John Skey Eustace

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Coat of arms of John Skey Eustace

John Skey Eustace (born 10 August 1760 in

Batavian revolution and was arrested for a short time. In February 1797 he was expelled from France, suspected of spying for the British. He was arrested in Dover for his advice to the Dutch revolutionaries and subsequently expelled from England, after which he traveled to America and retired in New York. Eustace regularly published his official and private correspondence. Eustace was close to and corresponded with several of the Founding Fathers, however he was also regarded as a political adventurer of doubtful purpose and character.[2][3][4]

Life

The Wren Building, at the College of William & Mary

John Skey Eustace was the grandson of Colonel Lauchlin Campbell,

Laurence Stern.[7] Around 1764 his father left his family and moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. John's sister Kitty had become Lord Dunmore’s mistress when she was still a teenager and he was governor of New York. On gaining his post in Virginia in 1771, Dunmore arrived with Kitty’s mother and little brother in tow.[8] Eustace grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, where his mother ran a boarding house.[8] She was friendly with Thomas Burke. Dunmore arranged for young John’s education, first with a tutor and then at the College of William & Mary.[9]

Several interpreters on Duke of Gloucester Street, Colonial Williamsburg

In late 1775, Dunmore sent Eustace to Boston with a letter to Gen. William Howe recommending him for a post in the British army. His travel companion, a British officer, was concealing Lord Dunmore's military plans.[10] Somehow the fifteen-year-old ended up being marched to the headquarters of General George Washington, the opposing commander-in-chief.[citation needed] He joined the Continental Army during the Siege of Boston.[11] After the Continental Army was reorganized Eustace served successively as an aide-de-camp to Charles Lee, Joseph Reed, John Sullivan (1777) and Nathanael Greene (1779).[12]

Eustace participated in the repulse of the

Princeton, and Germantown. In 1778 he was at the siege of Newport, during the military campaign of 1779 against the Iroquois and loyalists on the New York border, known as the "Sullivan Expedition". General Lee regarded him as his adopted son and declared him as his heir,[13][14][15] but the handsome Eustace decided to desert the unpredictable Lee who lost the Battle of Monmouth. Lee was subsequently court-martialed and his military service was brought to an end. Lee was succeeded by Von Steuben.[16][14][17]

Painting, see caption
Baron von Steuben drilling troops at Valley Forge, by E.A. Abbey (c. 1904), Pennsylvania State Capitol, Harrisburg

Eustace was taught the essentials of military drills, tactics, and discipline based on Prussian techniques by Von Steuben who protected him.

Governor Morris.[22] In 1782 he lived in Ebenezer, Georgia;[23]
now a ghost town then the capital.

During the American Revolution, many Georgians and Carolinians moved to Florida along with their slaves. In December he was sent on a mission to Saint-Augustine, East Florida to deal with the council (Gen. Tonyn) on captured slaves.[24] In March he returned to Charlestown.[a]

Having been informed that

Sir Guy Carleton has ordered the restoration of such slaves as have left their owners and followed the British armies and fleet, he has appointed Colonel John Skey Eustace and Maj. Peter Deveaux as commissioner to arrange the business with General Leslie; asks for his friendly cooperation with them and promises that they will comply with the rules of the etiquette of flags; expresses his admiration of the humanity shown by Sir Guy Carleton.[26]

On 6 May 1783, Carleton and George Washington met face to face for the first time after years of long-distance communication; Carleton made it clear to Washington that the ex-slaves would not be returned to their former masters.[27]
Viceroyalty of New Granada (in pink) and the province of Venezuela (in yellow) in 1742

In September 1783, Britain accepted American independence, and the war officially ended. Eustace became a member of the

Kingdom of Venezuela from Spanish rule. He then lived in Madrid, where he opened a snuff, cigar and tobacco shop. In 1787, he visited Havanna and London. With the encouragement of Miranda, he complained to the Spanish court about abuses he had suffered at the hands of colonial officials.[33] They unsuccessfully tried to interest a friend of Miranda, Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, in a project for the liberation of Venezuela.[34]

France

Between 1789 and 1791, John S. Eustace lived in Bordeaux, and kept

Clavière
.

