Abraham Eustis
Brevet Brigadier General, U.S. Army

Abraham Eustis was born on 26 March 1786 in Petersburg, VA. He received a Bachelor's Degree from Harvard University in 1804 and a Master's Degree from Bowdoin College in 1806. After briefly practicing law, he entered the U.S. Army in 1808, and remained on active duty until his death.

He served in the War of 1812, as well as in the Seminole Wars in Florida, under Osceola, in the 1820s and 1830s. In 1830, Eustis became the first commander of Fort Monroe, which guards the entrance to Hampton Roads at Old Point Comfort in southeastern VA.

He also served in 1832 Black Hawk War. Eustis was a talented surveyor and mapmaker, and his early maps of Florida enabled the military to maneuver while avoiding swamps and dense tropical forests. He also took part in the construction of several Florida military roads, including one that linked St. Augustine to Tampa, which enabled white settlers to travel to and settle on homesteads in Central Florida after passage of the 1842 Settlement Act.

Eustis was promoted to brevet Brigadier General in 1834, was the long-time Commander of the School for Artillery Practice at Fortress Monroe, VA. In May 1838, Eustis took command of Fort Butler, one of the main military posts built for the forced removal of the Cherokee known as the Trail of Tears. Nearly 5,000 Cherokee of North Carolina and adjacent Georgia were taken to Fort Butler, then to the main internment camp at Fort Cass. The troops stationed at Fort Butler were those of Eustis's command from the Second Seminole War in Florida.

At the time of his death was Commander of the 1st Artillery Regiment.

Honors

The town of Eustis, FL; the Fort Eustis, VA, Army post; and Florida's Eustis Lake are all named in his honor.

Personal

He was the father of Brigadier General Henry L. Eustis, and the nephew of Secretary of War William Eustis.

Death and Burial

Brevet Brigadier General Abraham Eustis died on 27 June 1843 in Portland, ME. He is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA.