Henry Dearborn

Henry Dearborn
United States Minister to Portugal
In office August 16, 1822 – June 30, 1824
President	James Monroe
Preceded by	John Appleton
Succeeded by	Thomas Brent (Acting)
Senior Officer of the United States Army
In office January 27, 1812 – June 15, 1815
President	James Madison
Preceded by	James Wilkinson
Succeeded by	Jacob Brown
5th United States Secretary of War
In office March 5, 1801 – March 4, 1809
President	Thomas Jefferson
Preceded by	Samuel Dexter
Succeeded by	William Eustis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 12th district
In office March 4, 1795 – March 4, 1797
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Isaac Parker
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 4th district
In office March 4, 1793 – March 4, 1795
Preceded by	Theodore Sedgwick
Succeeded by	Dwight Foster
Personal details
Born	(1751-02-23)February 23, 1751 North Hampton, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died	June 6, 1829(1829-06-06) (aged 78) Roxbury, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Anti-Administration (Before 1792) Democratic-Republican (1792–1829)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	Continental Army  United States Army
Years of service	1775–1783 1812–1815
Rank	Colonel Major General
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War War of 1812

Henry Dearborn (February 23, 1751 – June 6, 1829) was an Continental Army, and was present at the British surrender at Yorktown. Dearborn was US Secretary of War from 1801 to 1809, and served as a general in the War of 1812. The city of Dearborn, Michigan was named for him.

Background

Born to Simon Dearborn and Sarah Marston in North Hampton, New Hampshire, he spent much of his youth in Epping, where he attended public schools. He studied medicine and opened a practice on the square in Nottingham in 1772.

Revolutionary War service

When fighting in the Boston where he fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill as a captain in Colonel John Stark’s First New Hampshire Regiment. He then volunteered to serve under Col.Benedict Arnold during the difficult American expedition to Quebec. His journal is an important record for that campaign. He was captured on December 31, 1775, during the Battle of Quebec in Lower Canada and detained for a year. He was released on parole in May 1776, but he was not exchanged until March 1777.

After fighting at Pennsylvania as a lieutenant colonel where he spent the winter of 1777–1778. He fought at the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey, in 1778 following the British evacuation of Philadelphia to retreat to concentrate at New York City, in the final major battle of the Northern Theatre, and in 1779, he accompanied Major General John Sullivan on the Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois in upstate New York.

During the winter of 1778-1779, he was encamped at what is now Putnam Memorial State Park in Redding, Connecticut. Dearborn rejoined General Washington’s staff in 1781 as deputy quartermaster general with the rank of colonel and was present when Cornwallis surrendered after the Battle of Yorktown in Virginia in October 1781.

In June 1783, he received his discharge from the Continental Army and settled in Gardiner, Maine (the District of Maine then being a part of the Massachusetts). He was an original member of the New Hampshire Society of the Cincinnati.

Post-Revolution

He was commissioned as a brigadier general in the President Washington. He represented this district as a Democratic-Republican in the Third and Fourth Congresses from 1793 to 1797. In 1801, third President Thomas Jefferson appointed him Secretary of War, a post he held for eight years until March 7, 1809. During his tenure, he helped plan the removal of Indians beyond the Mississippi River.

He was appointed collector of the port of Boston by President James Madison in 1809, a position he held until January 27, 1812, when he was appointed as the senior major general in the United States Army. He was given command of the northeast sector from the Niagara River to the New England coast.

War of 1812

During the War of 1812, Dearborn prepared plans for simultaneous assaults on Montreal, Kingston, Fort Niagara, and Amherstburg, but the execution was imperfect. Some scholars believe that he did not move quickly enough to provide sufficient troops to defend Detroit. William Hull, without firing a shot, surrendered the city to British General Isaac Brock.

Although Dearborn had minor successes at the New York City. Dearborn was honorably discharged from the Army on June 15, 1815.

