Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott (1786-1866), American army officer, who played a major role in the Mexican War (1846-1848) and ran for the presidency in 1852. Scott was born near Petersburg, Virginia. He studied law until 1808, when he joined the United States Army and received a commission as captain of light artillery. At the beginning of the War of 1812 with Britain, Scott was appointed a lieutenant colonel and sent to the Canadian frontier. He led his regiment in the Battle of Queenston Heights on October 13, 1812, in which the American forces were repulsed with heavy losses, and Scott was taken prisoner. He was exchanged a year later. In 1814 Scott, now a brigadier general, led his brigade in the battles of Chippewa, on July 5, and Lundy’s Lane on July 25. His military successes made him a national hero, and he was promoted to major general.

In 1832 President Andrew Jackson appointed Scott military guardian of federal authority during the nullification controversy in South Carolina. Scott also oversaw the forced removal of the Cherokee from Georgia to the Indian Territory of the West along the “Trail of Tears.” In 1841 Scott was appointed general-in-chief of the U.S. Army, and in 1847, after the beginning of the Mexican War, he was appointed commander of the U.S. forces in Mexico. He led his troops in a series of victories, at Veracruz, Cerro Gordo, and Chapultepec. On September 14, 1847, he occupied the national palace in Mexico City. Scott returned to the United States in 1848, and in 1852 Congress raised his rank to lieutenant general, the first since George Washington. He was also nominated by the Whig party for the presidency in 1852 but was overwhelmingly defeated.

At the start of the American Civil War (1861-1865), Scott was still general-in-chief of the U.S. Army. Scott conceived a long-range strategy to achieve Northern victory. Subsequently named the “Anaconda Plan” (after the South American snake that squeezes its prey to death), Scott’s plan sought to apply pressure on the Confederacy from all sides. He estimated it would take two to three years and 300,000 men to carry out this strategy. Except for underestimating, by about half, the length of time and number of men it would take to succeed, Scott had sketched the broad strategy the North would use to defeat the South. When Scott retired in November 1861, George B. McClellan took over as general-in-chief.