquarian Society in 1815.^[28] Eustis and Albert Gallatin, then theUS Ambassador to France, negotiated a new commerce treaty with the Dutch government in 1817; it was ratified in 1818.^[29] Eustis was at a disadvantage due to his lack ofFrench language skill, and was recalled in 1818 after the Dutch government reduced its American delegation head to achargé d'affaires.^[30][31] While in Europe Eustis renewed an acquaintance with theMarquis de Lafayette, with whom he had served in the Revolutionary War.^[32]

Upon his return from Europe, Eustis purchased the mansion inRoxbury built by royal governorWilliam Shirley in the 1750s (which is now known as theShirley-Eustis House).^[33] Eustis was again elected to Congress in a special election called after the resignation of RepresentativeEdward Dowse. He served from 1820 to 1823, presiding as chairman of theU.S. House Committee on Military Affairs.^[34] In the debate on the admission ofMissouri as a state (leading to theMissouri Compromise), Eustis made an impassioned speech in opposition to proposed language in theMissouri Constitution forbidding the entry of free blacks into the state.^[35]

He ran unsuccessfully forGovernor of Massachusetts three times (1820–22), losing each time to the popular moderate FederalistJohn Brooks. In 1823 Eustis won the seat in a highly contentious contest with the unpopular arch-FederalistHarrison Gray Otis.^[36] Republicans presented Eustis as a moderate successor to Brooks who would be less partisan than Otis, and also highlighted his Revolutionary War experience.^[37] He carried Federalist strongholds inHampshire andEssex Counties, and very nearly defeated in Otis in Boston.^[38] 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.^[39]

Eustis was a popular governor, continuing Brooks' moderate policies.^[40] He nominated his lieutenant governor,Levi Lincoln Jr., to thestate's high court, and won reelection in 1824 with former RepresentativeMarcus Morton as his lieutenant. While governor he received his old friend Lafayette when he toured the United States.^[41] In March–April 1824, perhaps due to his popularity, William Eustis was honored with a single vote at theDemocratic-Republican Party Caucus to be the party's candidate forU.S. Vice President at theelection later that year.

Eustis died in Boston of pneumonia while governor on February 6, 1825.^[42] His funeral and temporary interment took place Boston'sGranary Burying Ground, and he was memorialized by his friendEdward Everett.^[43] He was later reinterred at Lexington's Old Cemetery.^[44][45]

During the Revolutionary War Eustis became close friends withAaron 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.^[46] Eustis aided Burr on one occasion by helping him find accommodations for a young woman whose mother had been involved in an adulterous relationship withAlexander Hamilton; she was placed in a Boston-area boarding school.^[47] Eustis may have also been the subject of a teenage crush by Burr's daughterTheodosia, who shared intimate details of her life with him (including medical conditions emanating from a difficult pregnancy) well into adulthood.^[48][49]

Eustis was for many years a confirmed bachelor, described as urbane and charming. He married Caroline Langdon in 1801; they had no children.^[50] She was the sister of Henry Sherburne Langdon, who had married Eustis' sister Ann, and the daughter ofWoodbury Langdon, a prominentPortsmouth, New Hampshire, merchant and judge.^[51] His wife survived him by forty years,^[8] after which his Boston property was divided among relatives. The mansion fell into decay, but was acquired by preservationists in 1913^[33] and restored to its 19th-century grandeur in the late 20th century. It is now ahouse museum and aNational Historic Landmark.^[52]

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• United States Congress."William Eustis (id: E000230)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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