On 20 April 1792, Eustace was accepted into the French service with the rank of colonel and sent to

Charles-Francois Dumouriez. He participated in the battles of Valmy and the Jemappes, commanding an infantry brigade. On 20 November Eustace occupied the city of Lier where he planted a Tree of Liberty and ordered local authorities to rename the city square in honor of General Washington. He also issued instructions to rename various boulevards in the town in honor of himself, general Dumouriez and several French deputies.[40][41]

Entrance Tongerlo Abbey
Rouget - François Miranda, général de division à l'armée du Nord en 1792 (1756-1816)

On 29 November, Eustace sent a letter to the commander of Maastricht demanding the surrender of

Convention Nationale. However, Eustace ignored the order and, claiming to be dangerously ill, retired to the Carmelite nuns at Tongerlo Abbey
, where he successfully resisted an attempt to question and arrest him.

On 1 February 1793 the

William V of Orange, stadtholder of the Dutch Republic.[42][43] By mid-February Lazare Carnot proposed that annexation be undertaken on behalf of French interests whether or not the people to be annexed so wished.[44] It seems both Eustace and Miranda disagreed; on 14 March Eustace wrote a letter to Dumouriez.[45]

After the disaster at the Battle of Neerwinden (1793) Eustace returned to Antwerp.[46] On 20 March Danton and Delacroix were sent to his headquarters at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux to interrogate Dumouriez and sent Miranda, Valence, Luckner, etc. back to Paris. Aware that if he returned to Paris he would probably be executed, Dumouriez turned to the Austrians.[47] Dumouriez's defection on 5 April changed the course of the events.

On 29 March Eustace was brought to Paris by two gendarmes. Jean-Paul Marat accused Eustace in the convention of the failure of the

Comité de Sureté Générale for a passport to return to America. He published a letter in Le Moniteur,[53] and was compensated by the ministry for the loss of his horse, carriage and deprivation of liberty.[54] For yet unknown reasons he remained in France. It is possible that he joined Santerre in an expedition to the Vendée.[55]

Vue perspective du palais royal du coté du jardin

In June 1794, during the Great Terror, when all foreigners were under attack, the Dutch patriot/emigre/banker Jacob van Staphorst (1747-1812) who lived in an apartment at

Palais-Égalité left for Switzerland on an American passport with the help and in the company of Eustace.[56][57] Together they visited several cities, like Basel, Schaffhausen and Luzern. In October the friends returned to Paris.[58] John Quincy Adams wrote several letters of introduction for Eustace, who wanted to return to the United States via the Netherlands.[59] Eustace send five letters to his friend's brother, Nicolaas van Staphorst, an influential patriot/banker.[60] Mid-October Van Staphorst fled to Kampen, where he found shelter at Jacobus Kantelaar.[61][62][b] This was after a request of removal of a British regiment and the discovery of a weapons cache (on Roeterseiland and in his warehouse near Bickerseiland).[64][65][66][67][68]

Netherlands

Mid-November Eustace arrived in Amsterdam;[58] a few days later the magistrates arrested and liberated him.[69] Adams believed Eustace returned to the United States in December 1794,[70] but Eustace went to Paris.[71] In Summer 1795 Eustace travelled with his friend William S. Dallam in the Netherlands.[72] He was accused of meddling in political affairs and detained in Scheveningen. He had been in contact with Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck, Willem Anne Lestevenon, Carel Wouter Visscher and many other leading patriots about the future of the Batavian Republic. Eustace advised organizing the local militia, the distribution of food and suggested the Dutch pay the French army, which happened in the summer of 1795 (see Pieter Stadnitski). After his release, he lived in Rotterdam and published his letters to Van Staphorst.[60]

Gillray

In June 1796 Eustace lived in Paris and was engaged in developing a plan for the "

Batavian revolution.[77] In early March he was ordered to leave England within 24 hours but was not allowed to leave for France. Eustace travelled to Gravesend, Greenwich and Dartford to "embark for any part of the world he may propose to go". He published an offensive pamphlet, the Exile of Major General Eustace.[78] He was angry at Rufus King, the new ambassador to Great Britain.[79] On 4 February 1798 he was arrested in the Hague, and wrote a letter abjuring his heresies.[1]

