ItttLiilK, 
 
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CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 FROM 
 
Cornell University Library 
 E 403.1.S43M28 1861 
 
 The life and military services of Lleut- 
 
 i 1924 020 378 307 
 
Cornell University 
 Jbrary 
 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924020378307 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SCOTT. 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 AND 
 
 IILITAEY SERVICES 
 
 OP 
 
 ITient.-^ftieral 
 WINFIELD SCOTT, 
 
 INOLTJDINQ 
 
 HIS BKILLIANT ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE -WAE'OF 1812, IN THE 
 MEXICAN TTAE, AND THE PENDING 
 
 WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 BT 
 
 EDWARD D. MANSFIELD, 
 
 AVTHOB OF "the HIBTOBT OF THE MEXIOAN WAB.'' 
 
 N. 0. MILLER, PUBLISHING AGENT, 
 
 25 PAEK EOW, NEW YOEK. 
 
 SOLD BT CANVASSERS. 
 1861. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the yeariSOl, by 
 
 A. 8 BAENES & BUEE, 
 
 Id the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the BoDthem 
 District of Kew Tork. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The life of a public man is a leaf of History 
 [t is a leaf, also, in which minute facts and partic- 
 ular causes and personal transactions are brought 
 out in such strong relief, as to have the effect of 
 a picture, taken from the Greats World, but view^ 
 ed, as we view small portions of the firmament, 
 through telescopic glasses. 
 
 Such lives are essential elements in the great 
 picture of Humanity in action, of which the his- 
 torian is the painter, and whose canvass must 
 contain the portraits of men, as well as the pic- 
 tured story of events, the memorials, and the 
 movement of nations. We must see the heads 
 of the actors, as well as the great moral of the 
 actions, which together compose the drama of 
 human society. 
 
 The life of General Winfield Scott is such an 
 -element in the recent History of the American 
 people. It cannot be separated from the great 
 American action. Men may take what view of 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 him, or the acts in which he was engaged, they 
 please ; but some view they must take. Those 
 acts were no trifling parts, nor performed in an 
 unimportant period of American progress. They 
 commenced in the agitations which (excited by 
 European aggressions) preceded the war of 1812. 
 They were brilhant points on the battle-fields of 
 Niagara, the most glowing and exciting scenes of 
 that war. They moved on from the peace of 
 1815 to the Indian war of 1832, on our western 
 frontier. They made part in the dramatic and 
 deeply-interesting scenes at Charleston, in the 
 year of nullification ; in the removal of the Cher- 
 okees beyond the Mississippi ; and in the pacifi- 
 cation of the Maine boundary. In the recent 
 conquest of Mexico, the campaign commencing 
 \yith the siege of Vera Cruz, and terminating in 
 the surrender of the capital, has few, if any, par-' 
 allels in military history. In all these scenes, 
 whether of war or peace, the acts of Winfield 
 Scott cannot be separated from history ; and he, 
 hke iEneas, (though with better fortune,) was an 
 observed and important actor in the drama of his 
 country. 
 
 What opinions of these historical ac^s an indi- 
 vidual, party, or sect may have formed, is not the 
 business of the historian to inquire. His duty, 
 like that of the true painter, is to place the linea- 
 
PREFACE. ▼ 
 
 ments of a public character on record, where they 
 may be seen by all observers, and left nndisfigured 
 to the final judgment of posterity. This duty, 
 the writer has undertaken to perform with strict 
 fidelity. The records of the country happily 
 furnish the foundation for most of his statements ; 
 the testimony of eminent and honorable gentle- 
 men, themselves actors in some of the scenes 
 described, furnishes other materials ; and, finally, 
 the papers and narratives of private persons, 
 make up an aggregate of fact and evidence, am- 
 ply sufficient to satisfy the demands of Truth, 
 Justice, and History. 
 
 These facts the writer has undertaken to 
 compose in a clear method, an easy narrative, 
 and, as far as he has the ability, an agreeable 
 style. Beyond this he does not seek to go. 
 He would neither exaggerate the objects in his 
 picture, nor add a coloring beyond the hues of 
 nature, Nor has he need ; for the battle-fields 
 of Niagara, the exciting crisis in which civil war 
 threatened to burst Out in the streets of Charles- 
 ton, the brilliant battles in the valley of Mex- 
 ico, the thrilling events of the entire campaign 
 there, and the civil arrangements made which 
 have conferred so much glory upon our country, 
 and so much honor and credit upon the distin- 
 
VI PEEFACE. 
 
 guished subject of this Memoir, have interest 
 enough, without any distorted figures drawn by 
 the pen of Fancy. 
 
 In fine, the author has desired to make a 
 volume of authentic and unimpeachable history. 
 As such, it win be, at least, a small contribution 
 to pubhc instruction : it may be some testimony 
 to the glory of that country from whose records 
 it has been chiefly taken. It will aid the his- 
 torian, who in future time shall wish to fill up 
 his shining page with the actors and action of 
 our da;ys. 
 
 This volume has been brought down to June, 
 1861, At this point, we leave the distin- 
 guished subject of this Memoir in command 
 of the national army in the Great .Rebellion. 
 Already two great points are gained : the de- 
 fence of the Capital, and the whole line of the 
 Potomac. Here we leave him, without any 
 attempt to draw the veil from the Future. 
 These Memoirs are already filled with the great- 
 est interest and the most momentous events. 
 We commit them to the American people, in 
 whose service Scott has been so long, so hon- 
 orably, and so successfully engaged. 
 
 E. D. M. , 
 
 Cincinnati, Jvly ith, 1861. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Period succeejling the American Revoluticai. — Causes of the War of 181S. 
 — Its effects on American Independence. — Fruits of Peace Page U 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1786 TO 1808. 
 Scott's Parentage.— Education.— Early Character.— Choice of a Profession. 
 — ^Entrance into the Army. — Political Opinions SO 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1808 TO 1812. 
 Scott is transferred to Louisiana. — His Persecution by Wilkinson. — Is tried 
 by a Court-Martial and suspended. — Poisnes his Military Studies. — Acts 
 as Judge-AdTocate S5 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 1812. 
 Commencement of the War.— State of the Niagara Frontier.— Scott jouis 
 the Army on the Niagara Frontier, and aids in a gallant Enterprise.— 
 Battle of Queenstown Heights. — Flag of Truce. — Surrender. — Scott's 
 singular Adventure with two Indian Chiefs.— Funeral of Brock 33 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 1812. 
 Reflections on the Principles of the American Government.— The captured 
 Irishmen,- Scott's Interference in their behalf.— Their joyful Interview 
 with him.— His Efforts with the Government.— Letter of Lord Eathnist. 
 — Mr. Monroe's Report. — Mr. Hanson's Speech. — Reflections on the 
 whole SO 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 1813. 
 Capture of York and Death of Pike.— Scott joins the Army as Adjutant- 
 General.— Battle and Capture of Fort George.— Pureuit of the Enemy.— 
 Anecdote.— Scott's Magnanimity TT 
 
Vm CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1813. 
 British Attacl£ on Sacketts Harbor.— Capture of Cliandler and Winder.— 
 Surrender of Boerstler.— Scott's Promotion.— Plan of the Campaign.— 
 Scott at Fort George.— His Departure for the St. Lawrence.— He com- 
 mands the Advance in the Descent of the St. Lawrence.— Retreat of the 
 Army. — Reflections on the Campaign Page 84 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1814. 
 Formation of the Camp of Instruction at Buff'alo.— Opening of the Cam- 
 paign.— Passage of the Niagara.— Skirmish with the Marquis of Twee- 
 dale.— Position of the Armies.— Battle of Chippewa.— Its Consequences. 
 —British Views 99 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1814. 
 American Army crosses the Chippewa. — Demonstration towards Burling- 
 ton Heights.— Battle of Niagara.— Scott pounded and disabled 121 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ■1814. 
 Retreat of the American Army.— Drummond besieges Fort Erie —Assault 
 of the British on Fort Erie. — Sortie of the Americans from Fort Erie. — 
 Retreat of the British Army. — Close of the Campaign 135 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1814 TO 1817. 
 Scott's Journey from Niagara to Philadelphia.— Is received at Princeton 
 with Honors, by the Faculty and Students of Nassau Hall. — Receives 
 the Honorary Degree of Master of Arts.— Pleasing Incident at Com- 
 mencement.— Scott's Journey to Europe.- Is intrusted with Diplomatic 
 Functions.— Correspondence with Kosciusko.— His Maniage 142 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 Scott's Promotions.— Resolution of Congress.— Presentation of the Medal 
 
 , by President Monroe.— Inscription.— Resolutions of Virginia.— Scott's 
 
 Correspondence with Governor Nicholas. — Resolutions of New York.— 
 
 Presentation of a Sword, and the Address, by Governor Tompkins,— 
 
 Scott a Member of the Cmcinnati , , . isi 
 
CONTENTS. ix 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 General Jackson's Order of 1817.— Reflectiona.— The Anonymous Letter. 
 — Correspondence of Scott and Jackson. — Implication of Clinton. — The 
 true Facts. — Reconciliation of Scott and Jackson.— Scott's Notice of his 
 Death.. Page 16S 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1821 TO 1832. 
 Scott writes the Military Institutes.— Prepares Reports on Tactics. — His 
 Essay on Temperance. — Obtains Admission to the Military Academy 
 for the Sons of General Paez.— Correspondence with General Paez. — 
 Controversy on Brevet Rank. — GJoesto Europe 179 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1831 TO 1832. 
 Indian Character. — Village of the Sacs. — Origin of the Black-Hawk War.— 
 Progress of the War. — Its Termination. — Scott sails with the Troops from 
 Buffalo. — Progress of the Asiatic Cholera. — Sufferings of Scott's Troops. 
 — Scott's Kindness in Sickness.— Indian Council at Rock Island. — Ke-o- 
 knck. — Indian Scenes. — Indian Dances.— Indian Treaties 197 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1898 TO 1832. 
 General Scott ordered to Charleston.- Tariff of 1828.— Colleton Meeting.— 
 Resistance to the Laws proposed.— McDuffie's Speecfi.— St. Helena 
 Resolution. — Germ of Nullification. — Major Hamilton's Speech at Wal- 
 terborough. — Nullification.- Resolutions of the South Carolina Legisla- 
 ture. — J. C. Calhoun's Letter from Fort Hill. — Judge Smith's Answer at 
 Spartanburg.— Union Party.— Convention. — Ordinance of Nullification. 
 —Governor Gayle. — State Resolutions.— General Jackson's Proclama- 
 tion, — Troops ordered to Charleston.— General Scott's Orders.- Scott's 
 Arrangements. — Test Oath.— Night Scene in Charleston. — Conduct oi 
 the Army and Navy. — Fire in Charleston eind Incidents. — Scott's Corre- 
 spondence 33* 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1835 TO 1837. 
 
 Commencement of the Florida War.— Description of the Seminoles.— 
 
 Character of Osceola.— Battle of Wythlacooche.— Massacre of Dade's 
 
 Command. — General Scott ordered to command the Army of Florida.— 
 
 Plan of the Campaign.— Its Termination.- Meeting of the Troops at 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 Tampa Bay.— Expeditions.— Sickness of the Army.— Retreats of the In- 
 dians.— Description of Florida.— The Hammock.— The Everglades.— 
 Scott's Report.— The Manner of his Recall.- Demands a Court of In- 
 quiry.— Meeting of theCourt.- His Speech.— Opinion of the Court.— Mr. 
 Riddle's Speech in Congress.- Scott invited to a Public Dinner in New 
 York.— He declines.— His Letter.— Asks to command the Army in 
 Florida, and is refused Page 269 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1837-1839. 
 Troubles on the Niagara Frontier.— Patriot Excitement.— Attack on the 
 Caroline.— General Scott ordered to the Niagara.— Is accompanied by 
 Governor Marcy.— Scott's Measures.— He harangues the People. — Ex- 
 citing Adventure with the Barcelona. — He maintains Peace. — He is 
 complimented at Albany.— Toasts 287 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1838. 
 Cherokee Controversy.- Measures for Removal.— General Scott ordered to 
 command the Troops. — His Arrangements. — General Order. — Address 
 to the Indians.— Enrolment for Removal. — Indian Encampment.— Scott'* 
 Humane Care. — He is ordered again to the North. — Reflections. — Dr. 
 Channing's Eulogy 399 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 1839. 
 Scott again on the Northern Frontier.— Maine Boundary Qnestion. — Its 
 Origin. — Scott's Reception by Governor Everett. — Proceedings of the 
 State of Maine. — Scott's Arrival and Reception at Augusta. — Remarks 
 in Congress in Anticipation of War. — Mr. Van Buren's Message. — The 
 " Memorandum."— Effect of the " Memorandum" in Maine. — Governor 
 Fairfield's Message. — Resolutions of the Legislature.- Former Friend- 
 ship of Scott and Harvey.— Interesting Anecdote.— Correspondence of 
 Scott and Harvey.— Scott's " Memorandum."— Termination of the Diffi- 
 cidties. — ^Treaty made by Daniel Webster 319 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 1839 TO 1845. 
 Scott presented for the Presidency in 1839.- Whig Convention of 1839.- 
 Scott's Vote.— Scott is made Commander of the Army.— His Letter in 
 Answer to Queries.— His Letter to the Dayton Committee in 1842.— His 
 Letter on Slavery in 1843. — His Letters on the Question of Peace and 
 War.— Biography defined.— This a Work of History.- Growth and 
 Prospects of the American Nation 343 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 1846, 18i1, 
 Gieneral Scott ordered to Mexico in May, 1846.— Correspondence with 
 the Secretary of War.— Reasons why he did not go.— Again ordered in 
 November.— Letter of the Secretary of War.— Departs for the Brazos.— 
 Siege and Capture ot Vera Cruz.— March of the Army into the 
 Interior.— Battle of Cerro Gordo.- Army entere Puebla Page 359 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL 
 1846-1848. 
 Entrance of the American Army into Puebla.— Strength of the Army.— 
 Scott's Proclamation.— His humanity.- Mission of Trist.— Reasons for 
 remaining at Puebla. — Reinforcements.— Drilling. — Concentration ol 
 the Army. — Its Divisions. — March. — Pass of Rio Frio. — Position of the 
 Army on the 13th of August— Reconnaissance of El Penon.— Turning 
 of Lake Chalco.— Position of the Army on the 18th of August 393 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 1850. 
 Mexican Line of Defences. — Po-sition of the American Army. — Battle of 
 Contreras. — Rout of the Mexicans. — Recapture of the BuenaVista Guns. 
 — Battle of Churubusco. — Storm of the T6te du Pont. — Defeat of the 
 Mexicans.— Truce.— Trist's Negotiations.— Theif Failure 411 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 Description of the Defences of Mexico.— Of Molino del Rey.— Of Cha- 
 pultepec— Battle of Molino del Ray.— Storm of Chapultepec— Capture 
 of Mexico. — Entrance into the City. — Scott's Address.- Insurrection of 
 the Leperos.— Scott's Orders.— PoUce Regulations 438 
 
 CHAPTER XXVL 
 Relative Loss of the American and Mexican Armies. — Plan of the Cam- 
 paign. — Its Consequences.- Fruits of Victory. — Acquisitions of Tenitory. 
 — Scott's Uniform Success. — His Seigacity.— Cass's Speech 461 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIL 
 Scott'sIdeasofMilitary Occupation.— His Civil Administration.— Gathers 
 Statistics. — Reports on the Coinage. — Prepares to occupy the Country. — 
 Secret Service Fund. — His Accounts. — Military Asylum.— Correspond- 
 ence with the Archbishop of Mexico.- Military Controversy.— Court of 
 Inquiry. — Suspended from his Command. — Returns Home 475 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIIL 
 General Scott's Return. — His Reception at New York.— Arrangements 
 of the Council. — Military Procession.- Address of the Mayor and Alder- 
 men. — His Replies.— Presentation of a Medal.— Scott's Return to Wash- 
 ington.— Hi* public Honors.— His public and private Character 493 
 
xu 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXrS. 
 1852-1861. 
 General Scott's NominatiDn to the Presidency. — The Election.— Causes of bis 
 Defeat. — Brevetted Lieutenant-General. — A Retired List— Mission to Van- 
 couver's Island.— Opinion of the Southern Defences.— Defence of "Wasliing- 
 
 ton.— Plan of the Campaign Page 515 
 
 Appendix 58T 
 
LIFE 
 
 GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Period succeeding the American Revolution. — Causes of the War of 1812. 
 — Its efiects on American Independence. — Fruits of Peace. 
 
 The Life of General Winfield Scott extends over the 
 period from the adoption of the American Constitution to 
 the present time. It is a period memorable in events — 
 remarkable for its social changes — splendid in the dramatic 
 exhibition of great historical actions, and curious to the 
 student of human nature, as a continual development of 
 new and various forms of intellectual growth and political 
 arrangements. It can scarcely be touched upon, even in 
 the life of an individual, without calling up some of those 
 strange scenes which, in the half century succeeding the 
 American Revolution, surprised both the actor and the 
 beholder. Whether we dwell upon the rough incidents of 
 war, 01 the gentle arts of peace, the mind will — in how- 
 ever small a degree — recall something of the fearful shock 
 
14 EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 which once attended the controversy of nations ; some- 
 thing of the glory which once, wrapt in garments of blood, 
 rolled over the battle-fields ; something of those benign 
 inventions, which accompanied the returning chariot of 
 commerce ; and something of the pleasant and the beauti- 
 ful in the progress of human reformations. 
 
 The war of the American Revolution did not end with 
 the treaty of peace. The conflict of arms continued in 
 Europe, and the clangor of battle was heard across the 
 Atlantic, like the thunders of a retreating storm. The 
 French Revolution succeeded the American, and carried 
 the overthrow of government and the destruction of estab- 
 lished institutions to such an extreme issue, that the idea 
 of political reformation on one hand, and the dread of a 
 fearful change on the other, agitated and convulsed the 
 populations of the civilized world. 
 
 In America, the Revolution had established a just and 
 noble independence for the once colonized subjects of 
 England ; but it had also left them with the debt of a long 
 war to provide for,* with much of the spirit of insubordi- 
 nation,^ with commerce in a great measure destroyed, and 
 with separate states unconsolidated by national institu- 
 tions.' Several years elapsed before the Constitution was 
 formed,* and law firmly established under the happy ad- 
 ministration of Washington. Even then the fires of war 
 were not wholly extinguished. They broke out anew on 
 the northwestern frontier, in fresh conflicts with the tribes 
 
 ■ The public debt of the United States was, in 1791, $75,463,467. 
 ' See Shay's Insurrection in Massachusetts. 
 
 ■ General Washington's Letter to the Goyemors of States, June, 1783. 
 * The Constitution was formed in 1787, and went into operation on the 
 
 4th of March, 1789, six years after the oeace. 
 
THE NEW PRINCIPLE OF GOVERNMENT 15 
 
 of the Ohio and the Wabash. The spirit of civilization 
 was again encountered by the retreating warriors of bar- 
 barism. The red chiefs of the forest parted -with bitter 
 strife from that solemn wilderness in' which they so long 
 had wandered, whose wild liberty they so long had cher- 
 ished, whose homes and graves they so long had loved. 
 They were impelled, if not instigated, by hopes or pro- 
 mises of European assistance.* The region of the Miamis 
 was the scene of a fierce war. Battles were fought and 
 lost by the new republic ; and it was not till the victory 
 of Wayne, that the supremacy of the whites was estab- 
 hshed in the valley of the Ohio — its rich lands and de- 
 lightful climate opened to the possession of emigrEmts — and 
 Christian civilization left free to fill with cities, with culti- 
 vated fields, and humanizing arts, the broad plains and 
 verdant vales, extending froni the ridge of the Alleghanies 
 to the Andes of the North. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States of Nortji America 
 is at once the true basis of the American nation, and the 
 most splendid monument to its political genius. Unlike the 
 constitutions which were subsequently formed in Europe 
 and in some parts of America, it remains permanent. Un- 
 like other governments also of either ancient or modem 
 limes, its principle is, the consent of the governed, and not 
 the power of the governor. It places no restraint upon 
 either the political action or utterance of the people. Hence 
 their minds are free to follow, in regard to either foreign or 
 domestic policy, the dictates of reason, or interest, or pas- 
 sion or prejudice ; and to pursue, wherever it may lead, 
 that wild and fierce spirit of liberty, (as some conservative 
 
 ' See Washington's Letter to Mr. Jay, dated 30th August, 1794. 
 
16 NEUTRAL POLICY OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Blinds have thought it,) which has agitated but never dis-. 
 united the American nation. 
 
 Succeeding the formation of the American Constitution, 
 was a rapid succession of dramatic historical acts, from 
 whose vivid and often terrible scenes the excited imagina- 
 tions of men can scarcely yet be withdrawn. The spirits 
 of revolution and anti-revolution, represented in the French 
 and Enghsh nations, struggled for mastery on the conti- 
 nent of Europe, and moved the social waters of the Chris- 
 tian world. They sought for allies in the bosom of every 
 other nation. They flattered or threatened, bribed or de- 
 stroyed, whatever other governments or nations stood in 
 the way of their dominion. One wielded the empire of 
 the ocean, the other that of the land. 
 
 Far over the western seas, as were the United States, 
 yet they could not wholly escape the consequences of 
 such a collision between such mighty forces. Efforts were 
 made to draw them into alliances on the one hand and on 
 the other-r England appealed to America by the strong 
 argument of consanguineous kindred, and France, by ser- 
 vices rendered in the hour of adversity, cmd friendships 
 kindled in the season of youth. Both were arguments 
 acknowledged and appeals felt, by large portions of the 
 people of the United States. The neutral policy was, 
 however, preferred, lest we should be involved in contro- 
 versies alien to the republican principles of the govern- 
 ment; and it was further commended by the potential 
 voice of the Father of his Country.^ 
 
 The European nations had, since the Christian era, 
 been without any example of the permanent stability and 
 
 ' See WashingtonVFarewell Address, and other public documents. 
 
CAUSES OF THE WAR OF 1812. 17 
 
 widely developed energies of a republic. They therefore 
 believed the American government only the creature of 
 temporary excitement, and its resistance to their solicita- 
 tions merely the efforts of infantile weakness. 
 
 This belief they carried into practice. The institutions 
 of the United States were contemned. Their neutral 
 rights were violated, and their national sovereignty, dear 
 to every people, was attacked, insulted, and despised. In 
 less- than twenty years, occurred the insults of the French 
 ambassador to President Washington,* the impressment 
 of American seamen,^ the attack on the Chesapeake,^ the 
 British Orders in Council, and the French Berlin and 
 Milan decrees,* a series of wrongs and contempts, at this 
 time almost mcredible. The historian of Eui^opean opin 
 ions has not ventured to defend them,^ but, in admitting 
 the hard conduct of England and France to neutral 
 nations,^ only contends that the United States had not 
 equitably assessed the proportions of damage and outrage 
 inflicted on them by the great aggressors in Europe!' 
 
 ' The appeal of Genet (the French ambassador) from the president to 
 the peoplei occurred. 
 
 ' The British claimed the right of impressment (as a maritime right) 
 during the whole war with France. See Alison's History of Europe, 
 second Edinhnrgh edition, vol. x. page 600. 
 
 * June 23d, 1807. 
 
 * Mr. Fox declared the coasts of France and Holland, from Brest to 
 the Elbe, blockaded, May 16th, 1806. The Berlin decree was issued by 
 Napoleon, Nov. 2lBt, 1806. The British Orders in Council were issued 
 Nov. 11th, 1807 ; their object was to establish a paper blockade, and, 
 under it, to confiscate neutral property. 
 
 ' See Alison's History, 82d chapter. 
 ' See Alison. 
 
 * This ia the precise argument of Alison's History of Buropcw 
 
 2 
 
18 CLOSE OF THE SECOND WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 The people of America thought differently. They closed 
 these scenes of contempt forever, by the war of 1812— ra 
 war made necessary to sustain the national honor, inter- 
 ests, and independence, against continued aggressions and 
 undeserved contumely. 
 
 It was thus the war of the American Revolution agi- 
 tated the nations of Europe ; thus it raised up contending 
 spirits on other continents ; and thus it revisited the shores 
 of America long after the independence of its repub- 
 lican states was firmly established. Its return was hke 
 the wave cast upon the beach by the agitations of a storm 
 long passed away. These agitations did not cease till 
 Napoleon, the lion of his age, was exiled to the rock of 
 St. Helena ; till England had been taught to respect 
 America; till America herself had achieved more than one 
 glorious victory, both by land and sea ; and, in fine, till 
 our republic had a second time vindicated its right to the 
 dignity of a nation, and the sovereignty of a separate gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 The drama thus closed was as beneficent in its effects, 
 as it was grand in action) and momentous in events. All 
 the national relations of the world were changed. Gov- 
 ernments of whatever form henceforth professed to live 
 for the people. 
 
 The change in the arts of life was no less remarkable. 
 Where the storm of war had passed with its darkness and 
 desolations, the peace of 1815 left its broad sunlight, and 
 difiiised its genial warmth. The refreshing verdure of 
 spring upon hills and vales, or the ripening fruits of glori- 
 ous summer, are not more visible to the eye of the hus- 
 bandmen, than are the fruits of the national convulsions 
 and controversies, which intervened between the first and 
 
FRUITS OF PEACE. 19 
 
 second American wars, to the intelligent and well-instruct- 
 ed mind. They are visible in all the actions of civil and 
 social life. They spring up in the new and wonderful 
 arts of invention ; in the increased growth of population ; 
 in the multiplied comforts of families ; in the diffused 
 benefits of science and literature ; and in the wide-spread 
 power of commerce, sweeping round the earth, gathering 
 its continual harvest, and sending forth to once unvisited 
 regions, the bearers of love and mercy. National courte- 
 sies are renewed. Christian principles adopted ; and man- 
 kind seem, at last, engaged in the happy work of bringing 
 from the earth its richest products, and from immortal 
 mind its noblest powers ! 
 
20 SCOTt's parentage. EARLY CHARACTER. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1786 TO 1808. 
 
 Scott's Parentage. — Education. — Early Character. — Choice of a Profes- 
 sion. — Entrance into the Anny..«-Political Opinions. 
 
 WiNFiELD Scott was born the 13th of June, 1786, 
 near Petersburg, in Vu-ginia. His descent may be traced 
 from a Scottish gentleman of the Lowlands, who, with his 
 elder brother, was engaged in the Rebellion of 1745. The 
 elder was slain on the field of Culloden. The younger, 
 involved in the consequences of that severe disaster, emi- 
 grated to America, and, bringing with him little except a 
 liberal education, commenced the practice of the law in 
 Virginia. He married there, and was successful in his 
 profession, but died young. 
 
 His son William married Ann Mason, a lady of one of 
 the most respectable families of Virginia. He lived a 
 farmer by occupation, and died in 1791, leaving two sons 
 and several daughters. The eldest of the sons was 
 James, who commanded a regiment at Norfolk, in 1812, 
 and the youngest Winfield, the subject of this Memoir. 
 At the death of his father, the care of the family and the 
 education of the children devolved upon the widow, who 
 is reputed to have discharged her duties in the most ex- 
 emplary manner. She died in 1803, leaving Scott, at 
 seventeen years of age, in the very outset of active life. 
 
 At this time, his character is described, by one who 
 
ADMISSION TO THE BAR. 21 
 
 well knew him, as distinctly formed. He was full of 
 hope, and animated by a just sense of honor, and a gener- 
 ous ambition of honest fame. His heart was open and 
 Kind to all the world, warm with affection towards his 
 friends, and with no idea that he had, or deserved to have, 
 an enemy. 
 
 The particulars of his early education are not fully 
 known ; but it seems that he was intended for one of the 
 learned professions. He pursued the usual preparatory 
 studies, and spent a year in the high-school at Richmond, 
 under the teachings of Ogilvie, then quite a celebrated 
 man. Thence, he went of his own accord to the College 
 of William and Mary, where he remained one or two 
 years, and attended a course of law lectures. He finished 
 his legal studies in the office of David Robertson, a Scots- 
 man, who had been sent out originally as a tutor in the 
 family of Scott's maternal grandfather. He is said to 
 have been a learned and worthy-man.* 
 
 In 1806, Scott was admitted to the bar, but remained 
 in Virginia only about a year. During this time, he rode 
 the circuit two terms, in the vicinity of Petersburg. In 
 the same period he resided and read much with Benja- 
 min Watkins Leigh, Esq., since well known as one of the 
 chief ornaments of the bar and state of Virginia. He 
 then, and subsequently, enjoyed the advice and instruction 
 of this able counsellor — an advantage and obligation he 
 has ever been ready to acknowledge. 
 
 In the autumn of 1807, he emigrated to. South Carolina, 
 
 ' He was reporter of the debates in the Convention of Virginia, called 
 to consider the adoption of the Federal Constitution ; and also of the pro- 
 ceedings on the trial of Aaron B,urr. 
 
82 APPROACH OF A WAR. 
 
 Inteiiding to practise law in the courts of Charleston. For 
 this purpose he paSsed through Columbia, the seat of 
 government, to procure from the legislature a special ex- 
 emption from the general law requiring practitioners to 
 havosa year's residence in the state. It passed one house, 
 but failed, from want of time, in the other. This defeated 
 his intention of immediate practice in Charleston, and not 
 improbably turned the current of his life. Disengaged 
 from business, the political events of his country, then 
 rapidly moving to a crisis, soon transferred him to another 
 and a more active and brilliant scene. It was just at this 
 period, that the aggressions of the European powers, 
 especially England, on the commerce of the United States, 
 had reached their height, and inspired the youth of the 
 nation with martial feelings. A spirit of resistance was 
 excited, and, to discerning eyes, not a few indications of 
 war were visible. 
 
 In .this spirit of patriotism and of indignant resent- 
 ment for wrongs endured, Scott largely shared. We 
 have seen that he was then hopeful, ambitious, and emu- 
 lous of fame. Thus he combinedin his character the ele- 
 ments of a patriot soldier. 
 
 In the summer of 1807, he had specially volunteered, 
 as a member of a Petersburg troop of horse, that had been 
 called out under the proclamation of the president, forbid- 
 ding the harbors of the Unite'd States to British vessels of 
 war. This was in consequence of the attack on the frig- 
 ate Chesapeake. Their station was near Lynnhaven Bay, 
 and their duty soon over. 
 
 On his return to the north, after his visit to Charleston, 
 the country was in the midst of the poHtical excitements 
 which attended renewed difficulties with England, and 
 
SHALL ENGLAND OR FRANCE BE ATTACKED ? 23 
 
 the enactment of the embargo law.* In the winter of 
 1807-8, a bill was introduced into Congress for the en- 
 largement of the army, and Scott, like many others of his 
 young countrymen, applied for a commission in the new 
 regiments about to be raised. The bill lingered, however, 
 in Congress, and the prospect of war diminished. Scott, 
 impatient at the want of decision in the public councils, 
 and dissatisfied with his own 'want of employment, re- 
 turned to his circuit. The augmentation of the army, not- 
 withstanding the delay, took place. The law was passed 
 in April, and in May, 1808, he became, through the in- 
 fluence of his friend and neighbor, the Hon. William B. 
 Giles, a captain of light artillery. 
 
 The war, however, to which so many of the warm 
 spirits of the country looked forward, was not yet to take 
 place. It was one of the singular results of party spirit, 
 that the nation found if difficult to choose the object of its 
 hostility. It could not be denied, that both England, and 
 France had done enough against the neutral commerce of 
 the United States to excite the just resentment of any in- 
 dependent nation, but the S3rmpathies of the people were 
 divided between the French and English parties in the 
 great continental war. It was then too little felt that the 
 republic of the United States was itself a great nation, to 
 which the controversies of Europe were entirely foreign, 
 and to whose views, interests, and principles, those of ev- 
 ery other people were dissimilar, if not antagonistic. It was 
 urged by those who sympathized with England, that 
 France was- the aggressor in the attacks on neutral com- 
 
 ' The embargo was enacted in the close of 1807, and the non-inter* 
 course act, 1st of March, 1808. 
 
24 OPINIONS OF SCOTT. 
 
 merce, and by those who sympathized with France, that 
 England had committed other and greater wrongs. The 
 controversy is still kept up in the volumes of respectable 
 historians.* There was one claim, however, set up by 
 England, which, in spite of French confiscations,® cast the 
 balance greatly against England. It was the claim to 
 search the ships and impress the seamen of neutral nations 
 — a right which she claimed "under the common maritime 
 laws of nations," and which, but for American resistance, 
 she would have continued to exercise, and be, in fact,^ the 
 mistress of the seas. 
 
 It was under the pressure of acts and claims so utterly 
 hostile to the interests and dignity of the United States, 
 that the American nation, with an executive averse to war,* 
 and a policy entirely peaceful, were finally induced to take 
 up arms against Great Britain. In the political contro- 
 versies of- this exciting period, Scott was, in his opinions 
 and acts, with the Democratic party. He was educated, 
 believed, and acted, according to the political principles of 
 Mr. Jefferson. He supported the election of Mr. Madison 
 to the presidency, and, from the attack on the Chesapeake 
 to the declaration of war, he was an approver, a supporter, 
 and a wnriter in favor, of war measures. 
 
 ' See the 82d chapter of Alison's History. 
 
 ' The French confiscated at Antwerp, and many other places, enor- 
 mous amounts of American property, which was sold for the benefit of the 
 French military chest ! 
 
 • The claim amounted to a claim to absolute dominion. 
 
 * Mr. Madison was very averse to war, if it could be avoided. 
 
CAUSES OF THE PORCHASE OF LOUISIANA, 2S 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1808 TO 1812. 
 
 Scott is transferred to Louisiana. — His Persecution by Wilkinson. — Ii 
 tried by a Court Martial and suspended. — Puisues his Military Studies. 
 — Acts as Judge Advocate. 
 
 The purchase of Louisiana imposed upon the govern- 
 ment of the United States the necessity of its defence. 
 The Mississippi disemboguing itself into the Gulf of 
 Mexico, after traversing more than four thousand miles of 
 fertile valleys, its mouth became one of the most impor- 
 tant commercial points in America or in the world. The 
 vast importance of that point to the numerous river^, to 
 the broad alluvial plains, and to the milhons of people 
 who should, in after-time, live upon them,^ had been 
 foreseen by wise men, and caused the purchase of 
 that territory, to secure the growth of the West, the 
 navigation of its rivers to the ocean, the defence of the 
 frontier, and the permanency of the Union. The sa- 
 gacity of the purchase all history will now admit. Since 
 the days of Alexander no more valuable addition has 
 been made to the possessions of any nation, by the con- 
 quests of war, or the arts of negotiation. This peace- 
 ful acquisition was to the United States a more solid 
 
 ' Beyond doubt, the territory acquired by the purchase of Louisiana, 
 will maintain and must soon have one hundred millions of peofln 
 
 2 
 
26 SCOTT IS ORDERED TO NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 property and a more durable laurel, than any acquired bv 
 the victories of the Roman Caesar. 
 
 When the diiSculties arose with Great Britain, it was 
 apprehended that a sudden invasion of Louisiana might 
 be made, and under this apprehension a military force 
 was kept there, under the command of General Wilkin- 
 son. In 1809, Scott was ordered to New Orleans, and 
 joined the army there. He was then a captain of light 
 artillery, at only twenty-three years of age, frank, ardent, 
 and bold. It was not at all surprising, then, that he 
 should express his opinions with freedom, or that such 
 freedom should sometimes be ill received by others. 
 This was the case in a difficulty which soon after ensued 
 between Scott and Wilkinson. 
 
 The origin of this difficulty was in the connection of 
 the latter with the trial and intrigues of Burr. Scott had 
 witnessed the development of these transactions at Rich 
 mond, before he joined the army, and thought the conduct 
 of his present commander doubtful. Wilkinson made 
 several unsuccessful efforts to win him to his purposes, 
 as " a ydung man who could speak, and write, and fight" 
 — qualifications for which he had almost daily occasions 
 Having failed to gain the confidence of Scott, the general 
 seems to have been determined to force him out of the 
 service by continued persecutions. Scott's frankness,' 
 frequently pushed to indiscretion,' soon gave the general 
 a favorable opportunity of striking the meditated blow. 
 
 Circumstances which afterwards occurred, brought on 
 a crisis. The discipline of the Mississippi army became 
 much impaired. The camp established in June, 1809, a 
 little below New Orleans, became as many had foreseen, 
 very sickly. A large part of the army perished. Tha 
 
THE COURT MARTIAL. 27 
 
 survivors were transferred to a new camp near Natchez ; 
 and Wilkinson was ordered to the seat of government, to 
 undergo an investigation into his conduct. In the win- 
 ter of 1809-10, General Hampton took the command 
 in the South-, but Wilkinson still remained in the neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 The fact that Wilkinson was not»then in command, 
 caused Scott to think he might indulge in censures of that 
 officer, without violating the rules of military service. 
 Accordingly he was quite free in discussing the conduct 
 of his late commander, who was soon made acquainted 
 with the criticisms of the young captain of artillery, and, 
 as the result showed, deeply offended. Scott was arrest- 
 ed, and tried by a court martial on two charges. 
 
 The first was substantially, that of withholding the 
 men's money placed in his possession for their payment, 
 for two months, and withholding it intentionally. 
 
 The second was unofficer-like conduct, in using disre- 
 spectful language towards his superior officer, in violation 
 of the 6th Article of War, which says, that " any officer 
 who shall behave himself with contempt and disrespect to- 
 wards his commanding officer, shall be punished, accord- 
 ing to the nature of the offence, by the judgment of a 
 court martial." 
 
 The first of these charges (substantially that of em- 
 bezzlement) Scott indignantly denied ; but the second, 
 that of " disrespectful language," he acknowledged, and 
 boldly undertook to justify. The trial took place at Wash- 
 ington, near Natchez, in January, 1810. The result was, 
 that the court acquitted him of all fraudulent intention in de- 
 taining the money of his men; but convicted him under the 
 second charge of unofficer-like conduct, (for using disre- 
 
88 CHARGES AND SPECIFICATIONS. 
 
 spectful language towards his commanding oiEcer,) and 
 sentenced him to suspension from rank, pay, and emolu- 
 ments for one year.' 
 
 ' As this trial and charges may possibly be misunderstood, we have olj- 
 tained an authenticated abstract of the Record, in regard to the findings 
 and sentence against Captain Scott. On the specifications not quoted, 
 he was fully acquitted. ♦ 
 Charge I. — " Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." 
 
 1. Specification. — '.' In withholding at sundry times men's money 
 placed in his possession for their payment, for the months of Sep- 
 tember and October." 
 
 2. Specification. — (Acquitted.) 
 
 Charge II. — And Specifications. — (Acquitted.) 
 
 Ch.\rge III. — (Additional.) — " Ungentlemanly and unofficer-like con- 
 duet." 
 
 1. Specification. — " In saying, between the first of December and 
 the first of January; 1809-10, at a public table, m Washington, 
 (Mississippi Territory,) that he never saw but two traitors. General 
 Wilkinson and Burr, and that General Wilkinson was a liar and a 
 scoundrel." * _ 
 
 2. Specification. — (Atquitted.) 
 
 Finding and Sentence. 
 
 1. " Guilty of the first specification of the first charge, and pronounce 
 his conduct unofficer-like. (Not ungentlemanly.) 
 
 2."The court acquit the prisoner of the second charge andspecification. 
 
 3."The court find the prisoner guilty of the first specification of the ad- 
 ditional charge, but not guilty of the second specification ; and pronounce 
 his conduct unofficer-like ; and sentence hira to be suspended from all 
 rank, pay, and emoluments, for the space of twelve months. But the 
 Court have no hesitation in acquitting the prisoner of all fraudulent 
 intentions in detaining the pay of his men.—The^prt' adjourned. 
 
 "* * The court met pursuant to adjournmefjgpd recommended to 
 tlie general the remission of nine months of Capt^cotfs suspension," 
 <Signed,)"H. Russell, 
 
 Colonel oftjBfe 7tij:infantry, president. 
 
 " BJlLLIAM H|S<3, 
 
 pieuJ^at of infahtry, judge advocat* 
 
WILKINSON'S CONNECTION \VITH BURR. 09 
 
 Whatever may be thought of this transaction, there is 
 one fact connected with the general history of the coun- 
 try, which should be here remembered. All who are fa- 
 miliar with the popular feeling of the country at that period, 
 know that it ran very strongly against Burr, and all who 
 were supposed, directly or indirectly^ connected with him. 
 Wilkinson was supposed, (whether justly or not,) to have 
 been in some way implicated. It was this feeling, — pa- 
 triotic in its basis, — ^which Scott shared, and which urged 
 him subsequently to the use of indiscreet words. 
 
 The facts in regard to the first charge (that of retaining 
 money) appear to have been these : Prior to his departure 
 for New Orleans, he had recruited his company in the 
 interior of Virginia. While there, renaote from commis- 
 sary, paymaster, or quarter-master, and without advice or 
 experience, a small sum of money (about $400) was 
 placed in his hands for the service of his company. Some 
 of the receipts taken for payment^ ■jvere irregular, and at 
 the time of his trial, a small part of 'fhis small sum (about 
 $50) was uncovered hy formal vouchers. The court so 
 found, but expressly acquitted him of all " fraudulent in- 
 tentions." In fact, he had been charged with all he re- 
 ceived at the treasury, where nothing could be received 
 as a credit, except in the shape of a formal voucher. 
 
 Thus terminated what, at the time, was a vexatious 
 proceeding to Captain Scott ; but which, we shall pres- 
 ently see, was really advantageou^to him. The only 
 matter the court had seriously founaiagainst him, was an 
 indiscretion in words, and that, too, originating in an ex- 
 cess of patriotism. The trial was very far from producing 
 an unfavorable eifect on the pubUc mind ; for he was soon 
 after complimented by a public dinner, given by manv 
 
30 Scott's employment of his leisure. 
 
 officers and citizens of the neighborhood, and followed by 
 the good wishes of all to whom he was personally known. 
 
 It may not be out of place to remark, that General 
 "Wilkinson first published his attack on the fame of Scott, 
 immediately after the close of the late war. Whether ii 
 was prompted by a comparison of his entire failure in the 
 campaign of 1813, and thfe disgraceful defeat at La Cole 
 Mills in the following spring, with the brilliant achieve- 
 ments on the Niagara frontier, in which Scott bore so con- 
 spicuous a part, or whether it was the result of a long-cher 
 ished purpose of revenge, is not material to inquire. The 
 public have the facts, and can draw their own conclusions 
 
 Scott returned to Virginia, somewhat at a loss what to 
 do in the year of his suspension. He there met again his 
 friend, B.Watkins Leigh, Esq., who advised him to employ 
 his leisure time in the diligent study of such works on the 
 military art, as would be most useful to him in his profes 
 sion, especially such as taught the principles of the art. 
 He also offered him the use of his house and library. 
 Scott accepted the invitation, and remained at the house 
 of Mr. Leigh near a year, pursuing his studies with such 
 ardor and diligence, that the sentence of suspension was 
 probably one of the fortunate events of his life. 
 
 Scott was continually of opinion, with other intelligent 
 men, that war with Great Britain must break out ; aild 
 hence, while pursuing his studies at Mr. Leigh's, his 
 great anxiety was, lest it should break out while he 
 was under suspension. This, however, was not the case ; 
 and he had an opportunity to resume his place in the 
 army, better prepared for the duties of his profession, 
 before active hostilities were commenced. 
 
 In March, 1812, he acted as judge advocate upon the 
 
HE ACTS AS JUDGE ADVOCATE. 31 
 
 trial of Col. C— — . A report of this trial was afterwards 
 published, and it is said that his management of the in- 
 vestigation, and his replication to the defence, afforded 
 honorable proofs of his legal talents and acquisitions. 
 
CONGRESS DECLARES WAR. 33 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1812. 
 
 Commencement of the War. — State of the Niagara Frontier. — Scott joins 
 the Army on the Niagara Frontier, and aids in a gallant enterprise. — 
 Battle of Queenstown Heights. — Flag of Truce. — Surrender. — Scott's 
 singular adventure with two Indian Chiefs. — Funeral of Brock. 
 
 The aggressions committed by the English nation, 
 though unavenged, were not forgotten. Still, the Ameri- 
 can people long cherished the hope that a sense of justice 
 would induce the British ministry to bring to a speedy and 
 honorable termination the unfortunate differences subsist- 
 ing between the two nations. They were unwilling to re- 
 sort to the ultimate means of redress until all peaceful 
 measures had been exhajasted ; and, indeed, so tardy, was 
 the government in preparations for war, that the people, in 
 many parts of the country, loudly complained of its want 
 of firmness and energy. But delay brought no redress. 
 Injury was followed by indignity, until the peaceful policy 
 of the government at length yielded, and on the 18lh of 
 June, 1812, war was formally declared against Great Brit- 
 ain and its dependencies, by the Congress of the United 
 States. 
 
 Previous to that date,' General Hull, in anticipation of 
 that event, had been appointed to the command of a nu- 
 
 * Hull was appointed to the command of the northwestern army some 
 time in May . 
 
 3 
 
84 hui,l's expedition and surrender. 
 
 merous and well-fiirnished army,^ intended for the invasion 
 of Canada, from some point near Detroit. Tliis army 
 passed Cincinnati the latter part of May, left Dayton on 
 the 1st of June, arrived on the Maumee River on the 30th, 
 and crossed the River of Detroit, for the invasion of Can- 
 ada, on the 12th of .July. The expedition was attended 
 with the high hopes of the people, the officers, and the 
 men. It was opposed by no superior force, and when in 
 front of the enemy, no sound of discontent was heard, nor 
 any appearance of cowardice or disaffection seen. On the 
 contrary, every man awaited the battle in sure anticipation 
 of victory, expecting a proud day for his country and him- 
 self.^ Notwithstanding all this preparation, notwithstanding 
 the superiority of the force, and notwithstanding these vivid 
 anticipations of success and glory, the entire army was, 
 without apparent cause, surrendered to ' the demand of 
 General Brock, on the 14th of August. 
 
 This event, so unexpected and so disastrous, filled the 
 American people with confusion and mortification. No 
 one, who does not remember the appearance and conver 
 sation of the people at that time, can form a correct idea 
 of the mournful effect produced by the surrender of Hull. 
 Indignation, grief, and shame, alternately filled the hearts 
 of the honest citizen and the patriot soldier. It was a veil 
 of darkness drawn over the face of the country. 
 
 Such was the commencement of the war of 1812, un- 
 
 ' The army was composed of the 4th regiment of infantry, who had 
 borne the brunt of the battle on the field of Tippecanoe ; a part of the 1st 
 regiment of infantry ; three companies of the 1st artillery ; throe regi- 
 ments of volunteers from Ohio, of which two companies were from Cin- 
 cinnati ; and the Michigan militia. 
 
 " See Cass's Letter, dated 1 0th of September. 
 
ATTACK ON TWO ARMED BRIOS 35 
 
 toiirHiate, disastrous, and melancholy. It was certainly 
 no encouragement lo those who soon after commenced 
 the campaigns of the Niagara, where bloody fields, brave 
 actions, and positive achievement, reanimated the hopes 
 of the country, and gave a durable glory to the American 
 arms. In republican governments, the people are naturally 
 jealous of military power. They regard large standing 
 armies with distrust, and are reluctant to resort to them 
 ■even for defence, until the peril is imminent. Hence, 
 the commencement of a national conflict will generally be 
 disastrous. The spirit of the people must be aroused by a 
 sense of danger, and the feeling of national honor must be 
 awakened before their energies can be turned from the chan- 
 nels of productive labor, and exerted on the field of war. 
 
 In July, 1812, Scott received the commission of lieu- 
 tenant-colonel in the 2d artillery, (Izard's regiment,) and 
 arrived on the Niagara frontier, with the companies of 
 Towson and Barker. He took post at Black Rock, to 
 protect the navy-yard there established. 
 
 Lieutenant Elliott of the navy had planned an enter- 
 prise against two British armed brigs, then lying at anchor 
 under the guns of Fort Erie. For this purpose, he applied 
 on the 8th of October, 1812, to Colonel Scott, for assist- 
 ance in officers and men.' Captain Towson, and a portion 
 of his company, were dispatched to the aid of Elliott 
 The attack was successful. On the morning of the 9th, 
 both vejsels were carried in the most gallant manner. 
 The " Adams" was taken by Captain Elliott in person, 
 assisted by Lieutenant Isaac Roach ;' and the " Caledo- 
 nia" by the gallant Captain Towson. In dropping down 
 
 Mr. Roach has since been mayor of Philadelphia. 
 
36 THE "adams" recaptured and held. 
 
 the Niagara River, the " Adams" became unmanageable, 
 through the occurrence of a calm, and drifted into the 
 British channel. She got aground on Squaw Island, di- 
 rectly under the guns of the enemy's batteries, where it 
 was impossible to get her off. Captain Elliott, therefore, 
 having previously secured the prisoners, abandoned her 
 under a heavy fire from the British shore. Then ensued 
 an interesting and exciting scene, the British endeavoring 
 to retake the abandoned brig, and Colonel Scott to pre- 
 vent them. The enemy sent off boats, and Scott resisted 
 them, in which effort he was successful. The brig was 
 recaptured, and held until she was subsequently burned, 
 by order of General Smythe, who had then arrived. 
 
 As for the " Caledonia," she was preserved by the ex- 
 traordinary efforts of Captain (now General) Towson, and 
 afterwards did good service in the memorable and glorious 
 victory won on Lake Erie, by the gallant Perry. 
 
 This was one of those small but honorable enterprises, 
 of which many occurred during the war, which should be 
 mentioned to the credit of the actors, and as an example 
 to those who hereafter may have similar duties to perform 
 in defence of their country. 
 
 In the beginning of October, 1812, Major-General 
 Stephen Van Rensselaer had collected together, at Lewis- 
 town, about two thousand five hundred of the New York 
 militia. The successful enterprise which resulted in the 
 capture of the "Adams" and " Caledonia," on the 8th of 
 that month, had given such an apparent ardor and impuls« 
 to these troops, that it was believed impossible to restrain 
 them.' Indeed, the troops declared they must act, or go 
 
 • General Van Rensselaer's Letter, I4th October, 1812. 
 
PLAN OF THE ATTACK ON QUEENS.TOWN. 37 
 
 home, an alternative which imposed upon the general the 
 necessity of some active movement. Accordingly, he 
 planned an attack on Queenstown Heights. The troops 
 which he had at his command were the New York 
 militia, and about four hundred and fifty regulars under 
 the command of Colonels Fenwick and Chrystie, who, 
 with Major Mullaney, had arrived the night before, 
 in detachments, from Fort Niagara, for the purpose of 
 joining in this expedition. The militia were raw, inex- 
 perienced, and undisciplined, circumstances which caused 
 the brunt of the battle ultimately to fall on the regulars, 
 and its final loss.* 
 
 The object of the movement was to dispossess the ene 
 my from the fort and village of Queenstown Heights, and 
 thus to make a lodgment for the American troops on the 
 Canada shore, the invasion of Canada being then the 
 leading object of the northern campaign. The plan was, 
 to throw over the river two columns of troops, each about 
 three hundred strong.^ One was commanded by Colonel 
 Solomon Van Rensselaer, and the other by Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Chrystie. The detachments of Fenwick and 
 Mullaney were to sustain, in the best way they could, 
 these columns. These arrangements were made on the 
 1 2th of October. Late in the evening of that day. Colonel 
 Scott had arrived, by a forced march, partly by water, 
 and partly through mud and rain, at Schlosser, one mile 
 from tke Falls and eight from Lewistown, with the view 
 of-joining in the contemplated attack. He hastened to 
 Lewistown, apd volunteered his services' to General Van 
 Rensselaer. They were declined, on account of the ar- 
 
 ' GeneraJ Van RensBelaer's Report, 14th October, 1812. ' Idem 
 3* 
 
38 CROSSING OF THE TROOPS. 
 
 rangemenls already made ; but, not without permission, 
 that Scott should bring his regiment immediately to 
 Lewistown, and there act as circumstances might require, 
 or opportunities offer. This permission he at once availed 
 himself of, and arrived vsrith his corps, at four A. M. on 
 the 13th. Finding no boats, he placed his train in bat- 
 tery on the American shore, under the immediate com- 
 mand of Captains Towson and Barker, and when daylight 
 appeared, opened an effective fire on the enemy. 
 
 In the mean time, the principal movement, as originally 
 planned, had gone on. All the boats which could be 
 collected were employed to transport the columns of 
 Chrystie and Van Rensselaer. Unfortunately, the boats 
 were insufScient to take the whole number at once, and 
 the passage was made by detachments.^ The boat in 
 which Chrystie was, became partially disabled, was mis- 
 managed by the pilot,^ and finally carried out of the way 
 by the eddies of the river. He made a gallant attempt 
 to land, but was wounded, and compelled to return to the 
 American shore. In the after part of the engagement, 
 he returned with reinforcements to the troops in Canada, 
 and shared the fate of the day.^ 
 
 The main body of the first embarkation, under the di- 
 rection of Colonel Van Rensselaer, was more successful. 
 Two companies of the 13th regiment,^ with other small 
 detachments of the same regiment, were able to land, and 
 were successively reinforced, from time to time; as the 
 few serviceable boats to be had could transport them. 
 They were landed under a severe fire of the enemy. 
 
 ' Chrystie's Letter, dated 22d of February, 1813. ' Idem. ' Idem. 
 * Armstrong's Notices of the War 
 
GALLANTRY OF CAPTAIN WOOL. 39 
 
 At this time the numbers of both contending parties were- 
 small. The British force was composed of two flank 
 companies of the 49ih, and the York militia. The 
 Americans did not nmnber much over one hundred com- 
 batants.* Notwithstanding the continued cannonade from 
 the enemy''s batteries, this small force formed on the 
 bank, and marched steadily forward. 
 
 In a few moments, this fire had killed or wounded every 
 commissioned officer, and among these,'Colonel Van Rens- 
 selaer himself, who received four severe wounds.^ Not- 
 withstanding this, he sustained himself long enough to 
 impart the local information he possessed to other offi- 
 cers, who had in the mean while come up.^ In leaving 
 the field, his last command was, that " all such as could 
 move should immediately mount the hill and storm the 
 batteries."^ This order was promptly obeyed by Captain 
 (now General) Wool, who greatly distinguished himself, 
 with Captains Ogilvie, Malcolm, and Armstrong, and 
 Lieutenant Randolph. These brave officers stormed the 
 heights,' took a battery composed of an eighteen-poundei 
 and two mortars, half way up the acclivity, and were 
 soon in possession of the highest point, called the " Moun- 
 tain." At this point of time, the enemy were beaten, 
 routed, and driven into a strong stone building near the 
 water's edge.^ Here the fugitives were rallied and suc- 
 cored by General Brock, the lieutenant-governor of Upper 
 Canada, who had returned from the capture of Hull to 
 
 ' General Van Rensselaer's Letter, 14tli October, 1812. ' Idem. 
 ' Reinforcements in small detachments continued to arrive in boat- 
 leads. 
 
 * Armstrong's Notices of the War. ° Idem. 
 
40 GENEROUS CONDUCT OF GEN. WADSWOHTH. 
 
 defend the Niagara frontier.* Here was his "teist act of 
 gallantry. He fell, at the head of the troops he was lead 
 ing to the charge, and with him, his secretary. Colonel 
 McDonald. The British troops were again dispersed, 
 and for a time there was a pause in the action of the 
 day. 
 
 Exactly at this period, Lieutenant-colonel Scott arrived 
 on the heights. He had been permitted, as a volunteer, 
 to cross the river with his adjutant," Roach, and assume 
 the command of the whole body engaged. On the Cana- 
 da side, he unexpectedly found Brigadier-general William 
 Wadsworth^ of the New York militia, who had crossed 
 without orders. Scott, therefore, proposed to limit his 
 command to the regulars. But the generous and patri- 
 otic Wadsworth would not consent. He promptly yielded 
 the command over all the forces to Scott. " You, sir," 
 said he, " know best professionally what ought to be 
 done. ^ am here for the honor of my country, and that 
 of the New York militia." Scott, therefore, assumed the 
 command, and, throughout the movements which ensued. 
 General Wadsworth dared every danger in aiding the 
 views of the commander. Though they had met for the 
 first time, he had become already attached to the young 
 colonel. He repeatedly, during the battle, interposed his 
 own person to shield Scott from the Indian rifles, which 
 his tall person attracted. 
 
