General Scott

CHAPTER I.. Parentage and Birth of Scott--Precocity--Enters William and Mary

Parentage and birth of Scott--Precocity--Enters William and Mary College--Leaves college and commences the study of law with Judge Robinson--Attends the trial of Burr at Richmond--Impressment of American seamen and proclamation of President Jefferson--Joins the Petersburg troop--Leaves for Charleston--Returns to Petersburg--Appointed captain of artillery--Trial of General Wilkinson--Scott sends in his resignation, but withdraws it and returns to Natchez--Is court-martialed--On staff duty at New Orleans--Declaration of war with Great Britain--General Wade Hampton and the Secretary of War--Hull's surrender--Storming of Queenstown--March to Lewiston--Scott's appeal to the officers and soldiers--Indians fire on a flag of truce--Incident with a Caledonian priest--Letter in relation to Irish prisoners sent home to be tried for treason 1

CHAPTER II.

Scott ordered to Philadelphia--Appointed adjutant general with the rank of colonel--Becomes chief of staff to General Dearborn--Death of General Pike--Leads the advance on Fort Niagara--Anecdote of Scott and a British colonel--Commands the expedition to Burlington Heights--March for Sackett's Harbor--Meets a force at Cornwall--Retreat of Wilkinson--Scott appointed brigadier general--Attack on and surrender of Fort Erie--Battle of Chippewa--Lundy's Lane and wounding of Scott--Retreat 23

CHAPTER III.

Is received and entertained by prominent civilians and military men in Europe--Marries Miss Mayo--Offspring--Thanks of Congress--Thanks of the Virginia Legislature voted, and also a sword--Controversy with General Andrew Jackson and correspondence--Prepares general regulations for the army and militia--Controversy with General Gaines and the War Department about rank--In command of the Eastern Division--War with the Sac and Fox Indians--Black Hawk--Cholera breaks out among the troops 41

CHAPTER IV.. Troubles in South Carolina Growing Out of the Tariff Acts

Troubles in South Carolina growing out of the tariff acts apprehended, and General Scott sent South--Action of the nullifiers--Instructions in case of an outbreak--Action of the South Carolina Legislature 60

CHAPTER V.

Events that led to the war in Florida--Treaty of Camp Moultrie and its stipulations--Complaints of Indians and whites--Treaty of Payne's Landing--Objections of the Indians to complying with the latter treaty--Councils and talks with the Seminoles--Assiola--Murder of mail carrier Dalton--Murder of Charley Amanthla--Dade's massacre--Murder of General Thompson and others--General Clinch--Depredations by the Indians on the whites and by the latter on the Indians--Volunteers--Military departments of Gaines and Scott 72

CHAPTER VI.

Review of the army by General Gaines--Arrival of General Gaines at Fort King--Lieutenant Izard mortally wounded--Correspondence between General Gaines and Clinch--General Scott ordered to command in Florida--Disadvantages under which he labored--Preparations for movements--Commencement of hostilities against the Indians 103

CHAPTER VII.. Scott Prefers Complaint Against General Jesup--Court of Inquiry

Scott prefers complaint against General Jesup--Court of inquiry ordered by the President--Scott fully exonerated by the court--Complaints of citizens--Difficulties of the campaign--Speech in Congress of Hon. Richard Biddle--Scott declines an invitation to a dinner in New York city--Resolutions of the subscribers--Scott is ordered to take charge of and remove the Cherokee Indians--Orders issued to troops and address to the Indians--Origin of the Cherokee Indian troubles--Collision threatened between Maine and New Brunswick, and Scott sent there--Correspondence with Lieutenant-Governor Harvey--Seizure of Navy Island by Van Rensselaer--Governor Marcy 122

CHAPTER VIII.

Annexation of Texas--Causes that led to annexation--Message of the President--General Scott's letters regarding William Henry Harrison--Efforts to reduce General Scott's pay--Letter to T.P. Atkinson on the slavery question--Battle of Palo Alto, and of Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, and Buena Vista--"The hasty plate of Soup"--Scott's opinion of General Taylor--Scott ordered to Mexico--Proposal to revive the grade of lieutenant general, and to appoint Thomas H. Benton--Scott reaches the Brazos Santiago--Confidential dispatch from Scott to Taylor--Co-operation of the navy--Letters to the Secretary of War as to places of rendezvous--Arrival and landing at Vera Cruz, and its investment, siege, and capture--Letter to foreign consuls--Terms of surrender--Orders of General Scott after the surrender 149

CHAPTER IX.. General Santa Anna Arrives At Cerro Gordo--Engagement At

General Santa Anna arrives at Cerro Gordo--Engagement at Atalaya--General Orders No. 111--Reports from Jalapa--Report of engagement at Cerro Gordo--Occupation of Perote--Account of a Mexican historian--General Santa Anna's letter to General Arroya--Delay of the Government in sending re-enforcements--Danger of communications with Vera Cruz--Troops intended for Scott ordered to General Taylor--Colonel Childs appointed governor of Jalapa--Occupation of Puebla--Arrival of re-enforcements--Number of Scott's force 175

CHAPTER X.. Movement Toward the City of Mexico--the Duke of Wellington's

Movement toward the City of Mexico--The Duke of Wellington's comments--Movements of Santa Anna--A commission meets General Worth to treat for terms--Worth enters Puebla--Civil administration of the city not interfered with--Scott arrives at Puebla--Scott's address to the Mexicans after the battle of Cerro Gordo--Contreras--Reconnoissance of the pedregal--Defeat of the Mexicans at Contreras--Battle of Churubusco--Arrival of Nicholas P. Trist, commissioner--General Scott meets a deputation proposing an armistice--He addresses a communication to the head of the Mexican Government--Appointment of a commission to meet Mr. Trist--Major Lally--Meeting of Mr. Trist with the Mexican commissioners--Failure to agree--Armistice violated by the Mexicans and notice from General Scott--Santa Anna's insolent note--The latter calls a meeting of his principal officers--Molino del Rey--Chapultepec--Losses on both sides 195

CHAPTER XI.