Later life

Dearborn was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1816.^[1]

President James Madison nominated Dearborn for reappointment as Secretary of War, but the Senate rejected the nomination. He was later appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Portugal by President James Monroe and served from May 7, 1822, until June 30, 1824, when, by his own request, he was recalled.

He retired to his home in Roxbury, Massachusetts, where he died 5 years later. He is interred in Forest Hills Cemetery, in Jamaica Plain outside of Boston at the time, and later on Jamaica Plain was annexed in 1874.

Dearborn was married three times: to Mary Bartlett in 1771, to Dorcas (Osgood) Marble in 1780, and to Sarah Bowdoin, widow of James Bowdoin, in 1813. Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn was his son by his second wife.

Legacy

Lewis and Clark, appointed by Thomas Jefferson, named the Dearborn River in west-central Montana after Dearborn in 1803. Dearborn County, Indiana; Dearborn, Michigan; and Dearborn, Missouri, were also named for him, as was Fort Dearborn in Chicago, which in turn was the namesake for Dearborn Street, a major street in downtown Chicago. There was also a Fort Dearborn in Adams County, Mississippi, in the early 1800s.

A U.S. military armory, initially named Mount Dearborn, was planned in the early 1800's to be built on an island near the confluence of the Catawba and Wateree Rivers, adjacent to Great Falls, SC. The facility was never constructed, but the island name stuck and after the town was founded in 1905, it's main thoroughfare was named Dearborn Street.

During World War II, a Fort Dearborn was established in Henry Dearborn's home state of New Hampshire.

His son, Henry A. S. Dearborn, was a Congressman in 1831–1833.