 . Reinforcements having arrived during the previous en 
 gagements, the forces under Scott now amounted, in all, 
 to three hundred and fifty regulars, and two hundred and 
 
 ' Hull surrendered on the 15th of August. Brook returned to Niasara 
 on the 25th. 
 ' Recently of Genesee, and now dead. 
 
SCOTT IN COMMAND. 41 
 
 fifty volunteers, under the direction of General Wads 
 worth and Colonel Stranahan. These, Scott, assisted by 
 the judgment of Captain Totten,* drew up in a strong and 
 commanding situation. The object in view was not only 
 to receive the enemy, but to cover the ferry, in expecta- 
 tion of being reinforced by the whole of the militia at 
 Lewistown. * 
 
 The interval of rest was but short. The first gun 
 which broke the silence of the morning, had also roused 
 the British garrison of Fort George, eight miles below. 
 Their troops were instantly put in motion. The Indians, 
 who had been concentrated in the neighborhood, sprang 
 into activity. In a short time, five hundred of these 
 forest warriors joined the British light companies previous- 
 ly engaged. A new battle ensued. The Americans re- 
 ceived the enemy with firmness, and drove them back in 
 total route. Colonel Chrystie, who had then returned to 
 the Canada shor^, states,^ that he there found Lieutenant- 
 colonel Scott leading and animating his troops, with a 
 gallantry which could not be too highly extolled. 
 
 The protection of the ferry being the main purpose, 
 and the Indians in the wood presenting no object for a 
 charge, the Americans resumed their original position,' 
 and there maintained it valiantly against several succes- 
 sive attacks, till the British reinforcements arrived from 
 Fort George. In one of these affairs, the advanced pic- 
 quets of the American line were suddenly driven in by 
 superior numbers, and a general massacre seemed inevit- 
 able. At this critical moment, Scott, who had been in 
 
 ' Now Colonel, ana chief of the corps of engineers. 
 
 • Chrystie's Letter, 22d February, 1813. ' IJetn. 
 
42 THE LINE BROUGHT TO THE RIGHT-AUOUT. 
 
 tlie rear, showing how to unspike a captured cannon, 
 hastily returned, and by great exertions brought his hne, 
 in the act of giving way, to the right-about. His briUiant 
 example produced a sudden revulsion of feeling. They, 
 caught the spirit of their leader. With a unanimous 
 burst of enthusiasm, the line suddenly ralhed from right 
 to 'loft, threw itself forvfard upon the enemy; putting him 
 to a precipitate flight, and strewing the ground with the 
 'dead and the wounded. In this manner successive con- 
 flicts were kept up, till the main body of the British rein- 
 forcements arrived. This was a column eight hundred 
 and fifty strong, under the command of Major-general 
 Sheaffe.^ 
 
 During the action, which had now so long proceeded 
 with credit to the American troops, the militia who had 
 crossed the river, and were engaged with Wadsworth and 
 Stranahan, had fought well, and shared both the dangers 
 and the successes of the day. At this • crisis, howBver, 
 when the result of the battle depended entirely upon re- 
 inforcements, information was brought to Scott and those 
 engaged, that the militia on the American shore refused 
 to cross ! General Van Rensselaer rode among them, in 
 all directions, urging the men by every consideration to 
 pass, Tjut in vain.^ Not a regiment nor a company could 
 be induced to move! A panic had seized them; but 
 even had it been otherwise, they could not have crossed, 
 as but a few crippled boats remained to take them over.^ 
 
 ■ Since Sir Roger SheafFe, made a baronet for the events of that day. 
 
 •' General Van Rensselaer's Letter to General Dearboni, October 14tli, 
 1812. 
 
 ' This was the original error of the expedition. The total number of 
 boats is said in the accounts, to have been but thirteen. 
 
A SPEECH ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE. 43 
 
 Seve re was the mortification of this disaster to the orave 
 men engaged, and mournful the result ! 
 
 At this period, the British force was estimated, regu- 
 lars, militia, and Indians, at not less than thirteen hundred, 
 while the Americans were reduced to less than three 
 hundred.' Retreat was as hopeless as succor ; for there 
 were no boats on the Canada shore, and the militia on 
 the other side refused, to give them aid. Scott took his 
 position on the ground they then occupied, resolved to 
 abide the shock, and thinlc of surrender only when battle 
 was impossible. He mounted a log in front of his much- 
 diminished band : " The enemy's balls," said he, "begin 
 to thin our ranks. His numbers are overwhelming. In 
 a moment the shock must come, and there is no retreat. 
 We are in the beginning of a national war. Hull's sur- 
 render is to be redeemed. Let us then die, arms in 
 hand. Our country demands the sacrifice. The example 
 will not be lost. The blood of the slain will make heroes 
 of the living. Those who follow will avenge our fall and 
 their country's wrongs. Who dare to stand?" "All!" 
 was the answering cry. 
 
 In the meanwhile, the British, under the command of 
 Major-General Sheaffe, mancEUvred with great caution, 
 and even hesitation,^ conscious of the vigorous resistance 
 already made, and determined fully to reconnoitre. They 
 found it difficult to believe that so small a body of men 
 was the whole force they had to contend with, and sup- 
 posed it rather an outpost than an army. At length, the 
 atta( k began. The Americans for a time maintained their 
 resolution, but finally began to give way.. When nearly 
 
 ' See Chryetie's Letter. ' Idem 
 
44 THE FLAG OF TRUCE. 
 
 surrounded, they let themselves, (by holding on to limbs 
 and bushes,) down the precipice to the river. Resistance 
 was now ended, and after a brief consultation, it was de- 
 termined to send a flag to the enemy, with a proposition 
 to capitulate. Several persons were successively sent, 
 but neither answer nor messenger returned ; they were 
 all shot down, or captured by the Indians. At length, 
 Scott determined that he himself would make another at- 
 tempt. He prepared a flag of truce — a white handker 
 chief fastened upon his sword — and accompanied by Cap 
 tains Totten and Gibson, went forth, on a forlorn hope, to 
 seek a parley. Keeping close to the water's edge, and 
 under cover of the precipice as much as possible, they 
 descended along the river. They were exposed to a con- 
 tinual random fire from the Indians, until they turned up 
 an easy slope to gain the road from the village to the 
 heights They had just attained this road, when they 
 were met by two Indians, who sprang upon them. It was 
 in vain that Scott declared his purpose, and claimed the 
 protection of his flag. They attempted to wrench it from 
 his hands, and at the same instant Totten and Gibson 
 drew their swords. The Indians had just discharged their 
 rifles at the American officers, and were on the point of 
 using their knives and hatchets, when a British officer, 
 accompanied by some men, rushed forward, and prevent- 
 ed a further combat. 
 
 The three American ofiicers were conducted into the 
 presence of General SheafFe ; terms of capitulation were 
 agreed on, and Scott surrendered his whole force with the 
 honors of wari 
 
 ' The entire force thus surrendered, of those who had been ' ^^lly 
 fighting, wore 139 regulara, and 154 militia, making in all 293. 
 
A MARK FOR THE RIFLES 45 
 
 To his intense chagrin and mortification, the number 
 of prisoners was soon swelled by several hundreds of mi- 
 litia, who had crossed to the Canada shore, and in the 
 confusion of the moment, had concealed themselves un- 
 der the rocks higher up the river, and were not in the 
 slightest degree engaged in the action of the day.^ 
 
 Throughout this scene of various action, of mistake 
 and misfortune, of success and disaster, Lieutenant-Colo- 
 nel Scott, — says an accurate account,^ — was distinguish- 
 ed for great exertions. He was in full-dress uniform, and 
 his tall stature made him a conspicuous mark.' He was 
 singled out by the Indians, but remained'unhurt. He was 
 urged to change his dress. " No," said he, smiling, " I 
 will die in my robes." At the same moment Captain 
 Lawrence fell by his side, as it was supposed, mortally 
 wounded. 
 
 Thus ended the battle of Queenstown Heights : an en- 
 gagement desultory in its movements, various in its inci- 
 dents, and unfortunate in its result ; but not without con- 
 sequences important to the spirit and vigor of the Ameri- 
 can arms. Magnitude is not always necessary to the 
 dignity of an achievement, nor is defeat always discour- 
 aging to the unsuccessful party. It is the nature of the 
 action which gives character to the actor. Judged by this 
 
 ' The total loss of the Americans in the battle of Queeuetown, was 
 estimated at 1000 men. About 100 were killed, 200 who had landed 
 with Major MuUaney early in the day, were forced by the current of the 
 river on tho enemy's shores under his batteries, and were there captured. 
 293 surrendered with Scott, and the residue were those who had landed, 
 but were not in the battle. 
 
 ' Niles's Register, 3d volume, page 170. 
 
 • General Scott is about six feet fire inches in height, and of com. 
 nanding stature. 
 
46 THE MEMORY OF QUEENSTOWN. 
 
 Standard, tlie events of Queenstown had their value, and 
 their inspiration to every patriot American. Hull had 
 surrendered without a battle ; disgrace, not from the mere 
 disaster, but from the mode by which it was produced, 
 was inflicted upon the country, and felt in the hearts of 
 its children. It was battle, and honorable battle only, 
 which could drive this gloomy shadow from the country, 
 check the taunts of enemies, remove its own doubts, and 
 re-establish its self-respect. The battle of Queenstown 
 Heights did this in no small degree. While the mistakes, 
 the errors, and the losses of that day were deplored, the 
 American press and people-' recognised, amid regrets and 
 misfortunes, a spirit of achievement, a boldness in dan 
 ger, and a gallant bearhig, which inspired new hopes, and 
 pointed out the way to ultimate success. The daring gal 
 lantry of Colonel Van Rensselaer ; the capture of the 
 British battery by Wool and his heroic companions ; the 
 intrepid conduct of Wadsworth, of Chrystie, of Totten, 
 and many others, and particularly the courage, skill, and 
 continued activity and exertions of Scott, had given a 
 cheerfulness even to the darkness of defeat, and almost a 
 glow of satisfaction to the memory of Queenstown Heights. 
 After the surrender, the prisoners were escorted to the 
 village now called Niagara, at the mouth of the river, 
 where the officers were lodged in an inn, and placed un 
 der guard. The sentinel had received orders to suffer no 
 prisoner to pass out, but not otherwise to restrain their 
 motions. In a little while, a message came that some one 
 wished to speak with the "tall American." Scott passed 
 through several doors into the. entry. He was surprised 
 
 ' 3d volume Niles's Register, page 170. 
 
THE "tall amkrican." 47 
 
 to find in his visitors the same two Indians, hideously 
 painted as in battle, who had sprung upon him while he 
 was bearing the flag of truce. The elder, tall and strong, 
 was the distinguished chief known by the name of Cap- 
 tain Jacobs. The other was a young man of fine ^gure, 
 and only inferior in muscular development. In broken 
 English, and by gestures, the prisoner was questioned as 
 to his shot-marks : the Indians severally holding up their 
 fingers to indicate the times their rifles had been levelled 
 at him.^ Jacobs grew warm, and seized Scott by the 
 arm to turn him round, to see his back. Indignant at this 
 manual liberty, tlie American threw the savage from him, 
 exclaiming, " Off, villain ! You fired like a squaw !" "We 
 kill you now !" was the angry reply, loosening from their 
 girdles at the same instant knives and tomahawks. There 
 was no call for help ; none could have arrived in time ; 
 and flight would have been, in the opinion of such soldiers 
 as Scott, dastardly. In a corner of the entry, under the 
 staircase, stood the swords of the American of£ce;rs, 
 which, according to the customs of war, they had been 
 desired to lay aside on their arrival. A long sabre, in a 
 heavy steel scabbard, as readily drawn as grasped, lay on 
 the outside of the stack. A spring swiftly to the rear, and 
 another back upon the foe, brought the American, .with 
 blade hung in air, to an attitude of defiance. A second 
 lost — a quiver — or an error of the eye, would have ended 
 this story, and left no further room to the biographer of 
 the " tall American." Of oije of his assailants Scott was 
 absolutely sure ; but that he woiild fall by the hands of 
 the other before the sword could be again poised, seemed 
 
 ' 3d volume Niles's Register, page 170. 
 
48 A POSITION OF DANGER. 
 
 equally certain. He had the advantage of position — 
 standing on the defensive, in a narrow entry, just within 
 the foot of the staircase. It was a pass that could not be 
 turned. The savages were held without, in the wider 
 space, near the front door, but manoeuvring like tiger* 
 to close upon their prey. The parties were thus terribly 
 grouped, when a British officer, entering from the street, 
 and seeing what impended, cried, " The guard /" and at 
 the same moment seized Jacobs by the arm, and put a 
 pistol to the head of his companion. Scott held his blade 
 ready to descend in aid of hiir gallant deliverer, now turned 
 upon by his foes. The sentinels obeyed the call they had 
 heard, and came in, with bayonets forward. The Indians 
 were marched off, muttering imprecations on all white 
 men, and all the laws of war. The younger of these In- 
 dian chiefs was the son of the celebrated Brant, of the 
 Revolutionary war, whose life has recently been given to 
 the public by the late Col. Wm. L. Stone. The officer* 
 who so opportunely entered, on a visit of courtesy,- was 
 Captain Coffin, then in the staif of General Sheaffe, and 
 now of high rank in the British army. This adventure he 
 frequently narrated, both in New York and on the other 
 side of the Atlantic. 
 
 The exasperation of the Indians against Colonel Scott 
 was occasioned by the number of their people killed on 
 Queenstown Heights ; and their excitement was so great, 
 that while he remained at Niagara he could not leave his 
 inn, ev^n to dine with Sir Roger Sheaffe, without a Brit- 
 ish escort. 
 
 Soon after the surrender, the gallant Brock was buried 
 under one of the bastions of Fort St. George, with the 
 highest of military honors. Fort Niagara, directly oppo- 
 
HONORS TO A GALLANT FOB. 49 
 
 Site on the American shore, was commanded at the time 
 by Captain McKeon.* Colonel Scott sent over his compli- 
 ments, and desired that minute-guns might be fired during 
 the funeral ceremonies. Captain McKeon readily com- 
 plied with the request ; for the rioble qualities of Brock 
 had been held in equal esteem on both sides of the line. 
 It is one of the privileges which smooth the rough brow 
 of war, thus to render a just respect to the worthy dead, 
 whether they be of friends or adversaries. It is the right 
 of magnanimity to carry no hostility beneath the green 
 covering of the grave, nor beyond that line which peace 
 has drawn between noble spirits that once were foes, nor 
 against those generous quaUties which dignify the man 
 and adorn the race. 
 
 ' Father of the Hon. John McKeon, late a member of Congress ftom 
 the city of New York. 
 
50 PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1812. 
 
 Koflections on the Principles of the American Government. — The Cap- 
 tured Irishmen. — Scott's interference in their behalf. — Their joyful inter- 
 view with him. — His efforts with the Government. — Letter of Lord 
 Bathurst. — Mr. Monroe's Report. — Mr. Hanson's Speech. — Reflections 
 on the whole 
 
 The republic of the United States was founded on the 
 two principles of Liberty and Christianity. Liberty 
 had been asserted by the republics of Greece, and Chris- 
 tianity had for eighteen centuries maintained its existence. 
 But a liberty professing to be founded on the.rights of the 
 people, and a Christianity not united with the state, were 
 never before co-existent and moving together; harmonious 
 among one people, and under one government — in the 
 history of mankind. It was a moral glory — of full- 
 orbed light, which had never before risen on the broad 
 horizon of human hopes. It was, therefore, peculiar 
 in its essential being. This peculiarity penetrated its 
 very nature, was visible in all its operations, and con- 
 stitutes a continual contrast with all other nations. In 
 the same manner and for the same reason, whether in 
 war or peace, the negotiations of the American govern- 
 ment often contain points of discussion, raised by the na- 
 ture of its republican principles, which are little under- 
 stood in Europe, and still less assented to by European 
 
THE RIGHT OF EXPATRIATION. 5] 
 
 governments. In that part of American history now con- 
 sidered, some of these points arose and were discussed. 
 
 The battle of Queenstown Heights gave rise to one of 
 these discussions, an account of which, therefore, chrono- 
 logically, belongs to that event. The question debated 
 was the right of expatriation ; that is, whether a citizen 
 of one country has a right to leave that country and at- 
 tach himself to another, without the consent of the law 1 
 This question, considered as an abstract principle, is not 
 new. It has been debated ever since any principles at 
 aU were applied to the intercourse of nations. The Ho- 
 mans acknowledged the right of emigration, and claimed 
 it, as one of the firmest foundations of Roman liberty.' 
 The people of the United States; and some of the state 
 constitutions, declare and act upon this right.^ It must 
 be an act done voluntarily, and with the intention of 
 changing residence and remaining in another country, or 
 the emigrant will be entitled to the rights of an American 
 citizen, and be required also to yield allegiance. 
 
 On the other hand, the government of Great Britain 
 denies the right of expatriation, and, till recently, denied 
 the right of emigration at all. Laws were, tiU within a 
 few years, enforced, forbidding altogether the emigration 
 
 ' Ne quis invitus civitate nmtetur : neve in civitate maneat invitna 
 Haec sunt enim fandamenta firmissima nostrae libertatis, sui quemque juris 
 et retinendi et dimittendl esse dominum. — Cicero, Oratio pro Ii. C. Balbo, 
 ch. 13. Quoted by Chancellor Kent, 3 Commentaries. 
 
 ' The Court of Appeals in S. Carolina, ib a solemn decision on the Or- 
 dinance of 1832, declared that an oath to bear "faithful and true alle- 
 giance" to the State of S. Carolina, was void, because allegiance was 
 first due to the National Government, and any thing derogating from 
 that was unconstitutional. 
 
52 GREAT BRITAIN DENIES THE RIGHT. 
 
 of artisans, or other persons particularly skilled in work. 
 The doctrine of that government is perpetual allegiance, 
 and ttie idea that a British citizen could become the citi- 
 zen of another country, has not heretofore been tolerated 
 in British jurisprudence. 
 
 In the courts of the United States the same question 
 has been discussed, but without any final result.* 
 \ In France, the law allows a French citizen to expatri- 
 ate himself, but not to bear arms against France. His 
 accepting a foreign naturalization forfeits all his civil and 
 political rights at home.^ Very nearly the. same is true 
 of the Austrian law.' 
 
 The great principles on which the American govern- 
 ment is founded, will throw some light on this subject, 
 considered as an American question. One of these prin- 
 ciples is that of Christianity. And has Christianity no- 
 thing to do with the political principle of emigration, and, 
 if necessary, of expatriation ? The first command given 
 to the disciples, immediately after the full revelation of 
 the Christian code, was, to " go and teach all nations,"* 
 a command which could not be fulfilled but by personal 
 
 ' There have been several cases in the Supreme Court, touching the 
 right of expatriation, but the court has rather tended to sustain the English 
 law. These decisions had, however, nothing to do with the national right 
 of protection to its adopted citizens. The cases in which this matter was 
 discussed are Talbot vs. Janson, 3 Dallas, 133 ; Isaac Williams, 4th 
 volume Niles' Register, 109 ; The Santisima Trinidad, 7 Wheaton, 283. 
 In these cases the courts maintained that expatriation could not take 
 place without a bona fide change of residence with an intention to re- 
 main. But the question of expatriatioa itself, they left undecided. 
 
 " 2 Kent's Commentaries, p. 50. 
 
 • Austrian Decree of 1833. See 2 Kent's^Commentaries, p. 50, note. 
 
 * Matthew xxviii. 19 
 
THE UNITED STATES RECOGNISE IT. 58 
 
 presence in the midst of all nations, which required con- 
 tinual commercial intercourse, the propagation and im- 
 provement of the arts, and, finally, the protection of 
 strangers in the midst of foreign nations. This was ne- 
 cessary to propagate Christianity, and, when propagated, 
 its effect was to make peace permanent, and the progress 
 of improvement perpetual. In the midst of this progress 
 of Christianity, the United States were brought into being. 
 They adopted in no small degree its spirit. Their peo- 
 ple were emigrants over wide oceans, and into forest 
 lands. Should such a people, founding such a govern- 
 ment, deny to the emigrant stranger the protection of its 
 laws and hospitality ? 
 
 The spirit of liberty also requires the unrestrained free 
 dom of intercourse and locomotion. It requires, that the 
 citizen should be allowed to carry his commercial enter- 
 prises into all nations, remain there, if he choose, and 
 claim the protection of the laws in that nation where he 
 resides. 
 
 -The government of the United States, founded on these 
 principles, has recognised the right of emigration and the 
 right of expatriation, by the constitutional' adoption of 
 naturalization laws.' While it recognised the principle, 
 however, that the citizens of one country may be incor- 
 porated in another, it has determined neither the time, 
 mode, or other circumstances, under which that act may 
 be performed. Nor, indeed, has it made the act one 
 of obligation. The act and the mode of the act are, by 
 the Constitution, left to each generation of the American 
 people, and their representatives in Congress to deter- 
 
 ' U. S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 8. 
 4* 
 
54 ANTAGONISM OF PRINCIPLES. 
 
 mine, according to their sense of expediency. Accord- 
 ingly, they have three times changed the terms of natu 
 rahzation, to correspond with their sense, at the time, of 
 ' policy or propriety.^ 
 
 Such were the principles on which the American gov- 
 ernment was founded, and such was the application of 
 those principles to the questions of emigration and expa- 
 triation made in its fundamental law — the Constitution. 
 It follows from these facts, that the national government, 
 in all intercourse, whether of peace or war, with foreign 
 nations, is bound to maintain the position it has assumed. 
 If that position be opposed, as in fact it is, to the prin- 
 ciples affirmed by other civilized nations, it equally fol- 
 lows, they will present points of antagonism and frequent 
 controversy. This has been the case, and this antagon- 
 ism of principles has been one of the subjects of warm 
 debate between the governments of Great Britain and the 
 United States. The former maintained, that citizenship 
 is perpetual, and allegiance perpetual. If this be true, it 
 is an inevitable consequence, that a born citizen of Eng- 
 land, whether naturalized or not, may be reclaimed when 
 found in foreign vessels, and incur the penalties of trea- 
 son, if found fighting against his birth-country. The 
 American government, on the other hand, maintains its 
 right to naturalize a foreigner, and its duty to protect him 
 when naturalized. 
 
 In October, 1807, Great Britain, by proclamation, re- 
 called from foreign service all seamen and sea-faring men, 
 
 ' 111 1790, the naturalization laws required two years' residence; in 
 1795, five; in \798, fourteen; and in 1802, tliis period was reduced to 
 five, where it remains. 
 
THE PRISONERS TAKEN AT QUEENSTOtVN. 55 
 
 who were natural-born subjects, and ordered them to 
 withdraw themselves and return home. At the same 
 time it declared, that no foreign letters of naturalization 
 could divest its natural-born subjects of their allegiance, 
 or alter their duty to their lawful sovereign. 
 
 In the United States, by the act of naturalization, a 
 foreigner becomes entitled to all the privileges and im- 
 munities of natural-born citizens, except that of holding 
 certain offices, such as President.' These two positions 
 are those of absolute antagonism, and were alone sufficient 
 to account for much of the controversy and heat which 
 attended the war of 1812. Claims to the reclamation of 
 British-bom subjects naturalized in America, and claims 
 to impress them when found in American ships, were 
 made on the one hand and resisted on the other. This 
 was the state of things when the incidents took place 
 which we are about to relate. 
 
 The battle of Queenstown closed with the surrender of 
 Scott and his small force to the greatly superior numbers 
 under the command of General Sheaffe.^ These prisoners 
 were sent to Quebec, thence in a cartel to Boston, and 
 soon after Scott was exchanged. When the prisoners 
 were about to sail from Quebec, Scott, being in the cabin 
 of the transport, heard a bustle upon deck, and hastened 
 up. There he found a party of British officers in the act 
 of mustering the prisoners, and separating from the rest 
 such as, by confession or the accent of the voice, were 
 judged to be Irishmen. The object was to send them, 
 
 ' 2 Kent's Commentaries, 66. 
 
 ' Scott's command when surrendered, as we have seen, amounted to 
 139 regulars, and 151 militia. 
 
56 A SCENE IN THE PRISON-SHIP. 
 
 in a frigate then alongside, to England, to be tried ana 
 executed for the crime of high treason, they being taken 
 in arms against their natiye allegiance ! Twenty-three 
 had been thus set apart when Scott reached the deck, 
 and there were at least forty more of the same birth in 
 the detachment. They were all in deep affliction, at 
 what they regarded as the certain prospect of a shameful 
 death. Many were adopted citizens of the United States, 
 and several had left families in the land of their adop- 
 tion. The moment Scott ascertained the object of the 
 British officers, acting under the express orders of the 
 governor-general, Sir George Provost, he commanded 
 his men to answer no more questions, in order that no 
 other selection should be made by the test of speech. 
 He commanded them to remain absolutely silent, and they 
 strictly obeyed. This was done, in spite of the threats 
 of the British officers, and not another man was separated 
 from his companions. Scott was repeatedly commanded 
 to go below, and high altercations ensued. He addressed 
 the party selected, and explained to them fully the recip- 
 rocal qjDligations of allegiance and protection, assuring 
 them, that the United States would not fail to avenge 
 their gallant and faithful soldiers ; and finally pledged 
 himself, in the most solemn manner, that retaliation, and, 
 if necessary, a refusal to give quarter in battle, should 
 follow the execution of any one of the party. In the 
 midst of this animated harangue he was frequently inter 
 rupted by the British officers, but, though unarmed, could 
 not be silenced. 
 
 The Irishmen were put in irons on board the frigate, 
 and sent to England. When Scott landed in Boston, he 
 proceeded to Washington, and was duly exchanged. He 
 
Scott's letter to the secretary of war. 57 
 
 immediately related to the president the scene which had 
 occurred at Quebec, and was by him instructed to make 
 a full report of the whole transaction, in writing, to the 
 secretary of war. This was done on the 13th January, 
 1813.1 
 
 As this letter is an important and authentic portion of 
 I the history of the discussion which subsequently ensued, 
 in regard to the rights of naturalized citizens under the 
 code of international law, we insert it in this place. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Scott to the Secretary of War. 
 
 Sir— 
 
 I think it my duty to lay before the department 
 that, on the arrival at Quebec of the American prisoners 
 of war surrendered at Queenstown, they were mustered 
 and examined by British ofScers appointed to that duty, 
 and every native-born of the United Kingdoms of Great 
 Britain and Ireland sequestered, and sent on board a ship 
 of war then in the harbor. The vessel in a few days 
 thereafter sailed for England, with these persons on board. 
 Between iifteen and twenty^ persons were thus taken from 
 us, natives of Ireland, several of whom were known by 
 their platoon officers to be naturalized citizens of the 
 
 • American State Papers, vol. 3, p. 634, as published under an act of 
 Congress. 
 
 ' There were, in fact, twenty-three, as stated in the text. Their names 
 are given on the 632d page, vol. 3, of American State Papers. They 
 were as follows, viz : — Henry Kelley, Henry Blaney, George M'Common, 
 John Dolton, Mfchael Condin, John Clark, Peter Burr, Andrew Doyle, 
 John McGowan, Jajnes Gill, John Fulsum, Patrick McBraharty, Mat- 
 thew Mooney, Patrick Kams, John Fitzgerald, John Wiley, John Donel . 
 ley, John Cnrrey, Nathan Shaley, Edward M'Garrigan, John Dinnue, 
 John Williams, George Johnson. 
 
58 THE LAW OP RETALIATION. 
 
 United States, and others to have been long residents 
 within the same. One in particular, whose name has 
 escaped me, besides having complied with all the condi- 
 tions of our naturalization laws, was represented by his 
 officers to have left a wife and five children, all of them 
 born within the state of New York. 
 
 I distinctly understood, as well from the officers whol 
 came on board the prison-ship for the above purposes, as 
 from others with whom I remonstrated on this subject, 
 that it was the determination of the British government, 
 as expressed through Sir George Provost, to punish every 
 man whom it might subject to its power, found in arms 
 against the British king contrary to his native allegiance. 
 I have the honor to be, sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 W. Scott, 
 Lieut.-Col. U. S. 2d artillery. 
 
 At the instance of Scott, this Report was, the same 
 day, sent to both houses of Congress. It was also by 
 him pressed on the attention of many members in each 
 house. The result was the early passage of the " Act 
 vesting the President of the United States with the power 
 of retaliation ;" ordered to a third reading, Feb. 27th, and 
 passed March 3d, 1813.* 
 
 Two months after this, (May 27th, 1813,) in the battle 
 and capture of Fort George, Scott made a great number 
 of prisoners. True to his pledge given at Quebec, he, 
 as adjutant-general, (chief of the staff,) immediately se- 
 lected twenty-three of the number to be confined iii the 
 . V . 
 
 ' 4th volume of Niles's Register, pages 8, 9. 
 
THE MEETING AND RECOGNITION. 59 
 
 Interior of the United States, there to abide the fate of 
 the twenty-three imprisoned and sent to England by the 
 British oiEcers. In making the selection, he was carefiil 
 not to include a single Irishman, in order that Irishmen 
 might not be sacrificed for Irishmen. This step led, on 
 both sides, to the confinement as hostages, of many other 
 men and officers, all of whom were, of course, dependent 
 for their lives on the fate of the original twenty-three. 
 
 In July, 1815, when peace had been some months con- 
 cluded, and Scott (then a major-general) \was passing 
 along on the East River side of the city of New York, he 
 was attracted by loud cheers and bustle on one of the 
 piers. He approached the scene, and great was his de- 
 light to find, that it was the cheers of his old Irish friends, 
 in whose behalf he had interfered at Quebec, and who 
 had, that moment, landed in triumph, after a confinement 
 of more than two years in English prisons ! He was 
 quickly recognised by them, hailed as their deliverer, 
 and nearly crushed by their warm-hearted embraces ! 
 Twenty-one were present, two having died natural deaths. 
 
 Scott had not then recovered from the wounds he had 
 received in the bloody battle of the Niagara, and was 
 about to embark on a voyage to Europe. Yet, in conformity 
 with the promises of friendship he had made these men, 
 he found time to write to the departments at Washington, 
 and solicit for them their patents for land bounties, and 
 their long arrearages of pay. He was successful, and 
 they were at length restored both to their adopted coun- 
 try and their promised rewards. Several of these brave 
 -sons of Ireland are yet alive, and can testify to the truth of 
 this narrative. They, in common with hundreds of their 
 countrymen taken prisoners in the same war, fighting the 
 
60 THE DOCTRINE OF PERPETUAL ALLEGIANCE. 
 
 battles of liberty, have good reason to believe that thej? 
 owe^ their liberties, if not their lives, to the soUcitations, 
 spirit, and zeal, of Winfield Scott !^ 
 
 The doctrine that allegiance was perpetual, and that, 
 as a direct consequence, the born-citizens of Great Brit- 
 ain, who were taken in the army or navy of the United 
 States in tinie of war against Great Britain, were traitors, 
 was a settled doctrine of the British government. The. 
 doctrine, also, that they should be made examples of 
 to deter others in similar circumstances, was the doctrine 
 which they practised upon in the beginning of the war, 
 notwithstanding the faCt that they might be naturalized 
 citizens of the United States. Examples of this practice 
 were frequent. In the commencement of the war, (Au- 
 gust or September, 1812,) the United States Brig of War 
 Nautilus was captured. Six men of her crew were se- 
 lected, as British subjects, and put in irons, to be sent to 
 England and tried for their lives.^ The fact being made 
 known to Commodore Rodgers, he immediately took from 
 a number of British prisoners, twelve of them, including 
 a midshipman, as hostages. Five of the six seized by 
 the Britisl^ officers were found to be Americans, and were 
 
 ' The number of those actually imprieoned by the British, as hostages, 
 was very great, as may be seen in full, by consulting the AmericEin State 
 Papers, vol. 3, from 630 to 690, under the heads, Great Britain, Natural- 
 ization. But this number was but a small part of those endangered, for 
 the British held a vast number of our impressed seamen, and ol prisoners 
 taken m the war, of whom many were doubtless naturalized citizens. 
 There were twelve hundred American prisoners confihed at one time at 
 Chatham. See 4 Niles's Register, 370. There were also several thou- 
 sand Americans who had be6n impressed. 
 
 » 3 Niles's Register, 43 
 
'ENGLAND SUSTAINS AND ACTS UPON IT. 61 
 
 discharged. The sixth was soon after discharged, and 
 the twelve hostages seized by Commodore Rodgers, were 
 also released.' 
 
 In October following, (1812,) the American Privateer 
 Sarah Ann, of Baltimore, was captured, and sent into 
 New Providence. Captain Moon, in his letter of October 
 18th, 1812, states that six of his crew had been seized as 
 British subjects, put in jail, and sent in the Brig Sappho 
 to Jamaica to be tried.^ One of these was a native of 
 Ireland, naturalized in the United States. The others 
 were said to be Americans. 
 
 About the same time a boatswain, and some of the 
 crew of the United States Sloop of War Wasp, were de- 
 tained at Bermuda on the charge of being British sub- 
 jects.' 
 
 These repeated instances of the same conduct, justi- 
 fied on the same grounds, prove conclusively, that they 
 were not casual acts of British officers, in the spirit of 
 revenge, or the pride of power ; but, at that time, the 
 settled policy of the British government. The principles 
 assumed in the American constitution, that our country 
 would receive into its bosom the worthy exiles of all na- 
 tions,* required the American government to defend them 
 in the rights they had legally acquired. Accordingly, the 
 afTair of the Sarah Anr^ was scarcely known at Washing- 
 ton, on the report of Captain Moon, when the subject of 
 
 ' 3 American State Papeis, 633. 
 
 ' 3 Niles's Register, 172. I 
 
 •' 3 Niles's Register, 220. These were detained on suapicion of being 
 British subjects. 
 ' Mansfield's Political Grammar, 69-71. 
 • 3 Niles's Register, 192, 208. 
 
62 EFFECT OF THE LAW OF RETALIATION. 
 
 retaliation was introduced mto both houses of Congress 
 The Senate's committee made no report. But in the 
 House of Representatives, a bill authorizing acts of re 
 taliation was introduced, by Mr. Wright, November 17th, 
 1812, and on the 19th rejected, by a vote of 61 to 51, on the 
 ground that the President, as commander-in-chief of the 
 army and navy, was already vested with retaliatory powers.* 
 
 Notwithstanding this rejection, Scott's letter to the 
 secretary of war, of January 13th, 1813, followed up by 
 his personal representations to members, induced Mr. 
 Campbell of Tennessee, from the committee appointed 
 on the 9th of November, 1812, to whom the subject was 
 referred, to report, Feb. 12th, 1813, "A Bill vesting in 
 the President of the United States the power of retalia- 
 tion in certain cases therein specified." This bill passed 
 the Senate on the 18th, (yeas 17, nays 4,^) and the House 
 on the 27th, (yeas 56, nays 17,) and the President gave 
 it his signature March 3d, 1813. 
 
 It was under this law, passed at the instance of Scott, 
 that he, as adjutant-general, at the end of his day's opera- 
 tions, at Fort George, May 27th, 1813, selected the 
 Englishmen, and sent t'liem into the United States, as 
 hostages for the imprisoned Irishmen.' 
 
 Here let the fact be noted that, although other Ameri- 
 can soldiers, also born in the British dominions, were 
 subsequently made prisoners of war, not another one was 
 set apart by the enemy, to be tried for treason, during the 
 remainder of the war. This was the result of a firm de- 
 termination to execute prisoner for prisoner. The severity 
 
 ' 3 Niles's Register, 208. = Idem, 406. 
 
 * Sec Geueral Pearborn's Letter, 4th vol. Niles's Register. 
 
LETTER OP EARL BATHURST. 63 
 
 of justice is sometimes favoralile to peace and humanity. 
 This same pohcy of retaliation was reluctantly but firmly 
 adopted by General Washington, in the Revolution, and 
 with equally happy effects. 
 
 From August, 1812, when the first imprison-ment of 
 American naturalized citizens (British-born) took place, to 
 the campaign of 1814, in the north, where the tide of war 
 on land turned in favor of America, a succession of hos- 
 tages was selected, and a discussion on the legal points 
 -involved was maintained, between the authorities of Great 
 Britain and the United States. It is interesting to refer 
 to the claims of England at that time, and the defence 
 of them by some persons in America, if it were only to 
 contrast them with the very differjent acts and opinions 
 upon the same subject, at the present time, both in Eu- 
 rope and America. In a collection of American state 
 papers,' may be found a correspondence, of which the 
 following is a part. 
 
 Earl Bathurst to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 Downing Street, August 12th, 1813. 
 
 Sir— 
 
 I have had the honor of receiving your dispatch 
 No. 66,*of the 6th of June, enclosing a letter addressed to 
 }-our excellency by Major-General Dearborn. In this 
 letter it is stated, that the American commissary of pris- 
 oners in London, had made it known to his government, 
 
 ' American State Papers, selected and published under the authority 
 of Congress, bj committees of both houses. The letter of Earl Bathurst 
 will be found in vol. iii. pages 640-1. 
 
 All the official- documents connected with this subject will be found in 
 the State Papers, vol. iii. pages 630-692. 
 
64 THE BRITISH LAW MAINTAINED IN THEORY, 
 
 tlial twenty-three soldiers of the 1st, 6th, and 13th regi- 
 ments of United States infantry, made prisoners, had been 
 sent to England, and held in close confinement as British 
 subjects ; and that Major-General Dearborn had received 
 instructions from his government to put into close con- 
 finement twenty-three British soldiers, to be kept as hos- 
 tages for the safe-keeping and restoration, in exchange, 
 of the soldiers of the United States who had been sent, as 
 above stated, to England ; and General Dearborn ap- 
 prizes you that, in obedience to these instructions, he had 
 put twenty-three British soldiers in close confinement, to 
 be kept as hostages. 
 
 The persons referred to in this letter were soldiers 
 serving in the American army, taken prisoners at Queens- 
 town, and sent home by you, that they might be disposed 
 of according to the pleasure of His Royal Highness the 
 Prince Regent, they having declared themselves to be 
 British-born subjects. Your excellency has been directed 
 to send home the necessary evidence upon this point, and 
 they are held in custody to undergo a legal trial. 
 
 You will lose no time in communicating to Major- 
 General Dearborn, that you have transmitted home a 
 copy of his letter to you, and that you are, in consequence, 
 instructed distinctly to state to him, that you Ifave re- 
 ceived the commands of His Royal Highness the Prince 
 Regent, forthwith to put in close confinement forty-six 
 American officers and non-commissioned officers, to be 
 held as hostages for the safe-keeping of the twenty-three 
 British soldiers stated to have been put in close confine- 
 ment by order of the American government ; and you 
 will at the same time apprize him, that if any of the said 
 British soldiers shall suffer death by reason that tho 
 
BUT RELINQUISHED IN PRACTICE. 65 
 
 soldiers noW under confinement here have been found 
 guilty, and that the known law, not only of Great Britain, 
 but of every independent state under like circumstances, 
 has been in consequence executed, you have been in- 
 structed to select out of the American officers and non- 
 commissioned officers whom you shall have put into close 
 confinement, as many as may double the number of Brit- 
 ish soldiers who shall so unwarrantably have been put to 
 death, and cause such officers and non-commissioned offi- 
 cers to suffer death immediately. 
 
 And you are further instructed to notify to Major- 
 General Dearborn, that the commanders of His Majesty's 
 fleets and armies on the coasts of America, have received 
 instructions to prosecute the war with unmitigated severi- 
 ty against all cities, towns, and villages, belonging to the 
 United States, and against the inhabitants thereof, if, 
 after this communication shall have been duly made to 
 Major-General Dearborn, and a reasonable time given for 
 its being transmitted to the American government, that 
 government shall unhappily not be deterred from putting 
 to death any of the soldiers who now are, or who may 
 hereafter be, kept as hostages, for the purposes stated in 
 the letter from Major-General Dearborn. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 Bathurst. 
 
 The threats contained in this letter were never executed. 
 The British government, either from motives of humanity, 
 from a conviction of error, or from the knowledge that 
 it had no power to carry such principles into effect, re- 
 treated, in practice if not in theory, from the bold ground 
 they had assumed ; and have never again returned to it. 
 
C6 A GOVERNMENT CONTRARY TO PRECEDENT. 
 
 The principle on which Lord BathurRi founded his in- 
 structions, was one which, if allowed fall force, would 
 have swept the American republic from existence. It 
 was, that the execution of these Irishmen, naturalized in 
 the United States, was required by the " known law not 
 only of Great Britain, but of every independent state 
 under similar circumstances." What principle peculiar 
 to the American republic was not contrary to the " known 
 law," not only of Great Britain, but of other " independent 
 states" of Europe ? The Constitution of the United 
 States was, in many of its most important features, con- 
 trary to all precedents in the governments of Europe, 
 Asia, or Africa. The little fragments of republics which 
 claim an independent existence in Europe, whether the 
 San Marino of the Apennines or the free cities of Ger- 
 many, cannot be deemed independent states, any longer 
 than it may. suit the interest or policy of the powerful 
 empires which surround them. 
 
 The recognition of political rights in the body of the 
 people ; the principle that those rights could not be im- 
 paired by any act of the government ; and the elective 
 chief magistracy, were all contrary to the " known law," 
 not only of Great Britain, but of other independent states 
 of Europe. If the fact of this opposition of laws could 
 confer a right to execute a naturalized citizen of the 
 United States, might it not as reasonably and righteously 
 authorize the punishment of an American citizen, for 
 liustaining an elective president in opposition to an heredi- 
 tary monarch ' 
 
 Precedents which concern the rights of property, and 
 are made venerable by age, are held in a just reverence 
 and regard by the opinions of mankind, because they are 
 
THE UNITED STATES MAINTAINS ITS POSITION. 67 
 
 then within the proper sphere of their origin and their in- 
 fluence. But, had the American people searched among 
 the records of nations for a precedent on which to form 
 their govfernment, they had searched in vain. The world 
 had no such precedent. The world had no mould in which 
 to form such a republic, and it had no principles to apply 
 to it when formed. There were no governments whose 
 practices were not contrary to the principles of the United 
 States, and no people who did not profess to venerate and 
 obey other principles of legislation, other modes of pro- 
 cedure, and other foundations of right. Had, then, the 
 United States, in this controversy, conceded the justice 
 of the English principle, as laid down by Lord Bathurst, 
 or failed to defend their own, they would only have left 
 to posterity the duty of defending by other wars, in other 
 ages, the liberties of America. 
 
 Such, however, was happily not the case. Notwitli- 
 standing the success which then attended the alliedarms 
 in Europe, and therefore gave a tone of superiority to the 
 claims of the British ministry, the American government 
 yielded nothing of what it deemed the rights of American 
 citizens, nor failed to defend them by any constitutional 
 means within its power. 
 
 The instructions of Lord Bathurst were promptly 
 obeyed by Sir George Prevost, with whom had originated 
 the barbarian idea of hanging the twenty-three captured 
 Irishmen for treason. The President of the United States, 
 Mr. Madison, was neither alarmed by this fact, nor by 
 the threat of the British secretary, that the war should 
 be prosecuted with " unmitigated severity," against the 
 " cities, towns, and villages, belonging to the United 
 States, and against the -nhabitants thereof." He directed 
 
68 NEW HOSTAGES SELECTED. 
 
 that forty-six British officers sh6uld be instantly set apart 
 as hostages, for the safety and restoration of our " forty- 
 six officers and non-commissioned officers" designated by 
 Lord Bathurst. 
 
 The new hostages were partly" selected from Scott's 
 captures, and partly from the prisoners taken by General 
 Harrison at the battle of the Thames. Some other im- 
 prisonments were made on both sides, in the following 
 winter. In the campaign of 1814, however, the Ameri- 
 can arms were crowned with such brilliant success, that 
 Great Britain had little of either power or inclination to 
 pursue the war of retaliation on American prisoners. lu 
 fact, it ceased. The prisoners were not executed ; and 
 the claims of Great Britain on that subject, were silently 
 left to neglect and oblivion. 
 
 In the mean time, a discussion of this question went on 
 among the people, and in the Congress of the United States. 
 While the American principle was ably defended on one 
 hand, it was also vehemently attacked on the other. 
 
 The secretary of state, Mr. Monroe, made a report to 
 the President, dated April 14th, 1814.^ It was laid be- 
 fore the President two days later, accompanied by various 
 documents illustrating the conduct of the belligerents 
 towards their respective prisoners. In that document, it 
 is said : 
 
 " The contrast which these documents present, in the 
 pretensions and conduct of Great Britain, with the pre- 
 tensions and conduct of the United States, cannot fail to 
 make a deep impression in favor of the latter. The Brit- 
 ish government impresses into its navy native citizens of 
 
 ' 3 American Stat^ Papers, 630 
 
MR. MONROE S REPORT. 69 
 
 the United States, and compels them to serve in it, and, 
 in many instances, even to fight against their country, 
 while it arrests as traitors, and menaces with death, per- 
 sons suspected to be' native British subjects, for having 
 fought under our standard against British forces, although 
 they had voluntarily entered into our army, after having 
 emigrated to the United States and incorporated them- 
 selves into the American Society. The United States, 
 on the other hand, have forced no persons into their ser- 
 vice, nor have they sought, nor are they disposed, to 
 punish any who, after having freely emigrated to any part 
 of the British dominions, and settled there, may have 
 entered voluntarily into the British army. 
 
 * * * " Although examples may be found of the pun- 
 ishment of their native subjects taken in arms against 
 them, the examples are few, and have either been marked 
 by peculiar circumstances, taking them out of the con- 
 troverted principle, or have proceeded from the passions 
 or pohcy of the occasion. Even in prosecutions and con- 
 victions having the latter origin, the final act of punish- 
 jnent has, with little exception, been prevented by a sense 
 of equity and humanity, or a dread of retaliation. It is 
 confidently believed, that no instance can be found, in 
 which the alleged purposes of the enemy against the 
 twenty-three prisoners in question, under all the circum- 
 stances which belong to their case, even should any of 
 them not have been regularly naturalized, are counte- 
 nanced by the proceedings of any European nation. 
 
 " That if no instances occur of retaliation in the few 
 cases requiring it, or in any of them, by the government 
 employing such persons, it has been, as is presumable, 
 because the punishment which had been inflicted by the 
 
 5* 
 
70 THE CONTRACT. 
 
 native country might be accounted for on some principle 
 other than the denial of the right of emigration and natu- 
 ralization. Had the government employing the persona 
 so punished by their native country, retaliated in such 
 cases, it might have incurred the reproach, either of 
 countenancing acknowledged crimes, or of following the 
 example of the other party in acts of cruelty, exciting 
 horror, rather than of fulfilling its pledge to innocent per- 
 sons in support of rights fairly obtained, and sanctionei^ 
 by the general opinion and practice of all the nations of 
 Europe, ancient and modern." 
 
 In regard to the personal rights of the imprisoned Irish- 
 men, and their claim for defence on the government of 
 the United States, the acts of Congress regulating the 
 army are supposed to furnish another argument, not men- 
 tioned by Mr. Monroe. The original act of Congress 
 regulating the recruiting service,^ required that none but 
 " able-bodied citizens" should be enlisted. But on the ap- 
 proach of war, (Jan. 11th, 1812,) Congress designedly 
 changed this to "able-bodied men,"^ according to the usual 
 practice in recruiting war-establishments. This act of 
 Congress was, in some measure, an invitation to foreign- 
 ers to join our standard, and therefore created an obliga- 
 tion on the part of the government to defend those who 
 had accepted its offers. The twenty-three men in ques- 
 tion had bravely and faithfiilly performed their parts of 
 the contract. The United States, therefore, were, in good 
 faith, bound to perform theirs. 
 
 A different view of this subject, and its relations to the 
 national law of the United States, and their intercourse 
 
 * Laws of the United States. ' Idem. 
 
SPEECH OF MR. HANSON. 71 
 
 vi li foreign nations, was, however, taken, by some citi 
 '. ns of ability and distinction. 
 
 Tliey appealed to what LordBathurst called the "known 
 iitv of Great Britain," and considered the doctrines of the 
 United ^tates but as new theories, entitled to but little 
 veight, when opposed to the British precedents, which 
 iustained the principle of perpetual allegiance. At the 
 moment when this great question was debated, both by 
 arms and by negotiation, between the contending bellige- 
 rents, on either side of the Atlantic, it was also discussed 
 in the House of Representatives. 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Hanson,' in a speech made Feb. 14th. 
 1814, took this ground, in opposition to a biU authorizing 
 a loan of twenty-five millions of dollars, to caiTy on the 
 war. The general object of that opposition was, by stop- 
 ing the supplies, to force the United States into a peace 
 with Gi-eat Britain. He pronounced " the impressment 
 of British seamen from American merchant vessels," to 
 have become "the, vital point" in contest, as it respected 
 the supporters of the war. 
 
 He said — 
 
 " Mr. Chairman — upon this question of impressment, 
 allegiance, protection, and naturalization, which has been 
 connected with it, gentlemen here may fret, rail, and argue, 
 until doomsday. They may set up new-fangled doctrines, 
 and deny old ^nd established principles, but as far as 
 depends on the opinions of the ablest jurists, and the 
 practice of the oldest regular governments, the point in 
 controversy is long ago settled. It is immutably deter- 
 mined. 
 
 ' Caipentet's Select American Speieches, vol. 2, pp. 425-431. 
 
72 AN APPE-AL TO POSTERITY. 
 
 [Here he quoted " the fundamental maxim of the law 
 of England" — " perpetual allegiance" — " once a subject, 
 always' a subject," &c.] 
 
 " Now, sir," continued Mr. Hanson, " I am prepared to 
 go a step further than has been deemed necessary from 
 the actual case presented to our consideration. I say, that 
 an Englishman, naturalized or not by our laws, if found 
 in arms against his native country, is a traitor by the laws 
 of his native country. I do not confine the position to 
 British subjects naturalized here, and made captives witli- 
 in the dominions of their sovereign, where the arm of 
 protection cannot be extended ; but, if the armies of the 
 enemy crossed the Ime, and invaded us in turn, and made 
 prisoner a Briton found in arms against Britain, he is as 
 much a traitor as if taken a prisoner in the heart of the 
 British empire. 
 
 " Such men are traitors in the legal, true sense of the 
 word, and ought to be treated as such. The good of society 
 and the safety of government require it. If, to protect 
 them, we resort to a bloody, ferocious, exterminating sys- 
 tem of retaliation, we shed the innocent blood of our own 
 countrymen. • 
 
 " I say, then, without reserve, if the President proceeds 
 in the ruthless, bloody business he has commenced, he is 
 answerable, here and hereafter, for all the American lives 
 wantonly sacrificed. Posterity will pronounce him guilty, 
 and heap maledictions upon his name. 
 
 * * * "liVhen the party contests of the day are forgot- 
 ten; when the passions engendered by political strife 
 have subsided ; when reason shall resume her throne, 
 and the present generation is swept into the silent 
 tomb, those who live after us will pronounce a judgment 
 
VERDICT OF POSTERITY. 73 
 
 upon the chief actors in this tragedy of blood and mur- 
 der."! 
 
 Mr. Bnrke has said in one of his eloquent productions, 
 that no one was ever known to call up the spirits of the 
 dead, but he was answered with the denunciation of evil 
 upon himse]f. With equal truth it may be said of those 
 who appeal to posterity for a verdict against their country. 
 Thirty-three years, the average period of a generation, 
 have passed away, since this speech was made. The 
 larger part of those vsrho then lived have been "swept to 
 the silent tomb." The multitudes of advancing posterity 
 already begin to fill up the wide-extended, but then un- 
 peopled regions^ of that country, whose rights and glory 
 were then at issue on the field of arms. Reason is free 
 to judge who combated for principle and who for do- 
 minion. Where is the American who would" now yield 
 any of the objects then contended for ? Where is the 
 nation which now affirms against the United States, the 
 doctrines then assumed by Great Britain ? 
 
 Measures of apparent severity often accomplish the ob- 
 jects of mercy. Scott, who was the originator and one of 
 " the chief actors in this tragedy of blood and murder," 
 saw the war close without the execution of one native 
 citizen in British hands, while the lives of many adopted 
 
 ' The tragedy of blood and murder was a very peaceful transaction. 
 There were hardships endured, however, by prisoners in the jails of Great 
 Britain. Seo American State Papers, 3d volume, from 630 to 693. 
 
 ' Burke's Letter to the Earl of Lauderdale. His artusion is to Saul 
 calling up the spirit of the prophet Samuel, by the witc^ of Endor, and 
 who is answered by the prediction of his own death. 
 
 ' The population of the United States was then eight millions It is 
 now twenty millions ! 
 
 4 
 
74 WHAT WAS GAINKJ) BY THE WAR: 
 
 citizens, taken prisoners in fighting the battles ot our 
 country, were, by his firmness, saved from an ignominious 
 death. ' Thus were the prophecies of evil averted, the 
 fights of the nation vindicated, and the moral power of a 
 victorious principle added to the lustre of glorious arms. 
 Nor were these its only fruits. When some cold skeptic, 
 unmoved by the virtue of patriotism, shall inquire, what 
 was gained by that war ? let him be answered, that it 
 defended the rights of the sailor on the ocean,' and of the 
 citizen on the land. Let him be referred, in the history 
 of these events, to the contempt they then suffered, and 
 to the usurpations they have now escaped. 
 
 It has been gravely said, that the treaty of peace was 
 silent on the rights contended for, and therefore the war 
 was without effect. They who make this objection have 
 forgotten, that silence is often the most expressive of 
 language. Thirty years have elapsed, and the acts of 
 Great Britain, and other European nations, are as silent 
 and as inoffensive as the treaty. They have practically 
 interpreted its meaning. They have ceased from their 
 aggressions, and permitted their insulting claims to pass 
 silently and peacefully into oblivion. From that bourne 
 there can be no return. We might as well expect to 
 see the ghosts of departed warriors resume their armor 
 and renew their battle-fields, as to see these departed 
 claims of Great Britain, against American sailors and 
 American citizens, again become a cause of war, or the 
 subject of any reasonable discussion. They have taken 
 their place among buried abuses. 
 
 ' Britiah impressment of American seamen was fomided on tho same 
 pretence — a bom subject must live and die a subject. 
 
OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1813 
 
 Capture of York and Death of Pike. — Scott joins the Army as Adjutant- 
 General — Battle and Capture of Fort George. — Pursuit of the enemy. 
 — Anecdote. — Scott's Magnanimity. 
 
 With the battle of Queenstown closed Scott's military 
 operations in 1812, on the northern frontier. From Niag- . 
 ara he was sent to Quebec, where occurred the scene, 
 already described, with the captured Irishmen. Thence 
 he went in a cartel ship to Boston, and in January, 1813, 
 was exchanged. His first duties were performed at 
 Washington, in pressing upon Congress the law of retal- 
 iation, and the vindication of American citizenship. His 
 next were to revisit the banks of the Niagara, and there, 
 in fresh actions of courage and achievement, give renew- 
 ed evidence of devotion to country, and of martial enthu- 
 siasm. 
 
 The campaign of 1813 opened with one of the most 
 brilliant actions of the war. It was the capture of York, the 
 ciipital of Upper Canada, by the American troops under 
 the command of General Dearborn. The army was land- 
 ed from the- squadron of Commodore Chauncey, and the 
 assailing party was led by Pike. The place was captured, 
 with a large number of prisoners, and the British naval 
 maUriel, there collected, destroyed.' At the moment 
 
 ' See Letter of General Dearborn to the Secretary of War ; and th» 
 Letter of Commodore Chauncey to the Secretary of the Navy ; Nilea** 
 Register, 4th volume, page 178. 
 
