Scott, Winfield

Scott, Winfield, 1786–1866, American general, b. near Petersburg, Va.

Military Career

He briefly attended the College of William and Mary, studied law at Petersburg, and joined the military. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, Scott was made a lieutenant colonel. He was captured at Queenston Heights (Oct., 1812), but after his exchange he returned to the Niagara frontier and led a successful assault of Fort George (May, 1813). He was made a brigadier general in Mar., 1814. The thorough training he gave his troops paid off in July when his brigade bore the brunt of the fighting at Lundy's Lane, where Scott was severely wounded. Scott became a hero and was brevetted major general.

His subsequent army career was long and varied. In 1815–16 he visited Europe, where he studied French army practices. In 1832, President Andrew Jackson dispatched him to Charleston, S.C., where Scott ably handled the potentially explosive nullification troubles. He served in the Seminole and Creek campaigns and in 1838 supervised the removal of the Cherokee to the Indian Territory (now in Oklahoma). His talent for peacemaking was displayed in 1838, when he was sent to the Canadian border in the Caroline Affair, and again in 1839, when he went to Maine during the so-called Aroostook War. In 1841, Scott was appointed supreme commander of the U.S. army.

In the Mexican War

Causes

While the immediate cause of the war was the U.S. annexation of Texas (Dec., 1845), other factors had disturbed peaceful relations between the two republics.
..... , Scott approved the northern campaign of Gen. Zachary Taylor; then Scott himself accepted command of the southern expedition. With the cooperation of the navy, he took Veracruz early in 1847 and began the long march to Mexico City. Cerro Gordo fell in Apr., 1847, and Scott's army entered Puebla, where it remained inactive for several months. In August the Americans resumed their advance. Fighting at Contreras and Churubusco preceded an attack on the outposts of Mexico City. An engagement at Molino del Rey was followed by the storming of Chapultepec, which fell on Sept. 13, 1847, clearing the way to the capital. The campaign was a triumph for Scott's daring strategy and confirmed his reputation as a bold fighter. Scott was now a national hero, but as a Whig he was disliked by the Democratic administration of James K. Polk. As a result Scott was recalled to the United States early in 1848. A court of inquiry, however, dismissed charges leveled at him by some subordinate officers, and he was brevetted a lieutenant general.

In 1852, Scott was chosen as the Whig candidate for president, but he made a poor showing against his Democratic opponent, Franklin Pierce. In 1859, Scott once more took a hand in a boundary disagreement, going to Washington Territory in an effort to settle the San Juan Boundary Dispute. The outbreak of the Civil War brought onerous burdens to the general, who, though a Southerner by birth, opposed secession and was loyal to the Union. He wished some delay before any military action was taken, so that the Union's civilian army could be more adequately trained, and the disastrous first battle of Bull Run, fought against his wishes, bore out his views. Old and in failing health, Scott was compelled to retire on Nov. 1, 1861.

Character

Although vain and pompous (he was called "Old Fuss and Feathers"), Scott was also generous, fair-minded, considerate of his officers, and solicitous for the welfare of his soldiers. In nonmilitary matters—excluding his diplomatic ventures—his tendency to be quarrelsome and his faculty for "putting his foot in it" made him far less successful. However, he is generally considered the greatest American general between Washington and Lee.

Bibliography

See his memoirs (2 vol., 1864); J. S. D. Eisenhower, Agent of Destiny (1998).

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Scott, Winfield

Winfield Scott

(credit: Courtesy of the National Archives, Washington, D.C.)

(born June 13, 1786, Petersburg, Va., U.S.—died May 29, 1866, West Point, N.Y.) U.S. army officer. He fought in the War of 1812 at the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane (1814). Promoted to major general, he traveled to Europe to study military tactics. He advocated a well-trained and disciplined army, earning the nickname “Old Fuss and Feathers” for his emphasis on military formalities. In 1841 he became commanding general of the U.S. Army. He directed operations during the Mexican War and led the U.S. invasion at Veracruz and the victory at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. He was the Whig Party's nominee in the 1852 presidential election but lost to Franklin Pierce. In 1855 he was promoted to lieutenant general, becoming the first man since George Washington to hold that rank. Scott was still commander in chief of the U.S. Army when the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, but his proposed strategy of splitting the Confederacy—the plan eventually adopted—was ridiculed. Age forced his retirement the following November.

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Scott, Winfield (1786–1866) soldier; born near Petersburg, Va. A Virginia patrician, he studied law but then joined the U.S. Army. In the War of 1812, he saw considerable action on the Canadian border, was briefly captured, and after being severely wounded in the battle of Lundy's Lane (near Niagara Falls), he emerged from the war as a national hero. In the peacetime army, he wrote about military tactics and rose in rank; he won a new reputation as a peacemaker for helping to ease the nullification crisis in 1832 and for settling border disputes with Canada; in 1839 he prevented what could have been a bloody conflict by convincing 16,000 Cherokee to accept resettlement beyond the Mississippi. Appointed general in chief of the army in 1841, he was in command of U.S. forces as they went to war against Mexico in 1846; in March 1847 he himself took to the field and captured Vera Cruz; he launched an offensive toward the Mexican capital; after a series of dramatic victories, he led American forces into Mexico City in September 1847. Once more a national hero—affectionately known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" for his weakness for military uniforms and pomp—he ran unsuccessfully for president as a Whig in 1852. When the Civil War broke out, he was still general in chief of the U.S. Army, and although a Virginian, he stayed with the Federal army; everyone agreed that he was too old and infirm to direct the Union's war, but he formulated what became known as "the anaconda plan"—because it called for a snake-like encirclement and strangulation of the Confederacy—and then retired in October 1861. He wrote his memoirs and traveled to Europe (1864); at his death he was regarded as one of the great men of America's history.