John Sullivan

The title of this article is ambiguous. For more meanings, see John Sullivan (disambiguation) .

John Sullivan

John Sullivan (born February 17, 1740 in Somersworth , New Hampshire Colony , † January 23, 1795 in Durham , New Hampshire) was an American general during the Revolutionary War and a delegate at the Continental Congress . Sullivan served as a major general in the Continental Army and as governor of the state of New Hampshire. He is best known as the leader of the Sullivan Expedition in 1779. This was a punitive scorched earth expedition against those Iroquois who rose against the American revolutionaries.

Early career

Sullivan was born in Somersworth on February 17, 1740, the third son of the schoolmaster. He studied law with Samuel Livermore from Portsmouth and began working as a lawyer in Durham in 1764. Early in his career, he annoyed many of his neighbors as he was the only lawyer in town to handle many foreclosure lawsuits. But by 1772 he had established himself and began to improve relations with his surroundings.

Sent to the Colony General Assembly by the City of Durham, he became friends with Royal Governor John Wentworth . As the American Revolution pulled up, he moved closer to the radicals. In 1774, the first provincial congress, the assembly of the insurgents, sent him as a delegate to the continental congress. He returned to the Provincial Congress during the following year, but after an appointment as brigadier general in June, he left to join the army in the siege of Boston .

Revolutionary War

After the British evacuated Boston in the spring of 1776, George Washington sent General Sullivan north to replace the fallen John Thomas as commander in Canada . He took command of the sick and ailing invasion force, led an unsuccessful counterattack against the British at Trois-Rivières and withdrew with the survivors to Crown Point . This led to the first of several disputes between Congress and General Sullivan as a scapegoat was sought for the failed invasion of Canada. However, he was exonerated and promoted to major general on August 9 .

Sullivan rejoined Washington. He was given command of the troops on Long Island to save New York from being encircled by the troops of British General William Howe . But on August 23, Washington split command between Sullivan and General Israel Putnam . Confusion over command contributed to the American defeat in the Battle of Long Island . Sullivan's personal courage was not questioned, as he faced the Hessian attackers with a pistol in each hand. However, this heroism could not avert defeat and he was captured.

As a prisoner, he gave his word of honor ( prisoner under parole ) to return and brought letters from Admiral Richard Howe to Congress. When the ensuing peace negotiations on Staten Island failed in September 1776, some in Congress, especially John Adams , tried to blame Sullivan.

War with the main army

General Sullivan was released on a prisoner swap and returned to Washington's side just prior to the Battle of Trenton . There his division secured the important bridge over the Assunpink Creek north of the city. This prevented the escape and led to the high number of Hessian mercenaries who could be captured. In January 1777, Sullivan also proved himself at the Battle of Princeton .

In August, he led a failed attempt to retake Staten Island. Again the Congress objected, but he was exonerated by the committee of inquiry. A short time later, the Americans suffered losses at Brandywine and Germantown . Congress was frustrated with the continued British occupation of Philadelphia . But since Washington was the only one holding the army together, Congress accused Sullivan instead. So he was transferred to an unimportant post in Rhode Island in the spring of 1778.

In the summer of 1779, Sullivan led the Sullivan Expedition, a massive but ultimately not decisive campaign against the Iroquois in western New York State . During this expedition, his troops destroyed a very large Cayuga settlement called Coreogonel, which was located in the western area of ​​what is now the city of Ithaca . He drove his troops so that they rode their horses to shame, which had to be killed. The lukewarm response from Congress to his efforts was more than he could bear. Broken, tired and exposed to renewed hostility from Congress, he retired from the Army in 1779 and returned to New Hampshire.

After the war

At home, Sullivan was a hero. New Hampshire sent him again as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1780. But he still had opponents there. When he borrowed money from the French envoy to Congress in 1781, he was accused of being a foreign agent. So he said goodbye in August.

After returning home, he was appointed Attorney General in 1782 , which he remained until 1786. During this time he was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives and served as Speaker of Parliament. He led the New Hampshire movement that led to the ratification of the United States Constitution on June 21, 1788. He was elected President of New Hampshire, now about Governor, as a candidate of the Pro-Administration Party in 1786, 1787 and 1789 .

When the new federal government was formed, he was appointed federal judge of the New Hampshire District Court by Washington in 1789. Although his poor health and alcohol problem prevented him from conducting negotiations after 1792, he still held this post until his death. He spent his last years sick and senile at home, where he died on January 23, 1795. He was buried in the family cemetery in Durham.

According to him, which was Sullivan County in New Hampshire named.

Freemasonry

Sullivan was inducted into the Freemasonry in 1768 . His mother lodge was the " St. John's Lodge " in Portsmouth .

In his later career he held the office of Grand Master in the New Hampshire Grand Lodge .

Web links

• John Sullivan in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• John Sullivan at the National Governors Association (English)
• John Sullivan in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Online biography

bibliography

• Eugen Lennhoff, Oskar Posner, Dieter A. Binder: Internationales Freemaurerlexikon , revised and expanded new edition of the edition from 1932, Munich 2003, 951 pages, ISBN 3-7766-2161-3