78 DEATH OF UENERAI. PIKE. 
 
 of success a magazine exploded, and Pike was killed by 
 the fall of a stone. He died, like Wolfe, in the arms of 
 victory, and the tears of grief and joy were minghng to- 
 gether at the story of the battle, which was won, and of 
 the hero who died.' 
 
 It was just after this event, that Colonel Scott joined 
 the army at Fort Niagara. He joined in the capacity of 
 Adjutant-General, (chief of the staff,) under the command 
 of Major-General Dearborn. Though thus engaged in 
 staif duties, he insisted upon the right, and it was con- 
 ceded, of commanding his own regiment on extraordinary 
 occasions. The principal staff-officers were then new to 
 the army, and upon Scott devolved the duty of organizing 
 the details of the several departments, which he did to the 
 satisfaction of both army and commander. 
 
 On the British side of the Niagara was a peninsula, of 
 which Fort George was the defence. This position Gen- 
 eral Dearborn determined to carry. He was then at the 
 head of four or five thousand men, and was co-operated 
 with by Commodore Chauncey and his naval force. Ar- 
 rangements were made for an attack on the morning of 
 the 27th of May. At 3 A. M. the fleet weighed anchor, 
 and before four, the troops were all on board the boats.^ 
 
 ' A letter of General Pike, written to his father, then living near Cin- 
 cinnati, was characteristic and prophetic. He writes thus : — 
 
 " I embark to-morrow in the fleet, at Sacketts Harbor, at the head of 
 a column of 1500 choice troops, on a secret expedition. ******* 
 Should I be the happy mortal destined to turn the scale of war, will you 
 not rejoice, Oh ! my father? May heaven be propitious, and smile on the 
 cause of my country. But if we are destined to fall, may my fall be like 
 Wolfe's — to sleep in the arms of victory." The wish was fulfilled. 
 
 ' See Commodore Chauuoey's Letter to the Secretary of th^ Navy 
 4 Niles's Register, 240. 
 
SCOTT LEADS THE FORLORN HOPE. 79 
 
 The embarkation was made three miles east of our Fort 
 Niagara. It was made in six divisions of boats. In the 
 first was Colonel Scott, who led the advanced guard, or 
 forlorn hope, a service to which he had specially volun- 
 teered. In the second was Colonel Moses Porter, with the 
 field train. Then followed the brigades of Generals Boyd, 
 Winder, Chandler, and a reserve under Col. A. Macomb. 
 
 In the mean time. Commodore Chauncey had directed 
 his schooners to anchor close in shore, so near as to cover 
 the landing of the troops, and scour by their fire the woods 
 and plain wherever the enemy might make his appear- 
 ance.' Captain Perry, a friend of Scott's, had joined 
 Commodore Chaimcey, from Erie, on the evening of the 
 25th, and gallantly volunteered his services in superin- 
 tending the debarkation of the troops.^ It was an opera- 
 tion of nicety, in consequence of, the wind, the current, a 
 heavy surf, and the early commenced fire of the enemy. 
 He was present wherever he could be useful, under show- 
 ers of musketry.' He accompanied the advanced guard 
 through the surf, and rendered special services, of which 
 General Scott has since spoken in the highest terms of 
 commendation. It was the budding forth of that profes-' 
 sional skill, and that brave and generous conduct, which 
 soon bloomed out in the glory which now surrounds the 
 name of the hero of Lake Erie. 
 
 Col. Scott effected his landing, on the British shore of 
 Lake Ontario, at nine o'clock in the morning, in good 
 order, at half a mile from the village of Newark, now 
 
 ' See Commodore Cliaunoey's Letter to the Secretary of the N»vy 
 t Niles's Register, 240. 
 
 ' Idem. ' Idem 
 
80 THE ENEMY TOTALLY DEFEATED. 
 
 Niagara, and the same distance west of the mouth ot 
 the river. He formed his line on the beach, covered 
 by an irregular bank, which served as a partial shield 
 against the enemy's fire. This bank, which was from 
 seven to twelve feet in height, he had to scale against 
 the bayonets of the foe, who had drawn up his force, some 
 fifteen hundred men, immediately on its brow. In the 
 first attempt to ascend, the enemy pushed back the as- 
 sailants. General Dearborn, who was still in the commo- 
 dore's ship, seeing with his glass Scott fall backward up- 
 on the beach, burst into tears, exclaiming, " He is lost ! 
 He is killed !" Scott's fall was, however, momentary. 
 Recovering himself, and rallying his men, he reascended 
 the bank, knocking up the enemy's bayonets, and took a 
 position at the edge of a ravine,* a little way in advance. 
 A sharp action of about twenty minutes in length ensued. 
 It was short and desperate, ending in the total rout of 
 the enemy at every point. 
 
 Meanwhile, Porter with his artillery, and Boyd with a 
 part of his brigade, had landed in the rear of the advance 
 guard, and slightly participated in the close of the action. 
 Scott pursued the rout as far as the village, where he 
 was joined by the 6th regiment of infantry, under the 
 command of Colonel James Miller. 
 
 As the column was passing Fort George, in pursuit, 
 Scott learned from some prisoners caught running out, 
 that the garrison were about to abandon and blow up the 
 place. Two companies were instantly dispatched from 
 the head of his column to save the work, its guns, and 
 
 1 See Chauncey's official account, which mentions the concealment of 
 the enemy in the same ravine, 4 Niles, 240. ■ 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 /, 
 
SCOTT TEARS DOWN THE BRITISH FLAG. 81 
 
 Stores. At the distance of some eighty paces from the 
 fort, one of its magazines exploded. Scott was struck 
 with a piece of timber, thrown from his horse, and much 
 hurt. He nevertheless caused the gale to be forced, and 
 was the first to enter. With his own hand he took down 
 the British flag, then waving over the works. Being re- 
 minded by his prisoners of the danger he incurred from 
 explosion, he directed Captains Hindman and Stockton' 
 to snatch away the matches, which had been applied by 
 the retreating garrison to two other small magazines. 
 The fort had been rendered untenable by the American 
 batteries on the opposite shore,^ and its capture was but 
 the work of a few minutes. This accomplished, Scott : 
 remounted, and was soon at the head of his column, inA 
 hot pursuit. Tliis pursuit was continued for five miles,^ 
 until, at length, he was recalled by General Boyd in per- 
 son. He had already disregarded two successive orders^ 
 to the same effect, sent by General Lewis, saying to the 
 aids-de-camp who came to him,, (one of them Lieutenant, 
 now General, Worth, and the other Major Vande venter,) 
 "Your General does not know that I have the enemy 
 within my power ; in seventy minutes, I shall capture his 
 whole force." 
 
 In point of fact, Scott was already in the midst of the 
 British stragglers, with their main body full in sight. He 
 would not have been overtaken by Boyd, but that he had 
 waited fifteen minutes for Colonel Burn, his senior ofiicer, 
 who had consented to serve under him. This last colonel 
 
 ' The first of these officers died a colonel, and the Becosd (Stockton) is 
 now Governor of Delaware. 
 
 ' Dearborn's Report to the Secretary of War. 
 Armstrong's Notices of the War. ' Idem. 
 
 6 
 
82 SCOTT IS RKCA.LLED FROM THE PURSUIT. 
 
 had just crossed the river from the Five-Mile Meadow, in 
 the rear of the main body of the enemy, with one troop of 
 horse, and was then waiting the landing of another now. 
 more than half way over. This force constituted the pre- 
 cise additional force which was wanted by Scott to make 
 good the assurances he had sent to General Lewis. With 
 the recall of Scott from the pursuit of the enemy ended 
 the battle and capture of Fort George. The American 
 loss was less than that of the enemy ,^ and one of the ob- 
 jects set forth in the plan of the campaign was decidedly 
 accomplished.^ 
 
 This engagement was not without some incidents, which 
 may serve to illustrate both the character of Scott, and 
 the gallantry of the American army. Scott, as we have 
 narrated, had turned from the head of his column to enter 
 Fort George, and seize the British flag. Just behind him 
 was Colonel Moses Porter, of the artillery. On entering 
 the fort, and finding Scott there, Porter said, " Confound 
 your long legs, Scott, you have got in before me." 
 
 After the capture of Scott, the year before, at Queens- 
 town, he was supping with General SheafFe, and a num- 
 ber of British officers, when one of them, a colonel, asked 
 him if he had ever seen the neighboring Falls. Scott re- 
 plied, " Yes, from the American side." To this the other 
 sarcastically replied, " You must have the glory of a suc- 
 cessful Jight before you can view the cataract in all its 
 grandeur," meaning from the Canada shore. Scott re- 
 
 ■ According to General Dearborn's Letter to the Secretary at War, 
 the American loss was 17 killed and 45 wounded ; British loss, 90 killed, 
 160 wounded, and 100 prisoners— 4 Niles, 239. 
 
 ' Armstrong's Notices, vol. 1, Appendix. 
 
MAGNANIMITY UNITED WITH HEUOISM. 83 
 
 joined, "If it be your intention to insult me/sir, honor 
 should have prompted you first to return me my sword !" 
 General Sheaffe promptly rebuked the British colonel, and 
 the matter was dropped. 
 
 At the battle of Fort George, among the earliest prisoners 
 taken by the Americans was the same British colonel, badly 
 wounded. Scott politely borrowed the prisoner's horse, 
 not being able to bring his own in the boats, and gave 
 orders that the prisoner should be treated with all possible 
 attention and kindness. That evening, after the pursuit, 
 and as often as subsequent events permitted, Scott call- 
 ed on the British colonel. He returned him the horse, 
 and carefully provided for all his wants. Indeed, he ob- 
 tained permission for him to return to England on his pa- 
 role, at a time when the belligerents had begun to refuse 
 such favors, as well as all exchanges. At the first of these 
 visits the prisoner delicately remarked, " I have long owed 
 you an apology, sir. You have overwhelmed me with 
 kindnesses. You can now, at your leisure, view the Falls 
 in all their glory." 
 
 It is such acts of magnanimity as these which reflect 
 honor on human nature. Were they more frequent, the 
 rough brow of war would be smoothed to smiles, and the 
 field of battle be as remarkable for the beautiful in char 
 acter as for the glorious in action. 
 
84 ATTACK ON SACKETTS HARBOK. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1813. 
 
 British attack on Sacketts Harbor. — Capture of Chandler and Winder.— 
 Surrender of Boerstler. — Scott's Promotion. — Plan of the Campaign.- 
 Scott at Fort George. — His departure for the St. Lawrence. — He com- 
 mands the advance in the descent of the St. Lawrence. — Retreat of 
 tho army. — Reflections on the Campaign. 
 
 Two days after the capture of Fort George by the 
 American forces, a body of British troops,* under the com- 
 mand of Sir George Prevost, (Governor-General of Can- 
 ada,) landed at Sacketts Harbor, N. Y., for the purpose 
 of destroying the naval stores there collected, and the new 
 ship General Pike, then on the stocks.^ They were fortu- 
 nately delayed in crossing the lake, by baffling winds, till 
 a body of militia could be collected to reinforce the small 
 regular force there stationed. This corps was commanded 
 by a leader alike sagacious and intrepid, who, like Cincin- 
 natus, was found at the plough.^ This leader was General 
 Jacob Brown, who soon disposed of his troops to the best 
 advantage, and in the action which ensued, drove the enemy 
 back to their ships, thus saving the port and the stores.'' 
 
 To the successful actions of York, of Fort George, and 
 of Sacketts Harbor, there were soon added others of a 
 less fortunate result, and a less pleasant hue. On the 6th 
 
 ' About 900 men. See Brown's Letter, 4 Niles, 241. 
 
 " Bayne's Official Report. See Armstrong's Notices, 143. 
 
 ' Armstrong's Notices. < Brown's Report. 
 
TWO DISASTROI S EXPEJJITIONS. 85 
 
 of June, a small brigade' of American troops, under the 
 command of General Winder, had been thrown forward 
 to Stony Creek, and there reinforced by another corps 
 under Chandler. Their object was the pursuit and cap- 
 ture of the British corps who had retreated from Fort 
 George, under the command of Vincent. This officer 
 thought it better to risk a battle than to give up his posi- 
 tion. He preferred also to make the attack. Accordingly, 
 on the morning of the 6th, by night, a British column was 
 pushed into the centre of the American line, which Vin- 
 cent had discovered to be weakened by extension, and 
 hable to surprise, by the negligence of camp guards.^ The 
 attack succeeded so far as to break the American line, 
 and by a strange misfortune, both of the American gen- 
 erals. Winder and Chandler, fell into the hands of the 
 British. The enemy was at length repelled, but the 
 army being without an experienced commander, retreat- 
 ed by the advice of a council of war.^ 
 
 A few days after this adventure, another incident still 
 more disastrous occurred. Colonel Boerstler had been 
 detached, with a corps of six hundred men, to take the 
 British post called the Stone House, two miles beyond the 
 Beaver Dams, and seventeen from Fort George. The 
 British force was larger than was supposed. Boerstler 
 was suffered to advance without annoyance, till at length 
 he was surrounded and compelled to surrender on the 
 24th of June.* 
 
 During this time, and for more than three months, the 
 
 ' About 800 men. — Armstrong's Notices. 
 '^ Armstrong's Notices. ° Idem. 
 
 ' Boeretler's Letter, 4 Niles's Register, 353. 
 
 6* 
 
86 .SKIRAllSHES. DESCENT UPON YORK. 
 
 main body of the army remained for the most part inactive, 
 and intrenched at Fort George, under the command succes- 
 sively of Generals Dearborn, Lewis, Boyd, and Wilkinson. 
 Colonel Scott was in neither of the engagements above 
 narrated. His duty was in foraging at least twice a week, 
 andin other camp duties. In these excursions, repeatftd 
 skirmishes with small parties of the enemy occurred. Not 
 a load of forage was cut between the hostile camps with- 
 out a sharp combat, and he never lost one. In these af- 
 fairs he displayed his usual tact and gallantry, though they 
 afforded no other opportunities of distinction than those 
 ivhich belong to an active and successful partisan officer. 
 In July of the same year, (1813,) Col. Scott was pro- 
 moted to the command of a double regiment, (20 compa- 
 nies,) at which time he resigned the office of Adjutant- 
 General, as it no longer conferred additional rank. In 
 September an expedition was proposed against Burlington 
 Heights, at the head of Lake Ontario, reported to be the 
 depot of a large quantity of provisions and other British 
 stores. In this expedition he volunteered to command the 
 land troops, and was taken on board the fleet by Commo- 
 dore Chauncey. Burlington Heights were visited, but 
 neither enemy nor stores were found there. On the re- 
 turn, it was determined to make a descent upon York, 
 (now Toronto.) Accordingly, a landing of the soldiers 
 and marines was effected, under the command of Colonel 
 Scott. The barracks and public storehouses were burnt. 
 Large depots of provisions and clothing were taken, to- 
 gether with eleven armed boats, and a considerable quan- 
 tity of ammunition, and several pieces of cannon.' 
 
 ' 4 Niles's Register, 387. 
 
PLAN OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1813. ,87 
 
 At the close of this summer a plan of campaign' was de- 
 vised, having for its first object Kingston, and then Mont- 
 real. Kingston was deemed the most important British 
 post on the Lakes, and Montreal was the chief trading 
 town of Lower Canada. Had this plan been success- 
 fully carried out, it must have resulted in the substan- 
 tial conquest of both the Canadas. Canada West would 
 have been cut off from its military supplies, and the fall of 
 Montreal would have determined the possession of Lower 
 Canada, with the exception of Quebec.^ 
 
 To accomplish this plan of the campaign, the troops 
 under General Wilkinson were ordered to concentrate at 
 Sacketts Harbor, in the early part of October.^ With him 
 was ordered to co-operate the division of Major-General 
 Hampton, from the Chateaugue River, in Northern New 
 York. Accordingly, Wilkinson embarked with the Niag- 
 ara army on the 2d of October. In accordance with the 
 same plan, Fort George was retained and garrisoned. Col. 
 Scott was left as its commander, having between seven 
 and eight hundred regulars, and a part of Col. Swift's re- 
 giment of militia, to complete and defend Fort George — 
 the key of the peninsula. This work the Americans, 
 after its capture, undertook to enlarge and reconstruct. A 
 new trace was made by Captain (now Colonel) Totten, of 
 the engineers, but was by no means filled out when Wil- 
 kinson sailed in Chauncey's fleet. One of the faces of the 
 work remained open. There was consequently no impe- 
 diment on that side between the American and the British 
 army. This fort had been taken, as we have said, by 
 
 ' Plan of the Campaign — Appendix to Armstrong's Notices. 
 • Armstrong's Plan of tins Campaifrn. ° Idem. 
 
68 MEASURES TO DEFEND THK POST OF HONOR. 
 
 Scott himself, the British colors being taken down by his 
 own hands. He was, therefore, proud of the capture, and 
 determined to defend it as the post of honor. He lost not 
 a moment nor an effort in completing the defences of the 
 fort. Expecting an assault at any moment, all hands, in- 
 cluding the commander, worked night and day. A week 
 accomplished much, at the end of which, (October 9th,) 
 the enemy, contrary to all expectations, broke up his camp 
 and followed Wilkinson down the country. 
 
 This event had been anticipated, but was supposed to 
 be a distant contingency. On the happening of it, Col. 
 Scott was authorized, by his instructions, to place Fort 
 George under the command of Brigadier-General Mc- 
 Clure, of the New York militia, who then commanded on 
 the American side of the Niagara. He was then, with 
 the regulars, to overtake and. join Wilkinson in time for 
 his intended conquests on the St. Lawrence. For this 
 purpose it was promised that the fleet should be sent up to 
 receive the regular garrison at the mouth of the Niagara. 
 
 Two official reports of Col. Scott, at this time, will 
 show the operations of the corps under his command, and 
 his movement from Fort George. 
 
 From Colonel Winfield Scott, of the 2d artillery, to Ma- 
 jor-General Wilkinson. 
 
 FoKT George, Oct. 11th, 1813. 
 
 '•Within llie last five minutes I have had the honor to 
 receive your dispatch by the Lady of the Lake, Captain 
 Mix. 
 
 The enemy has treated me with neglect. He contin- 
 ued in his old position until Saturday last, (the 9th inst.,) 
 when he took up his retreat on Burhngton Heights, and 
 
HUMORS OF THE DEFEAT OF PROCTOR. 89 
 
 has abandoned the whole peninsula. Two causes are as- 
 signed for this precipitate movement — the succor of Proc- 
 tor, who is reported to be entirely defeated, if not taken ; 
 the other, the safety of Kingston, endangered by your 
 movement. 
 
 We have had from the enemy many deserters, most of 
 whom concur in the latter s)ipposition. 
 
 The British burnt every thing in store in this neighbor- 
 hood ; — three thousand blankets, many hundred stand of 
 arms ; also the blankets in the men's packs, and every 
 article of clothing not in actual use. 
 
 They are supposed to have reached Burlington Heights 
 last evening, from the rate of their march the night be- 
 fore. I have information of their having passed ' the 40'' 
 by several inhabitants who have come down. They add 
 to what was stated by the deserters, that two officers of 
 the 41st had joined General Vincent from Proctor's 
 army, with information that Proctor was defeated eighteen 
 miles this side of Maiden. I cannot get particulars. 
 
 From the same sources of intelligence it appears, that 
 the 49th, a part of the 100th, and the Voltigeurs, moved 
 from this neighborhood the day after our flotilla left this, 
 the 3d inst. ; but with what destination is not certainly 
 known. 
 
 It was first reported (I mean in the British camp) that 
 these regiments had marched to support Proctor, who, it 
 is said, wrote that he would be compelled to surrender, if 
 not supported.^ 
 
 ' Forty Mile Creek — that distance from Niagara. 
 * Proctor was defeated, and the British and Indian force in the north- 
 Vest routed, on the Slh of October, 1813. 
 The rumor which Scott speaks of was six days after the event, and 
 
90 INACTIVITY INSUPPORTABLE TO A SOLDIER, 
 
 I am pretty sure, however, that they are gone belovF 
 The movement of our army below seems to have been 
 known in the British hues as early as the 3d inst., together 
 with the immediate objects in view : hence, I have no 
 difficulty in concluding, that all the movements of the 
 enemy will concentrate at Kingston. 
 
 * * * * I had made this morning an arrangement, on 
 application to General McClure to ,be relieved in the 
 command of this post, on the morning of the 13th inst., 
 with an intention of taking up my line of march for 
 Sacketts Harbor, according to the discretion allowed me 
 in the instructions I had the honor to receive from you at 
 this place. My situation has become truly insupportable, 
 without the possibility of an attack at this post, and with- 
 out the possibility of reaching you time enough to share 
 in the glory of impending operations below. I am never- 
 theless flattered with the assurance that transports will be . 
 forwarded for my removal ; and to favor that impression, 
 I propose taking up my line of march on the morning of 
 the 13th for the mouth of Genesee River, and there 
 await the arrival of the vessels you are good enough to 
 promise me. By this movement Captain Mix thinks 
 with me, that I shall hasten my arrival at Sacketts Har- 
 bor five, possibly ten, days. Captain Camp' (the quarter- 
 master) has a sufficient number of wagons to take me 
 thither. I ^-a easily make that place by the evening of 
 the 15th. I hope I shall have your approbation, and 
 
 was no doubt brought in either by officers or Indians from the defeated 
 army. 
 
 ' Col. J. G. Camp, (now marshal of Florida,) a distinguished officer ii 
 the cam])al{fn of 1814, on the Niagara. 
 
scott's report to the secretary of war. 91 
 
 every thing is arranged with Brigadier McClure. * • * « 
 •****! have, by working night and day, greatly im- 
 proved the defences of this post, and nearly filled up the 
 idea of the engineer. I flatter myself that I have also 
 improved the garrison in discipline." * * * * 
 
 At the close of December, 1813, after Wilkinson's 
 campaign on the St. Lawrence was ended, Colonel Scott 
 was three days in Washington, when he addressed a letter 
 to the Secretary of War, of which the following extracts 
 relate to his march from Fort George : 
 
 Extracts of a Letter from Colonel Wiiifield Scott to the 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 Georgetown, December 31, 1813. 
 
 " At your desire, I have the honor to make the following 
 report: — I left Fort George, on the 13th of October last, 
 by order of Major-Gcneral Wilkinson, with the whole of 
 the regular troop of the garrison, and was relieved by 
 Brigadier-General McClure, with a body of the New 
 York detached militia. 
 
 Fort George, as a field-work, might be considered as 
 complete at that period. It was garnished with ten pieces 
 of artillery, (which number might easily have been in- 
 creased from the spare ordnance of the opposite fort,) and 
 with an ample supply pf field ammunition, &c., as the 
 enclosed receipt for those articles will exhibit. 
 
 Fort Niagara, on the 14th of October, was under the 
 immediate command of Captain Leonard of the 1st artil- 
 lery, who, besides his awn company, had Captain Read's 
 of the same regiment, together with such of General 
 McClure's brigade as had refused to cross the river 
 
92 THE MARCH TO SACKETTS HARBOR. 
 
 ■Liemenant-Colonels Fleming, Bloom, and Dobbins, of 
 the militia, had successively been in command of this 
 fort, by order of the Brigadier-General, but I think neither 
 of these was present at the above period. Major-General 
 Wilkinson, in his order to me for the removal of the reg- 
 ular troops on that frontier, excepted the two companies 
 of the 1st artillery, then at Fort Niagara. And under the 
 supposition that I should meet water transportation for 
 my detachment at the mouth of Genesee River, I had 
 his orders to take with me the whole of the convalescents 
 left in the different hospitals by the regiments which had 
 accompanied him. This order I complied with."* 
 
 It will be observed from the above documents, that 
 Scott expected to embark at the mouth of Genesee 
 River, where Wilkinson was to provide means for his 
 embarcation. On his arrival at that place, the same dis- 
 patch-vessel, the Lady of the Lake, again came to 
 Colonel Scott with letters, informing him that Commor 
 dore Chauncey was indeed ready to redeem his part cif 
 the promise, and desirous of meeting him there ; but that 
 General Wilkinson solemnly protested against the ab- 
 sence of the fleet, even for four days, and hence Scott 
 had no alternative but a long march upon Sacketts Harbor, 
 by the way of Rochester,^ Canandaigua, and Utica. It 
 rained incessantly', and the roads, at that time nowhere 
 good, were never worse. North of Utica, Scott met 
 General Armstrong, then Secretary of War, who per- 
 
 ' American State Papers — Military Affairs, vol. i. pp. 482-3. 
 ' The city of Rochester had then no existence. It has grown up since 
 the war. 
 
SCOTT CAPTURES FORT MATILDA. 93 
 
 mitted him to leave his column mider the command of 
 Major Hindman, the next in rank, and singly to join the 
 army on the St. Lawrence, at whatever point he could. 
 This he accomplished, through mud and rain, the evening 
 of the 6th of November, near Ogdensburg. Wilkinson 
 was then just about to pass the heavy fort (Welling- 
 ton) opposite, the fire of which Scott had the honor to 
 receive in the leading and largest boat of the American 
 flotilla. 
 
 The following day he was appointed to the command 
 of a fine battalion, in the corps d'elite, under Colonel 
 Macomb. In the descent of the St. Lawrence, he com- 
 manded the advance-guard of the army ; hence he was 
 not present at the action of the 11th of November, at 
 Chrysler's Farm, fifteen miles in the rear. 
 
 At the moment of that battle, Scott, with seven hun- 
 dred men, was engaged with Colonel Dennis and an equal 
 force, in passing Hoophole Creek, just above Cornwall. 
 He effected the passage under the fire of the British 
 force, routed them, captured many prisoners; and pur- 
 sued the fugitives till night. 
 
 Being always in advance, he had the day before landed 
 near Fort Matilda, which commanded the narrowest point 
 on the whole length of the St. Lawrence. There he had 
 a sharp encounter with the enemy ,^ took an officer and 
 some men prisoners, and gained possession of the fort. 
 
 At commencing the descent of the St. Lav^rence, Wil- 
 kinson had proclaimed that he came to " conquer,'" but 
 
 ' WilkinBon's Proclamation of the 6th November says, that the army 
 of the United States " invades these provinces to conquer, and not to d»- 
 ifroy.'' 
 
94 WILKINSON ORDERS A RETREAT. 
 
 the indecisive action of " Chryslfjr's Farm," in which a 
 portion only of the army was fengaged,^ was the only 
 event connected with the general movement of the expe 
 dition which looked like a resolute determination, oi; a 
 positive energy, towards decisive action. Even in that 
 action the troops were limited, by the orders of the com- 
 mander-in-chief, to defensive operations.^ It was, there- 
 fore, attended with no important results. 
 
 On the following day, the 12th of November, a retreat 
 commenced. The .army, and when it was promulgated, 
 the nation, heard with astonishment, that the expedition 
 down the St. Lawrence for the conquest of Canada was 
 abandoned !^ This took place when Scott with the ad- 
 vanced guard was fifteen miles in advance of the parties 
 engaged on Chrysler's -Field ; when there was no body of 
 British troops between Scott and Montreal which could 
 have arrested his march six hours ; and when, finally, 
 Montreal itself contained no garrison sufficient to have 
 obstructed his entry !* 
 
 ' The official report of the battle of Chrysler's Field says, that Wil- 
 kinson gave directions, by that distinguished officer, Colonel Swift of the 
 engineers, to Brigadier-General Boyd, to throw " his own, Covington's, 
 and Swartwout's brigades, into three columns, to march upon the enemy." 
 His force (about seventeen hundred men) were engaged. The British 
 had about the same force. The Americans accomplished their object, 
 which was by their orders to " beat back an attack." 
 
 ° Testimony of General Boyd on Wilkinson's Trial — Armstrong, vol. 
 ii. p. 16. 
 
 ' In his Order (13th Nov.mber) he tells the army it " is not aban- 
 doned." 
 
 * In Wilkinson's Letter of the 15th November, (Niles's Register, vol. v. 
 p. 234,) he says, that he had ascertained, that on the 4th of November, 
 the British troops in Montreal were but four hundred marines and two 
 hundred sailors, which had been sent up from Quebec. 
 
DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE NATION. 95 
 
 This cruel disappointment to the army and the nation, 
 was brought about by the refusal of General Hampton to 
 join Wilkinson at St. Regis, as he himself declared, for 
 fear of a want of provisions and forage ;^ and by the re- 
 fusal of General Wilkinson to descend the St. Lawrence 
 further, as he said, because Hampton had refused to join 
 him with his division.^ However satisfactory these 
 reasons may have been to the respective commanders, 
 they -were entirely otherwise to the American nation. 
 The northern frontier, from which so much had been 
 expected, was regarded with mingled feelings of shame 
 and regret. 
 
 The army which had departed but six days before from 
 Ogdensburg, numerous in array and well-appointed in 
 equipment, retreated, the day after the action of Chrys- 
 ler's Field, to winter-quarters, and took up its position on 
 Salmon River, at French Mills. On this spot is now a 
 village, called after the gallant general mortally wounded 
 at Chrysler's Field, and whose remains were buried 
 there — Fort Covington. 
 
 In the movements of armies, as in the policy of nations, 
 no degree of individual virtue, courage, or effort, will 
 supply the want of skill and energy in the directing 
 minds. In the plan of this campaign there was no want 
 of foresight or sagacity. The capture of Kingston, the 
 main point in the plan,' would have destroyed the strong- 
 est point of defence, and depot of stores, on the line of 
 
 ' Hampton's Letter of the 8th of November. He says, he " hopes to 
 preveut" Wilkinson's starving ! 5 Niles, 235. 
 
 ' Wilkinson's General Order of the 13th of November, 5 Niles, 232. 
 
 • Armstrong's. Notices, Plan of the Campaign, vol. ii. pp. 188-189; 
 ulso vol. ii. Appendix, No. 11. 
 
96 THE ADVANTAGES OF ADVERSITY. 
 
 the St. Lawrence and the lakes, from Quebec to Detroit 
 Montreal would then have fallen at any moment the 
 American commander chose. 
 
 In the departure fro;n the first object, and deciding 
 on a descent on Montreal, there was yet an important, 
 and, in the event of success, probably decisive move 
 ment to be accomphshed. The fall of Montreal would 
 have given the Americans the command of the heart of 
 the Canadas, and with the comparatively small regular 
 force of the British, they would have kept it, and com- 
 manded the line of the St. Lawrence.^ 
 / Such was not, however, to be the result. There was 
 enough of individual valor, of skill, of daring, and of 
 enterprise, to have secured success to a competent com 
 mander, or victory to the boldness of an ardent leader. 
 But, by a series of unnecessary delays and inexplicable 
 blunders on the part of chiefs, these noble gifts of infe- 
 riors were rendered useless to their country and unavail- 
 able to themselves. 
 
 Amidst the disasters of the campaign there was one 
 benefit; The touchstone of experience had been applied 
 to the temper of the army, and it was now easy to select 
 the pure metal from the dross. It was a hard school of 
 adversity ; but many brave and highly gifted young men 
 were trained by its teachings to become accomplished 
 and efiicient ofiicers. On the other hand, it detected the 
 emptiness and unfitness of many a fop, both young and 
 
 ' The plan of the Secretary at War, as shown by the official corre- 
 epondence, appears to have been that stated in the text. It seems, 
 however, that General Wilkinson differed from the secretary in opinion, 
 and finally adopted his own scheme, which was the descent of the St 
 Lawrence, as he attempted it. 
 
THE SPIRITS OF THE STORM. 97 
 
 old, who had been seduced into the service by the glitter 
 of uniform and the pomp of military parade. They were 
 made to learn and feel their incompetency to endure the 
 duties or the frowns of war. An elegant writer^ has well 
 remarked, that the rude winter gales of Canada swept 
 from our ranks the painted insects, which were fit only to 
 spread their glittering wings in the summer sun ; but, at 
 the same time, roused and invigorated the eagle-spirits, 
 who during the calm cower in solitude and silence, but, 
 as the tempest rises, come forth from obscurity to stem 
 the storm, and sport themselves in the gale. 
 
 ' Substantially quoted from a Biography of Scott in the Analectie 
 Magazine. 
 
 6 
 
VhM 01? THE 
 BATTLE OF CHIPPEWA: 
 position of thetroffps 
 attlie diflrge. , 
 
 
8C0TT SPENDS THE WINTER AT ALBANY. 99 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1814. 
 
 Formation of the Camp of Instruction at Buffalo. — Opening of the Cam- 
 paign. — Passage of theNiagara. — Skirmish with the Marquis of Tweedalo. 
 — Position of the Armies. — Battle of Chippewa. — Its Consequences. 
 — British Views. 
 
 The campaign of 1813 closed in disaster and disgrace. 
 The hopes of the nation, which had been excited by the 
 brilhant achievements with which it opened, sank to 
 despair, when the army, after sustaining a partial defeat, 
 made an abrupt and hasty retreat. The military spirit 
 of the army was lost. New levies of troops were to be 
 rhade, and the spirit of daring, of confidence, and energy, 
 was to be created before they could take the field. 
 
 To accomplish these objects. Colonel Scott passed a 
 part of the winter, subsequent to the events on the St. 
 Lawrence, at Albany. There he was engaged in pre- 
 paring the maUriel for the next campaign, and, by in- 
 structions from the president, in arranging high politico- 
 military questions, with the patriotic Governor Tompkins. 
 The time for the disclosure of the details of these con- 
 sultations, has, perhaps, not arrived. 
 
 On the 9th of March, 1814, Colonel Scott was pro- 
 moted to the rank of Brigadier-General, and immediately 
 joined Major-General Brown, then marching with the 
 army from the French Mills towards the Niagara frontier. 
 
 On the 24th inst., General "Brown set out for Sacketts 
 Harbor, expressly for the purpose, as he said, of leaving 
 
iOO THE NIAGARA AKMl OF 1814 
 
 It to Scott to establish a camp of instruction, and to pre- 
 pare the troops, as they arrived, for opening the cam- 
 paign. ^ 
 
 The army was rapidly assembled at Buffalo. It con- 
 sisted at' that time of Scott's brigade, Ripley's brigade, 
 Hindman's battalion of artillery, (all regulars,) and Por- 
 ter's brigade of militia. 
 
 Scott's brigade consisted of the battalions of the 9th, 
 the 1 1th, and the 25th regiments of infantry, with a de- 
 tachment of the 22d, and Towson's company of artillery.' 
 The brigade of General Ripley was composed of the 1st, 
 21st, and 23d infantry. Porter's command was com- 
 posed of bodies known as Canadian Volunteers, New 
 York Volunteers, and Pennsylvania Volunteers.^ The 
 signal services rendered by these troops at a subsequent 
 period, and the glory which they won for their country on 
 hard-fought battle-fields, renders it proper that We should 
 record and remember names so justly distinguished in 
 history. 
 
 These troops were placed in the camp of instruction at 
 Buffalo, where for more than three months they were 
 drilled in all the evolutions and tactics necessary to give 
 them the most accurate and thorough discipline. The 
 njodern French system was adopted. All. the officers, 
 without regard to rank, were first rigorously drilled by 
 the commanding general, in small squads. These officers 
 then instructed the rank and file in squads, under his eye. 
 Companies were next formed, and subjected to the same 
 process ; then battalions ; and, finally, these again were 
 
 ' 6 Nilee's Register, 336. General Brown's Letter. 
 • 6 Niles, 435. Adjutant-General's Report. 
 
THE CAMP OF INSTRUCTION. lOl 
 
 instructed by General Scott in person. When these de- 
 tails were all learned, the troops were carried by him 
 through the evolutions of the line, (the movement of 
 armies,) with the same strict attention to science and 
 the wants of the field. The effect of this discipline was 
 remarkable, and the results were fully displayed on the 
 fields of Chippewa and Niagara. 
 
 In the camp of ins^truction at Buffalo the army, from 
 constant drill, acquired its organization, exact discipline, 
 and habits of hardihood, and of cheerful obedience. Offi- 
 cers and men were taught the proper distribution of du- 
 ties between each other, between the different corps, and 
 the different services. From the formation of a column 
 of attack to the presentation of a salute, and from the 
 moveinent in echelon to the exchange of the minutest 
 courtesies,* they learned alike the substance and the 
 form of those duties of the camp and the field, which are 
 developed in the array and the action of war. 
 
 The value of discipline, of obedience, and of personal 
 skill in their business, thus acquired by the troops of an 
 army, cannot be over-estimated. For want of it, the brave 
 and gallant (but undisciplined) volunteers of patriot armies 
 have been scattered and driven by veteran soldiers fight- 
 
 ' The trifles of courtesy are not unimportant in either military or civil 
 life. If they are but form, they are notwithstanding, like language, the 
 expression of a substance. Of Scott's observance of these, at Buffalo, we 
 have been told the following anecdote. He observed a captain pass a 
 sentinel posted. The sentinel saluted him by carrj'ing arms, making the 
 musket ring with the action. The captain passed without acknowledging 
 the salute of the soldier. General Scott sent an aid to him to say, that 
 he (the captam) would take care to repass the sentinel in twenty minutes, 
 ■ad repair he fault, or take a trial before a court-martial. 
 
 7* 
 
102 THE ARMY IN MOTION. 
 
 ing in a worse cause, and having far less of moral motive 
 to sustain them. With it, the soldiers of despots have 
 fought with invincible firmness, choosing graves where 
 they stood, to life in retreat. The armies of Suwarrow 
 would fall in the ranks, but, without orders, never re- 
 treat. 
 
 The troops of Great Britain are well disciplined ; and 
 it was in the sharpest contests with them that the ajmy 
 of Niagara soon proved how much it had gained in the 
 camp of instruction at Buffalo.^ 
 
 The apparent though not unprofitable inactivity which 
 had pervaded the American army of the north, duringthe 
 spring of 1814, disappeared before the rising heat of the 
 summer sun. In the latter part of June, General Brown 
 returned to Buffalo ; and henceforward the storm of war, 
 with its hurried tramp, its loud clangor, its heroic deeds, 
 and its untimely deaths, was heard swift sweeping along 
 the shores of the Niagara. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 3d of July, Scott's brigade, 
 with the artillery corps of Major Hindman,^ crossed the 
 
 ' Like all other pioneei-s, both civil and military, the officers of the 
 army of 1812-14 labored under difficulties which cannot now be appre- 
 . ciated. It is said that Scott had but one copy of the French Tactics. Of 
 course this had to be explained to individuals, and put in practice suc- 
 cessively on the ground. ' 
 
 It was one object of the United States Military Academy at West 
 Point, to avoid these difficulties, and prepare young men by scientific in- 
 struction to discipline the army and prepare the recruits, when war came, 
 for the services of war. This it has done. The tactics and sciSnoe 
 which were then a novelty in the country, have now been diffused 
 through the army and the nation. In addition t:' this, there are excA- 
 lent and minute treatises for the instruction in tactics, prepared for that 
 express purpose. 
 
 " Bu^alo Gazette, July 5th, publit hed in Niles's Register, vol. vl. p. 337. 
 
SURRENDER OP FORT ERIE. 103 
 
 river, and landed below Fort Erie, while Ripley's brigade 
 landed above. Scott led the van, crossing in a boat with 
 Colonel Camp, who had Volunteered his services, and was 
 on shore before the enemy's piquet iired a gun.' Fort Erie 
 soon surrendered,^ and preparations' were immediately 
 made to advance, and attack the army of General-Riall 
 at Chippewa. 
 
 On the morning of the 4th, Scott's brigade, several 
 hours in advance, moved towards Chippewa. For six- 
 teen miles he had a running fight with the Marquis of 
 Tweedale, who commanded the British 100th regiment, 
 till at dusk the latter was driven across Chippewa River, 
 and joined the main body of the British army under 
 General Riall. The Marquis has since said, that he 
 could not account for the ardor of the pursuit until he 
 recollected the fact that it was the American great anni- 
 versary. 
 
 That night, Scott took up a position above Street's 
 Creek, two miles from the British camp below Chippe- 
 wa. The interval between these creeks was a plain, on 
 which was fought the battle of Chippewa. 
 
 The positions of Riall and of Scott on the morning of 
 the 5th may be easily understood. On the east side was 
 the Niagara River, and near it the road to Chippewa. On 
 the west was a heavy wood. Between these, running 
 from the woods to the river, were two streams, the prin- 
 
 ■ 6 Niles's Register, 337. 
 
 ' 6 Niles, 337. The British garrison of Fort Erie consisted of parts of 
 the 8th and 100th regiments, under the command of Major Burke, of 
 whom 170, including 7 officers, were taken prisoners, and sent to the 
 American side. 
 
 • General Brown to the Secretary of War, 6 Niles, 344. 
 
104 SKIRMISHES OP THE IJGHT TROOPS. 
 
 cipal of which was the Chippewa. The other was the 
 small creek above, called Street's. Behind, and below 
 the Chippewa, lay the army of General Riall, with a 
 heavy battery on one side and a blockhouse on the other. 
 Scott's brigade had rested for the night on and above 
 Street's Creek. Over these streams the road to Chippe- 
 wa passed on bridges, the one over Street's near the 
 Americans, and the other over the Chippewa near the 
 British. This was the position of the respective parties 
 on the morning of the 5th,^ when General Brown was 
 expecting to attack the British,^ and they in turn deter- 
 mined to anticipate it, by a sortie from the lines of Chip- 
 pewa. It was a long day in summer ; the earth was 
 dry and dusty, and the sun bright and hot, when the best 
 troops of Britain and America met, as in tournaments of 
 old, to test their skill, their firmness, and their courage, 
 on the banks of the Niagara. 
 
 The day iDegan with the skirmishes of light troops. 
 The British militia and Indians occupied the wood on the 
 American left, and about noon annoyed the American 
 piquets placed on that flank. General Porter, with vol- 
 unteers, militia, and some friendly Indians of the Six 
 Nations,^ soon engaged them, and, after some skirmishing, 
 drove them through the wood, back upon Chippewa. 
 Here the British irregulars, finding that their main army 
 under General Riall was advancing, rallied, and in turn 
 atlacked Porter, compelling his command to give way. 
 In spite of his own efforts and personal gallantry, these 
 
 ' See the account of the Ontario Messenger, republished in 6 Kiles, 403 
 ' Brown's letter of July 6th, 6 Niles, 344. 
 ' Brown's Report, 6 Niles, 354. 
 
THK BRITISH CROSS THE CHIPPEWA. 10a 
 
 light troops broke and fled, at sight of the formidable 
 array of Riall.* 
 
 It was now about four o'clock, treneral Brown was 
 then in the wood with Porter ; when a cloud of dust 
 arose towards the bridge of Chippewa, and a firing was 
 heard. This apprized him that the British army was 
 advancing. At this^ very moment, General Scott, in 
 ignorance of the British advance, was moving his bri- 
 gade towards the plain, simply for the purpose of drill. 
 Near the bridge over Street's Creek he met General 
 Brown, who said — " The enemy is advancing. You wi'l 
 have a fight." Beyond this brief remark,, Scott receivetl 
 no further orders during the day.^ General Brown passed 
 to the rear, to put Ripley's brigade in motion, and to re 
 assemble the light troops behind Street's Creek. It wa^ 
 not till he arrived at the bridge, over Street's Creek, two 
 hundred yards to the right of his camp of the night be- 
 fore, that Scott saw the enemy .^ The army of Riall had 
 crossed the bridge over Chippewa, and displayed itself on 
 the plain before described. It was composed* of the 
 100th regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel the Marquis of 
 Tweedale ; the 1st or Royal Scots, under Lieutenant 
 Colonel Gordon ; a portion of the. 8th or King's regiment 
 
 ' Brown's Report, 6 Niles, 654. 
 
 ' Brown's Report says^— " The general did not expect to be gratified so 
 soon with a field engagement. He advanced in a most prompt and officer- 
 like style, and in a few minutes was in close action upon the plain with a 
 superior force." 
 
 ' A fringe of bushes along the creek, and a clump of trees at the 
 bridge, shut out till then the view of the enemy. 
 
 * British official report, by Adjutant-General Baynes, found in 6 Nileg, 
 403. 
 
106 ADVANCE OF THK AMliRICAN ARMY. 
 
 a detachment of the Royal Artillery ; a detachment of 
 the Royal 19th Light Dragoons ; and a portion of Canada 
 militia and Indians. The main body of these troops were 
 among the best in the British army. 
 
 This force was supported by a heavy battery of nine 
 pieces, within point-blank range of the American troops. 
 Under the fire of this battery the corps of Scott passed 
 the bridge in perfect order, but with some loss. His 
 ■first and second battalions, under Majors Leavenworth 
 and M'Neil, after crossing, formed a line to the front, 
 which brought them opposed respectively to the left and 
 centre of the enemy. The third battalion under Major 
 Jesup obliqued in column to the left, and advanced to 
 attack the .right of the enemy, which extended into the 
 wood. Captain ToVvson with his artillery was stationed 
 on the right, resting in the Chippewa road.* 
 
 General Scott soon perceived that, although there, were 
 no intervals in the British line, yet their right wing out- 
 flanked his left. To remedy this difficulty the movement 
 of Jesup was caus.ed, and the interval between the bat- 
 talions of Leavenworth and M'Neil on the plain, was 
 greatly enlarged. These evolutions were executed rap- ' 
 idly, and with great precision, under the fire of both mils- 
 ketry and artillery. 
 
 The action soon became general. Major Jesup now 
 in the wood, and out of view, engaged, and held in check 
 the enemy's right wing. The plain widened on that flank, 
 and the enemy's main line continued to advance. Jes- 
 up having thus held in check one battalion in the wood, 
 the engagement there gave the enemy a new right flank 
 
 ' See Diapfram 
 
THE ORDER TO m'nEIl's BATTALIO^f. 107 
 
 upon the plain. General Scott, who had coitinued al- 
 ternately to advance, halt, and fire, was now not more 
 than eighty paces from the enemy. The enemy having a 
 new flank, Scott took advantage of the enlarged interval 
 between Leavenworth and M'Neil, to throw the left flank 
 of M'Neil's battalion forward on its right, so that it stood 
 obliquely to the enemy's charge and flanking him a little 
 on his new right. At this moment Scott called aloud to 
 M'Neil's battalion, which had not a recruit in it, — "The 
 enemy say, that we are good at long shot, but cannot 
 stand the cold iron ! I call upon the Eleventh instantly 
 to give the he to that slander ! Charge !" This move- 
 ment was executed with decisive effect. A correspond- 
 ing charge was also made by Leavenworth, who held an 
 oblique position on our right. These charges were sus- 
 tained by the flank fire of Towson's artillery on the right, 
 and quickly put the enemy to rout. The British army 
 broke, and fled'in confusion. 
 
 Li the mean while, and nearly at the same time. Major 
 Jesup, commanding the left flank battahon, finding him- 
 self pressed in front and flank, ordered his men to " sup- 
 port arms and advance." This order was promptly 
 obeyed amidst a deadly and destructive fire.* Having 
 gained a more secure position, he returned upon the 
 enemy so severe a fire as caused them to retire.^ Thus 
 was the whole British line fairly routed, in a field action, 
 on an open plain. They fled to their intrenchments be- 
 yond the Chippewa, hotly pursued by Scott to the dis- 
 
 ' General Brown's Official Report, dated July 7tli, 1814, and contained 
 in 6 Niles's Register, 354. 
 " Brown's Report, 6 Nilea 3,54. 
 
108 MOVEMENTS OF THE TROOPS. 
 
 tance of half musket-shot of Chippewa Bridge. He took 
 many prisoners, leaving the plain behind strewed with 
 the dead and wounded of both nations. 
 
 At this point the active and important part of the battle 
 of Chippewa ended, but we must recall the reader to 
 some of its strictly military points, before we pursue our 
 story to other and yet bloodier scenes. A charge, in 
 military phrase, is said to be made, when either party 
 stops firing, throws bayonets forward, and advances to 
 the shock, whether the enemy receive it or fly. An ac- 
 tual crossing of bayonets, therefore, is not indispensable 
 to the idea of a charge. To suppose it is, is a mistake. 
 Another popular error is, that the parties come up to the 
 shock in parallel lines. Such a case has rarely, if ever, 
 occurred. Each commander always seeks by manoeu- 
 vring to gain the oblique position, and, if possible, to 
 outflank his enemy. With superior force, both advan- 
 tages may easily be gained ; but with inferior numbers 
 the difficulty is extreme. The excess on the part of the 
 enemy can only be overcome by celerity of movement, 
 accuracy, hardihood, skill, and zeal. 
 
 At Chippewa, Scott from the first had been obliged, 
 m order to present to the enemy an equal front on the 
 plain, to extend the interval between the first and second 
 battalions to an unusual width. Late in the action, when 
 the parties had approached to within eighty paces, each 
 having several times halted, fired, and advanced, Scott 
 suddenly threw his first battalion a little forward, oblique 
 ly, on its left, and his second more forward, obliquely, 
 on its right. He at the same time caused Towson's bat 
 tery, on our extreme right, to make a wheel towards the 
 enemy, now nearly up. The whole of the American 
 
/ 
 
 towson's kaking iJisciiAacE. 109 
 
 infantiy, with the shoui of assured -victory, then rushed 
 to the charge !' 
 
 Of course, only a few files crossed bayonets at a time, 
 and, from the force of position,^ there were two or three 
 effective American to one British bayonet, at each suc- 
 cessive step. As the enemy advanced, he necessarily 
 became more and more outflanked. This enabled each 
 . wing from the first to double some files on the. enemy's 
 rear. The flanks so assailed rapidly crumbled away." 
 -The process was short. In a few minutes the whole 
 British army broke and fled. 
 
 It is evident, that in proportion as the Americans ad- 
 vanced, the interval in their line became less and less. 
 Even if Scott had halted to receive the enemy, that in- 
 terval would not have been a weak point, because, in 
 that event, the more the enemy advanced within our line, 
 the more he would have been exposed to a cross and 
 oblique fire from the right and left. 
 
 When the enemy's battalions, at the beginning, passed 
 from column into line, a part of their artilloyy became 
 masked by that line. That is, it could no longer, in con- 
 sequence of the intervention of its own friends, fire direct 
 or over upon the American line. Some pieces, however, 
 continued to play upon Towson's battery, immediately in 
 front, and dismounted one of his three gims. Towson 
 also succeeded in dismounting one of theirs. His last 
 raking discharge to the left, just before the shock of the 
 two lines, was terribly destructive. 
 
 The instant that Leavenworth and M'Neil's battalions 
 ivere thrown into the oblique positions seen in the dia- 
 
 ' See Diagram. " Idem. 
 
110 THE KOMENT BEFOR]? THE CHARGE. 
 
 gram of the battle, both armies rapidly advancing, Scott 
 galloped to our battery on the right, and -called out to 
 Towson — "Captain, more to the left; the enemy is 
 there !" Towson, on foot, and enveloped in smoke, could 
 not see that the enemy's line had advanced inside the 
 range of his last discharge. The gallant captain — than 
 whom no man in the army possessed a greater prowess — 
 instantly changed the direction of his two remaining guns 
 ■-more to the left, and gave the final destructive fire, a 
 second or two before the conflict of bayonets on that 
 flank. 
 
 We have described the battle of Chippewa in its de- 
 tail, as it was described to us by a scientific soldier. It 
 may be verified by the curious reader, in other ways, 
 both oral and written, open to his inquiry.' 
 
 When the action had just commenced. General Brown 
 had hastenedjto bring up the brigade of Ripley ; and for 
 this purpose the 21st regiment was detached to the left, 
 and moved to the support of Scott, with the intention of 
 attacking the enemy's left ; but they arrived too late. 
 The battle was ended.. Such was the activity of Scott's 
 movements, and the impetuosity of his attack, that the 
 enemy were already routed and pursued.^ 
 
 ' General Brown's official report, the British oflicial report by Adju- 
 tant-General Baynes, and the newspaper accounts, all combined and 
 compared, will give a very accurate view of tliis battle In addition, 
 reference may easily be made to General Worth, General Jesup, and 
 others who were present and active hi the battle. 
 
 ' Genei il Brown's Official Report says, that the greatest exertions were 
 made by the 21st regiment to gain their position in time; but in vain ; 
 for the zeal and gallantry of the line commanded by General Scott waa 
 «uch, that its advance upon the enemy was not to be checked. 
 
THE PLAIN' AND DAY OF CHIPPEWA. II 1 
 
 The battle of Chippewa was an exciting and in some 
 degree poetic scene. It was fought at the close of a long 
 bright summer's day. On one side rolled the rapids of 
 the deep Niagara, on the other was seen the verdure of 
 the northern forest. The plain on which the hostile 
 forces met was level and smooth, as if prepared for the 
 meeting of the warriors of ancient knighthood. The best 
 troops of England wheeled into it over Chippewa Bridge, 
 and the regiments of America, cool and disciplined, 
 marched to meet them in combat. The- sun shone down, 
 and brilliant arms flashed in his beams. Each movement 
 of the troops was distinct. As the battle deepened, fine 
 bands of music mingled their melody, in sudden bursts, 
 with the roar of artillery and the moans of the wounded. 
 
 The battle ended, and many were the dead upon that 
 dusty plain, whose last groans had expired with the last 
 rays of the setting sun. 
 
 Darkness came on, and wearied with battle and thirsty 
 with heat, each army retired to its camp.' The dead 
 woke not from their bloody beds, and the living sank to 
 rest. The wounded and his watcher, the sentinel and 
 the stars, alone kept the vigils of the night. , 
 
 Jn the British official account of this battle, the Ameri- 
 can force IS represented as numerically superior. The fact 
 was the reverse.^ The British idea was founded prob- 
 
 ' Genera! Brown's Official Report, 6 Niles, 154. 
 
 ' Tliere is a tolerably accurate mode of ascertaining this fact. The 
 British adjutant-general's report, dated the 13th July, in giving a return 
 of the killed and wounded, enumerates the 1st regiment, (Royal Scots,) 
 the 8lh, (Queen's,) the lOOtli, (Marquis of Tweedale's,) a detachment of 
 Royal 19th, (dragoons,) a detachment of artillery, and a portion of Canada 
 militia. These regiments were not full ; but there was one Ijatlalion of 
 the Soots, and the 8th, and two of the 100th. Their numbers may b« 
 
112 THE BRITISH FORCE NUMERICALLY SUPERIOR. 
 
 ably on the supposition that the whole of General Brown'* 
 army was .engaged. This, we have seen, was far from 
 being the fact. The reserve iinder General Ripley was 
 not in the action, m any degree. The detachment of 
 General Porter, after the first skirmishes in advance, 
 broke, returned to the rear, and were not again engaged. 
 Of the artillery under Major Hindman, one company only, 
 that of Towson, was engaged. 
 
 In fact, only Scott's brigade was engaged in the main 
 battle. This brigade was constituted as we have nar- 
 rated in the beginning of this chapter.^ 
 
 At this distance of time, we have opportunities of com- 
 paring the accounts, both of the official reports and of . 
 personal combatants in the field ; of writers who wrote 
 flushed with the excitement of the action, and of those 
 who calmly sought truth, when the action existed only as 
 an event of history. With this comparison made, and 
 with these views examined, we conclude, that the battle 
 of Chippewa was fought, in regard to the actual combat, 
 by, the Americans, with rather inferior forces ; was fought 
 on ail open plain with no peculiar advantage to either 
 party ; and was fairly won by the Americans, opposed to 
 some of the best troops of Europe.^ 
 
 thus stated— Royal .Scots, 400 ; 8th, 400 ; 100th, 800 ; artillery, dragooiLs, 
 and militia, .^00 ; in all, about 2100 men. 
 
 The American troops were, the 9th, 11th, and 25th infantry, with a 
 detacliment of the 22d, Towson's artillery, and Porter's volunteers. The 
 three regiments of infantry may be called 1400, though probably less ; the 
 residue about .500, making 1900. In this account light troops are counted 
 on both sides. 
 
 ' Page 100. 
 
 ' The Royal Scots, the 100th, and the Queen's Own, were claimed 
 to be among the best of the British troope. 
 
EFFECTS. or THE BATTLE OF CHIPPEWA. 113 
 
 The victory, therefore, though attended by no actual 
 conquest, was valuable to the American people. It taught 
 them, and it inspired all ranks of the army with the 
 knowledge, that our troops, when properly instructed, 
 were equal in courage and coolness, in devotion and dis- 
 cipline, to those whose skill and experience had been ac 
 quired in the Peninsula of Spain, or under the warm sun 
 of India. This knowledge came when its inspiration was 
 needed. Along this line of Canada frontier, whenge so 
 much had been expected, one general had surrendered 
 with shame ;^ another had retreated, to the disappointment 
 of the country;^ and a third had refused to advance, and 
 retired to inactivity.' 
 
 This gloomy period had indeed been relieved by the 
 defeat of Proctor ; but there had been too many mis 
 fortunes or disasters on the northern frontier, not to leave 
 a degree of doubt and uncertainty on the popular mind, 
 respecting the vigor and discipline of our land forces. 
 The battle of Chippewa removed this impression. It 
 blazed up from apparently sinldng fires, and illuminated 
 the horizon of hope, not so much by the magnitude as by 
 the brilliancy of its light. 
 
 Let us turn a moment from the American, to the views 
 taken by English writers of this sanguinary action. They, 
 at least, will not be too partial to America. An English 
 periodical of that day, says — 
 
 "On reading the two accounts (English and American) 
 of the same affair, one is forcibly struck with the' oppo- 
 site statements they contain, and which it would be a vain 
 task in me to reconcile. We, as is natural, will be in- 
 
 ' Hull. ' Wilkinson. ' Hampton. 
 
 8 
 
114 VIEWS OF BRITISH WRITERS, 
 
 clined to believe our general, while the Americans will, 
 us naturally, believe theirs." * * * * 
 
 * * * " But, whatever may be said as to this, there 
 can be no difference of opinion as to the more important 
 feature in it, namely, the undaunted bravery of the Ameri- 
 cans, and the little hope this affords, that the contest will 
 soon be terminated." * * * * 
 
 " I do not think there is evidence, that the British 
 army, at or near the scene of action, was upwards of four 
 thousand strong, while the enemy was under three thou- 
 sand."! * * * * 
 
 * * * " Numerous as were the battles of Napoleon, 
 and brave as were his soldiers, I do not believe that even 
 he, the greatest warrior that ever lived, can produce 
 an instance of a contest so well maintained, or, in pro- 
 portion to the numbers engaged, so bloody, as that of 
 Chippewa."^ * * * * 
 
 ' The reference of the writer here is obviously to those that composed 
 the entire armies of Riall and Brown, and not to those actually engaged. 
 
 " The killed, wounded, and prisoners, in the battle of Chippewa, were 
 returned as follows: — v 
 
 American Official Report. 
 
 
 Killed. 
 
 Wounded. 
 
 Miask 
 
 Artillery, (Towson's,) 
 
 4 
 
 16 
 
 — 
 
 9th infantry, 
 
 13 
 
 . 44 
 
 — 
 
 gSd " . 
 
 8 
 
 44 
 
 — 
 
 25th " 
 
 5 
 
 68 
 
 — 
 
 11th " 
 
 15 
 
 60 
 
 __ 
 
 Porter's Volunteers, 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 17 
 
 Ripley's brigade, 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 60 
 
 248 
 
 19 
 
 
 Total, 327. 
 
 
 
BRAVERY OF THE AMERICAN TROOPS. 115 
 
 " The important feet is, that we have now got an ene- 
 my who fights as bravely as ourselves. For some time, 
 the Americans cut no figure on land. They have now 
 proved to us that they only wanted time to acquire a 
 little discipline. They have now proved to us what they 
 are made of, and they are the same sort of men as 
 those who captured whole armies under Burgoyne and 
 Cornwallis ; that they are neither to be frightened nor 
 silenced ; and that if we should beat them at last, We 
 cannot expect to do it without expending three or four 
 hundred millions of money, keeping up all our present 
 taxes, and adding to their amount, or imposing new taxes. 
 These are the facts that are now proved to us. These 
 are the natural consequences of battles such as that of 
 Chippewa." 
 
 * * * " America wiU have carried on a war single- 
 handed against us ; she will have, through the world, the 
 reputation of having been able alone to beat England ; 
 for, to defend herself against us is, in such a case, to 
 beat us. Other nations, sore at the sight of our predomi- 
 nance on the sea, will look up to America as the balance 
 against us. They will naturally seek a connection with 
 
 British Official Report. 
 
 
 .1^ 
 
 ..■ , Killed. Wounded. 
 
 Missing. 
 
 Artillery, 
 
 1 4 
 
 — 
 
 Royal Scots, 
 
 53 135 
 
 30 
 
 8th, (or King's,) 
 
 3 24 
 
 — 
 
 100th regiment, 
 
 69 134 
 
 1 
 
 Militia, 
 
 12 16 
 
 15 
 
 I9th Dragoons, 
 
 -i- 5 
 
 — 
 
 
 138 319 
 
 4G 
 
 
 Total, 503. 
 
 
 Total loss, 
 
 830 in less than 4000 men. 
 
 
116 GENERAL BROWn's OFFICIAL REPORT. 
 
 a country offering innumerable sources of beneficial in 
 tercourse." * * * * 
 
 This language may be stronger than what many Ameri- 
 cans would be willing to use ; but is it not justified by 
 the facts, and by the consequences ? Soon after the 
 battle of Chippewa, our arms acquired other victories, 
 both in the north and in the south. Since the war, as the 
 writer predicted, our alliance has been courted and our 
 commerce sought, by every nation on the habitable globe. 
 
 We shall close the history of the field of Chippewa 
 with the testimony of him "who, ahke by station and by 
 skill, was the best witness to the gallant actions of his 
 brave and devoted soldiers. - 
 
 General Brown, in his Official Report,* observes — 
 
 " My most difficult duty remains to be performed. I 
 am depressed with the fear of not being able to do justice 
 to my brave companions in arms, and apprehensive that 
 some who had an opportunity of distinguishing them- 
 selves, and promptly embraced it, will escape my notice. 
 
 " Brigadier-General Scott is entitled to the highest 
 praise our country can bestow — to him more than any 
 other man am I indebted for the victory of the 5th of 
 July. His brigade covered itself with glory. Every 
 officer and every man of the 9th and 22d, 11th and 25th 
 regiments, did his duty with a zeal and energy worthy of 
 the American character. When every officer stands so 
 pre-eminently high in the path of duty and honor, it is 
 impossible to discriminate, but I cannot deprive myself' 
 of the pleasure of saying, that Major Leavenworth com- 
 manded the 9th and 22d, Major Jesup the 25th, and 
 
 • Brown's OfEoial Report, 6 Niles, 354. 
 
IMPORTANCE OF THE BATTLE OF CHIPPEWA 117 
 
 Major M'Neil the llth. Colonel Campbell was wounded 
 early in the action, gallantly leading on his regiment. 
 
 "The family of General Scott (his n/ilitary staif) were 
 conspicuous in the field ; Lieutenant Smith of the 6th in- 
 fantry, major of brigade, and Lieutenants Worttf and 
 Watts, his aids. 
 
 "From General Ripley and his brigade P received 
 every assistance that I gave them an opportunity of ren- 
 dering. I did not order any part of the reserve into ac- 
 tion until General Porter's command had given way, and 
 then General Scott's movements were so rapid and de- 
 cisive, that General Ripley could not get up in time with 
 the 21st, to the position, as directed." 
 
 The battle of Chippewa, we have already shown, was 
 important in raising the self-estimation of the American 
 people, in regard to military service on land, in open field 
 combat. It was likewise important intrinsically, to the 
 glory and reputation of American arms, both at home and 
 abroad. 
 
 General Brown has said, in the preceding Report, that 
 to General Scott more than to any other man was he in- 
 debted for the victory of the 5th of July ; and that he 
 was entitled to the highest pfaise his country could be- 
 stow. No stronger language than this can be used. The 
 
 ' Lieutenant Worth, here mentioned, is now Brigeidier- General Worth. 
 He was for several years commander of the battalion of cadets at West 
 Point, and subsequently one of the commanders in the Florida war. 
 
 The promotions made for the campaign of Niagara were as follows : 
 HoNORAKY Brevets — Brigadier-General Scott, Major-General ; Majors 
 Leavenworth, Jesup, and M'Neil, Lieutenant-Colonels ; Captains Crooker, 
 Towson, Harrison, and Austin, Majors ; Lieutenant Worth, Captain ; 
 Sd Lieutenant Watts, 1st Lieutenant. 
 
 8* 
 
118 CHAilACTER CJ? GENERAL SCOTT. 
 
 foregoing narrative has proved, that the commander-in- 
 chief was not mistaken. Scott wras the actual com- 
 mander of the forces engaged in battle ; and when the 
 day closed, it was not unjust, that to hini was assigned 
 the freshest and greenest leaf from the many-laurelled 
 plain of Chippewa. 
 
 It is also just to inquire, what, and by what means ac- 
 quired, were those qualities, by which he became a con- 
 spicuous and successful soldier. 
 
 The reader will recollect, that we described Scott, after 
 his suspension for words used against Wilkinson, as en- 
 gaged sedulously, in the house of B. W. Leigh, Esq., in 
 the study of the science of his profession. It was a val- 
 uable study to him. Then, and at subsequent periods, he 
 acquired that systematic and technical knowledge of the 
 discipline, organization, and movement of troops, which 
 makes military knowledge, like other systematic branches 
 of learning, practically an art and theoretically a science. 
 
 In the Camp of Buffalo, likewise, Scott had shown his 
 acquaintance with the • French military tactics, till then 
 not introduced into the American service, and this know- 
 ledge was made available to the discipline of the troops. 
 
 In his natural character, Scott was daring, ardent, 
 zealous, and quick to perceive. With such qualities, 
 natural and acquired, we at once find a reason for the 
 rapid development of his military talents in the field of 
 action. There we find displayed great personal courage, 
 bold enterprise, and the utmost promptitude of move- 
 ment, united with a cool presence of mind, and the most 
 ready resource in difiiculty. These are the qualities of 
 an able general, and as such, were developed in him"on 
 the northern frontier. 
 
THE AMERITANS CROSS THE CmPPEW4 121 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1814. 
 
 American Army crosses the Chippewa. — Demonstration towards Burling- 
 ton Heights. — Battle of Niagara.— Scott wounded and disabled. 
 
 The army of the north had scarcely rested from its 
 labors at Chippewa, when it was called to the still more 
 sanguinary field of Niagara. The second day after the 
 battle of the 5th, the American troops forced their way 
 over Chippewa River. In this, Scott's brigade led, and 
 'the enemy retreated.before him. 
 
 After the campaign of 1813, Fort Messasauga was 
 erected near the mouth of Niagara River, and added to 
 the defences of Fort George,. These forts General 
 Riall, the British commander, reinforced, and then re- 
 tired to Burlington Heights, near the head of Lake On- 
 tario. It was the object of General Brown to capture • 
 these defences before commencing any ulterior opera- 
 tions. To accomplish this, he sent to Sacketts Harbor 
 for heavy cannon, which were to have been transported 
 by the American vessels.* At this time, however, Com- 
 modore Chauncey lay sick, and the enemy had a mo- 
 mentary superiority on the lake.^ The intentions of the 
 
 ' General Brown's Letter to the Secretary of War, July 25th, 1814, 
 6Nile8, 411, 'Idem. 
 
 6 
 
122 GEN. brown's plan of attack. 
 
 commander, therefore, in regard to the forts at the mouth 
 of the Niagara, were disappointed. 
 
 General Brown determined then to attack Burlington 
 Heights ; but, to induce the enemy to descend, and. at 
 the same time draw a small supply of provisions from 
 Schlosser,' he masked his intentions, by feigning a re- 
 treat up the Niagara, recrossed the Chippewa, and en 
 camped. 
 
 Had this movement failed to withdraw the British 
 troops from the Heights, it was intended to use the 25th 
 as a day of rest, and on the 26th to send Scott forward 
 by the road from Queenstown, and force RiaU to action, 
 no matter how strongly he might be posted. Events de- 
 termined otherwise, and what was meant to be a day of 
 rest, was converted into the most active and bloody day 
 of the campaign. 
 
 In the afternoon of the 25th, amidst general relaxation 
 General Brown received a note from a colonel of militia 
 whose regiment occupied two or three posts on the 
 American side of the Niagara, stating in the most precise 
 terms, that the enemy had thrown a thousand men across 
 from Queenstown to Lewiston, nine miles below the 
 Chippewa, for some object not exactly understood. 
 Brown conjectured that there was an intention to capture 
 our magazines at Schlosser, and to intercept supplies 
 coming down from Buffalo. In order to recall him from 
 this object,^ Brown immediately determined to threaten 
 the forts at the mouth of the Niagara. In less than 
 twenty minutes Scott's command was put in motion for 
 that purpose.^ His force consisted of four small bat- 
 
 ' Brown's Official Report, 6 Niles, 433. ' Idem. » Idem. 
 
SGOTT S BRIGADE SENT IN ADVANCE. 123 
 
 talions, under Colonel Brady,' and Majors Jesup, Leav- 
 enworth, and M'Neil ; Captain Towson's artillery, and 
 Captain Harris's detachment of regular and volunteer 
 cavalry ; in all amounting to thirteen hundred men. There 
 was not time to call in the guards which belonged to 
 those corps. 
 
 About two miles from the camp, and just above the 
 Falls, Scott discovered a few British officers, mounted, 
 who, as it turned out, were in advance to reconnoitre, and 
 soon learned that the enemy was in some little force be- 
 low, and only intercepted from the view by a narrow 
 wood. 
 
 In this situation, Scott for a moment reflected on what 
 course should be pursued. He was instructed to march 
 rapidly on the forts, under positive information (given as 
 we have narrated to General Brown,) that Riall had, 
 three hours before, thrown half his force across the Nia- 
 gara. Reflecting that the whole had been beaten on the 
 5th inst., he lost no time in reconnoitring, but dashed 
 forwardrto disperse what he thought was the remnant of 
 the British army opposed to him. 
 
 After dispatching Assistant Adjutant-General Jones^ to 
 General Brown with the information that the enemy was 
 in front, he proceeded to pass the wopd, just below For- 
 sythe's House. There he was greatly astonished to find, 
 directly in front, drawn up in order of battle, on Lundy's 
 Lane,' a larger force even than that he had encountered 
 a,t Chippewa twenty days before ! The position he was 
 
 ' Brown's OiBcial Report, 6 Niles, 433. 
 
 • Brown's Report. 
 
 • Dniramond's General Order, 36tli July, 6 Nilea, 439. 
 
124 SCOTT ENCOUNTERS SUPERIOR NUMBERS. 
 
 in, was extremely critical. To stand fast was out of the 
 question, being already under a heavy fire of the enemy's 
 artillery and musketry. To retreat was equally haz- 
 ardous ; for there is always, in such a case, the proba- 
 bility of confusion, and, at this time, the danger of creating 
 a panic in the reserve, then supposed to be coming up, 
 and which had not been in the previous battle. 
 
 Scott saw that no measure but one of boldness would 
 succeed. He therefore determined to maintain the battle 
 against superior numbers and position till the reserve 
 came up, thus giving General Riall the idea that the 
 whgle American army was at hand. This would prevent 
 him from profiting by his numerical strength to attack 
 our flanks and rear. He would thus lose the initial, a 
 matter of no small importance in military enterprises. 
 The scheme succeeded.-* For a long time the enemy 
 was kept on the defensive, till the American reserve had 
 come up and entered into the action. 
 
 In the mean while Scott had sent back to General 
 Brown, Lieutenant Douglass,^ as well as Major- Jones, 
 to report the condition of affairs. The first was to report 
 that the remnant of Riall's army was manoeuvring to pro- 
 tect the detachment thrown over the Niagara ; the second 
 was to inform the general, that so far from being dimin- 
 ished, the Bri,tish army was actually reinforced, and thus 
 to hasten up the reserve. 
 
 ' It appears from Drummond's General Order, 26th July, in 6 Niles, 
 439, that he thought his position in Lundy's Lane was attacked by the whole 
 American army. He thanks the army for " repulsing all the efforts of a 
 numerous and determined enemy to carry the position of Lundy's Lane." 
 
 ' Lieutenant D. B. Douglass of the Engineers, afterwards professor at 
 West Point, and subsequently president of Kenyon College, Ohio. 
 
THK BRITISH CONTINUALLV REINFORCED. 125 
 
 On the British side the facts were these. In the night 
 before, the night of the 24th, Lieutenant-General Sir 
 Gordon Drummond had arrived, in the British fleet, at 
 the mouth of the Niagara, with a large reinforcement 
 from Kingston and Prescott. This was wholly unknown 
 to General Brown ! Drumrriond had, in advance, sent 
 instructions to Riall to meet him on the 25th on the 
 Niagara. Accordingly, Riall had marched down the very 
 road it had been arranged that Scott was to take on the 
 26th. He. had come by Queenstown without putting a 
 man across the Niagara ! He had continued his route, 
 as the advance of Drummond's army, towards the Falls. 
 On the way, he had already been joined by two of the 
 battalions which had just come up in the fleet. The 
 others arrived successively, at intervals of half an hour or 
 an hour, after the action had commenced. 
 
 ^The battle began about forty minutes before sunset, 
 and, like its predecessor at Chippewa, was the closing 
 drama of a long and warm summer's day. Like that too, it 
 signalized among the aflairs of men a spot which in the 
 world of nature had been rendered illustrious by one of the 
 great and glorious works of God. When the battle was 
 about to begin, just as the setting sun sent his red beams 
 from the west, they fell upon the spray, which continually 
 goes up, like incense^ from the deep, dashing torrent of 
 Niagara. The bright light was divided into its primal hues, 
 and a rainbow rose from the waters, encircling the head 
 of the advancing column !* In a more superstitious age. 
 
 ' This incident is related by an officer who was present in the battle. 
 It is well known, that one of the most beautiful phenomena of the Falls 
 ia the formation of rainbows, both lunai and solar, at all times when tho 
 
126 -fOSITION OF THE ENEMY. 
 
 such a sign would have been regarded, like the Roman 
 auguries, as a precursor of victory. Even now, this bow 
 of promise furnished the inspiration of hope, with the 
 colors of beauty. 
 
 The line which now opened its fire upon Scott, at the 
 distance of one hundred and fifty paces, was already 
 eighteen hundred strong. It was well posted in Lundy's 
 Lane, a ridge nearly at right angles with the Niagara 
 River, a little below the cataract. Its left was on the 
 road parallel to the river, with a space covered with 
 brushwood, of some two hundred yards, between. Scott, 
 observing^ this interval, soon ordered Major Jesup, sus- 
 tained by Colonel Brady, to take advantage of it, and, 
 concealed by the bushes and twilight, to turn the enemy's 
 left. The other battalions had been before promptly de 
 ployed into line, and the action joined by it (Brady on the 
 right) and Towson's artillery. The small detachments of 
 cavalry on both sides were held in reserve. The enemy, 
 finding after some time that he outflanked us on the left, 
 threw forward a battalion to take us in flank and rear. 
 Scott, although with inferior numbers, caused this move- 
 ment to be promptly met and repelled by Major M'Neil's 
 battalion, but with great loss on both sides. At the same 
 moment, the action in front was desperately contested by 
 Brady, now in line, and by Leavenworth and Towson. 
 Major Jesup had succeeded in his movement. He had 
 taken Major-General Riall,' and several other ofiicers, 
 1» 
 
 state of tho weather is favorable. I once heard Dr. Peroival, the poet, 
 describe witli great fervor the appearance of a rainbow, formed by the 
 tnoonbeams near midnight, on tlie spray of the cataract. Such a scene 
 was indeed filled with the poetry of nature. 
 
 ' Major Ketchum, of the 25th regiment of infantry, who died iu the 
 
THE CONFLICT IN THE NIGHT. 127 
 
 prisoners, and then gallantly charged back, (cutting off a 
 portion of the enemy's left wing,) reappearing, and re- 
 suming his position in line. 
 
 The battle had commenced before sunset. The twi 
 light had gone, and the action was continued into the 
 night. It was now nine o'clock. The enemy's right had 
 been beaten back from its flank assault with great loss. . 
 His left was turned and cut off. His centre alone re^ . 
 mained firm. It was posted on a ridge, and supported by. 
 nine pieces of artillery. 
 
 Another battalion of Drummond's reinforcements had: 
 
 army, August 30th, 1828, was the officer who personally made General 
 Riall a prisoner. The British General was brought to Scot-t by Major 
 Ketchum, and directions were given that the distinguished prisoner should 
 be taken to the rear, and treated with the greatest possible kindness. 
 Riall, badly wounded, lay some days at the same house in Williamsrille,. 
 (eleven miles east of Buffalo,) with Scott, yet more severely crippled. 
 The latter, as a special favor to himself, obtained permission from our 
 government, for Riall to return to England on parole, and the same per- 
 mission for Riall's friend. Major Wilson, also badly wounded, who had 
 been captured at Chippewa. We have already said, that Scott obtained 
 the same favor in behalf of a colonel made prisoner by him at Fort 
 George, the year before. Such favors were, however, at that time, only 
 granted by the American government ; Sir George Provost and the 
 British ministry never consented to place on parole, or to exchange a 
 prLsoner, after the Americans confined the twenty-three hostages in 1813. 
 Sir Phineas Riall has been promoted to a full general, (above the 
 British rank of Lieutenant-General,) made a knight of several orders, ap- 
 pointed Governor of Tobago, and otherwise rewarded by his government. 
 The major who returned to England with him is now Sir John Morillyou 
 Wilson, and attached to one of the royal households. It was he who ad- 
 dressed a letter to General Scott in 1841, (which has been published,) re- 
 specting his Mississippi bonds, in which he had invested the little savings 
 of forty years service, together with his wife's property, induced thereto 
 by his unbounded confiience in the American character ! 
 
128 GENERAL BROWN ARRIVES WITH THE RESERVE. 
 
 already arrived, and a fourth was only a few miles be- 
 hind. Such was the 'state of the field, when Major- 
 General Brown arrived, a little in advance of our reserve. 
 He insisted on having all the particulars, leported to him 
 previously by the detached staif-officers mentioned, 
 explained and confirmed to him by the lips of Scott. At 
 this point. General Brown in his official report^ takes up 
 the narrative, from his own personal observation. We 
 select a few extracts in continuance of the history. 
 
 After speaking of Scott's brigade, and its position m 
 the first part of the battle, he says — " Apprehending that 
 these corps were much exhausted, and knowing that they 
 had suffered severely, I determined to interpose a new 
 line with the advancing troops, and thus disengage Gen- 
 eral Scott, and hold his brigade in reserve. Orders were 
 accordingly given to General Ripley. The enemy's ar- 
 tillery at this moment occupied a hill, which gave him 
 great advantages, and was the key to the whole position. 
 It was supported by a line of infantry. To secure the 
 victory, it was necessary to carry this artillery and seize 
 the height. This duty was assigned to Colonel Miller.^ 
 
 "He (Colonel Miller) advanced Steadily and gallantly to 
 his object, and carried the height and the cannon. Gen- 
 eral Ripley brought up the 23d, which had faltered, to 
 his support, and the enemy disappeared from before them. 
 * * * * The enemy rallying his forces, and, as is be- 
 lieved, having received reinforcements, novf attempted to 
 drive us from our position and regain his artillery. Our 
 
 ' Brown's Official Report, 6 Niles, 433. 
 
 * Afterwards Brigadier-General Miller, Governor of Arkansas, and 
 oollector at Salem, Massachusetts. 
 
,' \ 
 
 
COLONEL miller's FAMOUS REl'LY. 129 
 
 line was unshaken and the enemy repulsed. Two other 
 attempts, having the same object, had the same issue. 
 General Scott was again engaged in repelling the former 
 of these ; and the last I saw of him on the field of battle, 
 he was near the head of his column, and giving to its 
 march a direction that would have placed him on the 
 enemy's right. ******* Having been for some time 
 wounded, and being a good deal exhausted by loss of 
 blood, it became my wish to devolve the command on 
 General Scott, and ' retire from the field, but, on inquiry, 
 I had the misfortune to learn that he was disabled by 
 wounds ;* I therefore kept my post, and had the satisfac- 
 tion to see the enemy's last effort repulsed." 
 
 The crisis of this engagement was the moment when 
 the enemy's battery, which from its position commanded 
 the field of action, was stormed by Miller's regiment. 
 The diagram exhibits the position of the troops at that 
 moment. This charge was one of the iinest achieve- 
 ments of the American army. General Brown said to the 
 gallant Miller — "Sir, can you take that battery?" "1 
 WILL TRY," was the reply of the bluff soldier — a phrase 
 now become familiar to all American lips. Scott, who was 
 perfectly acquainted with the ground, conducted Miller, 
 in the darkness of the night, some distance, till he had 
 the right direction. He then returned to renew the at- 
 tack in front, in order to favor the movement of M iller.^ 
 
 ' This was a mistake. Scott had been badly wounded an hour before, 
 but not yet disabled. Having lost a second horse, he was now on foot, 
 and was finally laid prostrate, by a ball through the left shoulder-joint, 
 just at the close of the battle. Brown was taken from the field a few 
 minutes earlier. 
 
 ' General Brown, in his Official Report, does not claim the suggostion 
 
 9 
 
130 NEW POSITION OF THE AMEEICANS. 
 
 The enemy's battery being taken, and the ridge previ- 
 ously occupied by the enemy being gained, the American 
 army changed position. It was now drawn up nearlj 
 at right angles to the lane, with its back to the river. 
 Scott was on the right, Ripley in the centre, and Porter, 
 with the militia, on the left. In this new position, the 
 American line generally acted on the defensive. The 
 British desired to recover the ground they had lost, 
 and made several assaults. These were as often re- 
 pulsed ; but the enemy would again rally and return to 
 the charge. 
 
 of the movement by Miller, and the successful assault on the enemy's 
 artillery. Neither does he attribute it to any one else. He simply says, 
 that it was necessary to carry the enemy's battery, and that Colonel 
 Miller was assigned to this task. The fair inference from the report of 
 Brown is, that he did not feel certain, or assured, as to who, if any 
 one in particular did, suggest the idea of this charge. Armstrong, in 
 his Notices of the War, says, that " the attention of all" was drawn to 
 the British battery, and that " the senior engineer (McRee) gave his de- 
 cided opinion that it was necessary to the success of the day ' to storm the 
 British battery.' " (Armstrong's Notices of the War of 1812, vol. ii. p. 92.) 
 But this does not affirm who made the suggestion. It only aiErms that 
 this was McRee's opinion, and so it was. An officer of the staff in that 
 battle stated to us, that he thought the idea was advanced by McRee 
 who, meeting Brown coming up, stated this to the commander. But, at 
 the* same time, the necessity of such a. charge was so obvious, that aH 
 assented to it at once. We deem it immaterial to the purpose of this his- 
 tory, who made an abstract suggestioa of that charge, when it is so 
 well known who were the efficient actors on that bloody field. Scott was 
 better acquainted with the ground than any other man ; and when the 
 charge was made, he conducted Miller in the darkness of the night to the 
 gap, where he turned up Lundy's Lane. This fact affords some reason to 
 believe that the idea originated with Scott himself; but it is quite proba- 
 ble, that such was the instant and obvious crisis of the battle, that several 
 minds seized upon it at the same time, a fact that is by no means un- 
 common in regard to new suggestions. 
 
CHARGES OP SOOTT's BRIGADE. " 1.31 
 
 It was in one of these contests General Brown had last 
 seen Scott. About that time, the latter had twice formed 
 small portions of his brigade into column, advanced, 
 charged the British line, also advancing, pierced it, and 
 compelled it to fall back.' In such a battle, with such 
 impetuous courage, Scott was necessarily exposed to all 
 the dangers of the field. Two horses were killed under 
 him. In the midst of the action, he was wounded in the 
 side. At eleven o'clock in the night, he was disabled by 
 a wound from a musket-ball through the left shoulder. 
 His aid, Lieutenant Worth, and his brigade-major. Smith, 
 were also both severely wounded. 
 
 The contest closed by the possession of the field of 
 battle by the Americans, and the capture of the enemy's 
 cannon. 
 
 The world has seen mightier armies moved over more 
 memorable fields, and followed by louder notes of the 
 far-resounding trumpet of fame ; but a bloodier scene 
 for those engaged,^ a severer trial of courage and of dis- 
 cipline, or one whose action was more closely associated 
 
 ' Armstrong's Notices, vol. ii. p. 92. 
 
 " The troops engaged on the American side were the same as com- 
 posed General Brown's army on crossing the Niagara. The British had, 
 however, been reinforced by the 89th regiment, the 103d, and the 104tli. 
 The losses on both sides were as follows — 
 
 American Loss. 
 
 British Loss. 
 
 Killed, 171 
 
 Killed, 84 
 
 Wounded, 512 
 
 Wounded, 559 
 
 Prisoners, 117 
 
 Prisoners, 235 
 
 Total, 860 Total, 878 
 
 These numbers are taken from the ofTicial report*. 
 
132 THE MOON IS OBSCURED BY CLOUDS. 
 
 with the sublime and beautiful in nature, thd world haa 
 not seen. The armies were drawn out near the shores 
 of that rapid river whose current mingles lake with lake. 
 Hard by, was that cataract whose world of waters rushes 
 over the precipice, and, rushing, roars into the gulf below ! 
 The ceaseless spray rises up, like incense to the eternal 
 Father ! The beams of sun, and moon, and stars, fall 
 ceaselessly on that spray,and are sent back in many-colored 
 hues to the source of light ! So was it when, wheeling 
 into the field of battle, the slant beams of the setting. sun, 
 returning from the spray, encircled the advancing column 
 with rainbow colors ! The sun went down, to many an 
 eye, no more to rise on earth ! 
 
 With the darkness came the greater rage of battle — 
 charge after charge was made. For a time the faint 
 beams of the moon struggled with the smoke, and gave a 
 little light to the combatants ; but it was but little. The 
 moon itself became obscured, and no light, save the rapid 
 flashes of musket and cannon, pierced the heavy clouds. 
 
 The fight raged in the darkness of the night. From 
 the height on the ridge, the battery of the enemy still 
 poured its deadly fire. 
 
 It was then that the gallant Miller said, " I will try." 
 It was then that Scott piloted his column through dark- 
 ness to Lundy's Lane. It was then that brave regiment 
 charged to the cannon's mouth. The battery was taken. 
 The victory rests with the American army. 
 
 It was midnight. The battle is ended. The army, 
 faint and weary, drags itself from the bloody plain.* 
 
 ' Brown's Official Report (6 Niles, 434) says — " While retiring from 
 the field, I saw and felt that the victory was complete on our part, if 
 proper measures were promptly adopted to secure it. The ejthaiistion of 
 
CLOSE OF THE BATTLE OV NIAGARA. 133 
 
 The well sink to their couch to dream of homes far 
 away .'^ The wounded groan in their painful hospitals. 
 The dead rest till the last trumpet shall summon them to 
 the last array ! The warrior, with his garments rolled in 
 olood, has left the scene of struggles, pains, and death ! 
 Some kind friend may have sought him, whether alive or 
 dead ; but the war-drum had ceased to beat ; the artillery 
 ceased to roll ; and now the solemn, sonorous fall of 
 Niagara 'is to the dead their requiem, and to the hving 
 their song of glory ! 
 
 The battle of Niagara has been, by mistake or accident, 
 commonly called in the United States, the battle of 
 Bridgewater.^ In the official report of the British general 
 it was called- the battle of Lundy's Lane. It has been 
 usage, however, to call a battle, or other important event, 
 from the most remarkable object near the scene of action. 
 
 the men was, however, such as made some refreshment necessary. They 
 particularly required water." 
 
 ' The " Soldier's Dream," under circumstances like these, has been the 
 theme of one of Campbell's most beautiful productions — 
 
 ** And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered* 
 The weary to sleep and tho wounded to die. 
 
 * * ft * * * 
 
 " At the dead of the night a sweet vision I eaw, 
 And thrice ere the morning I dreamt it again. 
 
 " Methought, from the battle-field's dreadful array, 
 
 Far, far, I had roamed on a desolate track ; 
 
 'Twas autumn, and sunshine arose on the way 
 
 To the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back." 
 
 ' About a mile above the field of battle and the Falls, there are mills 
 on a, side-cut called the Bridgewater Mills. A postmaster attached to 
 tho army, on the American side of the river, wrote a letter to the interior, 
 
 9* 
 
J 34 THE MEMORY OF THE BRAVE WHO DIE. 
 
 Fought, as this battle was, near that mighty cataract 
 which makes one of the wonders of nature, on either side 
 of the Atlantic ; fought too with a courage and a coi: 
 stancy worthy of such an association, why should it not 
 be named from those loud, stftading watersJ>*^et it then 
 
 be called. The Battle of NiAGARA?^«Let the memory 
 of the dead,^ and the fame of the living, roll on with those 
 waters to the distant future ! 
 
 eaying, a great battle was then raging (10 o'clock at nifht) near those 
 mills. The universal publication of that letter, before any official report, 
 caused the confusion in the name of this action. 
 
 " Niagara was the name given to this battle in the Albany Argus, ' 
 (See 6 Niles, 414.) " It commands,'' says the Argus, " like the achieve- 
 ments of our naval heroes, the admiration of all classes of the American 
 people, a few excepted." 
 
 » The late poem, Festus, by Mr. Bailey, has the following lines— 
 
 — " No ! the brave 
 
 Die never. Being deathless, they but change 
 Their country's arms for more — their country's heart. 
 Give then the dead their due — it is they who saved us." 
 
RIPLEY RETURNS TO TUB CAMP. 135 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1814. 
 
 Retreat of the American Army. — Drummond besieges Fort Erie. — As- 
 sault of the British on Fort Erie. — Sortie of the Americans from Fort 
 Erie. — Retreat of the British army. — Close of the Campaign. 
 
 We must leave, for a time, the wounded Scott to the 
 applause of hik countrymen, so richly deserved, and so 
 freely bestowed, while we briefly describe the closing 
 deeds of the army of Niagara. We have accompanied it 
 through so many scenes of danger and of glory, that we 
 cannot abandon it till the peace, which occurred but six 
 months subsequently, relieved it from the toil and trouble, 
 the hazards and difficulties of war. 
 
 General Brown had been taken, wounded, from the field 
 of Niagara. Towards the close of the battle, Scott also, 
 twice wounded, and now exhausted, was borne out of the 
 action. 
 
 General Brown did not, however, at once resign the 
 command.* He directed General Ripley to return to 
 camp, after bringing off the dead, the wounded, and the 
 artillery.^ This was done, but unfortunately, for the 
 want of horses, harness, and drag-rope^, the captured 
 artillery of the enemy was left behind' — a circumstance 
 much regretted. 
 
 ' Brown's Official Report. 
 
 ' Armstrong's Notices of the War, vol. ii, p. 94. ' Idem. 
 
136 DRUMMONB BOMBARDS FORT EKIE. 
 
 The army fell back to Chippewa, and there converted 
 the works thrown up by the enemy into defences against 
 him. On the report that General Drummond, at the 
 head of a heavy British column, was fast approaching, the 
 American camp was hastily broken up, its position aban-' 
 doned, and a retreat made to the ferry, opposite Black 
 Rock. At this point General Brown ordered the division 
 to remain at Fort Erie, directed the engineers McRee 
 and Wood to repair the old fort, and make such defences 
 as were in their power ; at the same time ordering Briga- 
 dier-General Gaines to assume the command.* 
 
 A week after this, on the 3d August, General Drum- 
 mond appeared in the neighborhood of Fort Erie, and, 
 finding it impossible to carry it by storm, was compelled 
 to make a regular investment. 
 
 Between the 3d and 12th of August, Drummond em- 
 ployed himself in endeavoring to cut off the American pro- 
 visions, and in the preparatory measures of opening 
 trenches, and establishing batteries.^ On the morning of 
 the 13th, he commenced a cannonade and bombardment. 
 This was continued through the day, renewed in the 
 morning of the 14th, and continued till seven o'clock in 
 the evening; but without any serious injury to the Ameri- 
 can works. On that day. General Gaines doubled his 
 guards, and prepared to receive an assault. At two 
 o'clock on the morning of the 15th, a heavy British column 
 was found approaching Towson's battery, stationed at the 
 northwest angle of the work, where it was received bj 
 the cannon of Towson, ,and the musketry of the 25th 
 
 ' Armstrong's Notices, vol. ii. pp. 96-97. 
 'Idem. General Gaines's Official Report. 
 
ASSAULTOP THE BRITISH ARMY. 137 
 
 regiment, under the gallant Major Wood, and effectually 
 repulsed. A second attack was also repulsed, when the 
 British column changed its direction and attacked the 
 western angle, but with as little success. 
 
 In the mean time the central column of the enemy 
 pressed on the hne of intrenchment between the batteries 
 of Towson and Wilhams ; but, like the first column, it 
 was soon checked. The British third column was, for a 
 time only, more successful. After several repulses, it got 
 possession of the exterior bastion of the old fort. The 
 Americans attempted to regain it, but failed. Just at 
 this moment, a quantity of cartridges in a small stone 
 building within the bastion, exploded, scattering death 
 and confusion around, and expelling the British from the 
 fort.'' They suffered severely, having left behind a large 
 number of killed, wounded, and prisoners.^ In fine, the 
 British were most gallantly and effectually defeated, in 
 their attempt to storm Fort Erie. 
 
 On the 2d of September, General Brown, though not yet 
 recovered from his wounds, resumed the .command of his 
 division. After a full examination of the topographical 
 position of Drummond's lines, he thought a bold and 
 
 ' Games's Official Report, 7 Niles, 19. 
 
 " The relative loss of the British and Americans may be thus stated 
 from official reports — 
 
 American Loss. 
 
 British Loss. 
 
 Killed, 17 
 
 Killed, 57 
 
 Wounded, 56 
 
 Wounded, 309 
 
 Missing, 11 
 
 iMissing, 539 
 
 Total, 84 
 
 Total, 905 
 
 Adjutant-General Jones's 
 
 Adjutant-General Baynes's 
 
 Report. 
 
 Report. 
 
138 SORTIE FROM FORT ERIE. 
 
 vigorous sortie might do more than mere defence, in re 
 lieving the American.army from the siege of the enemy. 
 Accordingly, on the morning of the 17th of September, 
 General Brown paraded his troops, to the number of 
 about two thousand, in nearly equal proportions of regulars 
 and militia, for a sortie on the enemy's works. The 
 army of Sir Gordon Drummond had then invested Fort 
 Erie regularly, for about fifty days.' During that time, 
 they had erected regular lines and batteries. They had 
 bombarded the American defences, and made, as we. 
 have seen, an unsuccessful attack upon them. At this 
 time they had erected two batteries, and were about to 
 open a third.^ Their force was divided into three bri- 
 gades, each of which in turn guarded the batteries, while 
 the other two were encamped, about two miles distant, 
 out of reach of the American cannon, but near enough 
 to support the troops at the batteries. 
 
 In this position of affairs, General Brown determined 
 to storm the batteries, destroy the cannon, and defeat the 
 brigade.' At half-past two, P. M., of the 17th, the 
 American columns sallied out, and the action commenced. 
 So successful was this enterprise, that in thirty minutes, 
 from its commencement, batteries numbered 2 and 3 were 
 in possession of the Americans, with two blockhouses. 
 Soon after, No. 1 was abandoned, and the magazine of 
 
 ' General Brown's Official Report, 7 Niles, 100. " Idem. 
 
 • This is General Brown's declared object, as stated in his official 
 letter.. The loss of the respective parties was nearly as follows: the 
 American Official Report gives — ^killed, 79 ; wounded, 216 ; missing, 216 ; 
 total, 511. We have not the official British report; but the prisoners 
 taken by the Americans were returned, by the inspector-general, at 385. 
 General Brown stated their total loss at near a thousand. 
 
RETREAT OP THE ENEMY. 139 
 
 No. 3 blown up. The cannon were spiked or dismounted. 
 All the labor of the previous investment was destroyed. 
 So great was the British' loss, that it became apparent, 
 that the siege of Fort Erie could no longer be protracted 
 with any hope of success.* 
 
 Accordingly, Lieutenant-General Drummond broke up 
 his camp during the night of the 21st of September, and 
 retired to his intrenchments behind the Chippewa.^ 
 
 By the 10th of November, the American army retired 
 into winter-quarters, at Buffalo, and the war on the Niag- 
 ara frontier was in fact ended. During the year 1814, it 
 had been a succession of brilliant military actions, in 
 which much blood was shed, and much of courage, 
 skill, and energy, exhibited. Taken all and all, no cam- 
 paign in American history has displayed more of the 
 qualities of mind and body, art and science, which are 
 necessary to the character of a true soldier, or the suc- 
 cess of an army in action. In a little less than three 
 months the army of Riall and Drummond, twice re- 
 newed and reinforced by troops sent from Europe, had 
 been defeated in four pitched battles ! In the two first 
 of these, Chippewa and Niagara, where the armies met 
 in open field fight, Scott was the real leader, the man, 
 as Brown said in his report, to whom, more than to any 
 other, victory was due. In the two last actions, the same 
 army was engaged ; and, without diminishing aught of 
 the praise or glory due to others, may it not be said, that 
 the discipline he had inculcated, and the noble example 
 he had given, were the parents of that energy and good 
 
 » Brown's OiEcial Report, 7 Nileo, 100. • Idem. 
 
140 COMPARISON OP THE TWO AKMIES.. 
 
 conduct with which the army of Niagara continued to 
 renew its glory and freshen its laurels ? , 
 
 The zeal, courage, firmness, and disciphne, with which 
 troops perform the business of a campaign, encounter its 
 bloody issues, and endure the perils alike of death or de- 
 feat, do not depend on numbers, or on results ; but on 
 the intrinsic qualities of the action, and the degree of its 
 danger, detriment, or difficulty. Thus, in the combats 
 on the Niagara frontier, there was extreme personal 
 danger, there was great coolness and self-command in 
 action, and there was a discipline and a fortitude, which 
 could hardly be surpassed in the most veteran armies, 
 under the most experienced commanders. 
 
 In the descriptions we have given of the several battles 
 the numbers engaged on either side are stated in each 
 one, as near as the materials preserved by history will 
 allow us to estimate. Both armies were, however, suc- 
 cessively reinforced by fresh troops. It is therefore difii- 
 cult to say how many, in all, were engaged. If we say 
 that, in the course of the campaign, there were six thou- 
 sand men engaged on each side, we shall, probably, not 
 be far from the fact. The tabular view in the note, of 
 the killed, and wounded, and prisoners, will afford a com- 
 parative view of the losses, relative to each army, and to 
 the aggregate of both.* 
 
 American Lobs. British Loss, 
 ' Battle of Chippewa, fought 5th July, 1814, 328 507 
 
 Battle of Niagara, fought 25th July, 1814, 860 878 
 
 Assault on Fort Erie, 15th August, 1814, 84 905 
 
 Sortie from Fort Erie, 17th September, 1814, 511, about 800 
 
 Total, 1,783 3,090 
 
FIERCENESS OF THE CONTESTS. 141 
 
 The British loss is greater than the American in about 
 the ratio of three to two. If, as we have supposed, the 
 total number of troops engaged in the several battles, on 
 both sides, was about twelve thousand, it follows that 
 nearly one half this whole number were among the killed, 
 wounded, and prisoners ! This is a loss exceeding, in 
 proportion, that of the most bloody battles of Napoleon.' 
 
 * A brief notice of some of the officers wlio survived tlie Niagara cam- 
 paign, and wlio Iiave not been before specifically referred to, may not bo 
 unacceptable in this place. 
 
 1. The commander. Brown, so ranch distinguislied, was called to 
 Washington as general-in-chief of the whole army, in 1821. He was 
 crippled by paralysis the same year, and died February 24, 1828. 
 
 2. E. W. Ripley, resigned, a major-general, by brevet. May, 1820 ; 
 subsequently was a member of the twenty-fourth Cpngress, from Louisi- 
 ana, and died March 2, 1839. 
 
 3. Hugh Bradyf now long a brigadier-general, by brevet. 
 
 4. Wm. McRee, resigned, a colonel, March, 1819 ; appointed surveyor- 
 general of Missouri, &c. ; died of cholera, in 1832. 
 
 5. Thomas S. Jesup, now long quartermaster-general of the army, 
 with the brevet of major-general. 
 
 6. Henry Leavenworth died a brigadier-general, by brevet, July 21, 
 1834. 
 
 7. John McNiel, resigned , =• brigadier-general by brevet, April 23, 
 1830 ; now surveyor, &c., o' the customs at Boston. 
 
 8. Jacob Hindman, died at Baltimore, a colonel, February 17, 1827. 
 
 9. Roger Jones, at present (and long) adjutant-general of the army, 
 and brigadier-general by brevet. 
 
142 SCOTT S SUFFERINGS FROM HIS WOUNDS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1814 TO 1817. 
 
 Scott's Journey from Niagara to Philadelphia. — Is received at Priiicoton 
 with Honors, by the Faculty and Students of Nassau Hall. — Receives 
 the Honorary Degree of Master of Arts. — Pleasing Incident at Com- 
 mencement. — Scott's Journey to Europe. — Is intrusted with Diplomatic 
 Functions. — Correspondence with Kosciusko. — His Marriage. 
 
 We last saw Scott on the field of Niagara: He was 
 borne from that scene of glory, to the care of nurses 
 and surgeons, a wounded and suffering soldier. He had 
 been wounded, as we have narrated, first by a spent ball, 
 in the side, 4nd next by a musket-ball which passed di- 
 rectly through the left shoulder. The last was a wound 
 in its nature serious and painful. His recovery was, for 
 a month, very doubtful. He lay, in great agony, at Buf- 
 falo and Williamsville. He was then removed to the 
 house of his kind friend, Mr. Brisbane, in Batavia. 
 
 By the nursings of this amiable family, he became able, 
 at the end of some weeks, to bear the motion of a litter. 
 In that way he was taken, on the shoulders of some of 
 the gentlemen of the country, who relieved each other 
 from town to town, to the house of another excellent 
 friend, the late Hon. John Nicholas, of Geneva. Here 
 again, nothing was left unattempted which skill and kind- 
 ness could devise, for the restoration of the wounded 
 soldier. 
 
HIS SLOW AND PAINFUL JOURNEY. 143 
 
 His object was to reach Philadelphia, and there place 
 himself under the care of that distinguished surgeon, 
 the late Dr. Physick, and the no less distinguished 
 physician of the same city. Dr. Chapman. Both of 
 .these gentlemen have taken a patriotic delight in min- 
 istering professionally, and in every case where the 
 patient has permitted them to do so, ^gratuitously, to 
 those who have sustained injuries in the cause of their 
 country.* 
 
 At this time, September, 1814, Philadelphia and Bal- 
 timore were threatened with an attack of the enemy .^ 
 Crippled though he was, Scott, at the instance of the 
 delegations in congress from Pennsylvania and Maryland, 
 was requested by the war department to take at least 
 the nominal command of the troops assembled for the de- 
 fence of those cities. Accompanied by his aid-de-camp 
 Worth, (then promoted to be major for gallant actions, 
 and since general,) the hero of Chippewa proceeded 
 slowly to the Atlantic. Everywhere on the route, the 
 suffering representative of the army of Niagara was re- 
 ceived, by patriotic citizens, with the highest evidences 
 of their esteem. 
 
 At the classic and memorable ground of Princeton, an 
 incident occurred, alike adapted to cheer the heart of the 
 disabled soldier, and give propriety and freshness to his 
 reception on the spot, where the muse of history has 
 
 ' Dr. Physick was quite remarkable for his regard for those in the pub- 
 lic service, and their families, refusing compensation ^om the families of 
 ofBcers engaged in public service. Dr. Chapman equally merits the grati- 
 tude of the army for similar liberality and kindness. 
 
 ' The British had previously been -repelled from Baltimore ; but a nev» 
 attack was anticipated. 
 
144 scott's reception at Princeton. 
 
 not disdained to dwell in the humble abodes of philoso- 
 phy.' 
 
 The annual commencement at the College of New 
 Jersey (Nassau Hall) happened to occur on the day Scott 
 reached Princeton. Upon quitting the carriage, he was 
 supported to a bed, intending, by easy stages and proper 
 care, to reach Philadelphia. It was soon whispered about, 
 that General Scptt had entered the town. The faculty 
 of the college immediately sent a deputation to the hotel 
 to invite his attendance at the church. He suffered him- 
 self to be carried thither. Pale and meager, his left 
 shoulder swollen and bandaged, his arm in a shng, and 
 his furrfed surtout -flung over his person, the invalid with 
 difficulty ascended the stage where the exercises were 
 performed. 
 
 There, the president, trustees, and other dignitaries of 
 the college, were waiting his slow approach,, amidst learn- 
 ing, beauty, and fashion, collected from far and near. 
 The hands and kerchiefs of the ladies, as well as the 
 voices of men, including hundreds of enthusiastic stu- 
 dents, were in constant exercise. The rafters of the old 
 edifice rang and re-echoed with applause. 
 
 In Nassau Hall, it is customary to select the most 
 graceful and elegant speaker* to deliver the valedictory 
 address. On this day, the orator of the valedictory was 
 
 ' General Mercer fell on the battle-ground of Princeton. His full 
 length portrait is, or was, hung iu the chapel of Nassau Hall, reviving 
 continually in the ;pinds of its students, memories of the glorious Revo- 
 lution. Pre^rdent Witherspoon left these academic shades of Prinoetop 
 to join the revolutionary congress, and there he put his name to th&i 
 immortal instrument which shall endure while the history of nations shall 
 endure.- 
 

 ftir 
 
THE " GOOD CITIZEN IN PEACE ANI WAR ' 145 
 
 Bloomfield M'Uvaine, Esq.^ His theme was " The pub- 
 he duties of a good citizen in peace and war" — a subject 
 well adapted to the then situation of the country, and not 
 improper at any time. Towards the close of his oration, 
 the speaker turned to Scott, and in the most graceful and 
 extemporaneous oratory, made him the personification of 
 tlie civic and heroic virtues. Nothing could liave beefi 
 more happily adapted to the person and the subject. The 
 sympathies of the audience burst forth in applause, alike 
 to the young and disabled general who was personified, 
 and to the eloquent and enthusiastic student whose ready 
 genius had p^id so jiist and beautiful a tribute. 
 
 After a brief consultation by the president and trustees 
 of the college, General Scott was complimented with the 
 honorary degree of Mcister of Arts. Coming from the ' 
 " trustees of New Jersey College, this was a meaning and 
 pointed compliment. They had never made the mistake 
 of conferring honorary degrees inapt to the person com- 
 pUmented and the services rendered. As a member of 
 the bar, distinguished in another line, for the science as 
 well as the art of war, the honorary degree of Master of 
 Arts was deserved, and it was not foreign to the desert. 
 
 At Philadelphia, Governor Snyder marched out, at the 
 head of a division of militia, to receive him. From thence, 
 Scott passed on to Baltimore,^ then threatened with an- 
 
 ' Bloomfield M'Uvaine (since dead) became an eminent lawyer of Phila- 
 delphia. He was the brother of Charles M'Uvaine, Episcopal Bishop of 
 Ohio ; also of Joseph M'Uvaine, Recorder of Philadelphia ; and of two 
 others, one a merchant in the West, and the other also a lawyer in Phila- 
 delphia. ^ 
 
 * The attack on Baltimore took place between the lltli and 15th Sep- 
 tember, 1814. 
 
 1 
 
146 SCOTT EMPLOYED AT WASHINGTON. 
 
 other attack from the British, where his shoulder was 
 finally healed, by that distinguished surgeon Dr. Gibson, 
 now a professor in the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 On the 16th of October, 1814, he assumed the com- 
 mand of the tenth military district, whose head-quarters 
 were at Washington City.' Here, and at Baltimore, he 
 passed the early part of the winter of 1814-15, the time 
 which intervened before the arrival of the treaty of peace. 
 At that time, he was called upon to furnish plans for the 
 general conduct of the anticipated campaign of 1815, aa 
 well as a particular one for the northern frontier. 
 
 In February, 1815, the treaty of peace arrived iiv 
 Washington.^ Soon after this, General Scott was in 
 quired of, "whether he would take the department of war, 
 as its secretary. This he declined, cheerfully admitting 
 to the president, that he was too young for that. He 
 was then requested to act as secretary, holding his rank 
 in the army, till the arrival of the Hon. William H. Craw- 
 ford, (then minister at Paris,) who received the appoint- 
 ment. This also he declined, from feelings of delicacy 
 towards his seniors, Major-Generals Brown and Jackson, 
 the secretary being at that time, under the President, the 
 immediate commander of the army.' 
 
 About this time also, he assisted in reducing the armj 
 
 ' General Orders, 16th October, 1814, 7 Niles, 95. 
 
 ° The Treaty of Peace was signed the 24th December, 1814, and rati 
 fied by the Senate, 17th February, 1815. See Treaty, 7 Niles, 397. 
 
 ° By article 2d, section 2d,- of the Constitution of the United States, the 
 President is the commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United 
 States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into actual 
 service. Thispowerhecanexercise through subordinates, and does so, by 
 the military degrees, from secretary downwards. 
 
SENT TO EUROPE WITH INSTRUCTIONS. 147 
 
 from the war to the peace establishment, a service of no 
 small delicacy. This performed, and being yet feeble 
 from his wounds, he went to Europe, by order of the 
 government, both for the restoration of his health and for 
 professional improvement. 
 
 He was also confidentially intrusted with diplomatic 
 functions, of which the object was to ascertain the temper 
 and views of certain courts, respecting the revolutionary 
 struggles then commenced in the Spanish provinces of 
 America, and the apprehended designs of Great Britain 
 upon the island of Cuba, both at that time subjects of no little 
 solicitude to the cabinet at Washington.* For this pur- 
 pose he was furnished with letters to some of the minis- 
 ters, or other principal men, in Russia, France, and Eng- 
 land. He succeeded so well in executing his instructions, 
 that President Madison caused the Secretary of State to 
 write him a very particular letter of thanks for the infor- 
 mation communicated. • 
 
 In the course of his abode in Europe, he received, 
 through Baron Hottingeur, an autograph letter from the 
 renowned Kosciusko. It was addressed to the baron, at 
 Paris. Having procured a copy, we insert it here, in re- 
 gard both to him who wrote it, and him to whom it was 
 written.* 
 
 ' It was about eight years subsequent to this period, and with a view to 
 the same subjects, President^lVIonroe promulgated his declaration, that the 
 continent of America was no longer the subject of European colonization. 
 
 ' Kosciusko is one of the few names not bom to die. There have been 
 few persons in modem times more widely known, or renowned, than the 
 hero of Poland. He was connected with two revolutions — that of America 
 and that of Poland. The melancholy issue of the last has connected him 
 with both the affections of grief and admiration, drawing at once a laurel 
 
148 LETTER FROM KOSCIUSKO. 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 " Sir- 
 
 May I beg you to express to General Scott my 
 great regrets that, owing to a severe indisposition, I am 
 unable to leave Soleure ;^ otherwise it would afford me 
 the highest gratification to meet him half way between 
 this and Paris, to make his acquaintance ; the more so as 
 
 from history and a sigh from song. The last hast been so impressively 
 fixed on the American mind, by the muse of Campbell, that his linen 
 are almost as familiar as the tales of the nursery — 
 
 " Oh ! bloodiest picture in the book of time, 
 Sarraatia fell, unwept, without a crime ; 
 Found not a generous friend, a pitying foe. 
 Strength in her arms, nor mercy in her wo ! 
 Dropped from her nerveless grasp the shattered spear, 
 Closed her bright eye, and cijrbed her high career ! 
 Hope, for a season, bade the world farewell, 
 And freedom shrieked as Kosciusko fell !" 
 
 Kosciusko died, just two years after the above letter was written to Scott, 
 it is said by a fall from a horse. 
 
