Brigadier General John Sullivan (1740-1795)
Born Somersworth; died Durham (NH); Durham lawyer.
Portrait by A. Tenney, after portrait by U.D. Tenney; developed from 1790 pencil sketch by Trumbull.
Presented to the State by a descendent, 1873.

John Sullivan studied law at Portsmouth (NH) with Samuel Livermore; he married Lydia Worcester at the age of twenty (1760), and practiced law in Berwick (ME) until 1763 when the couple moved to Durham. Their children (three sons and one daughter, plus two who did not survive infancy) grew up in Durham.

In 1772 Sullivan was appointed a major in the New Hampshire colonial militia, and in 1774 he went as a delegate to the Philadelphia (PA) meeting of the First Continental Congress.

In December 1774 he was the organizer of a group which attacked Fort William & Mary, in Portsmouth Harbor, stealing cannon and ammunition.

In May 1775 Sullivan was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, and this Congress appointed him a brigadier general in Washington's army (June 22, 1775). He began military service with Washington's army at the siege of Boston (October 1775 - March 1776). In March 1776 he was ordered to join the Northern Army; and upon the death of General John Thomas Sullivan took command of that army. He was replaced by General Gates (July 1776), whereupon Sullivan went to Philadelphia to proffer his resignation to Continental Congress President Hancock. Hancock persuaded Sullivan to stay on.

August 9, 1776 Sullivan was promoted to major general and sent with his men to Long Island. Captured during the Battle of Long Island, Sullivan was sent to Philadelphia carrying overtures of peace from Lord Howe. During peace negotiations Sullivan was exchanged for British General Richard Prescott; he rejoined Washington's army in Westchester County, New York, crossed the Delaware with Washington and fought at Trenton and Princeton (NJ), in December 1776.

During Winter 1777 Sullivan was in northern New Jersey, skirmishing with British outposts; in March 1777 he returned to New Hampshire to expedite preparations for military operations. July 1, 1777 Sullivan, Nathaniel Greene and Henry Knox protested the rapid promotion to a post above them of a newly arrived French officer, Du Coudray. All three threatened to resign, but the matter was resolved when Du Coudray drowned. The matter did make Sullivan some enemies in Congress, however, and when Sullivan led a failed expedition to Staten Island (August 21/22, 1777) this defeat added to his enemies' dissatisfaction. But Sullivan hurried to Philadelphia to help defend the town against General Howe.

In September 1777 Congress proposed to suspend Sullivan from his command while the Staten Island matter was investigated. Enemies added additional charges of cowardice at Brandywine, but Washington refused to recall Sullivan and the charges were found to be groundless.

During Winter 1777/8 Sullivan was with Washington at Valley Forge (PA); but in August 1778 he put Newport (RI) under siege. The operation depended upon the French fleet defeating the British fleet; when this maneuver failed Sullivan was forced to withdraw to Providence (RI) where he stayed until March 1779. Then he was ordered to go to western Pennsylvania to destroy the Iroquois and their British Loyalist allies. Sullivan practiced a "scorched earth" policy, burning the countryside in a successful campaign that concluded at Elmira, New York; but his health deteriorated and he resigned from the army, November 30, 1779.

Sullivan returned to Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, 1780/81. While he was there his brother, dying from incarceration in a British prison ship, brought him a peace offer from the British. Sullivan told the French minister, Luzerne, of the offer; this action led to charges of bribery, because Luzerne had loaned the destitute Sullivan money. [The bribery charges were made again by the 19th century American historian Bancroft, and the New Hampshire Historical Society appointed a distinguished committee to prepare a "Report on General John Sullivan". This report, authored by the distinguished late 19th century NHHS members Charles H. Bell, W.H.Y. Hackett, J. Everett Sargent, N. Bouton, J.B. Walker, and John Elwyn, appears in NHHS Proceedings, volume 1 (1872-1888), pp. 95-104. The report clears Sullivan.]

Sullivan survived the charges of bribery by our French ally, and in 1782 he was a member of the New Hampshire constitutional convention. He served as attorney general of New Hampshire (1782/86), and also (1785) as Speaker of the House. In 1786 he was elected president of the state; he put down riots against the issuing of paper money and was reelected president in 1787. In 1788 Sullivan acted as chairman of the state convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States, and he was also reelected Speaker of the House. In 1789 he was once again elected President of New Hampshire, and he was also appointed U.S. District Judge of New Hampshire. He held this latter post until his death in 1795.

Location: Second Floor, Executive Council Chamber