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Secretary of War Dr. William Eustis Doctor William Eustis, a veteran of the Revolution, was a prominent Massachusetts politician who replaced Henry Dearborn as Secretary of War in 1809. It was a demanding position for which he was neither qualified nor eager to fulfill. He was generally inefficient, penny-pinching and concerned with only his political image. Eustis was exceedingly slow at implementing the measures needed for America's proposed three-pronged attack on Canada. By June of 1812, Eustis had not enlarged the ranks of the regular army as he had promised, nor had he organized adequate supplies of uniforms, weapons, and other provisions. Complaints from disgruntled American officers poured in. He ordered General William Hull to proceed quickly to Detroit without mentioning that a declaration of war was imminent. The disastrous campaigns of the US forces in the fall of 1812 caused uproar in Congress and the American public. Eustis finally resigned on January 13, 1813.
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