References

External links

• Bell, William Gardner (2005). "Henry Dearborn". Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff: Portraits and Biographical Sketchs.  
• State Builders: An Illustrated Historical and Biographical Record of the State of New Hampshire. State Builders Publishing, Manchester, NH 1903
• George LaBarre Galleries : Henry Dearborn autographed as President, Republican Institution Certificate dated 1821.
• Henry Dearborn at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts 1st district F Ames Dexter Goodhue Holten Sedgwick Skinner Sedgwick J Bacon Eustis Quincy Ward, Jr. Mason Gorham Webster Gorham Appleton Gorham Lawrence Fletcher Lawrence Winthrop Appleton Winthrop S Eliot Appleton Scudder T Eliot Hall T Eliot Buffinton Crapo Davis Randall Wright Lawrence Treadway Heselton Conte Olver Neal 2nd district Goodhue Foster W Lyman Sedgwick Ward Sr. W Lyman Shepard J Crowninshield Story Pickman Reed Pickering Silsbee Barstow B Crowninshield Choate Phillips Saltonstall D King Rantoul Fay Crocker Buffinton O Ames Harris Long E Morse Gillett Churchill Bowles Kaynor Granfield Clason Furcolo Boland Neal McGovern 3rd district Gerry Bourne Coffin Lyman Mattoon Cutler Nelson Livermore White Pickering Nelson Varnum Nelson Osgood Cushing Abbott Duncan Edmands Damrell C Adams Thomas Rice Twichell Whiting I Pierce Field B Dean Field Ranney L Morse J Andrew Walker JR Thayer R Hoar C Washburn JA Thayer Wilder Paige F Foss Casey Philbin Drinan Donohue Early Blute McGovern N Tsongas 4th district Sedgwick Dearborn Thatcher Wadsworth Foster Lincoln Hastings Varnum Richardson Dana Stearns Fuller E Everett Sa Hoar Parmenter Thompson Palfrey Thompson Sabine Walley Comins Rice Hooper Frost Abbott L Morse Collins J O'Neil Apsley Weymouth Tirrell Mitchell Wilder Winslow Stobbs P Holmes Donohue Drinan Frank Kennedy III 5th district Partridge Bourne Freeman L Williams T Dwight Ely Mills Lathrop Sibley Davis Lincoln Hudson C Allen Appleton Burlingame Appleton Hooper Alley Butler Gooch Banks Bowman L Morse Hayden Banks Sh Hoar Stevens Knox B Ames J Rogers E Rogers B Morse Cronin P Tsongas Shannon Atkins Meehan N Tsongas Markey Clark 6th district Thatcher Leonard Reed Sr. J Smith Taggart S Allen Locke Kendall Grennell Alvord Baker Ashmun G Davis Upham T Davis Alley Gooch Banks Butler Thompson Loring Stone Lovering Lodge Cogswell Moody Gardner Lufkin A Andrew G Bates W Bates Harrington Mavroules Torkildsen Tierney Moulton 7th district Leonard Ward Sr. Leonard Bullock Bishop Mitchell Barker Baylies Turner Baylies Hulbert Shaw H Dwight S Allen Grennell Briggs J Rockwell Goodrich Banks Gooch Boutwell Brooks Esty E Hoar Tarbox Butler Russell Stone Cogswell W Everett Barrett Roberts Phelan Maloney W Connery L Connery Lane Macdonald Markey Capuano 8th district Grout Thatcher F Ames Otis Eustis L Williams Green Gardner Green Reed Baylies Sampson Hobart Lathrop Bates Calhoun J Adams Mann Wentworth Knapp Train Baldwin G Hoar JMS Williams Warren Claflin Candler Russell CH Allen Greenhalge Stevens McCall Deitrick Dallinger H Thayer Dallinger Healey Goodwin Macdonald O'Neill Kennedy II Capuano Lynch 9th district Varnum Bishop J Dean Wheaton Reed Folger Reed H Dwight Briggs Jackson Hastings H Williams Hale Fowler Little Dewitt E Thayer Bailey A Walker W Washburn Crocker G Hoar Rice T Lyman Ely Burnett Candler G Williams O'Neil Fitzgerald Conry Keliher Murray Roberts Fuller Underhill Luce Russell Luce Eliot Gifford Nicholson Keith McCormack Hicks Moakley Lynch Keating 10th district Goodhue Sewall Read Hastings Upham J Allen Brigham Wheaton Morton F Baylies Bailey HAS Dearborn W Baylies Borden H Williams Borden Burnell Grinnell Scudder Dickinson Chaffee Delano Dawes Crocker Stevens Seelye Norcross Rice Russell J Walker McEttrick Atwood Barrows Naphen McNary O'Connell Curley Murray Tague Fitzgerald Tague Douglass Tinkham Herter Curtis Martin Heckler Studds Delahunt Keating 11th district Bradbury Bartlett Cutler Stedman A Bigelow Brigham B Adams Russell Hobart Richardson J Adams Reed Burnell Goodrich Trafton Dawes Chapin Robinson Whiting II Wallace Coolidge Draper Sprague Powers Sullivan Peters Tinkham Douglass Higgins Flaherty Curley Kennedy O'Neill Burke Donnelly 12th district Dearborn Parker Lee S Thatcher Skinner Larned Bidwell Bacon Dewey Hulbert Strong Kendall L Bigelow Baylies Hodges J Adams Robinson F Rockwell Crosby E Morse Lovering Powers Weeks Curley Gallivan McCormack Keith Studds 13th district Wadsworth Seaver Ruggles Dowse Eustis Reed Randall Simpkins Greene Weeks Mitchell Carter Luce Wigglesworth Burke 14th district G Thatcher Cutts C King J Holmes Lovering E Foss Harris Gilmore Olney Frothingham Wigglesworth Martin 15th district Wadsworth Ilsley Whitman Widgery Bradbury Whitman Greene Leach Martin Gifford 16th district S Thatcher Cook Tallman Davis Brown Orr Hill T Thacher Walsh Gifford 17th district Bruce Chandler Gannett F Carr Wood J Carr Wilson Kinsley 18th district Wilson Rice Parker 19th district Parker Conner Gage Cushman 20th district Hubbard Parris Lincoln At-large Cobb

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