In June 1798 he asked the Constitutional Convention to be paid for military services rendered during the American Revolutionary War.[14] In November he travelled to Savannah to settle his mother's business affairs. He offered a trunk containing all his papers, as well as personal as official to Alexander Hamilton who regarded him “a very unwelcome correspondent.”[80] He retired in Newburgh, New York. In January 1805 he joined the Benevolent Society of Orange County but died in the same year.[81]

Family

In 1772, Catherine "Kitty" Eustace married James Blair, the son of the Virginia governor John Blair Sr. Kitty was a fine dancer.[10] Their scandalous divorce trial later that year in Williamsburg became a battle over Blair's estate after his death in 1773. Kitty Eustace was represented by John Randolph and Patrick Henry while the estate was represented by Edmund Pendleton and James Mercer with written arguments prepared by Thomas Jefferson.[82][8] Kitty Eustace then married Seth John Cuthbert in February 1777. Cuthbert became Chairman of the Supreme Executive Council of Georgia in 1779. Her mother's visits to Georgia during the British occupation aroused suspicions of espionage.[21]

John S. Eustace's uncle, Donald Campbell (1722–1784), served as deputy

Seven Years’ War
in the 42nd Regiment at Havana, Louisburg, Martinique, and Quebec.

Works

Eustace was the author of several pamphlets,[84] some designed to embarrass James Monroe:[2][85]

Notes

  1. ^ Alexander Leslie (British Army officer) explicitly authorized the use of British troops to “rescue” slaves as compensation for loyalists. Owners would be compensated for the value of these slaves.[25]
  2. ^ Nicolaas van Staphorst was summoned to appear at the court on 28 October 1794, but did not show up. In absence he was sentenced to forced labour and banned from the city.[63]