 At no mire than twenty years of age, he was appointed a colonel of 
 engineers in the American service, and as such, served in our revolutionary 
 war. He fortified the camp of General Gates, in the campaign against 
 Burgoyne, and subsequently erected works at West Point. After the 
 Revolution in Poland, he revisited the United States, where he was received 
 with honor, and had also a grant of lands from Congress. He returned 
 to West Point, and there made a little garden on a shelf of rock looking 
 down on the Hudson, and overhung with the evergreen cedar. With the 
 evergreen he mingled the lilac and the rose. There, on a neighboring 
 point, the cadets of the military academy have erected his monument, of 
 white marble, shining in the sunbeam. His only epitaph is " Kosciusko." 
 
 ' Koscinske was then in Switzerland, where he died) on the 16th Of 
 October, 1317. 
 
SCOTT RETURN'S HOME. 149 
 
 he is charged by his government, with the collection ftf 
 information upon military subjects. I have done m}-self 
 the pleasure to introduce him to Monsieur Carnol, as 
 a general more capable than any other to give him 
 clear and precise ideas upon military matters, as en- 
 gineering, and the choice of books proper to form a 
 library for the study of those subjects. I have also given 
 him letters to the Marshals McDonald, Oudinot, Dupont, 
 &c. They will be able to enlighten him upon the sub- 
 ject of the greater operations of armies ; what positions 
 to seize, and how to defend them ; and finally- what 
 measures are necessary in all possible cases, to procure 
 supphes and ammunition for an army, and the best meth- 
 ods to discipline the troops. 
 
 Be pleased to convey my comphments to General 
 Scott, and especially for his victories in Canada. I hope 
 the Americans will follow his example — his courage, his 
 energy, and his virtues. 
 
 Accept the assurances of my 
 distinguished consideration, 
 
 T. Kosciusko." 
 SoLEURE, 12fA October, 1815. 
 
 General Scott made good use of his opportunities for 
 society and instruction, while in Europe. He arrived in 
 France, by way of England, soon after the battle of Water- 
 loo. There he associated much with the distinguished 
 men of letters and of science in Paris. He attended 
 courses of pubhc lectures, visited the fortresses and naval 
 establishments in the west of Europe, and returned home 
 in 1816, taking Great Britain on his way. 
 
 On the arrival of General Scott in the United States, 
 10* 
 
150 SCOTT TAKES COMMAND OF THE SEABOARD. 
 
 he was assigned to the command' of the seaboard. His 
 head-quarters were at the city of New York. In that 
 city, and near it, at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and in 
 the same command, with the exception of two years in 
 the West, he resided during the next twenty years. 
 
 In March, 1817, General Scott was married to Miss 
 Maria Mayo, daughter of JohA Mayo, Esq., of Richmond, 
 Virginia — a lady whose charms and accomplishments are 
 widely known. They have had several daughters, but no 
 living son. 
 
ADMIRATION OF MEN FOR THE BRAVE. 151 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Scott's Promotions. — Resolution of Congress. — Presentation of the Medal 
 by President Monroe. — Inscription. — Resolutions of Virginia. — Scott's 
 Correspondence witli Governor Nicholas. — Resolutions of New York. — 
 Presentation of a Sword, and the Address, by Governor Tompkins. — 
 Scott a Member of the Cincinnati. 
 
 Thp; war of 1812 being now ended, and Scott having 
 passed from the battle-field to the domestic fireside, it is 
 fit we should here review some of the promotions, com- 
 pliments, and honors, which his country and countrymen, 
 at various times, bestowed upon him, for his gallant and 
 successful conduct. Whether it be a weakness or an in- 
 firmity of human nature, as some suppose, or a right 
 and generous emotion of justice and gratitude, as others 
 think, it is certainly a natural and universal element of 
 human society, to reward with uncommon honors those who 
 have risked their lives, and endured hardships for their 
 country. If it be sweet and decorous, as the poet thought, 
 to die for one's country,^ mankind seem to be agreed, 
 that it is equally decorous and honorable to reward those 
 who have offered to die and yet survived, for the hazards 
 they encountered and the sufierings they endured. 
 
 Scott entered the army in 1808, at twenty-two years 
 of age. In 1814, when only twenty-eight, he had ascend- 
 
 * *' duice et decorum est pro patria mori." 
 
152 TOO VOL.\U tun A GENERAL. 
 
 ed to the highest mihtai7 rank, that of major-general, 
 which is attainable in the United States. In a, very short 
 time also, he was distinguished by honors and memorials, 
 from various civil bodies and public authorities, such as 
 have been seldom conferred upon one person, and upon 
 one go young — perhaps never. 
 
 In the spring of 1812, when, at the near prospect of 
 war, the army was augmented, and while Scott was yet 
 in New Orleans, the Virginia delegation in Congress pre- 
 sented his name to the executive for a lieutenant-colonel- 
 cy. President Madison remarked, that he knew Scott, 
 and thought highly of his merits ; but that he was too 
 young for a greater rank than that of major. The objec- 
 tion was, however, overcome, and he was made lieutenant- 
 colonel. 
 
 His conduct in the campaign of 1812, already narrated, 
 brought his name again before the President for the ap- 
 pointment of colonel. This promotion was strongly 
 urged by certain general officers of the army, and by the 
 then Secretary of War, General Armstrong. The Presi- 
 dent now admitted, that Scott had shown himself an 
 excellent lieutenant-colonel, but doubted whether he 
 was old enough to command a double regiment — the 
 second artillery. He was; however, appointed to the 
 vacancy on the 2d of March, 1813. 
 
 After the campaign of 1813, Scott was again brought 
 forward by the same parties who had urged his promo- 
 tion before. Mr. Madison again made the same admis- 
 sion and objection as before, and again yielded. Scott 
 was appointed brigadier-general, March 9th, 1814, in his 
 twenty-eighth year. 
 
 In a little more than four months from that date, the 
 
RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS. 153 
 
 battles of Chippewa and Niagara were fought and won. 
 Then, Scott's name was uttered by all voices. It was 
 presented, of course, for further promotion. There was 
 but one higher grade. The President replied with a 
 smile — "Put him down a major-general. I have done 
 with objections to his youth !" 
 
 The ' testimony of legislative bodies, and of men en- 
 gaged in civil and peaceful duties, to the merit and ser- 
 vices of Scott, were not less strong than those of the 
 executive and the military functionaries. 
 
 Near the close of the war, Nov. 3d, 1814, Congress 
 passed a vote of thanks, in which Scott was not only 
 specifically complimented for his skill and gallantry, in 
 the conflicts of Chippewa and Niagara, but /or his uni- 
 form good conduct throughout the war — a comcliment 
 paid by Congress to no other officer. 
 
 resolution of congress, approved NOV. 3d, 1814. 
 
 " Resolved, that the President of the United States be 
 requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, with suit- 
 able emblems and devices, and- presented to Major-Gen- 
 eral Scott, in testimony of the high sense entertained by 
 Congress of his distinguished services, in the successive 
 conflicts of Chippewa and Niagara, and of his uniform 
 gallantry and good conduct in sustaining the reputation 
 , of the arms of the United States." 
 
 The me^al thus ordered by Congress, was not pre- 
 sented till the close of Mr. Monroe's administration. On 
 that occasion, the following proceedings took place : 
 
164 PRESIDENT Monroe's address. 
 
 Executive Mansion, February 26, 1825 
 in the presence of tlie Cabinet, and 
 many other distinguished persons. 
 
 PRESIDENT Monroe's address. 
 
 
 " General Scott — Your conduct in the late war merited 
 and obtained, in a high degree, the approbation of Con- 
 gress and your country. In the battles of Chippewa and 
 Niagara, in Upper Canada, in the campaign of 1814, your 
 daring enterprise and gallantry in action were eminently 
 conspicuous. 
 
 " In rendering justice to you, I recur with pleasure to 
 the report made of those actions by the military com- 
 mander, the most competent judge of your merit. In the 
 battle of Chippewa, he says, you are entitled to the highest 
 praise your country can bestow ; and that we are indebted 
 to you, more than to any other person, for the victory ob- 
 tained in it. 
 
 " In the battle of Niagara you commenced the action, 
 and your gallantry in several severe encounters, until dis- 
 abled by severe wounds, was equally distinguished. As 
 a testimonial of the high sense entertained by Congress 
 of your merit in those actions, I have the pleasure to pre- 
 sent you this medal." 
 
 major-general scott's reply. 
 
 " With a deep sense of the additional obligation now 
 contracted, I accept, at the hands of the venerable chief 
 magistrate of the Union, this classic token of the highest 
 reward that a freeman can receive — the recorded ap-. 
 thobation of his country. 
 
GENERAL SCOTT's REPLY. 155 
 
 " If, in the ;«solve of Congress, or in your address, sir, 
 my individual services have been over-estimated, not so 
 the achievements of that gallant body of officers and men, 
 whom in battle it was my good fortune to command, and 
 of whom I am, on this interesting occasion, the honored 
 representative. 
 
 " Very many of those generous spirits breatUed their 
 last on the fields which their valor assisted to win ; and 
 of the number that happily survive, there is not one, I dare 
 affirm, who will not be ready in peace, as in war, to devote 
 himself to the liberties and the glory of the country. 
 
 " And you, sir, whom I have the honor officially to 
 address for the last time ;' you who bled in the first, and 
 powerfully contributed to the second War of Independ- 
 ence ; you who have toiled fifty years to rear and to 
 establish the liberties of this great . republic — permit an 
 humble actor in a much shorter period of its history, to 
 mingle his prayers with those of millions, for the happy 
 but distant termination of a life, of which, as yet, others 
 have enjoyed the distinguished benefits, whilst the cares 
 nave been all your own." 
 
 The medal is a beautiful specimen of the numisinatic 
 art. It is large and of massive gold. The drawing shows 
 both faces of the medal and its exact dimensions. The 
 portrait of the general, in relievo, is true to life. The in- 
 scription on the reverse face, as shown in the drawing, 
 
 ' Mr. Monioo retired from the presidency only five days later than this 
 piesentatiou, on the 3d March, 1825. 
 
 It was the melancholy fortune of General Scott to close the eyes of tho 
 venerable ex-president, in New York, at three P. M. of July 4th, 1831. 
 ' It is one of tipe most singular incidents in history, that Adams, JeSbison, 
 and Monroe, should all have died on July 4th. 
 
155* THE MEDAL. 
 
 is surrounded with a wreath of pahn and .aurel, entwined 
 about a serpent formed into a circle — emblem of youth 
 and immortality, or youth crowned with victory. It is a 
 cherished memorial of national gratitude. 
 
 There is an incident connected with this medal which 
 we cannot forbear to relate. It is not an "tern cf general 
 history, and possibly may not be interesting to the general 
 reader. It illustrates, however, a great principle of 
 human action. It indicates how deeply the feeling of 
 reverence for distinguished and ' brilliant services sinks 
 into the heart, and how pure that feeling may remain 
 when other and kindred virtues have yielded to temptation. 
 
 This medal was deposited by General Scott many 
 years since, for safe keeping, in the City Bank of the city 
 of New York. Some time after, the bank was entered 
 by false keys, and robbed of bullion and other funds to 
 the large amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 The first clerk, on entering the bank the day after the 
 robbery, discovered that the safe had been forced, and 
 soon ascertained the extent of the loss. On examining 
 the trunk in which the medal was deposited, he found, to 
 his suprise and delight, that the medal was safe, though 
 every dollar of the bullion deposited with it had been 
 taken. The matter was inexplicable to the officers of the 
 bank. The robber had burst open the trunk, stripped it 
 of its valuable contents, opened the case which enclosed 
 the medal, and yet left that large piece of massive gold 
 behind. No motive could be discovered for such an 
 act. The robber was finally arrested, the funds recQV- 
 ered, and the law satisfied by a full term of service in the 
 state prison. 
 
 At a subsequent period, in passing down the Hudson 
 
156 PATRIOTISM REMAINS. 
 
 River, on board a steamboat, General Scott's purse was 
 abstracted from his pocket. The fact being made known 
 to the chief of the police, the money was soon discovered 
 and restored It was during the progress of this investi- 
 gation that the burglar who had robbed the City Bank 
 reproached his confederates with their want of honorable 
 bearing. He said, " that when he took the money from 
 the City Bank he saw and well knew the value of the 
 medal, but scorned to take from the soldier what had been 
 given by the gratitude of his country." 
 
 This incident is a curious phenomenon in the operations 
 of the human mind. A man who made theft and robbery 
 his profession, and felt no compunctions in seizing on the 
 property of others, gropes his way with a dark lantern, 
 through damp vaults and narrow passes, until at length 
 he reaches the object of his hopes. He breaks the locks, 
 and his dim hght discovers bags of gold. He seizes them 
 with avidity. In his search he discovers the medal of a 
 patriot soldier. One current of virtuous feeling had not 
 been corrupted. He replaces the treasure, and rejoices 
 that he yet loves his country and honors her defenders. 
 
 In February, 1816, both houses of the Virginia legisla- 
 ture passed unanimously a vote of thanks to General 
 Scott, for his Uniform good conduct in the waf . At the 
 same time the governor was directed to procure a suitable 
 sword, with proper emblems and devices, and have the 
 same presented to him as a memorial of their high estima- 
 tion of his conduct. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE. 
 
 " Resolved unanimously, by the Senate and House of 
 Delegates of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in general 
 
HEiiOLUTIONS OP VIRGINIA. 157 
 
 assembly convened, that the governor be, and he is here- 
 by requested, to present the thanks of this general assem- 
 bly to Major-General Winfield Scott, a native citizen 
 of this state, for his uniform good conduct in sustaining 
 the military reputation of the United States, in eveiy con- 
 flict or engagement in which he was present during the 
 late war with England, but more especially in the suc- 
 cessive engagements of Chippewa artd Niagara. 
 
 " Resolved, also unanimously, that the governor be, and 
 he is hereby requested to cause a suitable sword, with 
 proper emblems and devices thereon, to be presented to 
 Major-General Scott, as a mark of the high opinion this 
 assembly entertains of his gallantry and distinguished 
 services, in tjie battles of Chippewa and Niagara. 
 
 "Resolved, also unanimously, that the governor be, and 
 he is hereby requested to forward to Major-General 
 Scott a copy of these resolutions, and to present, through 
 him, the thanks of this assembly to his gallant associates 
 in arms, during the campaign of 1814. 
 
 " Unanimously agreed to in both houses, 
 February 12, 1816. 
 
 Wm, Mumford, C. H. D." 
 
 letter from governor NICHOLAS OF VIRC^IA, TO GEN- 
 ERAL SCOTT. 
 
 " Richmond, May 31, 1816. 
 " Sir— 
 
 I have the honor to communicate to you the enclosed 
 
 Resolutions of the General Assembly of Virginia, by 
 
 which they unanimously testify their high sense of your 
 
 gallant services, in every conflict or engagement in which 
 
 you were present during the late war with England, and 
 
158 LETTER OF GOVERNOR NICHOLAS. 
 
 especially in the successive engagements of Chippewa 
 and Niagara. The sentiments of the General Assembly 
 are best expressed by their resolutions ; but I cannot deny 
 myself the pleasure of declaring hovsr cordially I concur 
 in their testimony to your distinguished merits, and of 
 expressing my earnest hopes, that you may long continue 
 to enjoy the fruits of your well-earned reputation. I beg 
 leave, through you, sir, to present the thanks of the 
 General Assembly of Virginia to your gallant associates 
 in arms, during the campaign of 1814, for the noble 
 manner in which they sustained the military reputation 
 of their country. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, 
 
 With the greatest respect. 
 Sir, 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 W. C. Nicholas." 
 
 " Major-General Winfield Scott." 
 
 REPLY OF GENERAL SCOTT. 
 
 " New York, June 26, 1816. 
 
 " Sir— 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your Excellency's letter of the 3 1st ultimo, covering cer- 
 tain Resolutions of the General Assembly of Virginia, 
 approbatory of my military conduct during the late war, 
 in general, but more particularly in the campaign of 1814, 
 in which my gallant associates in arms are included.- 
 
 " I am most sensibly alive to the good opinion of my 
 countrymen of Virginia — a state to which I am proud to 
 owe my birth, and whatever of zeal or patriotism I may 
 be supposed to have shown in the late common struggle 
 of the Union. That my humble exertions have attracted 
 
PRESENTATION OB' THE SWORD. I5y 
 
 the notice and received the approbation of the Genera] 
 Assembly of Virginia, is to me a proud distinction — one 
 that will bind me still more strongly to those to whom I 
 was before allied by common interests, principles, and 
 nativity. 
 
 " I beg your Excellency to accept my best acknowledg- 
 ments, for the very kind and flattering terms in which you 
 have been pleased to communicate the sentiments of 
 the Legislature, and believe me to be. 
 
 With the highest respect and consideration. 
 Your Excellency's 
 
 Obedient and humble servant, 
 
 WiNriELD ScOTT." 
 His Excellency Wilson C. Nicholas.'' 
 
 The sword which the General Assembly of Virginia 
 had directed the Governor of Virginia to procure for 
 General Scott, was not, from some accidental causes, pre- 
 sented to General Scott till the year 1825. In that year, 
 it was presented by Governor Pleasants, to whom Scott 
 made a suitable reply, vvhich we subjoin. 
 
 GENERAL SCOTt's REPLY TO GOVERNOR PLEASANTS, ON THE 
 PRESENTATION OF A SWORD, IN 1825. 
 
 " Sir-- 
 
 In the part which it was my lot to bear in the 
 late war, I should have deemed myself as still unfortu- 
 nate, whatever success I might have obtained, or what- 
 ever honors might have been accorded to me elsewhere, 
 if I had failed to win the approbation of my native stat^. 
 But from this I have been happily spared — Virginia, with 
 parental kindness, has deemed me one of her sons who 
 
 11 
 
160 DESCRIPTION OF THE SWORD. 
 
 endeavored ■well in the second great triumph of our free 
 institutions. 
 
 " The law which gave my name to a county ; the 
 thanks voted by the General Assembly ; and this sword 
 which I now have the honor to receive at your hands, in 
 the presence of the executive council, are the precious 
 evidences of that partiality. Sir — they are appreciated 
 by me in the spirit in which they are bestowed, as incul- 
 cating the first lesson of a citizen-soldier, that, as liberty 
 is the greatest of blessings, so should he ever hold him- 
 self armed in her defence, and ready to sacrifice his life 
 in her cause !" 
 
 The sword which the Legislature of Virginia thus pre- 
 sented, was of the most beautiful kind, mounted with the 
 finest gold, and surrounded with devices classical, enig- 
 matical, and historical, well chosen, and adapted to the 
 actor and the actions it was intended to honor and com- 
 memorate.' 
 
 ' The Richmond Enquirer of that date has a minute account of the 
 sword and its embellishments. We subjoin that part of the account 
 which is descriptive of the historical embellishments of the blade. 
 
 " If the external ornaments be classical, those on the blade, which is 
 the soul of the weapon, are historical. First, we have on one side a scene 
 from the battle of Niagara, representing the moment after Miller had 
 carried the battery : General Scott is seen at the head of his shattered 
 but still intrepid brigade, and mounting another charger, his first being 
 literally torn from under him by a cannon-shot. It was a moment when 
 victory seemed dependent upon the uncommon exertions of some heroic 
 spirit, and the effect produced upon the troops by the general's falling, 
 and finally reappearing, was electrical. This delineation is followed by 
 an eagle between two scrolls ; on the first, ' Chippewa, 5th July, 1814,' 
 on the other, ' Niagara, 25th July, 1814.' On the opposite side of the 
 blade, we ha ire, ' Presented by the Commonwealth of Virginia to Major- 
 
GOVERNOR TOiMPKINs's ADDRESS. 161 
 
 About the same time with the passage of the resolu- 
 tions we ha^e recited, by- the State of Virginia, others 
 were passed of similar import, by the Legislature of the 
 State of New York, along whose western frontier a large 
 portion of Scott's public services had been rendered. 
 The legislature impowered his Excellency Daniel D. 
 Tompkins, governor of that state, to present General 
 Scott its thanks for his services, and a sword, which was 
 done. The presentation took place on what is called in 
 New York Evacuation Day. The following account of 
 (he proceedings, has a more tharf common interest, by the 
 peculiar aptness of the addresses made. 
 
 In the City Hall of New York ; Aunivereary, Nov. 
 25th, 1816, of the Evacuation of the City by the 
 British troops, at the end of the Revolutionary War. 
 
 il 
 
 GOVERNOK TOMPKINS S ADDRESS TO MAJOR-GENERAL SCOTT. 
 
 " Sir— 
 
 I avail myself of an anniversary commemorative 
 of the exploits of our forefathers, to perform the pleasing 
 duty of proclaiming the gratitude of the people of this 
 state to those descendants of the heroes of the Revolu- 
 tion, whose services in the late war have contributed so 
 mainly to perpetuate the independence which our vene- 
 rated ancestors achieved, and to advance the glory of the 
 American nation. 
 
 " In adverting, sir, to your claims of distinction, it 
 
 General Winfield Scott, 12th February, 1816,' followed by a figure of 
 Liberty with Tyranny prostrate at her feet, and this scroll, ' Sic semper 
 tyrannis.' The whole blade, which ia of the best proof, is covered with 
 ornamen'.B executed in high taste." 
 
162 THE NATURAL AND THE MORAL SUBLIME. 
 
 would be sufficient to say, that on all occasions you have 
 displayed the highest military accomplishments, the most 
 ardent attachment to the rights and honor of your coun- 
 try, and the most intrepid exertions in their support. A 
 rapid and unprecedented succe.ssion of promotions at an 
 early age, has been the well-earned fruit of your talents. 
 The distinguished notice by your government is the best 
 encomium on your character, and the highest reward to 
 which the virtuous and the great aspire. 
 
 " But, sir, your military career is replete with splendid 
 events. Without desceMing into too much minuteness, 
 I may briefly refer to your exploits in the most interesting 
 portion of the American continent. The shores of Niag- 
 ara, from Erie to Ontario, are inscribed with your name, 
 and with the names of your brave companions. The 
 defeat of the enemy at Fort George will not be for- 
 gotten. The memorable conflict on the plains of Chip- 
 pewa, and the appalling night-battle on the Heights of 
 Niagara, are events which have added new celebrity to 
 the spots where they happened, heightening the majesty 
 of the stupendous cataract, by combining with its natural, 
 all the force of the moral' sublime. The admirers of the 
 great in nature, from all quarters of the globe, will for- 
 ever visit the theatre of your achievements. They will 
 bear to their distant homes the idea of this mighty dis- 
 play of nature, and will associate with it the deeds of you 
 and your brothers in arms. And so long as the beautiful 
 and sublime shall be objects of admiration among men ; 
 so long as the whelming waters of Erie shall be tumbled 
 into the awful depths of Niagara, so long shall the splen- 
 did actions in which you have had so conspicuous a 
 share, endure in the memory of man. 
 
THE CHIEF DESIRE OF A PATHIOT SOLDIER. 163 
 
 " Accept, sir, the sword 'presented to you by the people 
 of this state, as a pledge of their affection and gratitude 
 for your distinguished services ; and may the remainder 
 of your life be as serene and happy, as your early days 
 have been useful and glorious." 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SCOTT's REPLY. 
 
 " Sii-- 
 
 I have heretofore had the honor to express to 
 (he Legislature of the State of New York, through your 
 Excellency, my high sense of the distinguished compli- 
 ment conferred on me by that honorable body, in its reso- 
 lution on the subject of my military services, and in its 
 vote of the splendid sword? now so handsomely presented 
 by your Excellency. 
 
 " On an occasion like this, declarations would but 
 feebly express the volume of obligation contracted. Per- 
 mit me to assure your Excellency, and through you, the 
 legislature and people of the proud State of New York, 
 that I am sensibly alive to the duties of a republican 
 soldier, armed by the hands of his countrymen to support 
 and defend their national honor and independence'; and 
 if my personal services had been more worthy of the dis- 
 tinction bestowed, I should have no wish left me, at this 
 moment, but that the glory and liberties of the republic 
 might be eternal." 
 
 In the year 1815, General Scott was unanimously 
 elected an honorary member of the state society of " Cin- 
 
 ' All that endears 
 
 Glory, is wheit the myrtle wreathes a sword 
 Such as Harmodius drew on Athens' tyrant lord." 
 11* 
 
164 Virginia's love to her som. 
 
 einnati," in Pennsylvania. Jhis venerable socitty was 
 formed by the officers of the revolutionary army, al the 
 close of the revolution, and has ever been distinguished 
 by worth and patriotism. ' 
 
 In the year 1815, also, the Legislature of Virginia 
 named a new county, in honor of him, Scott. 
 
 Some other states have done the same.^ 
 
 ' There are eight states which have named, counties, Scott, viz.. 
 Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and 
 Arkansas. All but two of these, it is believed, were named from General 
 Scott. 
 
AN ANONYMOUS NOTE, ' 165 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 General Jackson's Orderof 1817. — ^Reflections. — The ajonymous Letter. 
 — Correspondence of Scott and Jackson. — Implication of Clinton. — 
 The true Facts. — Reconciliation of Scott and Jackson. — Scott's Notice 
 of his Death. • 
 
 In the year 1817, a singular and unpleasant controversy 
 occurred between General Jackson, General Scott, and 
 Governor Clinton, arising yut of a point of military dis- 
 cipline ; but in reality occasioned by an anonymous note, 
 written by a subordinate person to General Jackspn. 
 The circumstances are curious, as illustrating how public 
 characters may be involved, and even important conse- 
 quences produced, by very small acts of inferior parties ; 
 and historically valuable, as showing the position of affairs 
 at that time. 
 
 General Jackson, then commanding the division of the 
 South in the army of the United States, and annoyed 
 probably by some order issuing from the war department 
 to one of his inferior officers, without his knowledge, pro- 
 mulgated the following general order to his division — 
 
 COPY. 
 " Head-quarters, 1 " Adjutant-General's Office, 
 
 Division of the South. I Nashville, April 22d, 1817. 
 
 " Division Order. 
 " The commanding general considers it due to the 
 __ principles of subordination which might and must exist in 
 
166 OBJECT OF THE ORDER. 
 
 an army, to prohibit the obedience of any order emanating 
 from the department of war, to officers of the division who 
 have reported, and been assigned to duty, unless coming 
 through him as the proper organ of communication. 
 
 " The object of this order is to prevent the recurrence 
 of a circumstance which removed an important officer 
 from the division, without the knowledge of the command- 
 ing general, and, indeed, when he supposed that officer 
 engaged in his official duties, and anticipated hourly the 
 receipt of .his official reports, on a subject of much impor- 
 tance to his command ; also to prevent the topographical 
 reports from being made public, through the medium of 
 the newspapers, as was done in the case alluded to, there- 
 by enabling the enemy to obtain the benefit of our topo- - 
 graphical researches, as soon as the g&neral commanding, 
 who is responsible for the defence of his division. 
 
 " Superior officers having commands assigned them, 
 are held responsible to their government for their character 
 and conduct ; and it might as well be justified in an officer 
 senior in command, to give orders to a guard on duty, 
 without passing that order through the officer of that guard, 
 as that the department of war should countermand the 
 arrangements of commanding generals, without giving that 
 order through the proper channel. To acquiesce in such 
 a course would be a tame surrender of military rights and 
 etiquette, and at once subvert the established principles 
 of subordination and good order. 
 
 " Obedience to the .lawful commands of superior offi- 
 cers, is constitutionally and morally required ; but there is 
 a chain of communication that binds the military com- 
 pact, which, if broken, opens the door to disobedience and 
 
PRINCIPLE OF THE ORDER. 167 
 
 disrespect, and gives loose to the turbulent spirits, who 
 are ever ready to excite mutiny. 
 
 " All physicians able to perform duty, who are absent 
 on furlough, will forthwith .repair to their respective posts. 
 " Commanding officers of regiments and corps, are re- 
 quired to report specially all officers absent from duty, 
 after the 30th of June next, and their cause of absence. 
 
 " The army is too small to tolerate idlers, and they 
 will be dismissed from service.' 
 
 " By order of Major-General Jackson 
 (Signed) Robert Butler, 
 
 Adjutant-General.'" 
 
 To a military mind, the error and impropriety of this 
 order are palpable. The principle of the order is that a 
 colonel of a regiment cannot give an independent order to 
 a subaltern, without sending it through the captain of a 
 company. The immediate application of this principle 
 made by General Jackson's order, was to orders emana- 
 ting from the war department to inferior officers, which 
 orders General Jackson commanded should not be obeyed 
 except coming through him. This was one of the worst 
 forms in which the application of such a principle could 
 be made. The war department is but the organ, or mouth- 
 piece of the President of the United States. The Presi- 
 dent is, by the constitution, commander-in-chief of the 
 army and navy of the Union. If the President, then, 
 cannot issue orders to inferiors, or to any one, without the 
 interference of third parties, he is deprived of his highest 
 constitutional function. 
 
 ' For this " Order" see 12 Niles, 330. 
 8 
 
168 THE ORDER DISCUSSED BY THE PUBLIC. 
 
 The principle thus assumed in the Nashville order is 
 strongly analogous to, and nearly identical with the posi- 
 tion of the Governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut 
 in the war of 1812, that the President of the United States 
 could not delegate his authority, and therefore the officers 
 of the United States army could not command the mili- 
 tia.* This ground is obviously untenable. Yet, if the^ 
 President can delegate his authority at all, it is obviou!> 
 that he is not limited as to whom it shall be delegated 
 He may, therefore, through the war department, com 
 mand any officer, however inferior in rank, to perforo 
 any service of whatever kind, independent of the opinionn 
 or orders of any general officer. Nay, it may be imperi 
 ously necessary that he should do so. Shall it he saicJ 
 that the President of the United States, through the war 
 department, shall not require secret service, often so val 
 uable in war, of any subaltern of the army, without asking, 
 leave of a general of division ? Subjected to this test, the 
 principle of the Nashville order cannot for a moment be 
 defended. 
 
 It was very natural, and almost inevitable, that this 
 very extraordinary order should occasion conversation and 
 criticism, among both military men and civilians. This 
 was the fact. 
 
 Among the conversations held on this subject,^ one oc- 
 curred at a dinner party in New York, at which, with 
 other persons, there were present Governor Clinton and 
 General Scott. The order became the topic of remark. 
 
 ' Mansfield's Political Grammar, p. 117. 
 
 * Probably half the intelligent citizens of the United States talked on 
 this topic. 
 
OPINION EXPRESSED By GENERAL SCOTT. 169 
 
 when Governor Clinton expressed a wish to learn General 
 Scott's views of it. General Scott, who was seated 
 near hinl, felt called upon to state professionally what 
 were the principles involved in the question raised by 
 General Jackson. This he did, in opposition to the views 
 of General Jackson, and expressed the opinion to Clinton, 
 that the tendency of the " order" was mutinous. 
 
 At this time there was published in the city of New 
 York a newspaper called the " Columbian," devoted to 
 the interests of Governor Clinton, whom it had supported 
 for the presidency.^ The substance of this conversation 
 got to the ears of its conductors, and an anonymous article 
 appeared in it, questioning the propriety of Jackson's 
 order. 
 
 This anonymous article another anonymous writer 
 anonymously enclosed to General Jackson, on the 14th 
 of August, 1817, accompanied by this remark of the un- 
 known writer^ — 
 
 " Your late order has been the subject of much private 
 and some public remark. The war-office gentry and their 
 adherents, pensioners, and expectants, have all been busy, 
 but no one, of sufficient mark for your notice, more than 
 General Scott, who, I am credibly informed, goes so far 
 
 ' This, among many other facts, is evidence of the extreme mutability 
 and mortality of the newspaper press in the United States. The " Colum- 
 bian" was succeeded by the " Statesiiian," edited by Nathaniel H. Carter, 
 author of the Letters from Europe, and a very elegant writer. In time, 
 that also perished. The race of newspapers now in New York, is almost 
 entirely different from that then extant. 
 
 " The author of this anonymous letter was known to the writer of this 
 work He was an able man ; but his object in this instance was probably 
 merely misrhievous. 
 
170 GENERAL JACKSON S LETTER. 
 
 as to call the order in question an act of mutiny. In this 
 district, he is the organ of government insinuations, and 
 the supposed author of the paper enclosed, which, how- 
 ever, the better to cover him, was not published until he 
 had left this city for the lakes." * * * * 
 
 There were some other unimportant remarks in this 
 communication. It was received by General Jackson oh 
 the 3d of September. On the 8th, he addressed to Gen- 
 eral Scott the following letter — 
 
 " Head'Quartere, Division of the South, ( 
 Nashville, September 8th, 1817. ^ 
 
 " Sir— 
 
 With that candor due the character you have 
 sustained as a soldier and a man of honor, and with the 
 frankness of the latter, I address you. 
 
 " Eiiclosed is a copy of an anonymous letter, post- 
 marked New York, 14th of August, 1817, together with 
 a publication taken from the Columbian, which accom- 
 panied the letter. I have not permitted myself for a 
 moment to believe, that the conduct ascribed to you is 
 correct. Candor, however, induces me to lay thein be- 
 fore you, that you may have it in your power to say how 
 far they be incorrectly stated. 
 
 " If my order has been the subject of your animadver- 
 sions, it is believed you will at once admit it, and the 
 extent to which you may have gone. 
 
 " I am, sir, respectfully, 
 1 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 Andrew Jackson. 
 " General W. Scott, U. s; Army." 
 
PENERAI SCOTT S REPLY. 171 
 
 Enclosed in this letter, was the anonymous document 
 of which we have spoken. 
 
 On October 4th, 1817, General Scott addressed to 
 General Jackson a letter, of which we shall insert here 
 only the material parts. In this he denies, peremptorily, 
 that he was the author of the article in the Columbian, 
 and then proceeds thus — 
 
 GENERAL SCOTT TO GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 • »»»»*##* 
 
 " Conversing with some two or three private gentlemen, 
 about as many times, on the subject of the division order 
 dated at Nashville, April 2d, 1817, it is true, that I gave 
 it as my opinion, that that paper was, as it respected the 
 future, mutinous in its character and tendency, and, as it 
 respected the past, a reprimand of the commander-in- 
 chief, the President of the United States ; for although 
 the latter be not expressly named, it is a principle well 
 understood, that the war department, without at least his 
 supposed sanction, cannot give a valid command to an 
 ensign. 
 
 " I have thus, sir, frankly answered the queries ad- 
 dressed to me, and which were suggested to you by the 
 letter of your anonymous correspondent ; but on a ques 
 tion so important as that which you have raised with the 
 war department, or, in other words, with the President of 
 the United States, and in which I find myself incidentally 
 involved, I must take leave to illustrate my meaning a 
 little, &c., &c." 
 
 [Here General Scott illustrated his opinion by exam 
 pies and arguments.] 
 
 " I must pray you to believe, that I have expressed my 
 
172 THE OPINION FKEE FROM HOSTILITY. 
 
 opmion on tjiis great question, without the least hostihty 
 to yourself, personally, and without any view of making 
 my court in another quarter, as is insinuated by your 
 anonymous correspondent. I have nothing to fear or 
 hope from either party. It is not likely that the executive 
 will be offended at the opinion, that it has committed an 
 irregularity in the transmission of its orders ; and, as to 
 yourself, although I cheerfully admit that you are my 
 superior, I deny that you are my commanding officer, 
 witliin the meaning of the 6th article of the Rules and 
 Articles of War. Even if I belonged to your division, I 
 should not hesitate to repeat to you all that I have said 
 at any time, on this subject, if a proper occasion offered ; 
 and, what is more, I should expect your approbation, as, 
 in my humble judgment, refutation is impossible. 
 
 " As you do not adopt the imputations contained in the 
 anonymous letter, a copy of which you enclosed me, I 
 shall not degrade myself by any further notice of it." 
 
 "The author is believed to be a young man of the 
 army, and was at the time of the publication in this city ; 
 but not under my command, and with whom I have never 
 had the smallest intimacy. I forbear to mention his name, 
 because it is only known by conjecture. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, &c., 
 
 ' WiNFJELD ScOTT. 
 
 " To Major-Grenpral Andrew Jackson, &c." 
 
 To this letter General Jackson replied in a very angry 
 manner, and with an offer of satisfaction according to the 
 code of honor, if demanded. He seems to have thought, 
 that General Scott ought not to have criticised his mili- 
 
THE COMMON HUMAN NATURE. 173 
 
 tary conduct, and, in fact, ought not to have expressed 
 any opinion at all. 
 
 In his reply, Scott waived this idea, knowing, if there 
 were no other reason, that those who had fought on the 
 plains of Chippewa and New Orleans, needed no new 
 evidence that they possessed courage or pursued honor. 
 
 This whole correspondence was subsequently printed 
 in a pamphlet-r-a publicity which made it known to many 
 persons, and requires that it be mentioned here as a part 
 of the history, both personal and political, of the times to 
 which it belongs. The controversies of distinguished men, 
 their lone of temperament, and their hasty acts of passion, 
 are dwelt upon by the curiosity of others, with perhaps 
 as much interest as any part of their lives. The multitude 
 have a consciousness of greater equality with superior 
 men in these minor developments of a common human 
 nature, than in those greater and nobler deeds by which 
 they have been raised to high eminence. There is a 
 feeling of contact, community, and connection, with those 
 who, like us, breathe the" common atmosphere of the 
 common streets of the world ; but it is with admiration 
 and with awe, not sympathy, that we gaze upon those 
 whose uncommon strength and extraordinary success have 
 enabled them Jo ascend the greatest heights, and bathe 
 their heads, like the eagle's wings, in the sublime but 
 cold air of the mountains. 
 
 Hence it is that the world is little offended to see dis- 
 tinguished men descend from their eminence to mingle in 
 common affairs, and display those passions which are felt 
 to belong equally to the race — the highest and the lowest. 
 
 The eminent men whose personal controversy we have 
 here narrated, have long since been reconciled to each 
 
174 THE POSITION OF GOYBSNOR CLINTON. 
 
 Other. One of them has descended to the grave, honored 
 with the best rewards of his country, and the other was 
 one of the first to pay to his memory the high respect 
 due from one distinguished soldier to another. 
 
 The controversy, however, has an interest as connected 
 with the principle of the Nashville Order, and yet more 
 with the peculiar politics of that period. It is a singular 
 fact, that an unknown writer, by ^ single paragraph of 
 an anonymous letter, could occasion between three of 
 the most eminent public men, such, an excitement and 
 such a discussion, 
 
 It seems that at the close of General Scott's second 
 letter, he intimated a suspicion that Governor Clinton was 
 the anonymous correspondent of General Jackson. This 
 suspicion was totally erroneous., De Witt Clinton was 
 above any act of that kind. He stood in no need of such 
 contrivances ; for, either at this time, or soon after, he 
 had openly and boldly charged the administration of Mr. 
 Monroe with interfering through the custom-house officers, 
 with the state elections of New York. At this time, or 
 soon after, also, he became allied with the political friends 
 of General Jackson. He had, therefore, no need of com- 
 municating secretly with General Jackson, when there 
 was nothing in his position to preclude doing it openly. 
 
 It was, however, perfectly natural that such a sus- 
 picion should have occurred to Scott at that time ; for he 
 was unable to trace the knowledge, or the possibihty of 
 reporting his opinions, to any other than the persons 
 present on the occasion mentioned. Happily, however, 
 the truth was discovered. Soon after these transactionSj 
 General Scott learned, that Governor Clinton had spoken, 
 as he was perfectly at liberty to do, of Scott's military 
 
SCOTT AND JACKSON AT WASHINGTON. 175 
 
 view of General Jackson's order, in the hearing of some 
 one connected with the Columbian newspaper. This 
 person, or one associated with him, had written the anony- 
 mous letter, without the sanction or knowledge of Gov- 
 ernor Clinton. This explanation, or recantation, General 
 Scott has often made before as since the death of the 
 illustrious Clinton. Had Scott known the facts at an 
 earlier date, a most unpleasant controversy would have 
 been avoided. 
 
 It only remains to record the reconciliation between 
 Scott and Jackson, alike honorable to both. There had 
 been. a rumor, no doubt groundless, -that General Jackson 
 would, on meeting General Scott, offer him some sort of 
 outrage or indignity. When, therefore, they had been 
 six days together at Washington, and often in the Capitol, 
 in the year 1823, the following letter was written — 
 
 GENERAL SCOTT TO GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 " Washington, D. C, Dee. 11, 1893. 
 " Sir- 
 One portion of the American community has 
 long attributed to you the most distinguished magna- 
 nimity, and the other portion the greatest desperation, in 
 your resentments — am I to conclude that both are equally 
 in error ? I allude to circumstances which have trans- 
 pired between us, and which n^d not here be recapitu- 
 lated, and to the fact that I have now been six days in 
 your immediate vicinity without having attracted your 
 notice. As this is the first time in my life that I have 
 been within a hundred miles of you, and as it is barely 
 possible that you may be ignorant of my presence, I beg 
 
 12 
 
176 THE RECONCILIATION. 
 
 leave to state that I shall not leave the 'District before the 
 morning of the 14th inst. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 WiNFiELD Scott. 
 
 " The Hon. Gen. A. Jackson, Senator, &C." 
 
 , To this letter, General Jackson returned the following 
 answer — 
 
 GENEKAX JACKSON TO GENERAL SCOTT. 
 
 " Mr. O'Neil'B, Dec. 11th, 1823. 
 " Sir— 
 
 Your letter of to-day has been received. Whether 
 the world are correct or in error, as regards my ' mag- 
 nanimity,' is for the world to decide. I am satisfied of 
 one fact, that when you shall know me better, you will 
 not be disposed to harbor the opinion, that any thing like 
 * desperation in resentment' attaches to me. 
 
 " Your letter is ambiguous ; but, concluding from oc- 
 currences heretofore, that it was written with friendly 
 views, I take the liberty of saying to you, that whenever 
 you shall feel disposed to meet me on friendly terms, that 
 disposition will not be met by any other than a corre- 
 spondent feeling on my part. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, sir. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 Andrew Jackson. 
 " Gen. W. Scott' 
 
 The olive-branch was on both sides accepted. From 
 ihis time, to the recall of General Scott from the Indian 
 
DEATH 01'' GENERAL JACKSON. 177 
 
 war in 1836, Generals Scott and Jackson were on terms 
 of high courtesy with each other. Both have been sub- 
 sequently engaged in other and higher actions. They 
 have been engaged in various and important services for 
 their country. Their private griefs have been forgotten, 
 in the various dramatic and dignified scenes in which 
 they were associated with the interests and the glory of 
 their country. 
 
 On the 8th day of June, 1845, General Jackson died at 
 his private residence, the Hermitage, near Nashville, in 
 the state of Tennessee. Demonstrations of respect and 
 sympathy were everywhere manifested. 
 
 General Scott was at West Point when the news 
 reached that place. He was president of the board of 
 examiners, which was in session when the morning-boat 
 from New York brought the melancholy intelligence. 
 With the truly great, all differences are forgotten at the 
 grave ; and General Scott could retain no recollection of 
 them, on such an occasion. He immediately rose and 
 addressed the board of visitors, the academic staff, and 
 the cadets, as follows — 
 
 GENERAL SCOTT's ADDRESS. 
 
 " Ex-President Jackson died at the Hermitage on the 
 8th inst. The information is not official, but sufficiently 
 authentic to prompt the step I am about to take. An 
 event of much moment to the nation has occurred. A 
 great man has fallen. General Jackson is dead — a great 
 general and great patriot — who had filled the highest 
 political stations in the gift of his countrymen. He is 
 dead. This is not the place, nor am I the individual to 
 
17Q GENiJRA.L SCOTT's ADDRESS. 
 
 pronounce a fit eulogy on the illustrious deceased. Na 
 tional honors will doubtless be prescribed by the Presi- 
 dent of the United States ; but in the mean time, and in 
 harmony with the feelings of all who hear me, and par- 
 ticularly with those of the authorities of this institution, I 
 deem it proper to suspend the examination of the cadeta 
 for the day, and to wait the orders of the Executive of 
 the United States on the subject." 
 
THE MODERN ART OF WAR. 179 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1821 TO 1832. 
 
 Soott writes the Military Institutes. — Prepares Reports on Tactics. — Hia 
 Essay on Temperance. — Obtains Admission to the Military Academy 
 for the Sons of General Faez. — Correspondence with General Paez. — 
 Controversy on Brevet Rank. — Goes to Europe. 
 
 In a former part of this volume, we have stated that 
 Scott studied his profession as a science and an art. 
 The science of war is, in relation to physical sciences, 
 very much what oratory, in the contemplation of Cicero, 
 was to other branches of knowledge. In his treatise on 
 that art,' he considered that nothing less than the whole 
 circle of human studies was the limit of what an oratoi 
 should acquire, to be complete and eminent in his art. 
 The same idea is true of the art of war, when considered 
 in relation to the physical elements involved in its prac- 
 tice. The modern art of war, as illustrated in the brilliant 
 campaigns of Napoleon, aflfords ample proof of this fact. 
 
 Military science is in general, however, defined as em- 
 bracing the discipline of troops, the tactics of the field, 
 the arrangement and police of camps, and the strategy of 
 armies in war. This comprehends the duties and the 
 knowledge required of commanding generals. The art 
 
 ' Cicero's treatise, X>e Oratore. 
 12* 
 
180 SCOTT AS A MILITARY WRITER. 
 
 of engineering, which requires a knowledge of the mathe 
 matical and chemical sciences, the art of topographica. 
 surveying and drawing, the art! of pyrotechny, ct the 
 composition of the various explosive materials of war, and 
 the art of surgery, are all confided to special corps, trained 
 to those duties and practised in them. It is tactics and 
 strategy, however, which constitute the particular part of 
 the science of war, falling within the province of a general 
 officer. 
 
 In this department of science, General Scott has con- 
 tributed his full proportion to the knowledge of his coun- 
 try. He thought it no part of his duty to remain merely 
 idle, as too frequently happens to the members of all pro- 
 fessions, when the active and practical part of his duties 
 was no longer required. In peace as in war, there is 
 ample room for the employment of that high and culti- 
 vated intelligence for which officers of the army, nearly all 
 of whom are educated men, are generally distinguished. 
 
 In the year 1821, General Scott published an octavo 
 volume, entitled General Regulations for the Army, or 
 Military Iristittctes, containing every thing which is ne- 
 cessary for the government and practice of troops, in 
 garrison, in camp, or in the presence of an enemy. No 
 system of the kind had preceded it in America. It was a 
 complete manual for both the regular and the militia 
 officer. 
 
 Prior to this, in 1814-15, he had also, as president of a 
 board, assisted in preparing a system of infantry tactics, the 
 same which he had introduced and taught in the camp 
 of instruction at Buffalo, in 1814. This was afterwards 
 revised by another board, of which again he was presi 
 dent. It was published in 1825. He was once again, in 
 
PRESIDENT OF IMPORTANT BOARDS. 181 
 
 1836, president of another board of regular officers and 
 distinguished militia generals, called together by the war 
 department for the purpose of reporting — 
 
 1 . A plan for the organization and instruction of the 
 whole body of the militia of the Union.* 
 
 2. A system of tactics for the artillery. 
 
 3. A system of cavalry tactics, and 
 
 4. A system of infantry and rifle tactics. 
 
 All these were designed for the use of the militia, to 
 aid in the improvement and discipline of that branch of 
 the national defence. 
 
 Of these several reports, the first and fourth are under- 
 stood to have been exclusively from the pen of Scott. 
 They have been published for the use and information of 
 the country. 
 
 In 1835; under a resolution of Congress, he published 
 a new edition, in three small volumes, of the Infantry 
 Tactics, vrith all the improvements made thereon since 
 the general peace of 1815.^ The basis of the system 
 previously in use was, however, preserved. 
 
 The reader will readily perceive, that the compilation 
 and composition of several volumes of this kind consti- 
 tutes no small portion of American military literature. In 
 workS' of this nature, specially American, our country is 
 
 ' See congressional documents for the session of 1826-7. 
 
 ' Somewliere about 1819-20, the United States government employed 
 an officer of tho array to translate from the French a T^ork on the science 
 of war, for which the government paid ten thousand dollars. Yet, for 
 want of revision, and adaptation to our circumstances, this work was 
 of no practical use. Hence, we may see what labor and judgment 
 were required, hy one who, like Scott, prepared proper works for our 
 umy. 
 
182 SCOTT LEADS IN A NEW MOVEMENT. 
 
 quite deficient. The French have been the great writers on 
 miUtary science, and from their works, as we have 'already 
 seen, Scott derived much of his knowledge on this subject. 
 
 We may here say, that much labor, research, reading, 
 practice, and observation, were required to prepare and 
 put forth the works above enumerated. - Of their merits, 
 it is enough to say, that they have been found universally 
 satisfactory to those who are capable of forming an accu- 
 rate judgment on such topics. 
 
 On another subject, and one of vast magnitude, though 
 apparently foreign to his profession, Scott became a 
 writer ; and such has been the space which that topic 
 has since occupied in the public mind, that we feel it to 
 be only an act of simple justice to record his part in the 
 discussion. That topic was the temperance movement. 
 
 That the necessity of a temperance reform should oc- 
 cur to a military man, will not appear strange when it is 
 considered, that his professional pursuits bring him into 
 constant association with all classes of society ; and that 
 the exposures of a camp and the hardy life of a soldier, 
 demand from the commanding general the utmost vigi- 
 la-^ce in protecting the health of his troops. 
 
 Scott was among the very earliest pioneers, in the 
 effort to do something to check and prevent the enormous 
 evil of intemperance. That he was so, will appear evident 
 from the dates which we shall present. 
 
 The present temperance societies, of all kinds, date 
 back only about twenty years. It is true, that there have 
 been temperance associations and temperance men in all 
 ages since the days of the Rechabites. But that move- 
 ment now known as the Temperance Reform can claim 
 but little, if any earlier origin, than 1825. About that 
 
HIS ARTICLE IN THE "NATIONAL GAZETTE." 183 
 
 year, Dr. Lyman Beecher preached his celebrated tem- 
 perance discourses. He was not precisely the founder 
 of temperance societies, but he was the earliest and 
 strongest advocate of that noble cause. 
 
 Much earlier than this, December 22d, 1821, General 
 Scott published his " Scheme for restricting the Use of 
 Ardent Spirits in the United States." It appeared in the 
 180th number, of the above date, of the National Gazettef 
 edited by Robert Walsh. It occupied twelve columns of 
 a supplement of that paper, and was commended to the 
 public by the following editorial article of Mr. Walsh. 
 We copy it for the purpose of showing, that both General 
 Scott and Mr. Walsh, at that time, adopted all the leading 
 arguments which have since been used so pertinaciously 
 and effectually by many eloquent and able advocates of 
 temperance. 
 
 In the National Gazette of December 22d, Mr. Walsh 
 says — 
 
 "We issue, in a Supplement to this day's Gazette, 
 ' A Scheme for Restricting the Use of Ardent Spirits in 
 the United States.' The length of this production will 
 not, we trust, prevent it from being generally read. We 
 think the country lies under an obligation to the intelligent 
 and public-spirited author, for the attention which he has 
 bestowed on the subject, and for the instructive and im- 
 pressive facts and opinions which he has brought to- 
 gether, and skilfully exhibited,* in furtherance of his great 
 purpose. The topic of the abuse of ardent spirits hardly 
 admits ot exaggeration. That evil is, notoriously, the 
 most extensive and prolific with which these states are 
 now afiSicted. In almost every instance, the atrocious 
 murders which it has been our misfortune to be obUged 
 
184 EDITORIAL NOTICE OF MR. WALSH. 
 
 to report, have arisen from habits of inebriety, or been 
 perpetrated under the immediate influence of liquor. If- 
 the exertions of legislatures, and of patriotic and humane 
 individuals, are due in proportion to the magnitude and 
 exigence of a national scourge, then their utmost activity 
 yand ability should be exercised without the least delay, to 
 promote the end at which our correspondent aims, though 
 his particular scheme be not thought the most practicable 
 or eligible. They will weigh deliberately and earnestly 
 every repressive or corrective project, and adopt, in prefer- 
 ence, that which strikes at the root of the evil, if they do 
 not see insuperable obstacles to its execution." 
 
 The scheme of General Scott was not adopted. But 
 the arguments and facts adduced by him were the main 
 arguments and facts afterwards used with such force by 
 the temperance societies. It must be remembered, as a 
 part of the known history of the times, that all the early 
 temperance societies were pledged only against the use 
 of ardent spirits. The idea of total abstinence from wine 
 and malt liquors, was not adopted by any of them till 
 within a very few years. Hence, the scheme of General 
 Scott aimed only to suppress the use of ardent spirits ; 
 for, in the army, this was undoubtedly the cause of the 
 largest portion of the prevalent intemperance. The pri- 
 vate soldiers, so often intemperate, used almost alto- 
 gether, rum, brandy, and whiskey. 
 
 It should be stated here also, that General Scott was, 
 at this time, (1821,) a member of the societies formed 
 in New York for the " prevention of pauperism" — " the 
 suppression of vice and immorality." It was in that con- 
 nection, for these evils are kindred, that Scott reflected upon 
 the magnitude of intemperance, and published the essay, 
 
CAUSES OF GENERAL SCOTt's ACTION. 185 
 
 portions of which we are about to extract. They will 
 show both his ability as a writer, and the sound views he 
 there' suggested to the public. 
 
 scott's views of intemperance in 1821. 
 
 " It is now many years since the writer of this essay 
 was first made to reflect, with some intensity, on the vice 
 of drunkenness, whilst endeavoring to apply a remedy, in 
 a small corps, to that greatest source of disease and in- 
 subordination in the rank and file of an army. Having 
 the attention so awakened, and subsequently being much 
 accustomed to change of place from one extreme of the 
 Union to another, he has been led to observe, with a more 
 than usual keenness, the ravages of the same habit among 
 the more numerous classes of the community. The con- 
 viction has thus been forced upon him that, of all acci- 
 dental evUs, this is the most disastrous to our general 
 population. 
 
 " Insanity from other causes is, for example, exceed- 
 ingly rare. The yellow fever only visits, occasionally, 
 some of our larger cities on the seaboard — the small-pox, 
 once the terror of the world, has disappeared before the 
 benign influence of vaccination — but the virus of intem- 
 perance still circulates everywhere, and saps the founda- 
 tions of morals, health, and happiness ! For, not minute- 
 ly to dwell, in th'S place, on the innumerable disorders, 
 both domestic and public, which hourly result from the 
 earlier progress of intoxication — happily, in some few in- 
 dividuals never carried to excess, nor ripened into fixed 
 habit — and such ills alone constitute a frightful aggre- 
 gate — how few are the families that have not been, within 
 
1§6 FACTS AND ARGUMENTS. 
 
 the memory of the living, plunged into the deepest afflie 
 tion by this baleful vice ! — that have not had a son blight- 
 ed in the vigor of youth and genius by its pestilential 
 breath — a fond husband alienated by the syren — or a 
 father laid in an untimely grave by the destroyer, leaving 
 a tender offspring destitute and forlorn. Lives there a 
 person who believes this picture overcharged ? Let him 
 go forth from his corner and inquire of the first man of 
 observation in his way, whether such calamities do not 
 almost daily occur within the sphere of his knowledge ? 
 There can be no doubt that magistrates, lawyers,. physi- 
 cians, divines, and others, much in the world, or much 
 connected with its business and sufferings, would univer- 
 sally concur in one mournful reply — 
 
 " • 'Tis quenchless thirst 
 Of ruinous ebriety that prompts 
 His every action and imbrutes the man — • 
 Who starves his own ; who persecutes the blood 
 He gave them in his children's veins, and hates 
 And wrongs the woman he has sworn to love.* 
 
 " Is there, then, no antidote for this evil — no kind pre- 
 ventive to the mother-vice which augments, in a thousand 
 ways, the general sum of human 'wretchedness ? 
 
 " We are told of an ancient spring, the waters of which 
 gave to those who even once drank of them, a sovereign 
 distaste of intoxicating liquors. In our times, private 
 associations have interposed their benevolent efforts to 
 arrest the burning flood : moralists have declaimed, and 
 legislatures enacted partial laws, against it ; and the pul- 
 pit, too, armed with divine revelation, everywhere sends 
 
PROBABLE EFFECTS OF THE "SCHEME." 1 S7 
 
 torth its denunciations.' The evil still spreads. A master 
 emeiy yet remains to be found. 
 
