William Eustis
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William Eustis (June 10, 1753–February 6, 1825) was an early American statesman.
He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and studied at the Boston Latin School before he entered Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1772. He studied medicine under Dr. Joseph Warren and helped care for the wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill, where Warren was killed. He served the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War as surgeon of the artillery regiment at Cambridge and then as a hospital surgeon.
He entered medical practice in Boston after the war and served as surgeon with the Shays's Rebellion expedition of 1786–1787.
He became vice president of the Society of the Cincinnati, serving from 1786 to 1810 and again in 1820.
H served in the Massachusetts General Court from 1788 to 1794 and was a member of the Governor's Council for two years; and served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1801 to 1804, representing Massachusetts in the 7th and 8th Congresses, and having won close races over Josiah Quincy and John Quincy Adams. While in the House he was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1804 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against John Pickering, judge of the United States District Court for New Hampshire.
He served as United States Secretary of War from March 7, 1809 to January 13, 1813. During his tenure, he attempted to prepare the U.S. Army for the outbreak of the War of 1812, and resigned in the face of criticism following American reversal on the battlefield.
He was appointed ambassador to Holland by President James Madison, serving from 1814 to 1818.
He returned home from Europe because of ill health, at which time he purchased and resided in the historic Shirley Mansion in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was again elected to the United States House of Representatives and served 1820 to 1823, presiding as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Military Affairs during this time. He ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Massachusetts three times (in 1820, 1821 and 1822) and was finally elected governor and served two terms, from 1823 to 1825.
He died in Boston while governor in February 1825 and is buried at the Old Burying Ground, in Lexington, Massachusetts.
This article incorporates facts obtained from the public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
| Preceded by: Henry Dearborn | United States Secretary of War 1809–1813 | Succeeded by: John Armstrong, Jr. |
| Preceded by: John Brooks | Governor of Massachusetts 1823–1825 | Succeeded by: Marcus Morton |