General Quitman's movements to San Antonio and Coyoacan--Movements of General Pillow--General reconnoissance by Scott--Chapultepec--Scott announces his line of attack--Surrender of the Mexican General Bravo--Preparations to move on the capital--Entry of General Scott into the City of Mexico--General Quitman made Military Governor--General Scott's orders--Movements of Santa Anna--General Lane--American and Mexican deserters--Orders as to collection of duties and civil government 223

CHAPTER XII.. Scott's Care for the Welfare of His Army--Account of the Money

Scott's care for the welfare of his army--Account of the money levied on Mexico--Last note to the Secretary of War while commander in chief in Mexico--Army asylums--Treaty of peace--Scott turns over the army to General William O. Butler--Scott and Worth--Court of inquiry on Worth--The "Leonidas" and "Tampico" letters--Revised paragraph 650--Army regulations--General Worth demands a court of inquiry and prefers charges against Scott--Correspondence--General belief as to Scott's removal command--The trial--Return home of General Scott 254

CHAPTER XIII.

General Taylor nominated for the presidency--Thanks of Congress to Scott, and a gold medal voted--Movement to revive and confer upon Scott the brevet rank of lieutenant general--Scott's views as to the annexation of Canada--Candidate for President in 1852 and defeated--Scott's diplomatic mission to Canada in 1859--Mutterings of civil war--Letters and notes to President Buchanan--Arrives in Washington, December 12, 1861--Note to the Secretary of War--"Wayward sisters" letter--Events preceding inauguration of Mr. Lincoln--Preparation for the defense of Washington--Scott's loyalty--Battle of Bull Run--Scott and McClellan--Free navigation of the Mississippi River--Retirement of General Scott and affecting incidents connected therewith--Message of President Lincoln--McClellan on Scott--Mount Vernon--Scott sails for Europe--Anecdote of the day preceding the battle of Chippewa--The Confederate cruiser Nashville--Incident between Scott and Grant--Soldiers' Home--Last days of Scott--His opinion of noncombatants--General Wilson's tribute 289

INDEX 337

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FACING PAGE

Portrait of Winfield Scott Frontispiece

The Niagara Frontier 12

Battle of Chippewa 32

Siege of Vera Cruz 170

Route from Vera Cruz to Mexico 198

Operations of the American Army in the Valley of Mexico 226

GENERAL SCOTT.

CHAPTER I.. Parentage and Birth of Scott--Precocity--Enters William and Mary

Parentage and birth of Scott--Precocity--Enters William and Mary College--Leaves college and commences the study of law with Judge Robinson--Attends the trial of Burr at Richmond--Impressment of American seamen and proclamation of President Jefferson--Joins the Petersburg troop--Leaves for Charleston--Returns to Petersburg--Appointed captain of artillery--Trial of General Wilkinson--Scott sends in his resignation, but withdraws it and returns to Natchez--Is court-martialed--On staff duty at New Orleans--Declaration of war with Great Britain--General Wade Hampton and the Secretary of War--Hull's surrender--Storming of Queenstown--March to Lewiston--Scott's appeal to the officers and soldiers--Indians fire on a flag of truce--Incident with a Caledonian priest--Letter in relation to Irish prisoners sent home to be tried for treason.

Winfield Scott was born at Laurel Branch, the estate of his father, fourteen miles from Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Virginia, June 13, 1786. His grandfather, James Scott, was a Scotchman of the Clan Buccleuch, and a follower of the Pretender to the throne of England, who, escaping from the defeat at Culloden, made his way to Virginia in 1746, where he settled. William, the son of this James, married Ann Mason, a native of Dinwiddie County and a neighbor of the Scott family. Winfield Scott was the issue of this marriage. There were an elder brother and two daughters. James Scott died at an early age, when Winfield was but six years old. William, the father of Winfield, was a lieutenant and afterward captain in a Virginia company which served in the Revolutionary army. Eleven years after the father's death the mother died, leaving Winfield, at seventeen years old, to make his own way in the world.

At the death of his father, Winfield, being but six years old, was left to the charge of his mother, to whom he was devotedly attached. It is a well-warranted tradition of the county in which the Scott family resided, that the mother of General Scott was a woman of superior mind and great force of character. In acknowledging the inspiration from the lessons of that admirable parent for whatever of success he achieved, he was not unlike Andrew Jackson and the majority of the great men of the world. He wrote of her in his mature age as follows: "And if, in my now protracted career, I have achieved anything worthy of being written, anything that my countrymen are likely to honor in the next century, it is from the lessons of that admirable parent that I derived the inspiration."

In his seventh year he was ordered on a Sunday morning to get ready for church. Disobeying the order, he ran off and concealed himself, but was pursued, captured, and returned to his mother, who at once sent for a switch. The switch was a limb from a Lombardy poplar, and the precocious little truant, seeing this, quoted a verse from St. Matthew which was from a lesson he had but recently read to his mother. The quotation was as follows: "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." The quotation was so apt that the punishment was withheld, but the offender was not spared a very wholesome lesson.

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