 " ' The gathering number, as it moves along, 
 Involves a vast involuntary throng ; 
 Who, gently drawn, and struggling less and less, 
 Roll in her vortex, and her power confess.' " 
 
 The argument of the essay was that which was adopted 
 by many of the original temperance advocates and tem- 
 perance societies. It was, that those who drank wine 
 and beer were comparatively temperate, while the great 
 evil to be attacked was the use of ardent spirit^ 
 
 As these views did not preHrail, and our object is only 
 to show that Scott was, in the United States, one of the 
 pioneers on this subject, we shall refer the reader to some 
 other views presented in the essay. 
 
 General Scott proceeds to show some of the happy re- 
 sults which would flow from the adoption of temperance 
 principles — 
 
 " Thus it has been shown, (and some of the probable 
 results will be more strictly demonstrated,) that. Under the 
 operation of the proposed law, ardent or burning spirits 
 might gradually, and in the lapse of a few years, be al- 
 most entirely banished from the country ; other beve- 
 rages, salutary in their effects, or comparatively innoxious, 
 substituted, by corresponding degrees; home industry 
 maintained and promoted ; diseases simplified and di- 
 minished ; fireside enjoyments fenced in against their 
 
 He who walks " in the imagination of [his] heart, to add drunkenness 
 to thirst, the Lord will not spare." — Deut. xxix. 19, 20. 
 " Awake, ye drunkards, and weep." — Joel. 
 " For the drunkard and glutton shall oome to poverty.".— Prov.xxiii. 21. 
 
188 NECESSITY FOR A REFORM. 
 
 most powerful enemy ; — in short, our general population 
 rendered as moral and robust as it is, by inheritance and 
 in fact, politically free. 
 
 " It will not be attempted to class the enterprise herein 
 proposed, with the great revolution which gave birth to 
 our country, and a practical example to suffering nations. 
 But, certainly, to break the shackles of that vice which 
 has held and is likely to hold millions of our countrymen 
 in a state of moral bondage and of physical debility, 
 would be a reform only inferior in importance to that hap- 
 piest andjnost glorious of human achievements." 
 
 This Essay is accompanied by statistical tables of the 
 number of drinkers and sots, which give results very 
 little different from those which were subsequently col- 
 lected and arranged by temperance societies. 
 
 Below is the estimate of those who may strictly be 
 called the intemperate — 
 
 Drinkers, Gallons. 
 
 " Hard drinkers daily becoming sots ; 
 
 and whe, on an average, consume 
 
 three gills each a day, or 34 7-32 
 
 gallons a year, 300,000 10,265,625 
 
 " Sots rapidly descending into the grave ; 
 
 who, on an average, drink five gills 
 
 each a day, or 57 1-32 gallons a 
 
 year; irregularly drank in quantities 
 
 from a glass to five pints a day, . 150,000 8,554,687 
 
 " All Indians not included in the cen- 
 sus; whose intemperance is only 
 
 limited by their means, (numbers 
 
 I,) 350,000 2,074,288" 
 
 This Essay contains, as above shown, some of tlw 
 principal facts and arguments used within the last twenty 
 years, so effectually for the suppression of the vice of in- 
 
GENERAL PAEZ, OF COLOMBIA, 189 
 
 temperance. It is supposed to have led to the formation 
 of the first temperance societies in the United States, 
 some of the earliest in the army. It certainly preceded 
 them, in taking the same grdmid, and maintaining it by 
 the same arguments. The example of these efforts and 
 associations spread to Europe, and have been followed by 
 benign effects in all quarters of the globe. 
 
 In the year 1823, General Scott had taken some in- 
 terest in procuring the admission of the sons of General 
 Paez, of Colombia, into the United States military acad- 
 emy at West Point.^ As General Paez was one of the 
 most distinguished and enlightened men of South Ameri- 
 ca, and subsequently became president of that republic, 
 the following correspondence belongs to this place, both 
 as relating to General Scott, and as illustrating the cor- 
 diality and friendly sentiments existing between Colom- 
 bia and the United States. 
 
 GENERAL PAEZ TO PRESIDENT MONROE. 
 
 [Translation.] 
 
 " Caraccas, July 28th, 1823. 
 " Most excellent sir — 
 
 I have read with most lively satisfaction, 
 in one of the public papers of Venezuela, a statement 
 of the interview which your excellency conceded to 
 Lieutenant Colonel Young, in consequence of the per- 
 mission you were pleased to grant for the admission of 
 
 ' Tliey recei-csd no pay from the government. 
 
190 GENERAL SCOTT WRITES TO GENERAL PAEZ. 
 
 my sons into the Military Academy at West Point, at tbs 
 request of General Scott. I have been highly honored by 
 your excellency, and the admission of my sons into your 
 national college, is a laurel presented to me by fortune , 
 but I can never sufficiently appreciate the desire which 
 you express to see me in your country, and exercise your 
 personal courtesies towards me, nor find language elo- 
 quent enough to manifest my gratitude. I should be 
 happy if I could soon conclude the sacrifice which my 
 country requires from me, in order to proceed to the 
 United States, and form a lasting friendship with your 
 excellency. 
 
 " I beg you will be pleased to accept the just tribute of 
 admiration and respect with which I have the honor to 
 be— 
 
 Your excellency's most obedient, humble servant, 
 Jose Antonio Paez. 
 
 " To His Excellency the President J 
 of the United States.'' J 
 
 « 
 GENERAL SCOTT TO GENERAL PAEZ. 
 
 " FoBTREsa Monroe, May 28th, 1823. 
 " Dear General — 
 
 Our friend Lieutenant- Colonel Young 
 is on the point of returning to Colombia, and will do me 
 the favor to explain to you how our correspondence has 
 been interrupted, and the lively interest I take in the 
 three fine boys you have done us the honor to send among 
 us, for their education. The President deemed this cir- 
 cumstance so flattering to the United States, that, follow- 
 ing up his kind feelings for a sister repubhc, he imme- 
 diately ordered, with the approbation of Colonel Young, 
 
PROPHETIC VISION OF A REPUBLICAN. 191 
 
 that the boys should, as they successively attained the 
 proper age, be admitted into our national military semi- 
 nary, on a footing with our own cadets. The eldest of 
 the three will join in a few days, and I shall have the 
 pleasure of being present, and of rendering him all the 
 assistance in my power. You may rely on a continuance 
 of those attentions to him, and also to the other two, who 
 are placed at school near my head-quarters. 
 
 " We have heard with deep regret of the loss of two of 
 your ships of war, in an action with a much superior 
 force. Thank God, however, your independence and 
 liberties are placed beyond the reach of foreign aggres- 
 sion. In a few years more, our continent cannot fail to 
 be occupied wholly by republics. Liberty seems also 
 likely to spread over a large portion of Europe ; and 
 among its gallant assertors, the Colombian army certainly 
 occupies a foremost position. 
 
 " Permit me, general, to say, that I shall at all times be 
 happy to hear from you, and that I am, with great per- 
 sonal admiration and esteem. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 WiNFiELD Scott. 
 " To General J. A. Faez, &.C., &c.'' 
 
 GENERAL PAEZ TO GENERAL SCOTT. 
 
 [Translation.] 
 
 " Caraocas, July 20th, 1823. 
 
 " General — 
 
 The perusal of your letter of the 28th of 
 May has afforded me the highest satisfaction. In union 
 with the information I have received from Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Young, and from the public papers of Venezuela, 
 
 9 
 
192 CONTROVERSY ON BREVET RANK. 
 
 it satisfies me how^ great is the interest you are please(3 
 to take in the education of my children ; and I want Ian 
 guage to express my gratitude in terms Vforthy of your- 
 self — worthy of so important a service, and still more so 
 of the government that has given so kind a reception to 
 my boys. 
 
 " If you will have the goodness to convey to your gov- 
 ernment my sentiments of gratitude, admiration, and re- 
 spect, I shall have fresh motives for entertaining towards 
 you the feelings of esteem which you so well deserve. 
 
 " I join you in congratulations for the events which are 
 about to diffuse liberty throughout Europe. Would that 
 its standard could be beheld from pole to pole ! 
 
 " Colombia, unalterable in her principles, and ready to 
 pour out the last drop of blood, and reduce herself to 
 ashes, rather than renounce her country, her liberty, and 
 her glory, congratulates her ally and her republican neigh- 
 bor in the north, in having consolidated her greatness, 
 and planted her flag on the downfall of tyrants. Colom- 
 bia will never forget that North America stood foremost 
 among the nations of the world to receive her as an ally. 
 
 " You-will do me the greatest honor by accepting the. 
 assurances of my respect and friendship, and that 1 am, 
 with great regard, 
 
 Your attentive servant, 
 
 JosE Antonio Paez. 
 
 ' To Major-General Scott, 
 United States service. 
 
 ott, ) 
 
 In the year 1828, and previously, Scott became involved 
 in a controversy with General Gaines, touching the truo 
 rights of brevet rank. Mr. Adams, then President, had 
 appointed General Macomb, major-general of the army, 
 
ARGUMENT OF GENERAL SCOTT. 193 
 
 there being at that time but one major-general. Scott 
 had been brevetted major-general, with an older date than 
 the commission of General Macomb. He therefore con- 
 tended that brevet commission gave rank, and if rank, 
 seniority to General Macomb. His argument on this 
 subject is contained in a Memorial addressed to Con- 
 gress,' asking for a declaratory statute. His argument 
 was — 
 
 1 . That " from the commencement of the revolutionary 
 war down to the present year, brevet rank has uniformly 
 been held to give command in common with ordinary 
 rank," except only within the body of a regiment, &c. 
 
 2. That there existed, " in law or in fact, no higher 
 title or grade in the army, than that of major-general," 
 there being no such thing as a commander-in-chief, except 
 the President. 
 
 3. That he, General Scott, held a commission as major- 
 general, July 25th, 1814, of older date than that of 
 Macomb or Gaines. 
 
 If brevet commissions give rank, it must be admitted 
 this argument is complete. There was, in fact, no such 
 thing, by law, as a commanding general, and the com- 
 mand would necessarily devolve, first, on the highest legal 
 grade, and secondly, on the one of the same grade having 
 the oldest commission. 
 
 Congress, however, refused to pass a declaratory stat- 
 ute, and the government practically construed a brevet 
 commission as conferring no rank. 
 
 In the mean while, General Scott had placed his resig- 
 nation at the disposal of the government, which, however, 
 
 ' 35 Niles's Register, 324. 
 
194 SCOTT YIELDS HIS OPINION. 
 
 was not accepted. At length, after it appeared that the 
 President and civil authorities took different views of the 
 question from himself, and after consultations with his 
 friends, he concluded to sacrifice his ovm feelings and 
 yield to the decision against him. We subjoin the cor- 
 respondence between the Secretary at War and General 
 Scott,* alike honorable to him who thus frankly yielded 
 up his own position, and to the President, who, though 
 adverse in opinion, yet cheerfully sought to keep him in 
 the service of the country. 
 
 GENERAL SCOTT TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR. 
 
 " New York, Nov. 10th, 1829. 
 
 " Sir— 
 
 I have seen the President's order of the 13th of 
 August last, which gives a construction of the 61st and 
 62d articles of war, relative to rank or command. 
 
 "Humbly protesting that this order deprives me of 
 rights guarantied by those articles, and the uniform prac- 
 tice of the army under them, from the commencement of 
 the government down to the year 1828, when the new 
 construction was first adopted against me ; in obedience 
 to the universal advice of my friends, who deem it incum- 
 bent on me to sacrifice my own convictions and feelings 
 to what may, by an apt error, be considered the repeated 
 decision of the civil authority of my country, I have 
 brought myself to make that sacrifice, and therefore with- 
 draw the tender of my resignation now on file in your de- 
 partment. 
 
 ' General Jackson had thou become President. The letters may b« 
 found in the 37th of Niles's Register, 238. 
 
LETTER FROM SECRETAUY EATON. l95 
 
 " I also ask leave to surrender the remainder of the fur- 
 lough the department was kind enough to extend to me 
 in April last, and to report myself for duty. 
 
 WiNFiELD Scott. 
 " The Hon. J. H. Eaton, Secretary of War." 
 
 SECRETARY EATON TO GENERAL SCOTT. 
 
 " War Department, i 
 Nov. 13th, 1829. I 
 " Sir— 
 
 Your letter of the 10th inst. is received, and I 
 take pleasure in saying to you, that it affords the depart- 
 ment much satisfaction to perceive the conclusion to 
 which you have arrived as to your brevet rights. None 
 will do you the injustice to suppose, that the opinions 
 declared by you upon this subject, are not the result of 
 reflections and convictions, but, since the constituted 
 authorities of the government have, with the best feelings 
 entertained, come to conclusions adverse to your own, no 
 other opinion was cherished, or was hoped for, but that, 
 on your return to the United States, you would adopt the 
 course your letter indicates, and with good feelings re- 
 sume those duties of which she has so long had the 
 benefit. 
 
 " Agreeably to your request, the furlough heretofore 
 granted you is revoked from and after the 20th instant. 
 You will accordingly report to the commanding general, 
 
 Alexander Macomb, for duty. 
 
 J. H. Eaton. 
 " To Major-General Winfield Scott." 
 
 In conformity to the letter of the secretary. General 
 Scott w as assigned, by an order from the commanding 
 
 13* 
 
196 APPHOACH OF TIMES OF PEAR. 
 
 general, to the Eastern department, and General Gaines 
 to the Western. 
 
 Just previous to this correspondence, General Scott 
 had visited Europe, and made the tour of France, Bel- 
 gium, and Germany. For the next three years he wras 
 engaged in the ordinary duties of his department, till 
 1832, when, as v^e shall soon see, he was called to new 
 and very different scenes, where the controversy in 
 arms was to be exchanged for the controversy with pesti- 
 lence, that m.ore fearful conqueror than any famed war- 
 riors of the battle-field. 
 
TRAITS OF INDIAN CHARACTER. 197 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1831-1832. 
 
 Indian Character. — ^Village of the Sacs. — Origin of the Black-Hawk 
 War. — Progress of the War. — Its termination. — Scott sails with the 
 troops from Buffalo. — Progress of the Asiatic Cholera — Sufferings of 
 Scott's troops. — Scott's kindness in sickness. — Indian Council at Rock 
 Island. — Ke-o-kuck. — Indian Scenes. — Indian Dances, — Indian 
 Treaties. 
 
 I 
 
 The North American Indians, if not possessed of strong 
 local attachments, have ever manifested a warm and al- 
 most sacred regard for the graves of their ancestors. 
 When passing by, they strevir handfuls of earth upon them. 
 They part from these tombs with bitter regret, when 
 necessity makes them wanderers from their native land ; 
 and when generations have passed away, even remote 
 descendants return to revisit and honor the spot where 
 their dead have been laid. 
 
 This feeling is one of the many ties which united 
 them to their original country, and which have been rudely 
 and suddenly snapped by the whites. Much of the sym- 
 pathy felt and expressed for the Indians is mere senti- 
 ment, totally misplaced, in any wise scheme of policy 
 either for them or for the ultimate progress of civilization. 
 But this feeling of religious veneration for the memory of 
 the dead is one which demands the respect of the highest 
 intellect and the most refined taste. Its violation by the 
 
198 COUNTRY OF THE SACS AND POXES. 
 
 frequent and often unnecessary separation of the Indians 
 from the spots which they pecuharly cherished, may well 
 excite the indignant censure of the generous and the 
 good. 
 
 This disregard of the common rights of hunianity has 
 been one of the principal causes of Indian wars, especially 
 of those which have occurred since the Revolution. The 
 superior power of the whites is an idea strongly enough 
 impressed on Indian minds to prevent any aggressions 
 from their side, when they have not been seduced, as 
 by Great Britain in the war of 1812, or have suffered 
 manifest wrong."? from the encroaching cupidity of the 
 whites. 
 
 The principal village of the Sacs and Foxes, for a long 
 period of time, was on the beautiful river peninsula 
 between Rock River and the Mississippi, and near 
 their junction.* Here, in the midst of a wilderness of 
 beauty seldom equalled, on a soil so rich that the Indian 
 women found little diiEculty in planting and gathering their 
 corn, a band of the Sacs resided, as late as 1830.^ Their 
 chief, known as Black Hawk, had been born on that 
 ground.^ Annually they had planted their corn. They 
 loved the rolling waters of Rock River. They loved the 
 lovely island near its mouth ; and they loved, as the white 
 man loves, scenes where, from youth to age, they had 
 beheld the splendors of nature ; and they loved that 
 ancient village spot which by repeated burials had be- 
 come the mournful graveyard of the nation.^ 
 
 By a treaty made with the chiefs of the Sacs in 1804, 
 
 ' Life of Black Hawk, by Benjamin Drake, Esq. ' Idem, p. 98. 
 
 • Idem, 74. • Idem, 94. 
 
THE WHITES TRESPASS ON THEIR LANDS. 199 
 
 * 
 
 these lands east of the Mississippi were ceded to the 
 whites ; but it was also provided, that so long as they 
 belonged to the United States, the Indians should have 
 the privilege of living and hunting upon them.^ The 
 United States also guarantied the Indians against any 
 intrusion of the white settlers. Trespasses, however, did 
 occur, by whites, in violation of the laws of Congress, 
 and these acts, unrestrained by the United States gov- 
 ernment, were the exciting causes of the jealousy, irrita- 
 tion, and ultimate hostihty of the Indians. In 1829, the 
 United States put up to public sale, and it was sold, a 
 portion of the Sac village, whjph was bought by an Indian 
 trader. Black-Hawk, the Sac chief, became irritated, 
 but was advised, that if the Indians had not sold the 
 lands, and would remain quiet, they would be undis- 
 turbed. .On the idea that the Indians had not sold their 
 village, he determined to remain.^ 
 
 In the spring of 1831 the Indian squaws had planted 
 their corn as usual, when it was ploughed up by the 
 whites, and the trespasses against the Indians continued. 
 Black-Hawk then gave notice to the whites, that they 
 must remove from his village. On the 19th of May, 
 1831, a memorial was presented to the governor of Illi- 
 nois, by eight of the settlers, representing that the Indians 
 had threatened them, and were Committing depredations 
 on the whites.^ On the 26th of May, the governor of 
 Illinois writes, that he had called out seven hundred 
 militia to remove a band of Sac Indians. On the 28th 
 of May, he writes the same to General Gaines. On the 
 29th of May, Gaines replies that he had ordered six com- 
 
 • Drake's Life of Black Hawk, 54. ^ Idem, 99. ' Idem, 100. 
 
200 GENERAL GAINES TAKES THE SAC VILLAGK. 
 
 <» 
 
 panics of the United States troops from Jefferson Bar- 
 racks to Rock Island, and four other companies from 
 Piairie du Chien, the object of which was to repel inva- 
 sion and secure the frontier. On the 30th of May, the 
 United States troops reached Fort Armstrong. A con- 
 ference held with the Indian chiefs there proved unavail- 
 ing. General Gaines then called on the governor of Illi- 
 nois for an additional force, and on the 25th of June, 
 Governor Reynolds and General Joseph Duncan, with 
 1 600 mounted militiamen, reached Rock River.* On the 
 morning of the 26th General Gaines took possession of 
 the Sac village, without firing a gun or meeting an Indian. 
 The Indian party had crossed the Mississippi, with their 
 women and children, the night previous. "^ 
 
 On the 30th of June, General Gaines and Gov- 
 ernor Reynolds concluded a treaty of capitulation, by 
 which this band of the Sacs agreed to live west of the 
 Mississippi. • 
 
 It is not very interesting, and as little instructive, to 
 recite the petty differences and aggressions between the 
 whites and Black-Hawk's band, prior to their second con- 
 troversy. It is sufficient to say, that in April, 1832, 
 Black-Hawk's band, in violation of the treaty of the 30th 
 of June, recrossed to the east side of the Mississippi, for 
 the purpose, as they sdid, of joining the Winnebagoes 
 above, and raising a crop of corn and beans with them. 
 General Atkinson, then in command of the United States 
 troops at Fort Armstrong, twice by express, informed 
 Black-Hawk, that if he did not return peaceably he would 
 be forced back. The Indians refused to be driven back, 
 
 ' Drake's Life of Black Hawk, 104. 
 
DEFEAT OF THE ILLINOIS MILITIA. 201 
 
 and at the same time determined not to make the first 
 attack, 
 
 Black-Hawk, finding that the tribes of the Northwest 
 would not join his standard, had resolved to recross the 
 Mississippi.* They were encamped at Kish-wa-cokee, 
 when the event occurred which brought the opposing 
 forces into actual conflict. The Illinois mounted militia 
 had proceeded to Dixon's Ferry, a point on Rock River 
 half way between Rock Island and the Indian encamp- 
 ment. From this point Major Stillman, with about two 
 hundred and seventy-five mounted volunteers, proceeded 
 on a scouting expedition to Sycamore Creek, thirty miles 
 further up the river. Hearing that these men were ap 
 proaching, Black-Hawk sent three young men to meet 
 them with a white flag. These young men were met by 
 the whites, and one of them taken prisoner and killed.^ 
 Of a party of five Indians who followed the former one, 
 with pacific intentions, two"' were also killed. The volun- 
 teers pursued till the whole force had crossed Sycamore 
 Creek. Here, on the 14th of May,^ they met the 
 warriors of Black-Hawk advancing to avenge their 
 companions, were thrown into confusion, recrossed the 
 creek, and, after the loss of twelve killed, were totally 
 routed.^ 
 
 The Indian success in this engagement encourfiged 
 them, while it alarmed the people of Illinois. On the 
 
 » Drake's Life of Black Hawk, 141. 
 
 ' The fact that this young man, and the two others following, were 
 killed by the American troops in advance, is stated by Black Hawk, and 
 admitted by the followere of Stillman. — Drake's Life of Black Hawk, 
 142-145. 
 
 • 42 Niles's Register, 241. * Idem, 283. 
 
202 DEVOTION OF THE INDIAN WOMEN. 
 
 15th of May,. Governor Reynolds issued liis proclamation, 
 calling out two thousand more militia, to meet at Henne ■ 
 pin, on the 10th of June. 
 
 From this time, during three months, a succession of 
 actions took place between the whites and the Indians, 
 with various success. The banks of the beautiful Rock 
 River, of the Wisconsin, and even of the Mississippi, 
 were stained with the blood of the red and the white 
 man. Women and children were not spared, and more 
 than one Indian squaw fell in battle. It is related, that 
 at one place a ball broke the arm of a little child clinging 
 to its mother's breast, and pierced her heart ; while the 
 child, taken up by a kind American officer, was healed 
 and lived !' Starvation as well as war pursued the bro- 
 ken and flying Indians, whose place of refuge on the 
 Wisconsin had been discovered, and they driven from 
 it. A portion of them, including a number of women 
 and children, attempted to go down the Mississippi, 
 but they were overtaken, and most of them captured or 
 killed. 
 
 The main body, under Black-Hawk, directed theii 
 course to the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Iowa 
 River. Here they were overtaken, on the banks of the 
 Mississippi, by General Atkinson, with an army of regu- 
 lars and militia. They were defeated and dispersed in 
 the battle called Bad Axe, with the loss of many killed 
 and prisoners.^ Black-Hawk himself escaped, but was 
 soon after taken and delivered up, on the 27th of August, 
 
 ' Drake's Life of Black-Hawk, 161. 
 
 " General Atkinson's Report to General Macomb, 25th of August, 
 1832. 
 
THEIR LANDS POSSESSED BY THE VVHITES. 20? 
 
 to General Street, the Indian agent, by an act of treachery 
 on the part of two of his followers.' 
 
 Thus terminated what is called the Black-Hawk War, 
 upon which various opinions have been expressed, but of 
 which the results were what they invariably have been in 
 all contests between the Indians and the whites. The 
 Indians were dispossessed of their lands. They retreated 
 yet further towards the setting sun, leaving the blood of 
 warriors and the tears of women to water the grass which 
 grew upon the graves of their ancestors. The whites 
 occupy their ancient fields, dig up with inquisitive hands 
 the bones of the dead, replant the soil with the rich and 
 verdant maize, build among them other, more beautiful, 
 and far more magnificent towns ; build other tombs, and 
 bury other dead ; point their spires, like their hopes, to 
 the blue summits of the skies, and fill the circled earth 
 with the resounding fame of arts and arms ! 
 
 So passes away one race and is followed by another ! 
 Each fulfils in turn the decrees of God, working the pur- 
 poses of his Providence, and all tending to that ultimate 
 and great end — the reforming and reluming the earth. 
 
 In the midst of the alarm excited in Illinois, as above 
 narrated, and with the expectation that the Winnebagoes, 
 Pottawotamies, and other tribes of the North would unite 
 with Black-Hawk, and thus occasion a general Indian 
 war. General Scott was ordered by the war department 
 to proceed to the scene of action, and take command of 
 the forces destined to subdue the savages. 
 
 In the beginning of July, 1832, Scott embarked at Buf- 
 falo, with a body of nearly one thousand troops, in four 
 
 • Drake's Life of Blaok-Hawk, 163. 
 
204 JOURNEYINGrS OF THE PESTILENCE. 
 
 Steamboats, for Chicago. The purpose was to reach Illi- 
 nois as speedily as "possible, and there co-operate witb 
 the United States forces under General Atkinson, and 
 the Illinois mounted militia, in the campaign against the 
 Indians. This purpose was counteracted by one of those 
 sudden, severe, and solemn dispensations of Providence, 
 which arrests the best-concerted schemes, startles the 
 strongest intellect, admonishes man of his weakness, and 
 demonstrates, in wonderful ways, the power of God ! 
 
 If the traveller would pause off the highway, for one 
 sad and thoughtful moment, to contemplate and inquire 
 the name of some pale corpse suddenly brought before 
 him ; so should the historian pause in his narrative of 
 events to remember, record, and reflect upon any one of 
 those unaccountable phenomena ip the laws of existence 
 by which God visits the sins of men with the sweeping 
 devastations of pestilence. 
 
 The Asiatic Cholera is one of these. A native of 
 oriental countries, it was long supposed to be confined to 
 Hindostan and the neighboring regions. But in 1831, it 
 spontaneously, and without any observed cause, burst 
 from its former limits, and, like an avalanche, fell with 
 fearful force upon Northern Europe. Crossing from 
 Asia into Russia, it was stopped neither by lines of lati- 
 tude, nor by the cold snows of Scandinavia. It entered 
 Moscow, proceeded to St. Petersburg, ravaged Hungary, 
 and visited nearly all the populous and renowned cities 
 of Germany. Before it reached either England or France, 
 two hundred thousand persons had already been slain !' 
 
 ' The following tab'e of deaths hi the north and centre of Europe, (for ■ 
 p»rt only of the cities and countries,) will prove the text : 
 
IT WARS WITH MAN, NOT WITH NATURE. 
 
 205 
 
 The Destroyer stopped not there. It entered the beauti 
 ful metropolis of fashion, and in twenty days slew one in 
 every hundred of its inhabitants. !^ It entered England 
 in May, 1832, and in less than thirty days more, had 
 crossed the broad Atlantic, in emigrant ships, and landed 
 on the shores of North America ! There, in a temperate 
 climate, with a sparse and hardy population, it was not 
 yet arrested. Various in its effects, it was still onward, 
 [t seemed to move with some invisible spirits of the air. 
 It did not seem to move with the currents of the wind. 
 It did not poison the water. It did not go or come with 
 flaming heats. Nature smiled as serenely beautiful, on 
 these scenes and days of pestilence, as if she were look- 
 ing down upon a world of joy and ministering to it with 
 
 Cotm tries. 
 
 Deaths. 
 
 Of 1000 inhabitants 
 were attacked. 
 
 Of 1000 attacked 
 died. 
 
 Hungary, . . 
 
 188,000 
 
 .4.9 
 
 432 
 
 Moscow, . . 
 
 4,690 
 
 24.5 
 
 546 
 
 St. Petersburg, 
 
 4,757 
 
 26.4 
 
 514 . 
 
 Vienna, . . . 
 
 1,899 
 
 13.2 
 
 477 " 
 
 Berlin, . . . 
 
 1,401 
 
 9.24 
 
 631 
 
 Hamburg, . . 
 
 455 
 
 3.75 
 
 521 
 
 Prague, . . 
 
 1,333 
 
 33.4 
 
 4,13 
 
 Breslau, . . 
 
 671 
 
 . 16.4 
 
 528 
 
 Koenigsburg, . 
 
 1,310 
 
 ' 31.2 
 
 699 
 
 Magdeburg, . 
 
 346 
 
 15.7 
 
 600 
 
 Bremen, . . 
 
 694 
 
 46.2 
 
 327 
 
 Stettin, . . . 
 
 250 
 
 15.06 
 
 699 
 
 Halle, . . 
 
 152 
 
 12.7 
 
 503 
 
 Elbing, . . . 
 
 283 
 
 19.5 
 
 658 
 
 Total, . . 
 
 206,241 
 
 Average, 20 
 
 
 This table, it will be seen, includes only Hungary, and the large towns 
 of Germany, with the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. 
 
 ' From the 28th of March, 1832, to the 14th of April, there died seven 
 thousand six hundred and thirty-one in Paris. At that time the disorder 
 had not there reached its height, for it continued in Paris till near June. 
 
206 FEARPI.L PROGRESS OF THE PLAGUE. 
 
 fruitful harvests !' One thing only was certain. It moved 
 on with the power of a tempest and the terrors of death. 
 Some fled. Some resigned themselves to Avhat might 
 come. Some resorted to amusements. Some engaged 
 with more activity in business. Some were cheered in 
 the midst of danger by a hopeful disposition and a peace- 
 ful conscience. But however received, with hope or fear, 
 the feeling of a darkly overshadowing evil was upon the 
 whole people. There was a sense that this was an ene- 
 my who could be neither flattered, nor frightened, nor 
 bribed away. Nor could he be conquered. All medical 
 art failed. He must be met, and met with courage, leaving 
 the event among the unveiled mysteries of Providence. 
 
 Thus passed the cholera along, no impediments ob- 
 structing. 
 
 Over rivers and over lakes, over prairies and over for- 
 ests, it swept with silent but fatal force. It crept along 
 the low banks of streams, and it ascended with the 
 morning mists the mountain side. In the throngs of pop- 
 ulous cities, and in the solitude of thick woods, it was still 
 the same. It struck with the same unrelenting hand the 
 rosy cheek of childhood, and the hoary locks of age. The 
 human race stood before it, like the forest trees or orchard's 
 fruit before the whirlwind ; the storm comes, and the trees 
 fall, the limbs break, the shrubs bend, the fruit is scatter- 
 ed : the storm is passed, and the remaining trees stand 
 surrounded by broken trunks and by fallen branches ! 
 
 Such was the precise effect of the cholera of 1832, in 
 
 It was a singular fact, that in October, 1833, on the Ohio river, when 
 in some places the cholera was terrific, the sun never shone more bright, 
 nor was the air and face of nature ever more bland or beautiful. 
 
IT BREAKS OUT AMONG THE TKOOPS. 207 
 
 the United States. No history can exaggerate the sud- 
 denness, the terror, or the irresistible force of its approach. 
 Many, who might be expected to fall first, escaped, while 
 many of the bravest died even from fear. 
 
 This was the enemy, the conqueror of conquerors, which 
 attacked Scott's expedition up the lakes, and soon de- 
 stroyed all its power or utility as a military corps. 
 
 The Asiatic cholera, brought over the ocean in an emi- 
 grant ship, landed at Quebec in the beginning of June, 
 1832. Thence it proceeded immediately to Montreal, and 
 thence up the St. Lawrence and the lakes with great ra- 
 pidity. 
 
 Scott had, as we have said, embarked at Bufialo for 
 Chicago, in the beginning of July, with nearly a thousand 
 men, in four steamboats. On the 8th of July, while on the 
 bosom of the lake, the cholera broke out among the troops 
 with great fatality. 
 
 The facts attending the presence of this plague among 
 the troops of the northwest have been carefully recorded 
 by the journals of the country, and they will illustrate, as 
 forcibly as any which can be produced, its fatal nature. 
 
 General Scott, his staff, and about two hundred and 
 twenty men, embarked in the steamboat Sheldon Thomp- 
 son, in which, on the 8th of July, the cholera broke out. 
 The boat arrived on the 10th inst., in the night, at Chica- 
 go,^ and in a short time left there. In these half dozen 
 days, out of two hundred and twenty men, one officer 
 and fifty-one men died, and eighty were left sick at Chi- 
 cago,^ 
 
 ' Scott's Letter to Govemoi Reynolds, 42 Niles's Register, 424. 
 • 42 Niles's RegUtet 391. 
 
 14 
 
208 TESTIMONY OF WITNESSES. 
 
 In the steamboat Henry Clay embarked Col. Twiggs, 
 with three companies of artillery, and two or three of in- 
 fantry. 
 
 The fate of these was even worse than that of those in 
 the Sheldon. Even a greater mortality in proportion was 
 experienced, and several of the most promising officers 
 perished.* The troops were landed near Fort Gratiot, at 
 the lower end of Lake Huron, in the neighborhood of 
 which they in a few days met with most extraordinary 
 sufferings. We have before us two accounts of the 
 scenes ' there, and both authentic statements of actual 
 witnesses. 
 
 One is written to the Journal of Commerce, apparently 
 by an officer.^ It says, July 10 — 
 
 " Our detachment, which consisted of about four hun- 
 dred, has dwindled down to about one hundred and fifty, 
 by pestilence and desertion. 
 
 " The dead bodies of the deserters are literally strewed 
 along the road between here and Detroit. No one dares 
 give them relief, not even a cup of water. A person on 
 his way from Detroit here, passed six lying groaning with 
 the agonies of the cholera, under one tree, and saw one 
 corpse, by the road side, half eaten up by the hogs !" 
 
 Mr. Norvell, of Detroit, writes thus to the editor of the 
 Philadelphia Enquirer? 
 
 " These troops, you will recollect, landed from the 
 steamboat Henry Clay, below Fort Gratiot. A great 
 number of them have been swept off by the disease. 
 
 ' Among these was Dr. Josiah Everett, an accomplished officer, who 
 died at Fort Gratiot, on the 15th of July. With him died also Lt Clay. 
 "4? Niles's Register, 391. = Idem, 39a 
 
SCOTT AT THE SEAT OF WAR. 209 
 
 Nearly all the others have deserted. Of the deserters 
 scattered all over the country, some have died in the 
 woods, and their bodies have been devoured by the 
 wolves. I use the language of a gallant young officer. 
 Others have taken their flight to the world of spirits, with- 
 out a companion to close their eyes, or console the last 
 moments of their existence. Their straggling survivors 
 are occasionally seen marching, some of them know not 
 whither, with their knapsacks on their backs, shunned by 
 the terrified inliabitants as the source of a mortal pesti- 
 lence." 
 
 At Chicago, as before and after. General Scott exposed 
 himself, though ill, by attending every officer and soldier 
 taken sick. His conduct, in the continual care and effi)rt 
 for those under his charge, has been testified to by num- 
 bers of witnesses, themselves actors and observers in 
 these scenes. 
 
 Of the nine hundred and fifty men who left Bufl'alo, 
 the number was in a short time so reduced, that no more 
 , .than four hundred were left. Scott was detained by 
 these melancholy occurrences for several days, at Chica- 
 go. As soon as he was released, he left Colonel Eustis 
 to follow with his reduced command, and hastened across 
 the prairies to join General Atkinson on the Mississippi. 
 He found him at Prairie du Chien, on the 3d of August, 
 the day after the battle of Bad Axe. 
 
 The fugitive Indians • were soon brought in prisoners, 
 
 both with the remainder of the Sac and Fox confederacy, 
 
 which had remained in a state of doubtful neutrality, and 
 
 with the Winnebago nation, which had covertly given aid 
 
 o Black-Hawk's band. 
 
 In the mean while, about the middle of August, the 
 
210 scott's kindness to the sick. 
 
 cholera bioke out* among the regulars of Atkinson's army, 
 at Rock Island, whither Scott had descended from Fort 
 Crawford, Prairie du Chien. 
 
 Here Scott was called upon to exercise his wonted 
 kindness by attendance upon the sick and the dying. 
 Night and day he visited and comforted them, liimself 
 always, when near it, laboring under some of the symp- 
 toms of the disease. Feeble in body, he was yet almost 
 constantly in attendance on the afflicted. Great were his 
 efforts to prevent the spread of the disease, and to over- 
 come the symptoms of panic, scarcely less to be dreaded 
 than the original calamity, which from time to time were 
 exhibited. The mortality was appalling, but at length, 
 on the 8th of September, the infection disappeared. 
 
 To Scott's humane and generous conduct, throughout 
 this terrible battle with pestilence, both at Rock Island 
 and on the Lakes, we have the testimony of one who was 
 an eye-witness, and whose situation made him in all re- 
 spects disinterested. We shall quote his own words 
 — a language as reliable as that of official documents. 
 He says that " the general's course of conduct on that 
 occasion should establish for him a reputation not inferior 
 to that which he has earned in the battle-field; and should 
 exhibit him not only as a warrior, but as a man — not only 
 as the hero of battles, but as the hero of humanity. It is 
 well known that the troops in that service suffered se- 
 verely from the cholera, a disease frightful enough from 
 its rapid and fatal effects, but which came among us the 
 more so, from the known inexperience of our medical 
 
 , * 43 Niles's Register, 51. Dr. Coleman, Lieuts. Gale and Torrance, 
 with numbers of soldiers, died. 
 
HIS LAURELS ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 211 
 
 men, and from the general belief, at that time, in its con- 
 tagiousness. Under such circumstances it was clearly 
 the general's duty to give the best general directions he 
 could for proper attendance on the sick, and for prevent- 
 ing the spread of the disease. When he had done this, 
 his duty was perforaied, and he might have left the rest 
 to his medical officers. But such was not his course. 
 He thought he had other duties to perform, that his per- 
 sonal safety must be disregarded to visit the sick, to cheer 
 the well, to encourage the attendants, to set an example 
 to all, and to prevent a panic — in a word, to save the lives 
 of others at the risk of his own. All this he did faith- 
 fully, and when he could have had no other motive than 
 that of doing good. Here was no glory to be acquired ; 
 here were none of the excitements of the battle-field ; 
 here was no shame to be avoided, or disgrace to be 
 feared ; because his general arrangements and directions 
 ^to those whose part it was to battle with sickness, had 
 satisfied duty. His conduct then exhibited a trait in his 
 character which made a strong impression on me, and 
 which, in my opinion, justice requires should not be over- 
 looked.'" 
 
 This is the language of a calm, intelligent, and impar- 
 tial observer. It proves that the laurels of Niagara had 
 bloomed again on the banks of the Mississippi, but no 
 longer with crimson flowers. They now appear in those 
 soft and lovely hues which make them kindred with the 
 kindest and gentlest of human emotions. 
 
 Near the middle of September, the cholera having sub- 
 
 ' Private lettei of an officer of the army. 
 14* 
 
212 THE GREAT MAN OF TilE SACS. 
 
 sided, the negotiations commenced with the Indian tribes, 
 for the final settlement of difficulties. The scene of ne- 
 gotiation was Rock Island. The commissioners on the 
 part of the United States were General Scott and Gov- 
 ernor Reynolds. There, for several weeks, they received 
 and entertained parties of the Sacs, Foxes, Winneba- 
 GOEs, SioTJX, and Menominies — all warlike nations, and 
 often at war with one another. They now appeared — 
 constrained into peace or neutrality by the presence of 
 well-disciplined battalions — mingling together in the wild 
 and martial costume of their race. 
 
 Of these tribes, the Sacs and Foxes, kindred and 
 confederate clans, were the dandies and sometimes the 
 Mamelukes of the forest. Though not very numerous, 
 they are the first in war, the first in the chase, and the 
 first in all that constitutes Indian wealth — cattle, horses, 
 and clothing. Among these there was a master spirit, 
 the celebrated Ke-o-kucic, a Sac, then in the prime of 
 life, tall, robust, manly, and who excelled all the sur- 
 rounding red-men in wisdom and eloquence in council,' 
 in the majestic graces of the Indian dance, and in bold 
 adventure against the buffalo, the bear, and the hostile 
 Sioux and Menominie. Yet this person was not by birth 
 a chief, and therefore held no hereditary power. He rose 
 to be head man of the nation simply by his superior abili- 
 ties.^ Becoming jealous of him, however, the tribe at 
 one time deposed him.^ From this degradation, which , 
 he bore with great patience and equanimity, he was not 
 
 ' It was he who, by delineating to the Sac nation their true relations to 
 the whites, restrained the Indians from joining Black-Hawk's band in the 
 war. Drake's Life of Black Hawk, IIG. 
 
 • Drake's Life of Black Hawk, 115. » Idem, 123. 
 
STRANGE AND PICTURESQUE SCENES. 213 
 
 altogether restored at the time of the treaty of Rock- 
 Island. He was at that time a kind of treasurer and 
 keeper of the records for the nation. In consequence of 
 hisgreatmeritand talent, General Scott prevailed upon the 
 principal persons of the nation again to elevate him to the 
 chieftaincy, from which he was not again removed. 
 
 The scenes exhibited during these conferences, were of 
 the deepest interest and the most picturesque kind. They 
 •were adapted rather to the pencil of a poet or a painter 
 than to the grave records of history. The wild son of 
 nature, scarcely more barbarous than those old Greek 
 warriors whose names the song of Homer has borne from 
 age to age on the wings of fame, here confronted the man 
 of art and civilization, face to face, in warlike array, and 
 in peaceful amusement. The song, the dance, the chase, 
 the rolling drum and the whooping shout, the white 
 soldier and the tawny maiden, were mingled together in 
 this cbnference between the retreating representatives of 
 barbarism and the advancing children of improvement. 
 
 When the chiefs and warriors of the confederacy on 
 extraordinary occasions approached head-quarters, it was 
 always with the loud tramp and shout, which seemed to 
 be rather the clangor of war than the forms of ceremony. 
 When a council was to meet, they came at a furious 
 charge ; suddenly dismounted, arranged themselves in 
 order, and then, between lines of soldiers, entered the 
 pavilion with the firmness of victors, but with all the deep 
 solemity of a funeral. Arrayed in scarlet hues, their 
 national color, sometimes on foot and sometimes mounted, 
 nothing could be more striking than the fine figures, arms, 
 and costume of the men. Their wives and daughters, 
 too, were better looking, better clothed and ornamented, 
 
214 WAR DANCE OP KE-0-KUCK. 
 
 than other Indian women, and generally sustained the re 
 putation of virtue and modesty. 
 
 In the afternoons the scene was frequently enlivened 
 by Indian dances at head-quarters. These dances are 
 generally pantomimes, remarkably descriptive of the 
 achievements, events, and history of the individual or the 
 tribe. They are exhibited by a large number of young 
 warriors at the same time, to the music of rude instru- 
 ments, and accompanied by occasional whoopings. The • 
 dancers are strictly attentive to time and' order, rendering 
 their movements accordant by the modulation of the 
 hand. The dances are principally, either the war, buffalo, 
 or com dances. 
 
 The Sac chief Ke-o-kuck' executed a pas seul, pre- 
 senting a spirited account of a war expedition, which he 
 had himself conducted against the Sioux. The spectator 
 having only a slight intimation of the subject, had yet pre- 
 sented distinctly to his mind the whole story in. its vivid 
 details. He saw the distance overcome, the mountains 
 and streams passed, the scouts of the enemy slain, the 
 crooked, stealthy approach, the ambush laid, the terrible 
 whoop and onslaught, and the victory which followed as 
 the crowning triumph of the warrior. 
 
 Sometimes these Indian dances were followed by cotil- 
 lions, to the music of a military band, in which the 
 American officers mixed, as partners and instructors of 
 the Indians. In these amusements the Indian ladies were 
 1 00 modest to engage, but graced the scene with their 
 presence, and testified their enjoyment by cheers and 
 daughter. Meanwhile, a guard of grenadiers looked 
 
 ' Ke-o-kuck. signifies, he who has been everywhere. 
 
CONKERENCES WITH THE INDIANS. 215 
 
 on with quiet delight — a band of martial music sent forth 
 its melody, fireworks sent up their red light and gleamed 
 against the evening sky, shells and rockets burst in 
 iJie air, the distant hills returned the echo", and these 
 were mingled with the shrill shrieks of Indian applause. 
 Refreshments were handed round nearly in the manner 
 of our cities. Thus the white and the red man, the son 
 of the forest and the pupil of cities, the aboriginal and 
 the Anglo-Saxon, were mingled together in social amuse- 
 ments with strong and singular contrast. 
 
 The conferences and treaty which followed were of 
 high importance, both to the Indians and the United States. 
 Governor Reynolds being an eminent lawyer and a high 
 pohtical functionary, was requested to take the lead in the 
 councils. He, however, declining, it became the duty of 
 General Scott to conduct the discussions. His speeches, 
 and those of the Indian orators were ably and promptly 
 interpreted and taken down at the time, by the secretary 
 to the commissioners, the late talented and accomplished 
 Captain Richard Bache, of the army. By him they were 
 deposited in the archives of the war department. 
 
 The interviews with the deputations of the Sioux and 
 Menominees were interesting, although merely incidental 
 to the war, which was now about to be terminated. But 
 with the confederacy to which Black-Hawk belonged, as 
 also with the Winnebagoes, their accomplices, the nego- 
 tiations and their results were at once grave and impor- 
 tant. Scott opened the council with a speech to the Sacs 
 and Foxes. He paid a just compliment to Ke-o-kuck and 
 certain other chiefs, for their prudence and patriotism in 
 preventing the larger body of their people from rushing 
 into a war, which Black Hawk madly expected with twelve 
 
 10 
 
216 GENERAL SCOTt's OPENING SPEECH. 
 
 hundred warriors, to carry to the shores of the lakes and 
 the Ohio ! He adverted to the fact, that the Mississippi 
 was passed and the invasion commenced, without it being 
 known to the government or people of the United States, 
 that any serious cause of complaint existed on the part of 
 their red brethren. He declaimed against the crime of 
 violating a solemn treaty of friendship, such as had long 
 existed between the parties ; against the murders and 
 desolations-committed upon defenceless and unoffending 
 settlers. He complimented Brigadier-General Atkinson 
 and his troops on their vigorous pursuit and final defeat of 
 the lawless invaders : recalled the pains which had been 
 taken for weeks after the battle, to hunt up the wounded, 
 the women and children, to save them from imminent 
 starvation ; and the extraordinary care, seen and admired 
 by all, which had been bestowed on those pitiable cap- 
 tives.* He contrasted these acts of humanity with the 
 cruelties perpetrated on the other side ;^ and took care 
 that the great superiority of Christianity and civilization 
 should be perceived and felt by all who heard him. 
 He next turned to the question of settlement, under the 
 
 ' The stragders were mostly brought in by the Sioux, who were re 
 quested to perform that charitable service. A great chief and his wife, 
 who were childless, had picked up a female infant, whose father had been 
 killed, and whose mother had died of hunger. The aged Sioux had be- 
 come exceedingly attached to the foundling, and begged to be allowed to 
 retain it ; but the surviving relatives demanded the child, and General 
 Scott was powerfully appealed to on both sides. Nothing could bo more 
 touching than the simple eloquence of the would-be parents. By interces- 
 sion and presents, consent was obtained, and the finders carried off the 
 prize. 
 
 ' There were cruelties on both sides, and some that General Scott wa» 
 probably not aware of. 
 
TREATY WITH THE SACS AND FOXES. 217 
 
 instructions received by the commissioners, stated the 
 cost of the war to the United States to be more than a 
 million of dollars ; and claimed the right of holding, with- 
 out further price, any reasonable portion of the enemy's 
 country, then in the power of the conquerors ;• and after 
 laying down the principle of indemnity in its utmost rigor, 
 he concluded — " But, as the great God above, alike the 
 Father of the white and red man, often deals mildly with 
 his children, even when they have grossly sinned against 
 his holy law and their own best interests, so would the 
 people of the United States, in the fulness of their power, 
 imitate the Divine example, and temper justice with 
 mercy, in dealing with their feeble brethren of the forest." 
 
 These discussions finally ended in the consummation 
 of treaties with these tribes, which secured to the United 
 States immensely valuable tracts of land, while it also 
 secured to the Indians peace and protection. 
 
 Two treaties were concluded.^ The one with the Sacs 
 and Foxes ceded io the United States about six millions 
 of acres, constituting the greater part of the then territory 
 and now state of Iowa. It is one of the best parts of the 
 Union — fertile in soil, sufficiently temperate in climate, 
 and abounding in lead and other mineral ores. 
 
 In consideration of this valuable cession, the United 
 States gave a reservation of about four hundred square 
 miles, on the Iowa River, to Ke-o-kuck and his friendly 
 band ; agreed to pay the Indians an annuity of twenty 
 thousand dollars per annum for thirty years ; to pay the 
 debts of the tribe ; and to employ a blacksmith and gun- 
 US Nilee's Register, 114. 
 
218 TREATY WITH THE WINNBBAGOES. 
 
 smith, iri addition, for them. Besides this, the confederate 
 tribes were left ample space to plant and hunt in, for 
 themselves and their posterity. 
 
 A similar treaty was made with the Winnebagoes, by 
 which they ceded to the United States nearly five millions 
 of acres, east of the Mississippi, north of the Illinois, and 
 south of the Wisconsin, comprehending a large and valu- 
 able part of the present territory of Wisconsin. To the 
 Indians were reserved the lands beyond the River Wis- 
 consin and Lake Winnebago. To them also were granted 
 an"nuities nearly as liberal as in the case of the Sacs, to- 
 gether with hunting grounds beyond the Mississippi, and 
 opposite to those reserved. 
 
 These treaties have been of great value and importance 
 to the people of the United States. In a little more than 
 twelve years, the lands thus granted have become the 
 abode of tens of thousands of civilized and intelligent 
 settlers. The territory of Iowa as well as that of Wis- 
 consin, promises to be among the most fertile as well as 
 best populated parts of the American Union. 
 
 In these transactions with several tribes of Indians, 
 Scott had the good fortune to be regarded by them as a 
 friend and a brother. He has since, in the East, been 
 visited by both Ke-o-kuck and Black-Hawk ; and more 
 recently, (in 1839,) has been most kindly received by the 
 Winnebagoes, at their own homes in Wisconsin. 
 
 In allusion to these transactions with the Indians, and 
 to his generous services in ameliorating the horrors and 
 sufferings produced by the cholera, the Secretary of War, 
 General Cass, said, in reply to Scott's final report—- 
 
 " Allow me to congratulate you, sir, upon this fortunate 
 consummation of your arduous duties, and to express my 
 
APPROVAL OP SECRETARY CASS. 219 
 
 entire approbation of the whole course of your proceed- 
 ings, during a series of difSculties requiring higher moral 
 courage than the operations of an active campaign, under 
 ordinary circumstances." 
 
 The assertion of the secretary was entirely correct ; for 
 there have not been wanting those who had defied, in the 
 high hope of glory, all the death-dealing agents of the 
 bloody battle ; and yet, as if terror-stricken by some in- 
 visible power, have quietly sunk under the fears of pesti- 
 lence. Those who knew best, have testified in this as 
 in other actions, not only to the moral courage, but to that 
 invaluable trait of character, a sagacious presence of mind, 
 in General Scott, which has borne him successfully 
 through all the varied scenes of danger, of enterprise, 
 and of high intellectual demand, either moral or physical, 
 into which his active life has led him. 
 
220 gCOTT SENT TO SOUTH CAROLINA 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1828 TO 1832. 
 
 General Scott ordered to Charleston. — Tariff of 1828. — Colleton Meeting. 
 — Resistance to the Laws proposed. — McDufEe's Speech. — St. Helena 
 Resolution. — Germ of Nullification. — Major Hamilton's Speech at 
 Waltethorough. — Nullification. — Resolutions of the South Carolina Leg- 
 islature. — J. C. Calhoun's Letter from Fort Hill. — Judge Smith's 
 answer at Spartanburg. — Union Party. — Convention. — Ordinance of 
 Nullification. — Governor Gayle. — State Resolutions. — General Jack- 
 son's Proclamation. — Troops ordered to Charleston. — General Scott's 
 Orders. — Scott's Arrangements. — Test Oath. — Night Scene in Charles- 
 ton. — Conduct of the Army and Navy.; — Fire in Charleston and Inci- 
 dents. — Scott's Correspondence. , 
 
 General Scott had scarcely returned from the scenes 
 of Indian wars and Indian treaties in the West, when he 
 was called to mingle in others on the Southern border, 
 which threatened far more danger to the peace and safety 
 of the American Union. He arrived at New York in 
 October, 1832, and had been with his family but a day or 
 two, when he was ordered to Washington, to receive a 
 new mission and a new trust. After a conference with 
 the president and cabinet, on the difficulties which had 
 arisen in South Carolina, he was dispatclied in that direc- 
 tion on a business of the greatest delicacy and impor- 
 tance, and with powers requiring the exercise of the 
 highest discretion. 
 
PASSAGE OF THE TARIFF OP 1828. 221 
 
 This difficulty was the attempt to nulhfy t.lie revenue 
 laws of the United States, by the action of a single state, 
 South Carolina. This theory, and the events which fol- 
 lowed its assertion in that state, are comnrionly called 
 " nullification." It is unnecessary here to discuss any 
 of the opinions held by various men and parties in the 
 questions connected with a tariff of revenue duties, or 
 with the reserved rights of the states. It is necessary, 
 however, to give the reader a candid statement of the 
 facts and events in this singular portion of American his- 
 tory, in order that the precise situation of the country, 
 when General Scott arrived at Charleston, its internal 
 dangers, and the part he had in quieting those difficulties, 
 may be fairly understood. In this, there is no need of 
 inquiring into motives, and little chance of error ; for the 
 parts of the several actors were performed in public, re- 
 corded by the public press, and sent upon the winds by 
 the voices of a thousand witnesses. It was not so, how- 
 ever, with the part of General Scott ; for his duties were 
 confidential. They were required to be performed with 
 silence and "delicacy. Hence, however much might de- 
 pend upon his discretion, the mere fact of its exercise 
 afforded little that was tangible and expressive to the pen 
 of history. Yet we shall see, that his position and con- 
 duct there exercised a controlling influence over the event, 
 and contributed mainly to the peaceful termination of the 
 controversy. 
 
 The excitement which terminated in what was called 
 "nullification," commenced in consequence of the passage 
 of the tariff act of 1828. That act raised the revenue 
 duties levied on the importation of foreign goods higher 
 than any previous revenue act of the United States. Il 
 
22? VOTE OF THE STATES ON THE TARIFF. 
 
 was passed avowedly for the protection of American in- 
 dustry. It was resisted by nearly all the representatives 
 of the cotton-planting states, on the ground that it was in- 
 jurious to their interests and contrary to the Constitution 
 of the United States. They argued, that the greater the 
 duties, the less the importations ; and that the less the im- 
 portations, the less would be the exportations ; because 
 foreign nations would have less ability to purchase. 
 They deemed it unconstitutional, because they said it 
 was unequal taxation.^ 
 
 This was the substance of the argument by which a 
 majority of the citizens of South Carolina arrived at a 
 belief, that the tariff act was both injurious to them, and 
 unconstitutional. On this belief, they proceeded to resist 
 the act by public meetings and inflammatory resolves, 
 and finally to advance and carry out the doctrines of nulli- 
 fication. 
 
 The tariflfact of 1828 was passed on the 15th of May 
 of that year, and from that time henceforward for more 
 than four years, a continual excitement was kept up in 
 the extreme southern states, especially South Carolina 
 and Georgia. In South Carolina, however, the most 
 ultra measures were proposed, and there the question was 
 
 ' The vote of tho House of Representatives on the tariff act of 1828, 
 should be borne in mind in order that we may clearly understand how 
 the great interests of the country voted. 
 
 Yeas. J^ay?. Yeas. J^ays 
 
 Delaware and Maryland, 2 '5 
 Virginia, North Carolina," 
 South Carolina, Geor- 
 gia, Louisiana, Ten- -3 60 
 nessee, Alabama, and 
 'i, 
 
 New England, 16 23 
 
 Now York, New Jersey, ) g- „ 
 
 and Pennsylvania, ^ 
 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, i 
 
 Kentucky, and Mis- ^29 1 
 
 gouri, 
 
 Total, 105 yeas ; 95 nays. 
 
