Henry Dearborn (1751- 1829)
Born at Hampton (NH); died Roxbury (MA).
Portrait by U.D. Tenney, after Gilbert Stuart. Purchased by the State.

Henry Dearborn's ancestors came to Exeter, New Hampshire from Exeter, England in 1639. They moved to Hampton (NH) soon thereafter.

Dearborn studied at Hampton district school and studied medicine with Dr. Hall Jackson at Portsmouth. Dearborn began medical practice at Nottingham Square (NH) in 1772, but he also organized a militia company as signs of war became clearer. In April 1775 word of disturbances at Lexington and Concord (MA) reached Portsmouth, and Dearborn at once rounded up his company of sixty men and marched to Cambridge (MA). There his company was made a part of Colonel John Stark's First New Hampshire Regiment. They fought with Stark at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775.

In September 1775 Dearborn volunteered for service with Benedict Arnold in his expedition to Quebec. He was put in command of a company of musketmen, and he kept a journal which the Dictionary of American Biography (1930 edition, volume 5) calls "an important source of information for the campaign." Dearborn was ill for part of the trek and had to be left to recuperate; but he recovered in time to be a part of the disastrous attack on Quebec. He was captured and imprisoned at Quebec; released on parole in May 1776, he was not formally exchanged as a prisoner until March 1777. On March 19, 1777 Dearborn was appointed major of the Third New Hampshire Regiment, commanded by Colonel Alexander Scammel. In September 1777 he transferred to the First New Hampshire Regiment, once led by Stark but now by Colonel Joseph Cilley. Dearborn fought in the campaign against Burgoyne, at Ticonderoga and at Freeman's Farm. He spent the winter of 1777/78 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge (PA). At the battle of Monmouth (NJ) Dearborn's regiment was commanded by Washington. In Summer 1779, Dearborn's regiment was a part of the force led by General John Sullivan against the Six Nations, in central New York. Later Dearborn joined Washington's staff. He was with Washington at Yorktown (VA).

In June 1783 Dearborn was discharged from service. He settled in Kennebec County, Maine, which was a district of Massachusetts until 1820. In Maine he became Brigadier General and then Major General of the Militia; he also served as a United States (Republican) Representative for his district, 1793-97.

Dearborn was asked by Republican president Thomas Jefferson to serve as Secretary of War, and Dearborn held this cabinet post throughout Jefferson's two terms in office (1800-1808). As Secretary of War Dearborn helped plan for the removal of Native American Indian tribes to beyond the Mississippi River; but in 1809 he resigned his cabinet post and became Collector for the Port of Boston.

In January 1812 it looked very much as though the new United States might go to war with British Canada. President James Madison (1809-17) made Dearborn the Senior Major General in the American Army, and put him in charge of the district from the Niagara River east to the New England coast. This was thought to be the most likely area from which the British would attack; but Dearborn proved unable to plan and execute pre-emptive strikes, or to plan defensive measures. Before war was formally declared Dearborn went to Boston to arranged for coastal defenses and to recruit; after war was declared he stayed in Boston for some weeks. In the absence of his leadership on the frontier the British attacked and defeated American forces at Detroit, and at Queenstown on the Niagara River. Dearborn personally led American troops from Plattsburgh, New York after the latter defeat; but the troops failed to contact British forces and returned to Plattsburgh without anything to show for their exertions.

The campaigns of Spring-Summer 1813 showed no improvement. Dearborn was taken ill and replaced by General Morgan Lewis; now it became clear how little Dearborn had accomplished. He was formally relieved of his command, given command of New York City as a face-saver, and honorably discharged June 15, 1815. President Madison (1809-17) had nominated Dearborn to be his Secretary of War, but there was such an uproar that the nomination was withdrawn. Finally Dearborn was sent by President Monroe (1817-25) to be minister to Portugal. Dearborn served two years (1822-24), then asked to be relieved. He retired to Roxbury (MA).

Location: First Floor Visitor Center Wall (Rooms 118,119)