References

  1. ^ a b The Papers of the Revolutionary Era Pinckney Statesmen Digital Edition, ed. Constance B. Schulz. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "L.E. Walker (1957) THE POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC CAREER OF WILLIAM VANS MURRAY" (PDF). Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Writings of J.Q. Adams, p. 251, 371". Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  4. ^ WILLIAM S. DALLAM: AN AMERICAN TOURIST IN REVOLUTIONARY PARIS by Robert L, Dietle, page 155
  5. ^ "The History of Orange County". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  6. ^ "HOLOGRAPHIC LETTER BY THE SCOTTISH-BORN GEORGIAN SOCIALITE by Americana, Margaret Eustace on johnson rare books & archives". johnson rare books & archives. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  7. ^ Arthur S. Marks (2000) Sterne, Shandy and North Carolina
  8. ^ a b c "The Scandalous Divorce Case that Influenced the Declaration of Independence". Journal of the American Revolution. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  9. ^ "History Highlights".
  10. ^
    ISBN 9780983146803
    . Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF THE LATE CHARLES LEE
  12. ^
    hdl:2027/spo.0642292.0039.016
    .
  13. ISBN 9780983146803
    . Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  14. ^ a b c “To Alexander Hamilton from John Skey Eustace, [27 October 1798],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-22-02-0127. [Original source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, vol. 22, July 1798 – March 1799, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1975, pages 213–216.]
  15. ISBN 9780822970187
    . Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Alden, John Richard (27 March 1951). "General Charles Lee, traitor or patriot". Louisiana State University Press. Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via HathiTrust.
  17. ^ Alexander Hamilton: An Important Family Archive of Letters and Manuscripts
  18. ^ C. Tozzi (2016) Foreign, Black, and Jewish troops in the French military, 1715–1831, page 248
  19. ^ “From George Washington to Thomas Burke, 28 March 1779,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-19-02-0615. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, volume 19, 15 January–7 April 1779, ed. Philander D. Chase and William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, pp. 631–632.]
  20. ^ "August 28, 2010 Auction Catalog by Early American - Issuu". issuu.com. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  21. ^ a b Davis, Robert Scott (3 September 2020). "Margaret Eustace and Her Family Pass through the American Revolution". Journal of the American Revolution. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  22. ISBN 9780822970187
    . Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  23. ^ CALENDAR OF THE SPARKS MANUSCRIPTS IN HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY, WITH AN APPENDIX SHOWING OTHER MANUSCRIPTS. BY JUSTIN WINSOR, page 37
  24. ^ "The Lindsley House (Block 36 Lot 13)". original-ufdc.uflib.ufl.edu. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  25. ^ Lee B. Wilson (2014) Masters of Law: English Legal Culture and the Law of Slavery in Colonial South Carolina and the British Atlantic World, 1669-1783, pages 276-278
  26. ^ Letter to Lieutenant General [Alexander] Leslie. Savannah, Georgia: N.p., 1782. Print.
  27. ^ Lacey Hunter (2018) An Expansive Subjecthood in Eighteenth-Century British North America: The Life and Perspectives of Sir Guy Carleton, pages 68-70
  28. ^ "Original Members of the Georgia Society – the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Georgia".
  29. ^ “II. Winthrop Sargent’s Journal, 4–18 May,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/04-01-02-0236-0003. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, volume 1, 1 January 1784 – 17 July 1784, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992, pages 332–354.]
  30. ^ Miranda, Diary, page 14. Cf. Eustace, Le citoyen des États-Unis d'Amérique, pages 6‑7.William Spence Robertson (1929) The Life of Miranda
  31. ^ Eustace to Miranda, October 3, 1783, Mir. MSS., volume 5.William Spence Robertson (1929) The Life of Miranda
  32. S2CID 130763983
    .
  33. ^ “To George Washington from Saint-Jean, 24 June 1789,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-03-02-0020. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 3, 15 June 1789–5 September 1789, ed. Dorothy Twohig. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1989, pages 66–68.]
  34. ^ Official and private correspondence of Major-General J.S. Eustace, citizen of the state of New York. (1796)
  35. ^ George Washington Papers, Series 2, Letterbooks 1754 to 1799: Letterbook 22,- Aug. 24, 1790. - August 24, 1790, 1788. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mgw2.022/.
  36. ISBN 9780691184654
    . Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  37. ^ C. Tozzi (2016) Foreign, Black, and Jewish troops in the French military, 1715–1831, page 135, 260
  38. ^ a b Le citoyen des États-Unis d'Amérique, Jean-Skey Eustace. A ses frères d’armes, Paris 1793
  39. hdl:2027/spo.0642292.0039.016
    . Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  40. ^ "Gevonden in Delpher - Geschiedenis der stad Lier. - Lier, E. J. van Mol 1873". www.delpher.nl. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  41. ^ "Aenspraek ende plegtigheden, welke geschied zyn ter oorzaeke als de Fransche troupen de stadt Lier hebben in bezit genomen". 27 March 1792. Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  42. ^ Rosendaal, J. (2003), Bataven! Nederlandse vluchtelingen in Frankrijk 1787-1795, p. 382
  43. ^ Everett, Jason M., ed. (2006). "1793". The People's Chronology. Thomson Gale.
  44. ^ P. Howe (2018) Foreign Policy and the French Revolution, pages 154-155
  45. ^ "Founders Online: To Alexander Hamilton from John Skey Eustace, [20 November 1798]".
