He was born at Dinwiddie County, near Petersburg, VA. Standing six feet five inches, Scott was educated at William and Mary College, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1806 and, in 1808, was appointed by President Jefferson to the army as a Captain of Light Artillery. While stationed at Baton Rouge, LA in 1809, he was court- martialed for remarks on the conduct of his superior officer, General Wilkinson, and suspended for one year which he devoted to the study of military tactics. In July, 1812, Scott was made a Lieutenant Colonel and ordered to the Canada frontier.

Arriving at Lewiston while the disturbance at Queenstown Heights was in progress, he crossed the river and won the field, but afterward lost and he and his command were taken prisoners when supporting troops refused to cross the river to provide assistance. In January, 1813 he was exchanged and joined the army under General Dearborn as Adjutant-General with the rank of Colonel.

In the attack on Fort George, May 27, 1813, he was severely injured by the explosion of a powder magazine. That autumn he commanded the advance in Wilkinson's descent of the St. Lawrence River, an operation directed against Montreal, that was abandoned. In March, 1814 he was promoted to Brigadier-General and established a Camp of Instruction at Buffalo, NY.

On July 3, 1813, Scott's and Ripley's brigades , with Hindman's artillery, crossed the Niagara River and took Fort Erie and part of its garrison. On July 5 he was engaged in the Battle of Chippewa, resulting in the enemy's defeat, and on July 25 became an international hero at Lundy's Lane (Bridgewater), near Niagara Falls, where Scott had two horses killed under him and was twice severely wounded. A wound to his left shoulder was critical and resulted in his left arm being partially disabled. At the close of the War Scott was offered and declined the post of Secretary of War and was promoted to Major-General with the thanks of Congress and a Gold Medal for his services.

Returning to the United States in 1816 after a visit to Europe, Scott married the following year. He wrote a manual on firearms and military tactics. In 1832 he set out from Fort Dearborn (now Chicago, IL) with a detachment to take part in the hostilities against the Sac & Fox Indians, but the capture of Black Hawk ended the war before Scott's arrival. That same year he commanded forces in Charleston Harbor during the nullification troubles. In 1835 he went to Florida to fight the Seminoles, and afterward to the Creek country.

In 1838 he was successful in the peaceful removal of the Cherokees from Georgia to a reservation west of the Mississippi River. By the death of General Macomb in 1841 Scott became commander-in-chief of the Army. In 1847 he was assigned as commander-in-chief of the army in Mexico.

Winfield Scott

Drawing a portion of Taylor's troops operating from the Rio Grande, and assembling his forces at Lobos Island, on March 9, 1847 he landed 12,000 men at Vera Cruz. The mortar battery opened on March 22 and the siege guns two days later. On March 26, 1847 the city and the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa capitulated, after nearly 7,000 rounds had been fired.

Scott's army remained in Puebla drilling and waiting for reenforcements to arrive, which occurred on August 7. This delay allowed time for Santa Ana to create a new army and fortify the capital. Scott began his advance toward Mexico City on August 7, via the National Road and, while diverting the enemy's attention by a feint on the fortress of El Penon to the northwest, made a detour to San Agustin on the south. He then attacked and was victorious at Contreras and Churubusco. It is said that he could have then taken Mexico City but for a truce called until September 7 to allow the peace commissioner, Nicholas P. Trist, an opportunity to negotiate a peace.

Operations were resumed on the southwest of the City of Mexico, defended by 14,000 Mexicans occupying Molina del Rey. On September 8, General Worth attacked Molina del Rey with 3,500 men, capturing much materiel and more than 800 prisoners, but in the process lost one-fourth of his command, including 58 officers. On September 13th Chapultepec was stormed and carried, and on the morning of September 14, 1847 Scott's army marched into Mexico City and occupied the National Palace.

In 1852 Scott was a candidate of the Whig Party for the Presidency, running unsuccessfully against Franklin Pierce. In 1857 he opposed the Mormon aggression in Utah, which was perpetrated nevertheless by troops of the U. S. Army under Albert Sidney Johnston.

Scott was particularly distinguished as a moderator between warring factions, including the settlement in South Carolina of the nullification question during Jackson's administration, the settlement of the Canadian frontier problems of 1838, and in 1859, as commissioner, General Scott successfully settled the difficulty arising from the disputed boundary-line between the United States and Canada through the Straits of Fuca.

As the Civil War approached, Scott found himself in command of a small professional army scattered over the continent. He alone envisaged a four-year war and the number of men which would be required to subdue the South.

Hope was high in the South that Scott, a Virginian, would join the cause of the Confederacy by leading all 84 of the Virginia officers then in the regular Army to join in the defense of the Old Dominion. After the secession of Virginia, his schoolmate and life-long friend, Judge John Robertson of Petersburg, was sent to Washington on April 19 to speak to Scott and other Virginians of distinction in the Army. Judge Robertson, who arrived in the Federal capital on July 21, found that Scott was in a cabinet meeting. At about 3 p.m., Robertson saw Scott crossing the street and intercepted him. He asked for a few minutes but "Old Fuss and Feathers", perhaps knowing the purpose of the visit, hesitated stating that he had a busy afternoon. Finally, he agreed to listen. Robertson appealed to his old friend to join Virginia but Scott immediately refused.

Winfield Scott

"I have so far addressed you as a private citizen," Robertson answered. "I now inform you that I am officially charged with a communication to you from the Governor of Virginia and under the direction of the State Convention. I shall not make that communication unless you answer that it will be received without offense." Scott was as unyielding as before, stating that if the intent was to turn him against his allegiance to the Union he would not hear of it. "I shall say nothing more," Judge Robertson replied.

General E. D. Townsend's account of that conversation was as follows. General Scott said to Robertson: "Friend Robertson, go no further! It is best that we part here, before you compel me to resent a moral insult. I have served my country, under the flag of the Union, for more than fifty years, and so long as God permits me to live, I will defend the flag with my sword, even if my native South assails it."

What Robertson and others failed to realize was that, in addition to his devotion to the Union, by 1861 Scott had a hatred for Jefferson Davis deeper than that which he had exhibited in a long, fiery correspondence with the man when he was Secretary of War. On the day following Jefferson Davis' election as President of the Confederacy, General Scott was reported to have said:

"I am amazed that any man of judgment should hope for the success of any cause in which Jefferson Davis is a leader. There is contamination in his touch. If secession was 'the holiest cause that tongue or sword of mortal ever lost or gained,' he would ruin it! He will bear a great deal of watching. . .He is not a cheap Judas. I do not think he would have sold the Savior for thirty shillings, but for the successorship of Pontius Pilate he would have betrayed Christ and the apostles and the whole Christian Church."

Winfield Scott

With Scott lost to the Confederacy, attention focused on the man whom he believed was the ablest officer in the Army, fifty-four year old Robert E. Lee. The answer came quickly through Robertson: Lee deplored secession and agonized over the dissolution of the Union but, without hesitation, he resigned from the Army after the secession of his state, and would defend Virginia. By the evening of April 22, Lee was in Richmond.

Winfield Scott

Scott conceived the "Anaconda Plan" which is essence became the Federal strategy in 1864-1865.

Winfield Scott

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Scott was nearly seventy-five years of age, afflicted with dropsy, unable to sit on a horse, proud and irascible. He was blamed for the errors of his subordinate, General Robert Patterson, which enabled General Joseph E. Johnston to join with Pierre G. T. Beauregard, resulting in the Union's rout at First Manassas. After George B. McClellan had been named commander of the Army of the Potomac, on October 31, 1861, Scott retired from service retaining his rank, pay and allowances.

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