ADDRESS OF THE COLLETON MEETING. 223 
 
 brought to a direct issue, and bloodshed even only averted 
 by the great caution of the public officers, and the milder 
 temperament of Congress. 
 
 This act, as we have narrated, was passed by the house 
 on the 15th of May, and on the 12th of June, only twenty- 
 eight days afterwards, the citizens of Colleton district. 
 South Carolina, assembled at the court-house, in Walter- 
 borough, and there adopted " an address to the peuple of 
 South Carolina,"^ which openly avowed the doctrine of 
 resistance" to the laws of the Union. 
 
 This address contains the following passages — 
 
 " What course is left us to pursue ? If we have tlie 
 common pride of men, or the determination of freemen, 
 we must resist the imposition of this tariff. We stand 
 committed. To be stationary is impossible. We must 
 either retrograde in dishonor and in shame, and receive 
 the contempt and scorn of our brethren superadded to our 
 wrongs, and their system of oppression strengthened by 
 our toleration ; or we must ' by opposing, end them.' 
 
 " In advising an attitude of open resistance to the laws 
 of the Union, we deem it due to. the occasion, and that 
 we may not be misunderstood, distinctly but briefly to 
 state, without argument, our constitutional faith. For it 
 is not enough that imposts laid, for the protection of do- 
 mestic manufactures are oppressive, and transfer in their 
 operation millions of our property to northern capitalists 
 If we have given our. bond, let them take our blood. 
 Those who resist these imposts must deem them uncon- 
 stitutional, and the principle is abandoned by the payment 
 of one cent as much as ten millions." 
 
 ' Colleton Addresses, 34 Niles, 288-290. 
 15 
 
884 MR. Mcduffie's toast. 
 
 In this address, according to its own terms, an attitude 
 was assumed " of open resistance to the laws of the 
 Union." 
 
 Another address was adopted at the same time, request- 
 ing that Governor Taylor would " immediately convene 
 the legislature of the state." The Colleton movement of 
 "open resistance to the laws" was, however, not seconded 
 by other portions of the state, at that time, and Governor 
 Taylor, in a letter dated the 4th of July, 1828, declined 
 calling the legislature together, prudently remarking, that 
 " the time of great public excitement is not a time pro- 
 pitious for cool deliberation, or wise determination."^ 
 
 On the 19th of June,> a dinner was given, at ColumTiia, 
 South Carolina, to Mr. George McDufBe, one of the 
 representatives in Congress.^ At this dinner, he recom- 
 mended the laying, by the state, of a tax on Northern 
 manufactured goods, and concluded with the toast, which 
 was drunk with great applause' — 
 
 " Millions for defence, not a cent for tribute." 
 
 During the remainder of the year 1828, the excitement 
 increased in South Carolina, Georgia, and some parts of 
 Alabama. Many public dinners were given to the repre- 
 sentatives of South Carolina, especially Mr. George 
 McDufSe. At these assemblies inflammatory toasts were 
 given, and numerous warm speeches made. Several of 
 the newspapers in the lower part of South CaroHna spoke 
 as if that state had been deprived of her constitutional 
 rights, and the general government converted into an ab- 
 
 ' Governor Taylor's Letter, 34 Niles, 366. 
 ' 34 Niles, 302. » Idem, 339 
 
ST. HELENA RESOLUTION 225 
 
 solute despotism, which it 'was as much tlie duly of citi- 
 zens to resist, as if they had lived in the days of the 
 Revolution, and were opposing the taxation of Great 
 Britain.' 
 
 Nullification was not then altogether formed and shaped 
 in the plans of those disposed to resist the general gov- 
 ernment. There was, however, a germ of that idea found 
 in several of the resolutions passed at public meetings. 
 
 At the parish of St. Helena the following resolution 
 was passed — 
 
 " Resolved, That, differing from those of our fellow- 
 citizens who look to home production, or more consump- 
 tion of the fabrics of the tariff states,^ as a relief from oui 
 present burdens, we perceive in these expedients rather 
 an ill-judged wasting of the public energy, and diversion 
 of the public mind, than an adequate remedy for the true 
 evil, the usurping spirit of Congress, which (since that 
 body will never construe down its own powers) can be 
 checked, in our opinion, only by the action of states op- 
 posed to such usurpation."' 
 
 This was the germinal idea of what afterwards became 
 nullification, though perhaps not first announced at that 
 particular place. 
 
 In many counties of Georgia the anti-tariff excitement 
 was also developed, in public meetings and resolutions ; 
 but there the measures were not of the same species. It 
 was there proposed to lay an excise duty on Northern 
 
 ' 34 Niles, 302. See llie body of McDuffie's speech. 
 
 ' This was ill reference to the fact, that at many of the meetings iu 
 South Carolina, it was resolved to wear only their own manufactures, aud 
 abstain wholly from those made north of the Potomac. 
 
 ' 35 Niles, page 62. 
 
226 SPEECH or major Hamilton. 
 
 manufactures, and it was resolved not to consume the 
 produce, especially the staple articles, of Kentucky, Ohio,- 
 and other states, which had supported the tariff.' 
 
 The grand jury of Wilkes county, Georgia, at the close 
 of the session of the superior court, in which the Hon. 
 William H. Crawford presided as judge, made the sub- 
 ject of the tariff one of the objects of their consideration, 
 and they recommended the legislature and their repre- 
 sentatives in Congress, to take such measures on the 
 subject as they constitutionally could. They wisely ex 
 pressed themselves thus, in regard to the excitement then 
 abroad — 
 
 " To our fellow-countrymen we would recommend, 
 moderation in feeling, temperance in language, forbear- 
 ance in all things."^ 
 
 At length, in November, 1828, in a speech made by 
 Major James Hamilton, who had been a member of the 
 preceding Congress, at Walterborough, South Carolina, 
 the plan was developed which four years subsequently it 
 was attempted to carry oUt.^ 
 
 In that speech he represented that the country had 
 reached a crisis, in consequence of the " abuses of inter- 
 nal legislation" among the members of " its separate and 
 confederate sovereignties." He depicted South Carolina 
 as in ruins, and the wilderness returning to cover with 
 
 ' At Laurens C. H., S. C, at Edgefield, in Baldwin and Montgomery 
 counties, Georgia, and in other places, it was resolved not to consume or 
 buy, the hogs, cattle, mules, bacon, &c., the products of the western 
 tarift" states. Kentucky and Ohio, it will be observed, had voted nnani* 
 mously for the tariff of 1828. 
 
 » 35 Niles, 63. ' Idem, 303-208. 
 
HE RECOMMENDS NULLIFK ATION. 227 
 
 weeds and forests the homes of civihzation,-and this alto- 
 gether as a consequence of the tariff. 
 
 The picture was drawn with great eloquence and force, 
 and if it were .a reality, there was certainly much to 
 lament. " Look abroad," says Major Hamilton, "through 
 this once happy, this once prosperous land ; see the wil- 
 derness regaining her empire. Look at these waste and 
 desolate spots which once teemed with fertility and life, 
 abandoned to the fern, which rears its head amidst soli- 
 tudes which were once blessed by the smiling industry of 
 man. Where are now those beautiful homesteads and 
 venerable chateaux which once adorned the land of our 
 fathers, the abodes of hospitality and wealth, from which 
 the most generous benefactions were dispensed to con- 
 tented labor, by which slavery itself lost half the burden 
 of its chains in the kindness with which they were im- 
 posed ? Gone, fallen into irreversible decay. On the 
 very hearth-stone where hospitality kindled the most genial 
 fires that ever blazed on her altars, the fox may lie down 
 in security and peace; and from the casement of the very 
 window from which notes of virtuous revelry were once 
 heard, the owl sends forth to the listening solitude of the 
 surrounding waste, her melancholy descant, to mark the 
 spot where desolation has come." 
 
 Such were the strains by which South Carolina was 
 called to believe herself deeply injured, her feelings out- 
 raged, and her rights violated. " But how," says the orator, 
 "are we' to interpose for the purpose of arresting the pro- 
 gress of the evil?" To this he replies — " A nullification, 
 then, of the unauthorized act is the rightful remedy."' 
 
 35 NUes's Register. 208 
 15* 
 
228 RESOLUTIONS OF THE S. C. LEGISLATURE. 
 
 This doctrine was professedly founded on tiie Virginia 
 and Kentucky resolutions of 1798, and it was defended as 
 a peaceful measure. Looking, however, to bloodshed as 
 a possible consequence, it was argued that this could only 
 take place as the act of the majority. Such an act, says 
 Major Hamilton, would dissolve the Union ; but, says he, 
 " if the Union be dissolved, theirs will be the odium of 
 such a lamentable disruption." 
 
 This was the sort of language addressed to the people 
 of South Carolina, and under its influence the excitement 
 increased. 
 
 When the legislature' of South Carolina met in Decem 
 ber, the feeling which was so strongly developed among 
 the people was exhibited with equal strength in that body. 
 Messrs. Preston, Waddy Thompson, and Holmes, offered 
 resolutions in the House of Representatives' of which the 
 substance was, that the tariff" acts were palpable and dan- 
 gerous infractions of the Constitution, and that the state 
 had the right to interpose and arrest them. 
 
 Other resolutions were offered of various shades of 
 opinion, but the one finally adopted was, that it is expe- 
 dient again to remonstrate, to enter a protest, and to make 
 a public exposition of wrongs.^ 
 
 In the Senate a more violent course was adopted. It 
 was there 
 
 "Resolved, That the tariff acts of Congress for the pro- 
 tection of domestic manufactures, are unconstitutional, 
 and should be resisted, and the other states be invited to 
 co-operate with us in the measures of resistance."' 
 
 In the mean while, James Madison had written two 
 
 ' 35 Niles's Register, 304. ' Mem, 306. = Idem, 308. 
 
EFFECT OF MR. MADISOn's LETTERS. 229 
 
 s 
 
 letters, published by a friend, declaring the constitu- 
 tionality of the tariff.' These letters appear to have liad 
 a sedative effect on the anti-tariff excitement ; for the 
 public mind seems immediately afterwards to have been 
 diverted to other objects, and nullification w^as not attempt- 
 ed till four years had passed away. 
 
 In May, 1832, however, Congress again revised the 
 tariff, not for the purpose of increasing the duties — but for 
 that of remodifying them, and rendering some of them 
 more agreeable to the Southern states. That it had done 
 so, Colonel Drayton declared in an address to the people 
 of South Carolina, exhorting them to sustain the Union.^ 
 It proved unsatisfactory, however, to those virho had so 
 vehemently opposed it in 1828 ; and the excitement was 
 again renewed. The remedy which had been suggested by 
 the St. Helena resolutions, and put forth in Major Hamil- 
 ton's speech, was now openly declared to be the right of 
 the state, and that which the people should adopt, if they 
 had spirit, or liberty. Their imaginations were infla- 
 med with the idea, that thej' were deliberately imposed 
 upon by the majority of the Union, and that honor required 
 that they should assert their dignity and their rights, by re- 
 sistance. Inflammatory toasts were drunk at public meet- 
 ings, and the ablest and most distinguished public men 
 supported the measures, which it was assumed were right, 
 and by which the state was to resist the laws of the Union. 
 
 Mr. John C. Calhoun, in a letter dated " Fort Hill, 
 30th of July, 1832," declared that nullification was a 
 peaceful remedy, and necessary to Xhe preservation of 
 other powers.' 
 
 » 45 Niles's Register, 2. ' Idem. ' 43 Idem, 56. 
 
230 LETTER OF MR. CALHOUN. 
 
 " The ungrounded fear," said he, " that the right of a 
 state to interpose in order to protect her reserved powers 
 against the encroachments of the general government, 
 would lead to disunion, is rapidly vanishing, and as it dis- 
 appears, it will be seen that so far from endangering, the 
 right is essential to the preservation of our system, as 
 essential as the right of suffrage itself. 
 
 " Thus thinking, I have entire confidence that the time 
 will come, when our doctrine, which has been so freely 
 denounced as traitorous and rebellious, will be hailed as 
 being the great conservative principle of our admirable 
 system of government, and when those who have so 
 firmly maintained it under so many trials, will be ranked 
 among the great benefactors of the country." 
 
 The doctrine of " state interposition" against the gen- 
 eral government, is here defended as an essential right, 
 and the future approbation of the people confidently ex- 
 pected. 
 
 To understand the exact state of things in South Caro- 
 lina, at that time, and the conflict likely to ensue between 
 the majority in the state supporting nullification by the 
 state power, and the general government executing the 
 laws, with a minority in South Carolina supporting it, we 
 must review two or three other important movements. 
 
 The doctrines of Mr. McDufiie, Major Hamilton, Mr. 
 Calhoun, and other leaders of the nullification party, were 
 as strongly opposed by other distinguished men in South 
 Carolina. 
 
 Judge Smith, formerly United Sta,tes Senator, in an 
 address to the people of Spartanburgh district, thus writes 
 — " To say you can resist the general government, and 
 remain in the Union, and be at peace, is a perfect delu- 
 
TWO PARTIES IN THE STATE. 231 
 
 sion, calculated only to hoodwink an honest community, 
 until they shall have advanced too far to retrace theii 
 steps ; which they must do, and do with disgrace and 
 humiliation, -or enter upon a bloody conflict with ths 
 general government. For the general government cannot 
 bow its sovereignty to the mandates of South Carolina, 
 while the Union is worth preserving. And be assured, it 
 will not bow to the mandate of any state, while the sove- 
 reign people believe that a confederated government is 
 calculated to promote their peace, their honor, and their 
 safety.'" 
 
 It is seen that the political ideas inculcated in the ex- 
 tracts last quoted, are directly opposed to those stated in 
 the former extract from the letter of Mr. Calhoun. The 
 latter assumes the supremacy of the Union, the former 
 that of the State, under the name of state interposition. 
 Hence, in the controversy which ensued, the name of the 
 party of the majority was known as the nullification party , 
 and that of the minority as the Union party. The con- 
 troversy between these parties in the state was even more 
 excited than that between the state and the general gov- 
 ernment. This was the state of things when, in October, 
 1832, the legislature of South Carolina passed an act 
 providing for the " calling of a convention of the people" 
 of that state.^ The object of this convention in the terms 
 of the act, was "to take into consideration the several acts 
 of the Congress of the United States, imposing duties on 
 foreign imports for the protection of domestic manufac- 
 tures, or for other unauthorized objects ; to determine or. 
 the character thereof, and to devise the means of redress.' 
 
 ' 43 Niles'B Register, 42. " Idem, 152. 
 
SJJ2 ORDINANCE OF THE CONVENTION. 
 
 The convention elected according to this statute, as 
 sembled at Columbia, the seat of government, on the 19th 
 of November, 1832.^ The convention being assembled, 
 enacted an " ordinance," whose title was " to provide for 
 arresting the operation of certain acts of the Congress of 
 the United States, purporting to be taxes laying duties 
 and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities." 
 
 On the final passage, of the ordinance the word "nulli- 
 fy" was substituted for " arresting."^ 
 
 This ordinance assumed to nullify the laws of the 
 United States, to prevent the operation of the courts, and 
 finally, to place all officers under oath to obey only the 
 ordinance, and the laws made to give it effect. 
 
 The 2d section pronounced the tariff acts of 1828 and 
 1832 "null, void, and no law, nor binding-upon the state,, 
 its officers, or citizens." 
 
 The Zd section declared it unlawful " for any of the, 
 constituted authorities, whether of the state or the United 
 States, to enforce payment of the duties imposed by said 
 acts, within the limits of the state." 
 
 The A:th section ordered that no case of law or equity 
 decided in that state, wherein was drawn in question the , 
 validity of that ordinance, or of any act of the legislature 
 passed to give it effect, should be appealed to the supreme 
 court of the United States, or regarded if appealed. 
 
 Section 5tli required that every one who held an office 
 of honor, trust, or profit, civil or military, should take an 
 oath to obey only this ordinance, and the laws of the 
 legislature passed in consequence of it. 
 
 The Gth section declared, that if the general govern 
 
 ' 43 Niles's Register, 219. » Idem, 277 
 
MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR GAYI.E. 233 
 
 ment should employ force to carry into effect its laws, or 
 endeavor to coerce the state by shutting up its ports, that 
 South Carolina would consider the Union dissolved, and 
 would " proceed to organize a separate government." 
 
 No one could for a moment doubt the meaning or bear- 
 ing of this ordinance. It was an open, frank, and direct 
 resistance of the laws of the Union, and notwithstanding 
 the confident expectations of fellowship and assistance 
 from other anti-tariff states, it was soon apparent that 
 they would oppose the violent course of opposition to the 
 law marked out by the South Carolina convention. Nor 
 did the measure tend towards peace even in South 
 Carolina. A Union convention was soon after held to 
 counteract this movement.^ The neighboring states were 
 very explicit in their opposition. Governor Gayle, in his 
 message to the Alabama legislature, condemned nullifica- 
 tion in the strongest terms. " If," said he, "it [nullifica- 
 tion] shall be recognised as the true constitutional doc- 
 trine, that a state can remain a member of the Union, and 
 at the same time place her citizens beyond the reach of 
 its laws, ours will not be the shadow of a government, 
 and for all practical purposes it will be dissolved. But 
 the strife and dissension which have been produced by 
 the persevering efforts of the advocates of this doctrine, 
 to gain for it the favorable opinion of the people, have 
 been carried to such excesses, that it is already growing 
 into an evil not less to be deprecated than the tariff itself. 
 If the firstfruits of this doctrine of peace are deep and 
 bitter feelings of personal hostility, furious family discords, 
 and a destruction, in fact, of the peace and harmony of 
 
 ' 43 Niles's Register, 279 
 
234 PROCLAMATION OF GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 society, what are we to expect when it puts forth in all 
 its vigor ?'" 
 
 The legislature of Tennessee passed resolutions unani- 
 mbusly (one member declining to vote) denouncing, nulli- 
 fication^ in the strongest terms. 
 
 The legislature of Georgia, also a strong anti-tariff 
 state, passed anti-nullification resolutions, by strong ma- 
 jorities.^ 
 
 By the action of these adjoining states, South Carolina 
 was left alone in the plan which she had proposed, of 
 arresting the operation of the United States laws by state 
 interposition. Nevertheless, the ordinance passed by the 
 convention was decisive of her course. The legislature 
 at its next session, passed acts to carry into effect the 
 ordinance, and a large body of volunteers was called into 
 the state service.* 
 
 This was the state of things in South Carolina, and in 
 the Union, when, on the 10th of December, 1832, General 
 Jackson issued his proclamation, exhorting all persons 
 to obey the laws, denouncing the ordinance of South Car- 
 olina, and giving a very clear exposition of the principles 
 and powers of the general government.^ This proclama- 
 tion was written with great ability, and coming from the 
 most popular man in the United States, exercising the 
 functions of chief magistrate, and taking part with that 
 LOVE OF UNION wliich, in all times and all circumstances, 
 
 ' 43 Niles's Register, 220. Resolutions of Alabama, 387. 
 
 ' Idem, 220. 
 
 " 43 Niles, 279, 286. These resolutions were also passed in a number 
 of other states. In Pennsylvania, 43 Niles, 333 ; New York, 386 ; North 
 (.'Carolina, 386 ; Indiana, 400 ; Delaware, 422. 
 
 * 43 Niles's Register, 288, 300, 332. ' Idem, 260 
 
AJNSWfiRED BY THE S. C. LEGISLATURE 235 
 
 has been an element in American character, tiie procla- 
 mation was universally read, and almost universally re- 
 ceived with approbation and applause. The legislature 
 of South Carolina answered in an appeal to the people of 
 that state.' 
 
 Two citations from the proclamation of General Jack- 
 son will show the principles and object of that instru- 
 ment. 
 
 " I consider, then," says the President, " the power to 
 annul a law of the United States, assumed by one state, 
 incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted 
 expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized 
 by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it 
 was founded, and destructive of the great object for which 
 it was formed.^ 
 
 " This, then, is the position in which we stand. A 
 small majority of the citizens of one state in the Union 
 have elected delegates to a state convention. That con- 
 vention has ordained that all the revenue laws of the 
 United States must be repealed, or that they are no 
 longer a member of the Union. The governor of that 
 state has recommended to the legislature the raising of an 
 army to carry the secession into effect, and that he may 
 be empowered to give clearance to vessels in the name 
 of the state. No act of violent opposition to the laws has 
 yet been committed, but such a state of things is hourly 
 apprehended, and it is the intent of this instrument to 
 PROCLAIM not only that the duty imposed on me by the 
 constitution ' to take care that the laws be faithfully exe- 
 cuted,' shall be performed to the extent of the powers 
 
 ' 43 NileH'g Rpgisler, 300. ' Idem, 261. 
 
236 HOSTILE ARRAY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 already vested in me by law, or of such other as the 
 wisdom of Congress shall devise and intrust to me foi 
 that purpose ; but to warn the citizens of South Carolina 
 who have been deluded into an opposition to the laws, of 
 the danger they wilHncur by obedience to the illegal and 
 disorganizing ordinance of the convention; to exhort those 
 who have refused to support it, to persevere in their de- 
 termination to uphold the constitution and laws of their 
 "country, and to point out to all the perilous situation into 
 which the good people oflhat state have been led, and 
 that the course they are urged to pursue is one of ruin 
 and disgrace to the very state whose rights they affect to 
 support." 
 
 The ordinance of South Carolina passed Novembei 
 24th, 1832,* the President's proclamation was signed on 
 the 10th of December, and on the 21st of December, the 
 South CaroUna legislature adjourned, having passed the 
 laws necessary to give effect to the ordinance.^ These 
 were the several acts on which depended the possibility 
 and even probability of an actual conflict between the 
 authorities of South Carolina and the general government. 
 The promulgation and strong language of the President's 
 proclamation was in itself the most authentic proof of the 
 intensity of feeling, and the fear of danger, which existed 
 among the people of the United States in consequence of 
 the South Carolina ordinance, and the military array by 
 which it was proposed to support it.^ 
 
 ■ 43 Niles's Register, 277. » Idem, 301. 
 
 ' The go^mor had called out twelve thousand volunteers. The whole 
 state was a military camp, and the utmost zeal was exhibited, by tlioa* 
 who contended for nullification, to defend their views in any way what- 
 ever. See 43 Niles's Register, 288, 318, and various other passages 
 
EXTKACT FROM GENERAL MACOMB's ORDER. 23? 
 
 In the mean while, the President and cabinet were 
 making all arrangements preparatory to a confiict, with a 
 determination to stand on the defensive ; but with a firm 
 resolve also, to collect the revenue and enforce the laws 
 of the United States. 
 
 It is at this point m history, that General Scott was 
 called, in the exercise of his military functions, to per 
 form a part, not very conspicuous to the public eye, but 
 most important in its consequenpes to the Union and the 
 future welfare of the republic. What part that was will 
 be shown by the unimpeachable testimony of authentic 
 facts. 
 
 Before the ordinance was passed, and about the period 
 of the session of the South Carolina legislature which 
 provided for the meeting of the convention, President 
 Jackson, from facts which came to his knowledge, thought 
 it not improbable that an attempt would be made to seize 
 or in some way get possession of the forts in the harbor of 
 Charleston. 
 
 To prevent this. General Macomb issued an order,* 
 dated "Washington, October 29th, 3 832," directed to 
 Major Heileman, commanding the United States troops 
 at Charleston. A paragraph from this order will ex- 
 plain a portion of this history. 
 
 The order says — " It is deemed necessary that the ofS- 
 cers in the harbor of Charleston should be advised of the 
 possibility of attempts being made to surprise, seize, and 
 occupy the forts committed to them. You are therefore 
 especially charged to use your utmost vigilance in counter- 
 aQting such attempts. You will call personally on the 
 
 ' " Orders" transmitted to the Senate by the Presidenl, 43 Niles, 436. 
 
S38 ANXIETY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 commanders of Castle Pinckney and Fort Moultrie, and 
 instruct them to be vigilant to prevent surprise in the 
 night, or by day, on the part of any set of people whati- 
 ever, who may approach the forts with a view to seize 
 and occupy them. You will warn the said officers that 
 such an event is apprehended, and that they will be held 
 responsible for the defence, to the last extremity, of the 
 forts and garrisons under their respective commands, 
 against any assault, and also against intrigue and surprise. 
 The attempt to surprise the forts and garrisons, it is ex- 
 pected, will be made by the militia, and it must be 
 guarded against by constant vigilance, and repulsed at 
 every hazard. These instructions you will be careful not 
 to show to any persons, other than the commanding offi- 
 cers of Castle Pinckney and Fort Moultrie." 
 
 This was a confidential order, and its terms express the 
 apprehension and anxiety then felt by the government. 
 
 On the 7th of November an order from the war depart- 
 ment directed two companies of artillery to proceed forth- 
 with to Fort Moultrie, Charleston harbor.^ 
 
 On the 12th of November, a further order^ from Gen- 
 eral Macomb to Major Heileman directed, that the 
 "citadel" in Charleston, and belonging to the State of 
 South Carolina, should be delivered up, with the state arms, 
 if required ; that every thing should be done with cour- 
 tesy, but, if attacked, the troops should defend themselves. 
 
 At this crisis the services of General Scott, in a mission 
 to South Carolina of extraordinary delicacy, were called 
 into requisition by President Jackson. On the 18th of 
 November, 1832, a confidential order^ was issued frpm 
 
 ' 43 Niles, 437. ' Idem. = Idem. Published Febniary, 1833 
 
ORDER TO GENERAL SCOTT. 239 
 
 ihe war department to General Scott. The order, after 
 expressing the President's solicitude as to affairs in South 
 Carolina, a hope from the intelligence of the people, and 
 a fear lest some rash attempt should be made against the 
 forts of the United States in the harbor of Charleston, 
 proceeds to say — 
 
 " The possibility of such a measure furnishes sufficient 
 reason for guarding against it, and the President is there- 
 fore anxious that the situation and meafts of defence of 
 these fortifications, should be inspected by an officer of 
 experience, who could also estimate and provide for any 
 dangers to which they may be exposed. He has full 
 confidence in your judgment and discretion, and it is his 
 wish that you repair immediately to Charleston, and 
 examine every thing connected with the fortifications. 
 You are at liberty to take such measures, either by 
 strengthening these defences, or by reinforcing these gar- 
 risons with troops drawn from any other posts, as you 
 may think prudence and a just precaution require. 
 
 "Your duty will be one of great importance, and of great 
 delicacy. You will consult fully and freely with the col- 
 lector of the port of Charleston, and with the district 
 attorney of South Carolina, and you will take no step, 
 except what relates to the immediate defence and security 
 of the posts, without their order and concurrence. The 
 execution of the laws will be enforced through the civil 
 authority, and by the mode pointed out by the acts of 
 Congress. Should, unfortunately, a crisis arise, when 
 the ordinary power in the hands of the civil officers shall 
 not be sufficient for this purpose, the President shall de- 
 termine the course to be taken and the measures adopted. 
 Til), therefore, you are otherwise instructed, you will act 
 
 11 
 
240 GENERAL SCOTT REACHES 'CHARLESTON. 
 
 in obedience to the legal requisitions of the proper civil 
 officers of the United States. 
 
 " I will thank you to communicate to me, freely and 
 confidentially, upon every topic which you may deem it 
 important for the government to receive information. 
 " Very respectfully, _ 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 Lewis Cass." 
 
 " Major-General Winfield Scott." 
 
 In addition to this order, there was a personal interview 
 between the President, some of the cabinet, and 
 General Scott, in which the principles and views held by 
 GeneraP Jack son and his administration were fully ex- 
 pressed,* 
 
 General Scott arrived in Charleston on the 28th of 
 November, just two days after the passage of the ordi- 
 nance. All was excitement. He found the people of 
 Charleston divided into two parties, nearly equal in point 
 of numbers, and each exasperated towards the other. 
 
 It happened that this was the usual period for General 
 Scott's annual tour of inspection along the Atlantic coast, 
 in which he included also the arsenals of the interior. 
 He therefore suffered it to be believed, that he was now 
 on this ordinary duty. Fortunately, too, he happened to 
 be lamed, by accident, on the road, which gave him a 
 , ^sufficient pretext for lingering awhile at Charleston, Au- 
 gusta, and Savannah, without awakening any jealousy or 
 suspicion of the great purpose of his visit. 
 
 It was as important that he should not, by his presence 
 
 ' See Secretary CaBs'u Letter, dated December 3d, 1832, in 43 Niles. 
 
ARRIVAL OF TROOPS AND ARMED VESSELS. 241 
 
 or liis acts, increase the excitement of the public mind, 
 already too much inflamed, thus precipitating rash meas- 
 ures on the part of South Carolina, as it was that, in the 
 last resort, he should maintain the supremacy of the laws 
 held to be constitutional by every department of the 
 federal government, and alike binding on all the states. 
 This duty he was resolved to execute at every hazard to 
 himself, but with all possible courtesy and kindness com- 
 patible with that paramount object. In this, his heart's 
 warm feeling was, that the disaffected might be soothed, 
 and South Carolina held in affectionate harmony with hei 
 sister states. 
 
 The 1st of February had been fixed by the ordinance 
 as the crisis, provided Congress did not previously modify 
 the tariff. Scott passed rapidly along to Augusta, Savan- 
 nah, and Charleston, quietly laying his plans and dis- 
 patching orders, so as to be ready for any event. The 
 best understanding was established between the United 
 States district attorney, the marshal, and himself. In 
 conjunction with the collector of the port, it was arranged 
 to establish the custom-house, when necessary, under the 
 guns of Fort Moultrie. This is six miles below the 
 city, and commands the entrance to the harbor. He 
 called for steamboats, armed vessels, and troops, all of 
 which arrived from different points without the knowledge 
 of each other's approach.* He caused Fort Moultrie and 
 
 ' One company of the 1st artillery, two companies of the 3d artillery, 
 and three companies of the 4th artillery, were ordered to Charleston 
 harbor, in November and December, in addition to those under the com- 
 mand of Major Heileman. The Natchez, the schooner Experiment, and 
 the revenue cuttere, were ordered there, under the command of Commo. 
 dore Elliott. 
 
£42 SCOTT STRENGTHENS THE FORTIFICATIONS. 
 
 Castle Pinckney, in Charleston harbor, and Augusta 
 arsenal, which was full of supplies, and on the borders of 
 South Carolina, to be strengthened and well garrisoned. 
 Then, having seen every thing ready, or in rapid prepara- 
 tion, for the worst, he sailed, from Charleston for New 
 York, without having awakened a suspicion of his being 
 connected with impending events. 
 
 Towards the end of January' he returned by sea to 
 Fort Moultrie, and was at the post of danger many days 
 before it was known in the city. His presence, with that 
 of the vessels of war, the revenue cutters, and additional 
 troops, which had now arrived, left no room to doubt that 
 the government was fully determined that the revenue 
 duties imposed by law should be collected in Charleston, 
 as in all other ports of the Union. 
 
 During his absence, the leading opposers of the tariff 
 had called a meeting, and informally agreed, that notwith- 
 standing the period for the open resistance of the law had 
 been fixed by the convention for the 1st of February, no 
 attempt to execute the ordinance of nullification should 
 be made before the adjournment of Congress, on the 3d of 
 March, and the second meeting of the convention, which 
 was to be held a few days later.^ Happily for all, the res- 
 olution was strictly observed. 
 
 In the mean time, the excitement had greatly increased. 
 The state legislature had met in December, and passed 
 
 ' In a letter written in December, tlie Secretary at War expresses the 
 approbation of the government for what Scott had done at his first visit. 
 
 ' See the Charleston Resolutions, 43 Niles, 381. It was one of the 
 political curiosities of the times, that a solemn ordinance of the state of 
 South C^arolina should be set aside at the request of a meeting in one 
 place. 
 
THE ORDINANCE REQUIRES A TEST OATH. 243 
 
 laws for the raising of troops and money, and for the 
 purchase of arms and ammunition. All these were soon 
 obtained. Volunteers were seen at drill through the state. 
 Charleston was full of them. The palmetto cockade and 
 the palmetto buttons distinguished the nullifiers from the 
 Unionists} A determined spirit of resistance to the rev- 
 enue laws, however misdirected or deplored, was, in fact, 
 everywhere exhibited. 
 
 A scene which took place just at this time in the 
 streets of Charleston, will illustrate most forcibly the vio- 
 lence of feeling then existing on political subjects, the 
 great and instant danger of civil commotion, and the nar- 
 rowness of tEat verge of bloodshed and disunion, upon 
 which the people of the state and the nation then stood. 
 
 Determined, if possible, to carry out the desperate 
 plans in which they had most rashly embarked, the nulli 
 fiers had, as we have narrated, not only called out large 
 bodies of armed volunteers, but had actually, by their 
 ordinance, required the citizens of South Carolina to take 
 a test oath of exclusive allegiance to the state.^ This 
 
 ' It was one of the resolutions of the Charleston meeting, that the vol- 
 unteers should " wear a blue cockade, with the palmetto button in the 
 centre.'' It is another political curiosity, that the " palmetto buttons" 
 worn by the volunteers of South Carolina in resisting the laws of the 
 Union, should have been made in Connecticut. This fact should suggest 
 a hint whether our American manufactures were not both useful and 
 necessary to all. The palmetto buttons were in faqt made in Con- 
 necticut, and also most beautifully made. The state coat of arms could 
 hardly appear to more advantage. 
 
 " The Court of Appeals in ^outh Carolina, with great personal disin- 
 terestedness and moral independence, declared the ordinance of the Con- 
 vention of Soiitli Carolina, unconstitutional on this point. It was in the case 
 of the Slatf vs. Hun 2 Hill's South Carolina Reixirls, 1- They de- 
 
 16* 
 
244 A MEETING OF THE tJNIONISTS. 
 
 perhaps more than any one measiire, exasperated the 
 Union party. They deemed it unconstitutional, and de- 
 structive of their personal rights, not less than of the 
 general allegiance which was due to the laws of the 
 Union. They therefore, like the nuUifiers, formed asso- 
 ciations,^ took measures for defence, and, in a word, two 
 parties stood fronting one another like hostile bodies of 
 opposing nations. 
 
 It was just at this time that the respective parties 
 held nightly meetings in the city of Charleston. In 
 those popular meetings, and with this high political 
 animosity, there was danger, great danger of a col- 
 lision which would result in bloodshed "and disaster.. 
 T^otwithstanding all this, there was great personal cour- 
 tesy, so becoming to gentlemen and men of honor, be- 
 tween the leaders and chief actors of the opposing parties. 
 1 )n one evening, when there was a meeting of both parlies, 
 Mr. Pettigrd^ received a note from General Hayne, re- 
 questing that the Unionists would return home through 
 Meeting-street, as by going the usual route there would 
 be danger of collision. The Union party were then in 
 assembly and much excited. It was quite natural that 
 they should answer as they did, that " they were armed, 
 and would go which way they chose." After this mes- 
 sage, Mr. Poinsett addressed the meeting, advising them 
 
 cided the oath of allegiance to South Carolina was unconstitutional and 
 void, because inconsistent with the allegiance of the citizen to the federal 
 government. 
 
 ' This was particularly the case with the District of Greenville. They 
 here, literally, nailed the colors to the mast, and declared that they who 
 would enforce thj ordinance, must do it by the bayonet. 
 
 ' Mr. Pettigru-was of the Union party. 
 
A SCENE IN THE STREETS. 245 
 
 to wear a white badge on the left arm, to make no attack, 
 but, if attacked, defend themselves at the hazard of their 
 lives. They sent out, and bought a piece of white mus- 
 lin, which they tore into pieces to make badges of. This 
 done, they marched on the same streets as they were ac- 
 customed to. At length, they met the nullifiers marching 
 on the same street with themselves, but in an opposite 
 direction. Just at this moment, whether purposely or 
 accidentally, some of the nullifiers struck the arm of 
 Coljnel Drayton. It was observed, and at once the 
 cry ran through the Union ranks — " Colonel Drayton 
 is struck — defend him !" Instantly, with great presence 
 of mind. Colonel Drayton remarked — " Stop ; it was only 
 an accident !" The meeting passed on, and Charleston 
 was saved from the blood of her citizens flowing from the 
 worst of all causes — civil war !' 
 
 Had less prudence or presence of mind existed among 
 some of the leading gentlemen at that crisis, the descend- 
 ants of a common revolutionary stock, of a patriotic 
 and honorable ancestry, for difierences of opinion only, 
 would have been found inflicting mortal wounds on each 
 other, and as mortal wounds on the reputation of their 
 common country. The blood indeed might have been 
 stanched^ and the dead replaced, by living shoots. But 
 not so the stain, the grief, and the memories. They 
 would long have lingered, like mourning witnesses to sad 
 disasters. 
 
 If history be not silent on the events which then oc- 
 
 ' This incident was related to me by an eye-witness. It is possible that 
 '.I may be varied in some slight particular, but it is in the substance correct 
 It in reality occurred ii month or two earlier than we have placed it ■■ 
 '.he text ; but it is equally valuable as an illustration of history. 
 
246 THE BIRTHDAY OP WASHINGTON. 
 
 cunred, or on the part taken by distinguished citizens of 
 South Carohna, still less should it omit a jus- testimony 
 to the forbearance and prudence of the general and troops 
 of the United States employed in so delicate and danger- 
 ous a service. 
 
 The officers and men of the army and navy bore them- 
 selves with the meekness and solemnity proper to so 
 grave and unusual a duty. In no instance did they in- 
 dulge in any display, except on the 22d of February. 
 
 Then rockets blazing through the skies, and guns sound- 
 ing over the waters, told that, as Americans, they remem- 
 bered and blessed the anniversary of that day, which gave 
 birth to the father of the country and the union ! 
 On other occasions, every individual in that service, 
 though firm in his allegiance and resolved to do his duty, 
 evinced by his deportment how painful that duty might 
 become. Scott gave both the precept and the example. 
 Many officers, like himself, had frequent occasion to visit 
 the city. Boats' crews were constantly passing and re- 
 passing. It was agreed among the officers, and enjoined 
 on the men, to give way to everybody, and not even to 
 resent an indignity should one be offered ; but to look on 
 their fellow-citizens as their fellow-countrymen, whom all 
 were anxious to reclaim from an unhappy delusion. 
 These rules of forbearance were absolutely necessary, 
 because any soldier or sailor, in a drutiken rencontre, 
 might have brought on all the evils of a bloody affiray. 
 
 Just at the period of the utmost anxiety, when all hearts 
 were anxious lest the morrow should bripg forth civil 
 war, a fire was seen from Fort Moultrie, at twilight, rising 
 from Charleston, rapidly spreading, and threatening the 
 city with destruction. General Scott happened to be tlie 
 
THE FIRE IN CHARLESTON. 247 
 
 first who perceived the conflagration, and with great 
 promptness called for volunteers to hasten to the assist- 
 ance of the inhabitants. All the officers and men were 
 eager for the service, and, with the exception of a mere 
 guard, all were dispatched in boats and without arms, to 
 subdue the new and dreadful enemy. Each detachment 
 was directed to report itself to some city officer, and to 
 ask for employment. A detached officer preceded to 
 explain'the object of this sudden intrusion. Captain (now 
 Major) Ringgold, of the army, who commanded a de- 
 tachment rushed up to the intendant, (mayor,) and begged 
 to be put to work. A citizen standing by, at once claimed 
 his assistance to save a sugar-refinery, then in imminent 
 danger. " Do you hear that ?" said Captain Ringgold to 
 his men ; "we will go to the death for the sugar!" T^liis 
 was in allusion to the famous threat of Governor Hamil- 
 ton, in respect to his importation of that article, before 
 the boxes had arrived, that " they would go to the death 
 for the sugar." It may be added, that the detachment 
 instantly repaired to the spot, and the refinery was saved;-. 
 Nor was the good-humored quotation lost on the hundreds 
 who heard it. 
 
 The navy was not behind the army in this act of neigh- 
 borly kindness. Both were early at the scene of distress. 
 And all, after distinguishing themselves for zeal and 
 energy, returned as sober and as orderly as they went, 
 notwithstanding refreshments had been profusely handed 
 round by the citizens. 
 
 It is not extravagant to say, that this timely movement, 
 so well conceived and so handsomely executed, overcame 
 much of the excitement and prejudice existing against the 
 United States, here represented by their soldiers and 
 
248 FORT MOULTRrE VISITED BY THE CITIZENS. 
 
 sailors. These men threw themselves, unexpected and 
 unarmed, in the midst of a population strongly excited 
 against them, and by saving a city from fire, povferfully 
 contributed to save the Union from the greater horrors of 
 civil war. The effect was immediate on the spot, and 
 was soon spread to other parts of the state. It was one 
 of those acts better adapted to sooth the asperities of 
 feeling, than would have been any degree of courage, or 
 success, in the forcible maintenance of the law. 
 
 Sullivan's Island, on which Fort Moultrie stands, was 
 daily visited by respectable citizens, sometimes in large 
 numbers, most of whom wore the palmetto cockade. All, 
 without distinction of party, were received with that 
 courtesy and kindness for which not only General Scott 
 but our officers generally were distinguished. Some 
 were detained to dine with the general, who, with tlie 
 other officers, took pains to show the works, and to give 
 the true impression, that they were intended for self- 
 defence. 
 
 " We have made ourselves impregnable," he would 
 say, " not for offence, but rather to prevent an attack ; 
 for otherwise there might be danger, not from your au- 
 thorities, but from masses moved by some sudden ebul- 
 lition of feeling, and we should all regard with infinite 
 horror the necessity of a conflict with any portion of our 
 own people." 
 
 Similar explanations and assurances were given, in the 
 same spirit, to the higher political authorities, in his acci- 
 dental meeting with them in the city. 
 
 It will readily be perceived, that the plan of General 
 Scott's measures was not, in any fair sense of the term, 
 directed against the people or-the soil of South Carolina. 
 
CONGRESS PASSES THU " COMPROMISE ACT.*' 249 
 
 The works at Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney were 
 upon sites which had long been the property of the United 
 States, and garrisoned by their troops. No new position 
 was occupied. The general object was solely to be in 
 readiness with a sufficient force to act in concert with 
 the civil authorities of the United States, that is, to be 
 able, first, to defend his own position, and next, to compel 
 all vessels from abroad to make the same entries at the 
 Charleston custom-house as at every other port of entry. 
 The point selected for this operation (Fort Moultrie) being 
 distant and isolated, it seems that the possibility of a 
 colhsion with citizens, taking into view all the means of 
 prevention, both moral and physical, was almost entirely 
 excluded. 
 
 At length. Congress passed the celebrated " Compro- 
 mise Act.'' The South Carolina Convention rescinded 
 the ordinance of nullification. The troops and ships re- 
 turned to their ordinary stations ; and every officer and 
 man departed — rejoicing in his heart, that not a drop of 
 blood had been spilt, where so much danger had occurred 
 and such fearful results been apprehended. 
 
 In the mean while, however, the state of Virginia had 
 taken part in the issue made between South Carolina and 
 the general government, in a way which requires some 
 notice. At the close of January, 1833, the legislature of 
 Virginia passed a series of resolutions in relation to the 
 position of South Carolina.^ 
 
 One of these resolutions requested South Carolina to 
 rescind the ordinance of nullification. Another requested 
 Congress to modify the tariff, and a third resolved to 
 
 43 Niles, 39G. 
 
250 VIRGINIA SENDS A COMMISSIONER- 
 
 appoint a commissioner whose duty it was to bear these 
 resolutions to South CaroHna, and use his efforts to in- 
 duce that state to accede to mediation, and listen to con- 
 ciliatory measures. 
 
 The commissioner appointed for this purpose, was 
 Benjamin Watkins Leigh, Esq., a gentleman of acknow- 
 ledged abilities, of. great urbanity, and every way quali- 
 fied for the mission. It was performed with as much 
 success as was possible. Mr. Leigh arrived at Charles- 
 ton and made the requests of Virginia known. In a letter 
 dated 6th of February, 1833, Mr. Hamilton, president of 
 the convention, said that he would call the convention to- 
 gether at an early day. He did call them. The conven- 
 tion rescinded its ordinance, the troops, as above nar- 
 rated, were withdrawn, and the scenes of civil commo- 
 tion which once threatened bloodshed and disunion, were 
 closed without either. Friends in opposing ranks met 
 together rejoicing, and no more was heard of the late 
 storm but the fainter and fainter murmurs of the receding 
 waves of agitation. 
 
 At this distance of time, the part performed by Scott 
 may not seem of great importance. But he who thinks 
 so should recollect, that history is oblige.d to trace the 
 greatest events oftentimes to very small causes ; and that 
 such a part as Scott's at Charleston, though having neither 
 the crimson glare of battle, nor the extraordinary skiU of 
 some artful act of diplomacy, may nevertheless have been 
 the hinge of a crisis, and therefore more important thar 
 many battles. It is the handling of a delicate subject 
 which makes it difficult, far more than the settlement of 
 a question of exact right or wrong. 
 
 Of the part which Scott bore in the pacification of the 
 
SCOTT S EXECUTION OP A DELICATE TRUST. 251 
 
 South, we shall here give the words of Mr. Leigh, 
 who stood high in the confidence of all parties, whose 
 evidence is unimpeachable, and who had ample opportu- 
 nities of observing all that was done. He says — 
 
 " I was at Charleston when he (Scott) arrived and as- 
 sumed the command, which he did without any parade or 
 fuss. No one who had an opportunity of observing on 
 the spot the excitement that existed, can have an ade- 
 quate conception of the delicacy of the trust. General 
 Scott had a large acquaintance with the people of Charles- 
 ton ; he was their friend ; but his situation was such that 
 many, the great majority of them, looked upon him as a 
 public enemy. What his orders were, I cannot under- 
 take to tell you,^ nor have I any means of knowing but 
 from his conduct, which, I take it for granted, conformed 
 with them. He thought, as I thought, that the first drop 
 of blood shed in civil war, in civil war between the United 
 States and one of the states, would prove an immedicable 
 wound, which would end in a change of our institutions. 
 He was resolved, if it was possible, to prevent a resort to 
 arms ; and nothing could have been more judicious than 
 his conduct. Far from being prone to take offence, he 
 kept his temper under the strictest guard, and was most 
 careful to avoid giving occasion for offence ; yet he held 
 himself ready to act, if it should become necessary, and 
 he let that be distinctly. understood. He sought the soci- 
 ety of the leading nullifiers, and was in their society as 
 much as they would let him be, but he took care never to 
 say a word to them on the subject of political differences ; 
 he treated them as a friend. From the beginning to the 
 
 ' A portion of these orders is given in a previous part of tliis chapter 
 
252 SCOTt's letter to SECnETAUV CASS. 
 
 end, his conduct was as conciliatory as it was fivm and 
 sincere, evincing that he knew his duty, and was resolved 
 to perform it, and yet that his principal object and purpose 
 was peace. He was perfectly successful, when the least 
 imprudence might have resulted in a serious collision." 
 
 We shall close this chapter of American history with 
 the addition of two letters from the politico-military history 
 of that period. They may serve to illustrate the views and 
 peculiar duties of General Scott. 
 
 Letter from Major-General Scott to the Honorable Lewis 
 Cass, Secretary at War. 
 
 [Extract.] 
 
 " Head Quarters, Eastern Department, ( 
 Savannah, December 15th, 1832. S 
 
 " Sir— 
 
 I have had the honor to address you once from 
 this place since my return from Augusta. The letter bore 
 date the 10th or 11th instant. In it I stated that I had 
 not the time to retain a copy. 
 
 " I now take the liberty to enclose a copy of a private 
 
 letter which I addressed to , Esq., a leading 
 
 member of the South Carolina legislature, and a nulliiier. 
 I do this, because letters from me to individuals of that 
 party should be seen by the government, and because this 
 letter contains the sentiments and topics which I always 
 urge in conversation with nuUifiers. 
 
 " It will be seen that I speak of the arrival of troops in 
 the harbor of Charleston. I did this because I knew the 
 movement of the troops was, or would be soon, known, 
 
EFFECT OP THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. 253 
 
 and because I wish to prevent the idea of offensive opera- 
 tions, (invasion.) Such an idea might precipitate the 
 state authorities into some act of open hostility, which 
 would not fail to be followed by a civil war, at least among 
 her own citizens. 
 
 " The President's annual message has had the happiest 
 effect already on the temper of nullification in this state, 
 (Georgia,) as far as we have heard, and cannot fail to pre- 
 vent that doctrine from spreading in the South. What 
 may be its effects on the original nuUifiers in South Caro- 
 lina is more doubtful. There is good reason, however, 
 to hope, that this healing document may soon reduce them 
 to a small minority, even in their own state, and this ap- 
 prehension may induce the leaders to attempt something 
 rash, to inflame the passions of their followers. 
 
 " The friends of the Union will see, by the arrival of 
 the troops in Charleston harbor, that they are not aban- 
 doned by the executive. This will give vigor in another 
 way to the resolutions they are about to take at Colum- 
 bia, while they will be able to remind their opponents of 
 the soundness of the prediction, that ' the tariff would be 
 gradually but ultimately brought down to a just point.' 
 This double operation is manifest on the public mind of 
 this place. I shall proceed by the first safe conveyance, 
 say in four or five days, to Charleston harbor, as I wish 
 to be there to regulate the posting of the reinforcements, 
 which may soon be expected from the North. My aid- 
 de-camp (Lieutenant Mercer) will be left to follow with 
 any letters which may arrive before the 24th instant." 
 
.. 254 Scott's letter to a friend. 
 
 Extracts from a letter from Major-General Scott to a dts^ 
 tinguished leader and friend, a member of the S. Carm 
 olina Legislature, then in session at Columbia. 
 
 " Savannah, Deo. 14th, 1832. 
 
 "My Dear Sir,— . 
 
 " You have an excellent memory to 
 remind me, after so long an interval, of my promise to 
 visit you v\rhen next on a tour to the South, and I owe you 
 an apology for not eariier acknowledging your kind letter. 
 It was handed to me just as I was about to leave Charles- 
 ton, and I have been since too constantly in .motion (to 
 Augusta, and back here) to allow me to write. 
 
 •'As to the 'speculations' at Columbia relative to 'the 
 object of my visit to Charleston at this moment,' I can 
 only say, that I am on that very tour, and about the very 
 time, mentioned by me when I last had the pleasure of 
 seeing you. On what evil days we have fallen, my good 
 friend, when so common-place an event gives rise to con- 
 jecture or speculation ! I can truly assure you, that no 
 one has felt more wretched than your humble correspond- 
 ent, since an unhappy controversy began to assume a se- 
 rious aspect. I have always entertained a high admira- 
 tion for the history and character of South Carolina, and 
 accident or good fortune' has thrown me into intimacy, 
 and even friendship, with almost every leader of the two 
 parties which now divide and agitate the state. Would to 
 God they were again united, as during the late war, when 
 her federalists vied with the republicans in the career of 
 patriotism and glory, and when her legislature came pow- 
 
HIS FEARS OF DISUNION. 255 
 
 erful.ly to the aid of the Union. Well, the majority among, 
 you have taken a stand, and those days of general harmony 
 may never return. What an awful position for South 
 Carolina, as well as for the other states ! 
 
 "I cannot follow out the long, dark shades of, the pic- 
 ture that presents itself to my fears. I will hope, never- 
 theless, for the best. But I turn my eyes bact, and, good 
 God ! what do I behold ? ImpatiQnt South Carolina could 
 not wait — she has taken a leap, and is already a foreign 
 nation ; and the great names of Washington, Franklin, 
 Jefferson, and Green, no longer compatriot with yours, or 
 those of Laurens, Moultrie, Pinckney, and Marion with 
 mine ! 
 
 " But the evil, supposing the separation to have been 
 peaceable, would not stop there. When one member shall 
 withdraw, the whole arch of the Union will tumble in. 
 Out of the broken fragments new combinations will arise. 
 We should probably have, instead of one, three confed- 
 eracies — a northern, southern, and western reunion ; and 
 transmontane Virginia, your native country, not belong- 
 ing to the South, but torn off by the general West. I turn 
 with horror from the picture I have only sketched. I have 
 said it is dark ; let but one drop of blood be spilt upon the 
 canvass, and it becomes ' one red.' 
 
 " 'Lands intersected by a narrow frith 
 Abhor each other. Mountains interposed 
 Make enemies of nations, which had else, 
 Like kindred drops, been mingled into one.' 
 
 " But you and my other South Carolina friends have 
 taken your respective sides, and I must follow out mine. 
 " You ha-^'e probably heard of the arrival of two or three 
 17 
 
256 PROBABLE -MEASUKEti Uf THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 companies at Charleston, in the last six weeks, and you 
 may hear that as many more have followed. There is 
 nothing inconsistent with the President's message in these 
 movements. The intention simply is, that the forts in the 
 harbor shall not be wrested from the United States. I 
 believe it is not apprehended that the state authorities 
 contemplate any attack, at least in the present condition 
 of things, on these posts ; but I know it has been feared 
 that some unauthorized multitude, under sudden excite- 
 ment, might attempt to seize them. The President, I 
 presume, will stand on the defensive — ^thinking it better 
 to discourage than to invite an attack — better to prevent 
 than to repel one, in order to gain time for wisdom and 
 moderation to exert themselves in the capitol at Wash- 
 ington, and in the state-house at Columbia. From hu- 
 mane considerations like these, the posts in question have 
 been, and probably will be, slightly reinforced. I state 
 what I partly know, and what I partly conjecture, in 
 order that the case which I see is provided for in one of 
 your bills,* may not be supposed to have actually occurred. 
 If I were possessed of an important secret of the govern- 
 ment, my honor certainly would not allow me to disclose it ; 
 but there is in the foregoing neither secrecy nor deception. 
 My ruling wish is, that neither party take a rash step, that 
 might put all healing powers at defiance. It is, doubtless, 
 merely intended to hold the posts for the present. A few 
 companies are incapable of effecting any further object. 
 The engineer, also, is going on, steadily, but slowly, in 
 
 ' The bill referred to was, that South Carolina would consider the arri- 
 val within her limits of United States troops, as the commencement of 
 her separate existence as a state, and the signal of war. 
 
HISXOHV AND ITS COMPANIONS. 257 
 
 erecting the new work on the site of Fort Johnson, (long 
 since projected for the defence of the harbor,) the founda- 
 tion of which is but just laid. When finished, some years 
 hence, I trust it may long be regarded, both by South 
 Carolina and the other states, as one of the bulwarks of 
 our common coast. 
 
 " There is nothing in this letter intended to be confiden- 
 ticl, nor intended for the public press. When I com- 
 menced it I only designed giving utterance to private sen- 
 timents, unconnected with public events ; but my heart 
 being filled with grief on account of the latter, my pen has 
 run a little into that distress. Let us, however, hope for 
 more cheering times. Yet, be this as it may, and whether 
 our duties be several or common, I shall always have a 
 place in my bosom for the private affections, and that I 
 may ever stand in the old relation to you, is the sincere 
 wish of your friend, Winfield Scott.' 
 
 With these letters we close the narrative of one of the 
 most critical periods of American history. It has not 
 been written to add to, or take from, the merit, the errors, 
 or the part, of any one of the actors in those scenes. 
 History is not history when it is not just. It may be a 
 picture of fancy made beautiful by the pencil of flattery, 
 or deformed by the pen of scandal, but it cannot be his- 
 tory, when truth is not the writer and justice the witness 
 of its record. 
 
 The veil of confidence yet rests upon many of Scott's 
 acts and letters of this period. 
 