  46. ^ EUSTACE, John Skey (27 March 1793). "Begin. Le Maréchal ... J. S. Eustace au Lieutenant-Général en Chef Dumouriez. Letter on the state of the Netherlands, etc". Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  47. ^ "Siege of Maastricht, 23 February-3 March 1793". www.historyofwar.org. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  48. ^ Letters on the Emancipation & Preservation of the United Provinces, p. 111
  49. ^ public, France Convention nationale Comité de salut (27 March 1890). "Recueil des actes du Comité de salut public: avec la correspondance officielle des représentants en mission et le registre du Conseil exécutif provisoire". Impr. nationale. Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  50. S2CID 147581651
    . Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Cambridge University Press.
  51. ^ "The Life of Miranda • Chapter 6". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  52. ^ J. Rosendaal (2003) Bataven! Nederlandse vluchtelingen in Frankrijk 1787-1795, page 698
  53. ^ Gazette nationale ou le Moniteur universel, 20 août 1793, p. 4
  54. ^ Nationale, France Convention (27 March 1793). "Collection générale des décrets rendus par la Convention Nationale". Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  55. ^ Bulletin Du Tribunal Criminel Révolutionnaire, Etabli au Palais, pages 137-138
  56. ^ J. Rosendaal (2003) Bataven! Nederlandse vluchtelingen in Frankrijk 1787-1795, page 423
  57. ^ Eustace, John Skey (27 March 1797). "Letters on the Emancipation & Preservation of the United Provinces, to John de Witt, Esquire; with Lessons of Humanity, Addressed to Nicholas Van Staphorst: Written from Basil, in the Year 1794". Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  58. ^ a b "U.S. History mss., 1612-1977". webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  59. ^ "Online Adams Catalogue". Massachusetts Historical Society.
  60. ^ a b Eustace, John Skey (27 March 1797). "Letters on the Emancipation & Preservation of the United Provinces, to John de Witt, Esquire; with Lessons of Humanity, Addressed to Nicholas Van Staphorst: Written from Basil, in the Year 1794". Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  61. ^ Simon Vuyk (2005) Jacob Kantelaar. Veelzijdig verlicht verliezer, pages 88-89
  62. ^ "Inventarissen". archief.amsterdam. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  63. ^ Weerd, C.F. de (2009) Uw sekse en de onze : vrouwen en genootschappen in Nederland en in de ons omringende landen (1750-ca. 1810), page 138
  64. ^ "Hier gebeurde het... Weesperpoort, 18 januari 1795. 'Rotvorst' nekt stadsbestuur". onsamsterdam.nl (in Dutch). 1 November 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  65. ^ "Inventarissen". archief.amsterdam. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  66. ^ Wit, C.H.E. de (1965) De strijd tussen aristocratie en democratie in Nederland 1780-1848, page 83-93.
  67. ^ J. Rosendaal (2003) Bataven Nederlandse vluchtelingen in Frankrijk 1787-1795, page 449
  68. ^ "[Staphorst, Nicolaas van], Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 8, P.J. Blok, P.C. Molhuysen". DBNL. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  69. ^ "Writings of J.Q. Adams, p. 229". Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  70. ^ The Papers of the Revolutionary Era Pinckney Statesmen Digital Edition, ed. Constance B. Schulz. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2016
  71. ^ "Enclosure: [Characters Not Referred to in "The Embassy"], [20 November 1798]". Founders Online.
  72. ^ WILLIAM S. DALLAM: AN AMERICAN TOURIST IN REVOLUTIONARY PARIS Robert L. Dietle, page 163
  73. ^ Lettre de l'Américain J.-S. Eustace au président du Directoire pour demander la permission de publier ses projets de conquête et d'approvisionnement, dont l'un concerne l'établissement d'un Gibraltar français sur les côtes de Bretagne. 16 floréal an IV.
  74. ^ "Exile of Major General Eustace, a citizen of the United States of America, from the Kingdom of Great-Britain, by order of His Grace the Duke of Portland, Minister for the Home Department, &c. &c. &c". Wellcome Collection.
  75. ^ "Founders Online: To Alexander Hamilton from John Skey Eustace, [27 October 1798]". founders.archives.gov.
  76. ISBN 9781379323679
    . Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  77. ^ Letters on the Emancipation & Preservation of the United Provinces, pages 89-91, 96-98
  78. ^ Griffiths, Ralph; Griffiths, George Edward (27 March 1797). "Monthly Review; Or, New Literary Journal: Giving an Account, with Proper Abstracts Of, Or Extracts From, the New Books and Pamphlets, Published in Great-Britain and Ireland, as They Come Out". R. Griffiths. Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  79. ^ "British Critic: And Quarterly Theological Review". F. and C. Rivington. 27 March 1798. Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  80. ^ “To Alexander Hamilton from John Skey Eustace, [20 November 1798],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-22-02-0157-0001. [Original source: The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, volume 22, July 1798 – March 1799, ed. Harold C. Syrett. New York: Columbia University Press, 1975, pages 253–257.]
  81. ^ "The History of Orange County New York". DigiCat. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  82. ^ Frank L. Dewey (1981) Thomas Jefferson and a Williamsburg Scandal: The Case of Blair V. Blair. In: The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Volume 89, Number 1 (January 1981), pages 44-63 (20 pages) Published By: Virginia Historical Society
  83. ^ Campbell, Donald. ""To George Washington from Colonel Donald Campbell, 26 July 1775,"". Founders Online. U.S. National Archives.
  84. ^ "J. S. Eustace". id.oclc.org. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  85. ISBN 9780691185354
    . Retrieved 27 March 2023 – via Google Books.

Further reading
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Skey_Eustace&oldid=1214257675"