Cape SibK s,-J^A4 > 1 
 
MUKDER OP THE MAIL CARRIER. 259 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1835 TO 1837 
 
 Commeoeeraent of the Florida War. — Description of the SemintleB.— 
 Character ot Osceola. — Battle of Wythlacooche. — Massacre of Dade's 
 , Command. — General Scott ordered to command the Army of Florida. — 
 Plan of the Campaign. — Its termination. — Meeting of the Troops at 
 Tampa Bay. — Expeditions. — Sickness of the Army. — Retreats of th* 
 Indians. — Description of Florida. — ^The Hammock. — The Everglades. — 
 Scott's Report — The manner of his recall. — Demands a Court of Inquiry. 
 — Meeting of the Court. — His speech. — Opinion of the Court. — Mr. 
 Biddle's speech in Congress. — Scott invited to a Public Dinner in New 
 York. — He declines. — His Letter. — Asks to command the Army in 
 Florida, and is refused. 
 
 On the 11th of August, 1835, the United States mail 
 carrier who left Tampa, Florida, was murdered about six 
 miles from that place. The mangled body of the carrier 
 was thrown into a pond, and the mail carried ofF.^ The 
 murderers, though not taken, were ascertained to be In- 
 dians. At first, this was supposed to be only an isolated 
 outrage. But it was soon discoveied that the Seminole 
 tribe of Indians, then resident in Florida, united with a 
 few individuals of the Creek tribe, had become discon- 
 tented, and determined on opposition to the whites ; that 
 able chiefs were exciting them, and that murmurs of in- 
 justice perpetrated by the people of the United States 
 
 ' 49 Niles's Register, 51. 
 
1260 ORIGIN OF THE SEMINO 1-ES. 
 
 against them, and of an indignant resistance to it, wcro 
 heard among the small but uidependent tribes of Florida. 
 In about three months more, this resistance and muttered 
 indignation burst forth, in depredations against property, 
 in plantations ravaged, in dwellings burnt, and in murders 
 committed ; in fine, with the desolations and horrors of an 
 Indian war.* In return, they were told that they should 
 be swept from the earth ; hut, if they had the courage to 
 die with arms in their hands, " the white man would not 
 deny them the privilege of sleeping out their death-sleep 
 on the soil upon which he cannot endure their living 
 presence." 
 
 The Seminoles are said to have been chased into Flori- 
 da from former habitations among the Creeks. They are 
 said also to have contained a very large portion of the 
 mixed races ; partly mulattoes, more of the half-Indian and 
 half- Negro blood ; and, in fine, a heterogeneous collec- 
 tion of various origin. However this may be, the body of 
 the tribe was an indigenous family, endowed by nature 
 with courage, ferocity, hardihood, and the love of country. 
 Hemmed in by the whites, among the almost unapproach- 
 able fens, hammocks, w oods, and creeks, of the peninsula 
 of Florida, they resolved to defend their homes, and, if 
 they could not live, die on the soil they loved. The 
 unfair treatment which in many instances marked the 
 conduct of the whites towards the Indians, and the mis- 
 takes as to the terms and meaning of treaties, were, it is 
 believed, in this, as in many other Indian wars, the true 
 causes and foundation of the controversy. 
 
 ' 49 Niles's Register, 313. 
 
PARENTAGE AND CHARACTER OP OSCEOLA. 261 
 
 Osceola, or Powell, one of the head chiefs of the- 
 Seminoles, is represented as the principal instigator of the 
 war, and one of the boldest warriors engaged in it. His 
 father was a white man, and his mother a Creek In- 
 dian ; but, among the Indians, the men take rank gen- 
 erally from their mothers.! Osceola was therefore known 
 as a Creek. But, like Ke-o-kuck, he inherited no title 
 or command. He was raised to distinction by superior 
 talents, courage, and ambition. Before the war, he was 
 proud, gloomy, and insolent ; but on one occasion, in a 
 talk with the agent, (General Thompson,) he burst into a 
 paroxysm of passion, declared the country was theirs, that 
 they wanted no agent, and that he (General Thompson} 
 had better be off. For this he was arrested, and confined. 
 After this, he assumed penitence, appeared cheerful, 
 signed the treaty,^ and was released, with many fair pro- 
 mises. Subsequent events proved that this appearance 
 was but the acting of a part. At first he performed 
 friendly service to the whites, especially in the daring 
 arrest of criminals who had taken refuge among the In- 
 dians. By this conduct he gained the confidence of the 
 agent. 
 
 Suddenly Osceola threw off his disguise. He mur- 
 dered Charley Mathla, a friendly chief, forced his fol- 
 lowers, to join his own standard, received his former ene- 
 mies the Mic-o-sukees, as alHes, and raised before the 
 astonished gaze of the whites the firebrand and scalping- 
 knife. Soon aftar, on the 28th of December, 1835, he 
 was seen at the head of a band who murdered General 
 
 ' See 49th vol. Nilos's Register, 395, for a character of Osceola. 
 ' 49 Nilee's Register, 395. 
 
262 APPEARANCE OF. THE SEMINOLE LEADER. 
 
 Thompson, the Indian agent, and some other gentlemen, 
 within range of the guns of Fort King.* 
 
 Meanwhile, a detachment of Florida volunteers having 
 joined the> regulars, the whole, under General Clinch," 
 marched upon the Wythlacoochee, where the Indians were 
 found embodied. General Clinch having crossed the 
 river, was fiercely assailed, Dec. 31st, 1835, by Osceola 
 and his numerous warriors. The attack was most gallantly 
 repelled by Clinch and the regulars, about two hundred 
 men,' aided by a handful of Floridians who had crossed with 
 them.* In front, was the daring Osceola, who, after each 
 discharge of his rifle, was seen wiping it with the utmost 
 coolness, and his voice was heard rallying his flying bands. 
 
 The arrangements and battle of Wythlacoochee, honor- 
 able to Chnch and the troops engaged,' first awoke gov- 
 ernment to the fixed purpose of the Indians. Three 
 days before this event, the same party of Indians, as it 
 is believed, had met and defeated, with most terribJe 
 destruction, the small but gallant band of Major Dade. 
 This command had set out from Fort Brooke, to relieve 
 the post of Fort King, within sight of which, as we have 
 narrated, the Indians had killed five men, and which was in 
 continual danger. In five days Major Dade had marched 
 about sixty-five miles. They were compelled each night 
 to intrench themselves, and moved under continual dan- 
 
 ' General Thompson, the Indian agent. Lieutenant Constantine Smith, 
 Erastus Brooke, and two others, were shot at Fort King, only 950 yards 
 from the field-pieces. 49Niles,368. " Clinch's Rep. Idem, 366. 
 
 • Clinch's Report. Four men were killed, and fifty-nine wounded. 
 
 * 49 Niles, 395. > 
 
 ' The volunteers, who had not crossed, preferred staying on the safe 
 Bide. See Clinch's Report. 
 
da.de s command attacked and massacubd. 263 
 
 ger of surprise. On the day of the attack they had moved 
 four miles from their night position, when they received a 
 heavy fire from an unseen enemy, and before the attack 
 could be resisted, many of the officers and men were 
 killed or wounded. Then the Indians, and negroes with 
 them, swarmed up from the ground, and , completed what 
 was literally massacre. Of all this band, one hundred 
 and twelve in number, but three escaped. These three 
 escaped only by artifice.' 
 
 The annals of war record very many bloody scenes and 
 terrible destructions, but hardly one where the destruc- 
 tion was so total, the disaster so complete. It proved the 
 extreme ferocity of the Seminoles, and the desperate 
 energy with which they waged, what was apparent to all 
 — their last contest with the whites. 
 
 The battle of Wythlacoochee, and the destruction of 
 Dade's command, were but parts of the tragedy which, in 
 the winter of 1835-6, was enacted in Florida. Close to 
 St. Augiistine itself, on all the outside plantations, on all 
 the highways, and amidst all the white settlements, not 
 immediately defended by soldiers-, were seen the blazing 
 fires of sudden conflagration, the mangled body of some 
 surprised inhabitant, or his destroyed property scattered in 
 the fields, or thrown into streams.^ The Indian of Florida 
 
 'The officers who were killed, were Major Dade, who was killed at 
 the first fire, Captain G. W. Gardiner, Lieutenant Bassinger, Captain 
 Frazier, Lieutenant Keayes, Lieutenant Mudge, Lieutenant Henderson, 
 and 1 ir. Gatlin. Their conduct was brave, skilful, and patriotic. Their 
 loss was felt not only in the army but in the country, and this event was 
 a shock to the nation. At West Point a neat monument has been erected 
 to those who fell in that defeat. 
 
 » See 49 Niles's Register, 368-370. 
 12 
 
264 SCOTT ISSUES his general orders. 
 
 waged a war of which the knife and the torch were the 
 means, and death and desolation the end. Concealed in 
 impenetrable marshes or tangled thickets, in a country 
 where heat and insects were no small enemies, he~ ap- 
 pealed to the elements as much as to arms for his defence, 
 and defied the soldiers of civilization in retreats and wil* 
 dernesses to which civihzation was a stranger. 
 
 Such was the situation of Florida and the progress of 
 the war, when, on the 20th of Januarj"^, 1836, General 
 Scott was ordered to the command of the army of Florida.' 
 He saw the Secretaiy at War at four o'clock on the after 
 noon of that day. Being asked when he could set out foi 
 Florida, he replied, "that night." His instructions, how 
 ever, could not be drawn up till the following day. Oi 
 the 21st, it appeared probable that many of the Greeks 
 would join the Seminoles, and General Scott received 
 orders to proceed immediately to the theatre, of hostilities 
 and assume the command. Having reached Picolata, on 
 the St. John's River, Scott issued his general orders on 
 the 22d of February. He formed the army into three di- 
 visions. The troops on the west of the St. John's, under 
 the gallant General Clinch, were to constitute the right 
 wing of the army. > Those on the east of that river, under 
 Brigadier-General Eustis, the left ; while those at Tampa 
 Bay, under Colonel Lindsay, were to form the centre. 
 These troops were to be reinforced-by volunteers from the 
 neighboring states. 
 
 By a report of the adjutant-general,^ it appears that the 
 regular troops in Florida at this time were twelve hun- 
 
 The " Globe" of January 29d, 1836. 
 • Adjutant-Genpral Jones's Report, 43 Niles'fs Register, 438. 
 
NEGRO ALLIES OF THE INDIANS. 265 
 
 dred, including officers, and that Scott had authority to call 
 on the governors of Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, 
 and Florida, for as many militia as he deemed necessary.' 
 
 In the instructions given to General Scott, was the fol- 
 'lowing passage — "Inconsequence of representations from 
 Florida, that measures would probably be taken to trans- 
 port the slaves captured by the Indians to the Havana, it 
 appears that instructions were given to the armed vessels 
 to prevent such proceedings, and General Scott was di- 
 rected to allow no pacification with the Indians while a 
 living slave belonging to a white man remained in their 
 possession."^ 
 
 It appeared also, by the accounts of subsequent battles, 
 and proceedings in the removal of the Indians, that there 
 were man^ negroes among them. At the battle in which 
 Dade's corps were destroyed, there were no less than 
 sixty in one company, mounted.^ Whether these were 
 originally slaves or not, is not known. However this 
 may have been, this order, taken in connection with the 
 number of negroes among the Indians, presents one of 
 the remarkable features of this portion of our history. It 
 seerijs that the negro portion of the Seminoles was among 
 the most ferocious members of the tribe, strongly exas- 
 perated against the whites, and it also seems, tha^ the 
 exasperation of the government against them was equally 
 great, when it could occasion an order as severe as that 
 issued by the Secretary at "War to General Scott. 
 
 ' Adjutant-General Jones's Report, 49 Niles's Register, 438. 
 " This passage is quoted from the report of Adjutant-General .Tones l» 
 the Secretary of War, dated February 9lh, 1836, 49 Niles, 438. 
 ' Narrative of Clsirlse, who escaped, 50 Niles, 420. 
 
266 THE ARMV MOVES THROUGH THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Though the regular troops were only about twelve 
 hundred in number, they were reinforced by large bodies 
 of volunteers from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South 
 Carolina, and Louisiana.^ This description of troops, 
 however, cannot be retained long in the field, and the 
 campaigns in which they are employed are necessarily 
 short. It was after the middle of March, when General 
 Scott, having made all his arrangements for the three 
 divisions of the army, and they having been joined by the 
 volunteers, the columns of Clinch, Eustis, and Lindsay, 
 respectively moved towards the Wythlacoochee, in order 
 to meet in what was supposed to be the heart of the In- 
 dian country.^ It was then confidently believed that the 
 great body of the Indians were in the swamp, about the 
 junction of the Wythlacoochee. 
 
 The troops, however, moved through the country, with- 
 out meeting any other enemy than separate parties of the 
 Seminoles, who from time to. time were met, and who 
 fought fiercely in their retreat. All the battles and the plans 
 which had preceded this expedition, had evidently failed 
 of either breaking the spirit of the Indians, or even of tra- 
 cing them to their coverts and towns.. The columns of §cott 
 moved through the country which had been the scene of 
 Dade's massacre, andof thebattles with Clinch and Gaines, 
 without having discovered the retreats of the Indians, and, 
 in fact, without having met any large body of them. 
 
 On the 5th of ApriP all the divisions of the army had 
 arrived at Tampa Bay. Their arrival was hastened by 
 
 ' Scott's Official Report, dated 12th April, 1836. 
 
 • General ScoU, to the Secretary of War, 50 Niles, 121. 
 
 ' Scott's Report, .7J >:ilc,^, lee. 
 
SEVERE SICKNESS OF THE TROOPS. 267 
 
 both sickness and hunger. It had been found impossible 
 to carry a large supply of provisions through a country 
 where the men alone could scarcely advance, where 
 horses wer3 continually failing, and where climate ren- 
 dered it dangerous to expose the men to unusual fatigue. 
 Each had in turn hastened to Tampa. The expedition 
 having failed in its main object — the discovery and break- 
 ing up of the enemy's main or central stronghold — Gen- 
 eral Scott determined to scour the country with small de- 
 tachments and corps, in order, if possible, to uncover the 
 Indian retreats. Five different corps were employed in 
 this way.* One was led by Scott himself, which, passing 
 the battle-ground of Dade, crossed the Ocklewaha, and 
 finally ascended in a steatnboat from Volusia up the St. 
 John's River. Another corps moved under the command 
 of Clinch ; another under Eustis ; another under Colonel 
 Smith, up Peas Creek ; a fifth moved under Major Reed, 
 up the Wythlacoochee from its mouth ; and a sixth was 
 commanded by Colonel Lindsay. None of these parties, 
 however, met with any fnore important events than that 
 of meeting small parties of the enemy, and occasional 
 skirriiighes. 
 
 When this campaign, whose entire period was scarcely 
 one month, had terminated, the troops had already been 
 attacked with severe sickness ; near four hundred were 
 in the hospitals ;' the provisions were totally inadequate 
 to proceed farther, and for the first time it had been fully 
 discovered, and proved, that the enerny to be pursued was 
 lodged literally in wildernesses and swamps, to which the 
 
 * Scott's Report. 
 
 ' National [nie'ligence.- quoted, .50 Niles, 161. 
 
268 PLANS OF GENERAL SCOTT. 
 
 feet of civilized men had scarcely ever penetrated, and 
 which were inaccessible to the common methods of ap- 
 proach by regular troops. Notwithstanding these facts, it 
 is not very surprising, that many of the inhabitants of 
 Florida on the exposed frontier were alarmed, and freely 
 censured the general, who, however brave, zealous, or 
 indefatigable, had nevertheless been unable to conquer the 
 laws of nature, or resist the approaches of disease. 
 
 At various places in the northeastern part of Florida, 
 these censures were cast upon Scott without any inquiry 
 as to the power of the army at that season^ to accom'plish 
 more than had been done. In reply to these ungenerous 
 strictures, he issued an order, dated May 17th, 1836, pro- 
 nouncing much of the alarm which existed a mere panic, 
 and pointing out the methods and forces by which the 
 settlements would be protected during the summer.^ 
 
 At this time, and with all the subsequent history of the 
 Florida War, the plans of General Scott require no vindi- 
 cation ; for they have been amply vindicated by the six 
 years of time, and the immense cost in money, required 
 by the government to accomplish the conquest of the 
 Seminoles, as well as by the knowledge of the country and 
 the Indians, afterwards obtained. The plans of a general 
 or a statesman must be judged by the means he had, and 
 the circumstances in which he was placed at the time, 
 and not by the better knowledge of other men in other 
 times. 
 
 At the^ time when Scott formed his plan against the 
 
 ' It must be recollected thnt the period of going into quarters at tho 
 South is summer, not winter. 
 « 50 Niles, 939. 
 
COUNTRY ENCLOSED BY THE TROOPS, 269 
 
 Ifidians of Florida, what was known of them or of tlie 
 country ? The greater part of Florida had scarcely been 
 visited, even by the naturalist in pursuit of his science, or 
 by the traveller who seeks curiosities amidst the wilds of 
 nature. It possessed little attractions of soil, and, except 
 innumerable beasts and reptiles, was inhabited only by 
 the ferocious Seminole, and the equally savage blacks, 
 who had taken refuge among them. Of the towns and 
 residence of the Seminoles, little or no knowledge existed 
 among the whites. They were known by their approach 
 to the settlements, and, when the war broke out, by their 
 devastation of the plantations, and by the places where 
 they became visible in attacks on forts and troops. It 
 could therefore only be known where to seek and attack 
 them, by observing where they were most frequently 
 found, and by such information as Indian stragglers in the 
 while settlements could give. 'At the time of Scott's 
 campaign, all the then information unquestionably pointed 
 to the waters of the Wythlacoochee and the St. John's, 
 as the heart of the Indian country. Accordingly, against 
 this district the movement of tne army was directed. 
 The columns into which it was divided, moved in three 
 directions, scouring also the country adjacent to these 
 lines, and finally uniting. Thi& military survey compre- 
 hended the general space between Tampa Bay and St. 
 Augustine. Had the Indian domestic population really 
 been there, it is scarcely possible they should not have 
 been discovered and subdued. The plan, therefore, was 
 reasonable, and had a strong probability of success. 
 
 It was the geographical peculiarity of Florida, the pe- 
 cuhar nature of its marshes, thickets, and woods, with 
 the dangers of tlie climate, which made this campaign 
 
276 DESCRIPTION OF FLORIDA. 
 
 fruitless, and which for several successive years baffled 
 all the efforts of the government to subdue a small, but 
 brave and desperate band of Indians. 
 
 Florida is a long and narrow peninsula, jutting frorn the 
 main continent out into the ocean. Its entire length is 
 about four hundred miles, and its average breadth scarcely 
 more than one hundred. Through more than three- 
 fourths of this peninsula, the St. John's River flows, oc- 
 casionally spreading out into lakes and marshes, and 
 finally disemboguing itself into the Atlantic, near the 
 northeastern corner of Florida. Tampa Bay was nearly 
 the Southern extremity of the operations of the army, and 
 that was only about the middle of this long point of land. 
 Hence, it is not difficult to see how it happened, that the 
 domestic coverts of the Indians, the women and children, 
 and their lodgements, were not discovered, and that there 
 were refuges and settlements for them which could not be 
 reached by a regular army, and could only be conquered 
 by an environment of posts, which was the plan finally 
 adopted.' 
 
 Had Florida been an open country, or had it been like 
 the dry forest-lands of the North, or, finally, had it been 
 hills and vales, the Seminoles could never have main- 
 tained more than one campaign. But Florida was pecu- 
 liar in its natural and geographical circumstances. In 
 addition to the peculiarities already mentioned, Florida is 
 distinguished for the singularity of its vegetable growth. 
 Two kinds of growth, or the scenery of growth, are known 
 
 ' The utter impossibility of meeting the Indians at any one point, and 
 their power to escape in small parlies in any direction, established this 
 principle. The recent maps of Florida exhibit more than thirty forts, or 
 posts, established to surround and watch the Indians. 
 
THE HAMMOCK. 271 
 
 there by the names of the hammock and the everglade. 
 These are very elegantly described in a letter which ap- 
 peared at the time in the Northampton Courier.* 
 
 " The HAMMOCK," says the writer, " is an oasis in the 
 desert. After travelling over many a tedious mile of 
 sterile sand, covered with a thin growth of gloomy fir, not 
 a sound to be heard in the dreary wilds save that which 
 you yourself may cause, you perceive in the distance an 
 emerald isle, with all the delight of a sea-worn mariner, 
 who, after a long voyage, hears the first cry of the thrilling 
 land, ho ! As you approach this land of promise, you see 
 spread before you one of the most imposing, and at the 
 same time beautiful scenes in nature. A luxuriant soil 
 extending perhaps for many miles, covered with every 
 variety of the laurel and other evergreen trees and shrubs, 
 and in the midst, towering above them all, ' the stately 
 magnolia grandiflora, the surrounding atmosphere redolent 
 with its delicious flowers, combined with those of the or- 
 ange, lemon, and endless others. To these add one hun- 
 dred and twenty varieties of deciduous forest trees ; flow- 
 er-s and plants without number, many that have lived and 
 died for ages past unknown', and you will have, after all, 
 but a very faint description-of the hammock'in East Flor- 
 ida. How can I adequately describe the effect of the 
 many beautiful little rills which, springing from the feet 
 of these giants of the forest, traverse these favored spots 
 in every direction, and finally lose themselves in the adja- 
 cent pine forest. The deposite at the bottom of these is 
 generally a perfectly white sand, and the water as pure and 
 limpid as a crystal. 
 
 ' See 50 Niles, 334. 
 18 
 
872 THE EVERGLADES. 
 
 " The EVERGLADES jTou inquire about are immense un- 
 tenanted tracts, stretching north and south from Lake 
 George to very near the southern extremity of the pe- 
 ninsula, sometimes extending, sometimes contracting in 
 breadth from east to west, till it assumes its greatest di' 
 mensions between 27° and 25° 30'. In this immense 
 body of waste, composed principally of morass, and cor- 
 ding probably (for every thing is rather hypothetical that 
 relates to this terra incognita) from four to five thousand 
 square miles, lies Lake Mayaca, and here also is the 
 source of the noble river Charlotte. These vast and in- 
 accessible morasses have alwajrs, and will afford a safe 
 asylum to fugitive Indians, so long as they inhabit the 
 peninsula, and they can there, it is said, secure from in 
 trusion, subsist upon such game and fish as these wilds 
 produce. It becomes, therefore, the pohcy of the com 
 manders of our army to cut them off from this favorite 
 retreat, and this they no doubt will endeavor, as a primary 
 object, 'to effect." 
 
 This is an account of the country as it was in 1836, 
 and exhibits clearly enough the mode by which the In 
 dians eluded successfully the search of Scott's army. 
 When that army retired, as we have stated, to summer 
 (not winter) quarters, already in want of provisions, worn 
 down by fatigue, and with an hospital rapidly filling with 
 invalids,* censures in northeastern Florida were freely 
 made against the general. How little reason there was 
 for these censures has been shown by this narrative 
 of facts, and yet more by the subsequent campaigns of the 
 
 Clinch's report of his forces to Scott, dated the 27th of April, 1836. 
 
OPINION OF GENERAL CLINCH. 273 
 
 army in the same region.* General Clinch, a most com- 
 petent judge, approved of the plan then adopted, as is 
 shown by his report of : April 27th, in which he says — 
 " The only true plan of operations against them, (Indians,) 
 will be that first designed by you ; that is, a force by 
 Peklekoha, a force ascending by my route, and a corre- 
 sponding one on the north side." 
 
 Scott, however, had, in this brief campaign, learned the 
 extreme difficulties of the country ; and while he did not 
 believe the Indian warriors constituted a large body, he 
 nevertheless believed and apprized the war department, 
 that a much larger force, and very different arrangements, 
 would be necessary. In his report of the 30th of April,^ 
 he says — " To end this war, I am now persuaded, that 
 not less than three thousand troops are indispensable ; 
 two thousand four hundred infantry, and six hundred 
 horse ; the country to be scoured and occupied requiring 
 that number." He also recommended " two or three 
 steamers with a light draught of water, and fifty or sixty 
 barges capable of carrying from ten to fifteen men each. 
 I have no desire," said he, "to conduct the operations of, 
 the new forces ; that is an honor which I shall neither 
 solicit nor decline." In fact, it took much more than this 
 force to accomplish the overthrow of the Seminoles. 
 
 In the mean while, disturbances broke out among the 
 Creek Indians in Georgia and Alabama. On the 21st of 
 
 ' It took five or six campaigns subsequent to this, in order to finish 
 the Florida War. It would be no exaggeration to say, that the Florida 
 War cost the United States two thousand lives, and twenty millions of 
 dollars ! 
 
 ' See this report in 50 Niles's Register. ' 
 
274 CIRCUMSTANCES OF SCOTt's RECALL. 
 
 May, General Scott left St. Augustine for Georgia. There, 
 he proceeded forthwith to organize the volunteer corps 
 and commissariat department, so that the operations might 
 be successful. The Iridians in Georgia were not favored 
 by the extraordinary nature of the country, and were easily 
 subdued. In the beginning of July, five hundred had 
 already surrendered prisoners, and on the 1 2th of July,- 
 General Jesup (who had assumed the o.i ;nand three 
 days before) writes that nine hundred of ;Vi .teen hundred 
 who had previously dispersed, were surreiidered and con- 
 fined.* 
 
 On the 9th of July, however, General Scott gave up the 
 command of the army,^ having been ordered to Washing- 
 ton under extraordinary circumstances. 
 
 A short time previous some misunderstanding had oc- 
 curred between General Scott and General Jesup, as to 
 military arrangements. Scott had complained to the war 
 department of an alleged disobedience of orders ; and 
 Jesup, on the other hand, had written a letter to the editor 
 of the Globe newspaper,^ in which he said, that & be- 
 Jieved Scott's " course had been destructive of the best 
 interests of the country," and desired that the President 
 should be shown the letter. Mr. Blair, the person to 
 'whom it was addressed, did show it to the President, and 
 he very unexpectedly* endorsed on the back of the letter, 
 that the Secretary of War " forthwith order General Scott 
 
 • J^sup's Letter, 50 Niles, 364. 
 
 ' Jesup'sorder of that date, 50 Niles, 364. 
 
 • This letter is dated June 20th, 1836, from Fort Mitohel, Alabama. 
 It may be found in 50 Niles's Register, 389. 
 
 ' In the " Globe" of July 20th, 1S36, Blair says, that the President 
 gave " a turn" to this letter he did not anticipate. 
 
MEETING OF A COURT OF INQUIRY. 275 
 
 to this place, in order that an inquiry be had" into the 
 delay* in prosecuting the Creek war, and the failure of 
 the Florida campaign. This letter the President chose to 
 consider as semi-official, and ordered it to be filed as a 
 Dublic document. 
 
 In this manner General Scott was recalled. He pro- 
 ceeded immediately to Washington to demand a court of 
 inquiry, and on the 3d of October a court, composed of 
 Major-General Macomb, and Brigadier-Generals Atkinson 
 and Brady, was directed to assemble at Frederick, in Ma- 
 ryland. After a long delay, occasioned in a great degree 
 by the difficulty of procuring the attendance of witnesses, 
 many of whom were engaged at the seat of war, the trial 
 was had. After a speech by General Scott, clear in its 
 arrangement, close in reasoning, and a complete vindica- 
 tion of his course, the court unanimously acquitted, or 
 rather, as it was a court of inquiry, approved his course. 
 They pronounced the plan of the Seminole campaign well 
 "devised, and prosecuted with energy, steadiness, and 
 ability." In regard to the Creek war, they said " the plan 
 of the campaign, as adopted by Major-General Scott, was 
 well calculated to lead to successful results ; and that it 
 was prosecuted by him, as far as practicable, with zeal 
 and ability, until he was recalled from the command." 
 
 In order that this subject may be fully understood, we 
 shall cite some passages from the official documents; pub- 
 lished by order of the Senate in 1837, containing the 
 
 ' It turned out that an order addressed to Scott, to take tlie direction 
 of the Creek war, did not reach him till a month after it was sent It 
 had been directed to an obscure village of Florida, and Scott was, on h/8 
 way to the Creek region before he received it. 
 
276 Scott's address to the court. 
 
 " Proceedings of the Military Court of Inquiry, in the 
 case of Major-General Scott." 
 
 When" the testimony had been gone through with, Gen- 
 eral Scott commenced summing up with the followiiig 
 exordium : — ' 
 
 "Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Court: 
 
 " When a Doge of Genoa, for some imaginary offence, 
 imputed by Louis 14th, was torn from his government 
 and compelled to visit France, in order to debase himself 
 before that inflated monarch, he was asked, in'the palace, 
 what struck him with the greatest wonder amid the blaze 
 of magnificence in his view. ' To find myself here !' was 
 the reply of the indignant Lescaro. And so, Mr. Presi- 
 dent, unable, as I am, to remember one blunder in my re- 
 cent operations, or a single duty neglected, I may say, that 
 to find myself in the presence of this honorable court, 
 while the army I but recently commanded is still in pur- 
 suit of the enemy, fills me with equal grief and astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " And whence this great and humiliating transition ? It 
 is, sir, by the fiat of one, who, from his exalted station, 
 and yet more from his unequalled popularity, has never, 
 with his high displeasure, struck a functionary of this gov-- 
 ernment, no matter what the office of tlie individual, hum- 
 ble or elevated, who was not from- the moment withered 
 in the general confidence of the American people. Yes, 
 sir, it is my misfortune to. lie under the displeasure of that 
 most distinguished personage. The President of the Uni- 
 ted States has said, 'Let General Scott be recalled from 
 the command of the army in the field, and submit his con- 
 
 ' Repotted fol the National Intelligencer. 
 
HE APPEALS TO ITS JUSTICE. 277 
 
 duct in the Seminole and Creek campaigns to a court for 
 investigation.' And lo ! I stand here to vindicate that con- 
 duct; which must again be judged in the last resort, by 
 him who first condenined it without trial or inquiry. Be 
 it so. I shall not supplicate this court, nor the authority 
 that has to review the ' opinion' here given. On the con- 
 trary, I shall proceed at once to challenge your justice to 
 render me that honorable discharge from all blame or cen- 
 sure which the recorded evidence imperiously demands. 
 With such discharge before him, and enlightened by the 
 same mass of testimony, every word of which speaks 
 loudly in my favor, the commander-in-chief of the army 
 and the navy cannot hesitate ; he must acquiesce, and 
 then, although nothing may ever compensate me for the 
 deep mortification I have been recently made to experi- 
 _ence, I may hope to regain that portion of the public es- 
 teem which it was my happiness to enjoy on past occa- 
 sions of deep moment to the power and the glory of the 
 United States of America." 
 
 The general then examined and collated the evidence, 
 making an elaborate exposition of all the circumstances 
 of the campaign, as they are narrated in the facts we have 
 hereTecorded. He -closed his remarks in the following 
 manner : — 
 
 " Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Court, — I am 
 exhausted, but should do equal wrong to justice and to 
 my own feelings, not to return to each and every one of 
 you my hearty thanks for the patience and impartiality you 
 have all shown, including the judge-advocate, in this long 
 investigation. 
 
 " Every material fact which has been given in evidence 
 that could by mere possibility affect your judgments to 
 
S78 OPINION OP THE COURT OF INQUIRY. 
 
 my prejudice, and I recoUecf but few of that character, 
 will be found carefully embodied, or specifically referred 
 to in this summary. Much, I know, has been wholly 
 omitted on the other side. These declarations, I am con- 
 fident, no examinations will be able to controvert ; and 
 here I may add, that there is not an important circum- 
 stance in all my recent conduct in the field, which was not 
 duly reported at the earliest moment, and with my own 
 hand, for the information of government. With, then, 
 this overwhelming mass of evidence in my favor, permit 
 me again to ask, by what strange fatality do I find myself 
 here ? It is for this court, with the approbation of the 
 President of the United States, to bid me depart with hon- 
 or ; and that that decision may be without the further alloy 
 of suspense, in which I have now but too long been held, 
 under circumstances which, perhaps, could not have been 
 controlled, I will ask that it be speedily rendered." 
 
 The decision of the court of inquiry was entirely in fa 
 vor of General Scott. In order that this may fully ap- 
 pear, the following extracts are transcribed from the 
 opinion of the court, in regard both to the Florida and the 
 Creek campaigns : — 
 
 " The court, after a careful review -of the great mass of 
 testimony taken in the foregoing investigation, (the Florida 
 campaign,) finds that Major-General Scott was amply 
 clothed with authority to create the means of prosecuting 
 the Seminole war to a successful issue ; but is of opinion: 
 that, at the time he was invested with the conimand, the 
 season was too far advanced for, him to collect, appoint,, 
 and put in motion his forces, until a day too late to ac-. 
 complish the object. It appears that after using great 
 diligence and energy, he was not in a condition to take tha 
 
IT APPROVES OP Scott's plans and action. 279 
 
 field and enter the enemy's strongholds before the 28th of 
 March, and then wifhout sufficient means for transporting 
 the necessary supplies to enable him to remain there long 
 enough to seek out the scattered forces of the enemy. 
 
 " The court, therefore, ascribe the faUure of the cam^ 
 paigii to the want of time to operate, the insalubrity of the 
 climate after the middle of April, the impervious swamps 
 and hammocks that abound in the country then occupied 
 by the enemy, aflfording him cover and retreat at every 
 step, and absence of all knowledge, by the general or any 
 part of his forces, of the topography of the country, to- 
 gether with the difficulty of obtaining, in time, the means 
 of transporting supplies for the army. 
 
 " The court is further of opinion, from the testimony of 
 many officers of rank and intelligence who served in the 
 campaign, that Major-General Scott was zealous and in- 
 defatigable in the discharge of his duties, arid that his 
 plan of campaign was well devised, and prosecuted with 
 energy, steadiness,, and ability." 
 
 On the other charge, which was tried at the same time, 
 of delay in opening and prosecuting the Creek campaign- 
 in 1836, the opinion of the court was as follows, viz.: — 
 
 " Upon a careful examination of the abundant testimony 
 taken in the foregoing case, the court is of opinion that no 
 delay, which it was practicable to have avoided, was made 
 by Major-General Scott in opening the campaign against 
 the Creek Indians. On the contrary, it appears that he 
 took the earliest measures to provide arms, munitions, and 
 provisions for his forces, who were found almost whollj' 
 destitute ; and as soon as arms could be put into the hands 
 of the volunteers, they were, in succession, detached and 
 placed in positions to prevent the enemy from retiring 
 
280 TESTIMONY OF MANY WITNESSES. 
 
 upon Florida, whence they could move against the main 
 t- J-ST of the enemy, as soon as equippted for offensive op- 
 e ns. 
 
 ■ From the testimony of the Governor of Georgia, of 
 Major-General Sanford, commander of the Georgia volun 
 teers, and many other witnesses of high rank and stand- 
 ing who were acquainted with the topography of the coun- 
 try, and the position and strength of the enemy, the court 
 is, of opinion that the plan of campaign adopted by Gen- 
 eral Scott was well calculated to lead to successful results, 
 and that it was prosecuted by him, as far as practicable, 
 with zeal and ability, until recalled from the command." 
 
 Such was the strong testimony which the court and the 
 witnesses bore to General Scott's zealous and judicious 
 arrangements in the campaigns of the south. At this time, 
 looking back upon the events of those campaigns, with a 
 clearer vision than could then be fixed on a cotemporane- 
 ous field of action, the truth and the justice of this judi- 
 cial opinion are both manifest and demonstrable. 
 
 In the year 1837, when the Hpuse of Representatives 
 was engaged in one of those debates on various and mis- 
 cellaneous topics, which grow out of the management of 
 public affairs, the bill before the House being one con- 
 taining an appropriation for the Florida war, the Hon. 
 Richard Biddle, of Pennsylvania, took occasion to speak 
 of General Scott, in connection with the Florida cam- 
 paigns. His speech was able, eloquent, and effective. 
 He reviewed all the circumstances of the war in Florida, 
 and particularly the part General Scott had taken in those . 
 events. As a specimen of the eloquence of Congress, 
 as well as an apt commentary on the subject of this his- 
 tory, we record some portions of Mr. Biddle's speech. 
 
THE STAIN ON OUR ARMS WIPKD AWAY. 281 
 
 Mr Biddle said : — 
 
 " It would be recollected by all, that after the war in 
 Florida had assumed a formidable aspect, Major-General 
 Scott was called to the command. An officer of his rank 
 and standing was not likely to seeh a service in which, 
 amidst infinite toil and vexation, there would be no oppor- 
 tunity for tlie display of military talent on a scale at all 
 commensurate with that in which his past fame had been 
 acquired. Yet he entered on it with the alacrity, zeal, and 
 devotion to duty-by which he has ever been distinguished. 
 
 " And here (Mr. B: said) he might be permitted to ad- 
 vert to the past history of this officer. 
 
 " Sir, when the late General Brown, writing from the 
 field of Chippewa, said that General Scott merited the 
 highest praises which a grateful coymtry could bestow, 
 was there a single bosom throughout this wide republic 
 that did not respond to the sentiment ? I for one, at least, 
 can never forget the thrill of enthusiasm, boy as I then 
 was, which mingled with my own devout thankfulness to 
 God, that the cloud which seemed to have settled on our 
 arms was at length dispelled. On that plain it was es- 
 tablished that Americans could be trained to meet and to 
 beat, in the open field, without breastworks, the regulars 
 of Britain. 
 
 " Sir, the result of that day was due not merely to the 
 gallantry of General Scott upon the field. It must in part 
 be ascribed to the patient, anxious, and indefatigable 
 drudgery, the consummate skill as a tactician, with which 
 he had labored, night and day, at the camp near Buffalo, 
 to prepare his brigade for the career on which it was about 
 to enter. 
 
282 THE HERO IN WAR AND AMID PESTILENCE. 
 
 " After a brief interval he again led that brigade to the 
 glorious victory of Bridgewater. He bears now upon his 
 body the wounds of that day. 
 
 "It had ever been the characteristic of this officer to seek 
 the post of danger, not to have it thrust upon him. In 
 the years preceding that to which I have specially referred 
 — in 1812 and 1813 — the eminent services he rendered 
 .were in positions which properly belonged to others, but 
 into wffich he was led by irrepressible ardor and jealousy 
 of honor. 
 
 " Since the peace with Great Britain, the talents of 
 General Scott have ever been at the connmand of his 
 country. His pen and his sword have -alike been put in 
 requisition to meet the varied exigencies of the service. 
 
 " When the difficulties with the western Indians swell- 
 ed up into importance. General Scott was dispatched to 
 the scene of hostility. There rose up before him then, 
 in the ravages of a frightful pestilence, a form of danger 
 infinitely more appalling than the perils of the field. How 
 he bore himself in this emergency — how faithfully he be- 
 came the nurse and the physician of those from whom 
 terror and loathing had driven all other aid, cannot be for- 
 gotten by a just and grateful country." 
 
 Mr. Biddle then continued in a defence of the conduct 
 of General Scott in the Florida and Alabama campaigns, 
 concluding with the following eloquent peroration : — 
 
 " Mr. Chairman, I believe that a signal atotiernent to 
 Gen. Scott will, one day, be extorted from the justice of 
 this House. We owe it to him ; but we owe it still more 
 to the country. What officer can feel secure in the face 
 of that great example of triumphant injustice ? Who can 
 place before himself the anticipation of estabhshing higher 
 
THE PROTECTING FLAG OF OUR COUNTRV. 283 
 
 claims upon the gratitude of the country than (Jeneral 
 Scott? Yet ^e was sacrificed. His past services went 
 for nothing. Sir, you may raise new regiments, and issue 
 new commissions, but you cannot, without such atone- 
 ment, restore the high moral tone which befits the depos- 
 itaries of the national honor. I fondly wish that the high- 
 est and the lowest in the country's service might be taught 
 to regard this House as the jealous guardian of his rights, 
 against ' caprice, or favoritism, or outrage, from whatever 
 quarter. I would have him know that, in running up the 
 national flag, at' the very moment our daily labors com- 
 mence, wS do not go through an idle form. On whatever 
 distant service he may be seni — whether urging his way 
 amidst tumbling icebergs, towards the pole, or fainting in 
 the unwholesome heats of Florida — I would enable him, 
 as he looks up to that flag, to gather- hope and strength. 
 It should impart to him a proud feeling of confidence and 
 security. He should know that the same emblem of rrta- 
 jesty and justice floats over the councils of the nation ; 
 and that in its untarnished lustre we have all a common 
 mterest and a common sympathy. Then, sir, and not be- 
 fore, wiU you have an army or a navy worthy to sustain 
 and to perpetuate the glory of former days." 
 ' While sucli were the sentiments towards General Scott, 
 felt and uttered by men of distinguished intelligence in the 
 highest representative assembly of the people, there were 
 not wanting those who, standing in the first rank of citizens, 
 and of men of business, held the same sentiments, and 
 desired to express towards him the same high respect. 
 
 Soon after his entire exoneration from blame by the 
 court of inquiry, he received an invitation to a public din- 
 ner at New York, tendered before his return by a large 
 
S84 THE BRAVE ARE GENTLE AND SYMPATHIZING. 
 
 and respectable number of people in that city, from both 
 political parties. This invitation he accepted. It was, 
 however, afterwards postponed, at his request, until the 
 second Tuesday of May, and before the arrival of that day 
 it was altogether declined, for reasons expressed in the 
 following note, addressed to the committee of invitation : 
 
 General Scott to the New York Committep 
 
 " Gentlemen : — 
 
 Early last month I accepted the invita 
 tion to a public dinner, which you and other friends did 
 me the honor to tender me. In a few days the embarrass- 
 ments of this great emporium became such, that I begged 
 the compliment might be indefinitely postponed. You 
 however, were so kind as to hold me to my engagement, 
 and to appoint a day for the meeting, which is now near 
 at hand. In the mean time, the difficulties in the com 
 mercial world have gone on augmenting, and many of my 
 friends, here and elsewhere, have been whelmed un- 
 der the general calamity of the times. 
 
 "Feeling deeply for the losses and anxieties of all, no 
 public honor could now be enjoyed by me. I must, there- 
 fore, under the circumstances, positively but most respect- 
 fully withdraw my acceptance of your invitation. I have 
 the honor to remain, gentlemen, with the greatest esteem, 
 your friend and servant, 
 
 "WiNFiELD Scott." 
 
 On the reception of this note, the subscribers to the 
 proposed dinner held a meeting, the Hon. Cornelius W. 
 .Lawrence in the chair, and unanimously adopted the fol 
 lowing resolutions : — 
 
ACTION OF SCOTT S NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS. 285 
 
 "Resolved, That in the decision of General Scott to 
 ■withdraw, for the reasons assigned, his acceptance of the 
 pubHc dinner designed to testify to him our high appre- 
 ciation, both of his private and pubhc character, we find 
 new evidence of his sympathy with all that regards the 
 public welfare, and of his habitual oblivion of self, where 
 the feelings and interests of others are concerned. 
 
 " Resolved, That we rejoice with the joy of friends in 
 the result, so honorable to General Scott, of the recent 
 court of inquiry, instituted to investigate his military con- 
 duct as commander-in-chief in Alabama and Florida, and 
 that the President of the United States, (Mr. Van Buren,) 
 in approving its proceedings, acted in gratifying unison 
 with the general sentiments of the nation." 
 
 Scott also received similar invitations from the citizens 
 of Richmond, Virginia, and of Elizabethtown, New Jer- 
 sey, places which had been his home at different times. 
 These he respectfully declined for the same reasons. Af- 
 ter the decision of the court of inquiry. General Scott ad- 
 dressed a letter to the Secretary of War, (Mr. Poinsett,) 
 claiming the immediate direction of the Florida war, on 
 the ground that the theatre of operations constituted a part 
 of the geographical division of which he was the com- 
 mander ; that nearly all the troops of his division were 
 ordered to Florida, and that he was senior in rank to Gen- 
 eral Jesup, then commanding there. 
 
 The Virginia representation in Congress, without any 
 agency of General Scott in the matter, almost unanimously 
 made an appeal to the Secretary in support of that rea- 
 sonable request. The " Richmond Enquirer," ever a most 
 influential print with the administration of that day, also 
 backed this applicatiorj in the following complimentary 
 
286 EXTRACT FROM THE ■" RICHMOND ENQUIRER." 
 
 terms : — "We should have hoped there could be no dif 
 ficulty in granting it. General Scott ranks pfe-eminentlj 
 high in the confidence of the country and of the arriiy ; 
 and we should presume that, in other respects, his claims 
 are superior to those of any other ofEcer. The Secretary 
 of War- is well acquainted with the merits of General 
 Scott, and we should hope that he will be willing to as- 
 sign. hira so important a comma,nd, in which all his heart 
 and all his energies will be powerfully enlisted." 
 
 The request was not granted. Scott took no further 
 part in the Florida campaigns, which continued to exhaust 
 the treasury, and employ the ingenuity of government and 
 ■drmy for the six following years, when the war was hap- 
 pily concluded by Brigadier-General Worth. 
 
A REVOLT BREAKS OU"^ IN CANADA 287 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1837 TO 1839. 
 
 Troubles on the Niagara Frontier. — Patriot Excitement. — Attack on the 
 Caroline. — General Scott ordered to the Niagara. — Is accompanied by 
 Governor Marcy. — Scott's measures. — He harangues tlie People. — 
 Exciting Adventure with the Barcelona. — He maintains Peace. — ^He is 
 complimented at Albany. — Toasts. 
 
 In tlie year 1837, Canada, which had continued, in 
 spite of the republican influences of the United States, 
 under the government of Great Britain, became the scene 
 of great political excitement, and of warm resistance to 
 the measures of its administration. Towards the close 
 of that year insurgent movements broke out among the 
 French population of the lower province, and the spirit 
 of revolt was spread among the" disaffected of Upper 
 Canada. The border population of all nations take great 
 interest in what occurs beyond the boundary line, and are 
 disposed either to invade or sympathize with their neigh- 
 bors, according to the events by which they are excited. 
 When, therefore, the flame of insurrection was kindled in 
 Canada, it was not arrested by a mere line of jurisdiction. 
 It reached and agitated the frontier inhabitants of the 
 United States, along the long border from the hills of 
 Vermont to the Huron of the northwest. On this frontier, 
 the citizens enrolled themselveS as Canada patriots or 
 sympathizers, until, perhaps one fourth of all the inhabi- 
 ts 
 
288 THE PATRIOTS OCCUPY NAVY ISLAND, 
 
 tants capable of bearing arms were professed friends aud 
 abettors of the ' Canada movement. Itinerant refugees 
 were seen everywhere organizing their friends, with a 
 view to descents upon the Canadas. Thousands and 
 thousands met in lodges all along the border, oaths of se- 
 crecy were administered, principal leaders appointed, 
 generals and staff-officers chosen, and, at least for Upper 
 Canada, a provisional government formed. The Presi- 
 dent of the United States issued his proclamation enjoin- 
 ing all good citizens to observe the strictest neutrality 
 towards the British provinces. It had-but little effect. 
 
 The arms in the hands of the citizens, a"nd even those 
 in the state arsenals within reach of the borders, were 
 soon seized or purloined, thus affording equipments to the 
 American Canada patriots. At length, a Mr. Van Rens- 
 selaer,' with some hundreds of followers, crossed from 
 Schlosser, (a mile and a half above Niagara Falls,) and 
 t-ook possession of Navy Island, a small uninhabited spot 
 within the British line, but nearer to our shore. At this 
 time there could be little hope of going further, for the 
 only outbreak in the opposite province had been crushed 
 m a moment by the very people to whom it was proposed 
 to give independence and freedom. At this time also, 
 besides some regular troops, seventeen-twentieths of the 
 provincial militia were firm in tReir loyalty, well organized, 
 well armed, and commanded by regular officers. 
 
 This idle invasion, though unimportant to the Canadas, 
 was not without consequences in history. It was followed 
 
 ' This Mr. Van Rensaelaer wap not of the family of the late distinguislied 
 General Steplmin Van Rensselaer, the patroon, and at one lime member 
 of Congrees. 
 
BURNING OF THE CAROLINE. 289 
 
 by a very serious incident, wliich excited deep feeling in 
 the United States, and was the subject of much diplo- 
 matic correspondence. 
 
 Van Rensselaer, we have said, was stationed with a 
 scanty and ill-provided band of forces, at Navy Island. 
 Schlosser, as above stated, was a point on the American 
 shore just opposite. A small steamer called the Caro- 
 line was engaged by Van Rensselaer to act as a ferry-boat 
 between these two points. The very first night the Caro- 
 line commenced her voyages between these two points, 
 the British fitte'd out an expedition from the opposite point, 
 Chippewa. Instead- of directing their attack, as they 
 might have done, against Navy Island, within their own 
 territory, and which they would probably have captured, 
 they chose to violate .our territory, by boarding the un- 
 armed steamer fastened to the wharf at Schlosser. She 
 happened to be full of idle people, including boys uncon- 
 nected with Van Rensselaer, who had been attracted to 
 the frontier by the rumor of war, and who had simply 
 begged a night's lodgings. One citizen was killed, and 
 several others wounded. The boat was cut loose, set on 
 fire, and sent over the cataract, as was reported, and long 
 believed by many, with several wounded Americans on 
 board. When this occurred, a flame of excitement rose 
 up throughout the interior of the United States. The 
 sentiment of patriotism and the feeling of revenge were 
 frequently mingled together. Orderly citizens seized 
 upon the arms nearest at hand, and flocked to the fron- 
 tier. Their numbers increased, and the peace of this 
 country, and' perhaps of all other civilized nations, was 
 threatened, by the act of outrage committed on the Caroline 
 
 That vessel was destrored December 29tl), 1831 
 
290 SCOTT AGAIN ON THE NIAGARA. 
 
 The news reached Washmgton January 4th. General 
 Scott happened to be there. A cabinet council was called, 
 and Scott was told that blood had been shed, and he must 
 hasten to the frontier. Full powers were given him to 
 call for militia, to put himself in communication with the 
 United States district attorneys, marshals, and collectors, 
 in order through them to enforce the act of neutrality, the 
 good faith pledged to Great Britain by treaty, and, in 
 short, to defend our own territory, if necessary, against 
 invasion, or to maintain peace throughout the bord-ers. 
 No regular troops were at hand. All had been withdrawn 
 for the Florida war. He had ordered up, in passing New 
 York, small parties of unattached army recruits, and at 
 Albany invited the able and patriotic governor (Marcy) to 
 accompany him to the Niagara. The presence of the 
 governor was highly valuable during the few days that he 
 could remain. Being on the spot, he was ready to supply 
 any number of volunteers, on the requisition of Scott, as 
 they might be needed ; for it was not known that the 
 violation of our territory at Schlosser might not be fol- 
 lowed up by other outrages of the same kind. 
 
 All this was quite a new scene for Scott. In 1812 he 
 had appeared on the same theatre as the leader of bat- 
 talions and the victor of battles. Now, rhetoric and 
 diplomacy were to be his principal weapons, his country- 
 men and friends the object of conquest, and a little cor- 
 respondence with the British authorities beyond the line, 
 as an episode to the whole. Had Scott not been a soldier, 
 though he had been the famed Athenian orator or the 
 American 
 
 " Honry, the forest-born Demosthenes, 
 Whose thunders Bliook tlie Philip of tlie sett*," 
 
HIS EFFORTS TO PnESERVE PEACE. 291 
 
 his entreaties and harangues ■would have been wholly lost 
 upon his hearers. But the memory of other days gave for 
 him an influence which he would have sought in vain 
 without it. The patriot-warrior of 1812-13-14 reappear- 
 ing near the scene of his former glory, drew forth the ap- 
 plause of listening multitudes. 
 
 During the winter of 1838 and that of 1838-9, he was 
 busy in exercising his influence for peace, and in quieting 
 our disturbed frontier. This was his employment for 
 many months of the coldest season of the year. The pa- 
 triot movements were chiefly confined to the season of 
 frost, which, bridging with ice some of the waters separa- 
 ting the two countries, greatly favored descents upon Up- 
 per Canada. General Scott was ably seconded in watch- 
 ing and counteracting those movements by other distin- 
 guished ofiicers. General Brady on Lake Erie and the 
 'Detroit frontier. General Worth (made General 1842) 
 on the Niagara, Lake Ontario, and St. Lawrence frontier, 
 and Generals Wool and Eustis on the northern side of New 
 York and Vermont, were active in aiding General Scott 
 ' in his arrangements, and pacifying the borders. The 
 troops, both regulars and volunteers, proved to be steady 
 supporters of law and order, and were held everywhere 
 ready, as posses, at the call of the United States marshals 
 and collectors. The other officers mentioned were the 
 district commanders. 
 
 Scott posted himself nowhere, but was by turns rapidly 
 everywhere, and always in the midst of the greater diffi- 
 culties. In these winter campaigns against the trespass- 
 ers of the borders, he passed frequently along the frontier, 
 sometimes on the Detroit and sometimes on the north line 
 of Vermont. His journeyings were made by land, and 
 
292 SCOTT ADDRESSES THE CITIZENS. 
 
 principally in- the night; oftentimes, with the cold from ten 
 to twenty degrees below freezing point. Daylight he 
 chiefly employed in organizing the means of counteraction 
 by an extensive correspondence and the labors of direct 
 pacification. He obtained, and pressed upon district at- 
 torneys, marshals, and collectors, information of the de 
 signs and movements of the patriots, and tendered to those 
 civil functionaries the aid of the troops. In performance 
 of his duty as a peacemaker, he addressed, on a line of 
 eight hundred miles, immense gatherings of citizens, prin- 
 cipally organized sympathizers, who had their arms at 
 hand. 
 
 In these addresses he declaimed with fervor, and they 
 . were often received with the loud applause of the audi- 
 ence. He handled every topic which could inspire shame, 
 in misdoers, or excite pride in the friends of the govem- 
 meiit and country. His speeches were made with popu- 
 lar illustrations and allusions, and addressed both to the 
 knowledge and the sentiment of the people. He reminded 
 them of the nature of a republic, which can have no foun- 
 dation of permanency except in the general intelligence, 
 virtue, respect, and obedience of its people ; that if, in 
 the attempt to force on our unwilling neighbors inde- 
 T)endence and free institutions, we had first to spurn and 
 trample under foot treaty stipulations and laws made by 
 our own representatives, we should greatly haza;rd free 
 institutions at home in the confidence aiid respect of our 
 own people ; that no governmen'; can or ought to exist for 
 a moment after losing the power of executing its obliga- 
 tions to foreign countries, and of enforcing its own laws 
 at home ; that that power depended in a republic chiefly 
 on the people themselves ; that we had a treaty with Eng 
 
TREATIES BINDINCl OiV KACH CITIZEN. 293 
 
 land, binding us to the stMCtest observance of amity, or 
 all the duties of good neighborhood with adjoining prov- 
 inces, and also an act of Congress for enforcing those sol- 
 emn obligations ; that the treaty and the laws were as bind- 
 ing on the honor and the conscience of every American 
 freeman, as if he had specially voted for each ; that this 
 doctrine was of the very essence of a civilized republic, 
 as the neglect of it could not fail to sink us into anarchy, 
 barbarism, and universal contempt ; that an aggressive 
 war, waged by a part of the community, without just cause 
 and without preparation, as is common among barbarian 
 tribes, necessarily drags the non-consenting many along 
 with the madness of the few, involving all alike in crime, 
 disaster, and disgrace ; that a war, to be successful, must 
 be very differently commenced ; and in these addresses he 
 would often conclude : — " Fellow-citizens, — and J thank 
 God, we have a common government as well as a common 
 origin, — I stand before you without troops and without 
 arms, save the blade by my, side. I am, therefore, within 
 your power. Some of you have known me in other 
 scenes, and all of you know that [ am ready to do what 
 my country and what duty demands.' I tell you, then, 
 except it be over my .body, you shall hot pass this line — 
 you shall not embark.'' 
 
 To the inquiry everywhere heard, "But what say you 
 of the burning of the Caroline, and the murder of citizen.'* 
 at our own shore ?^' 
 
 In reply to these questions. General Scott always frank- 
 ly admitted that these acts constituted a national outrage, 
 and that they called for explanation and satisfaction ; but 
 that this whole subject was in the hands of the President, 
 the official organ of the country, specially chosen by the 
 
294 ' EFFECTS OF SCOTT's ADDRESSES. 
 
 people for national purposes ; 4hat there was no doubt the 
 President would make the proper demand, and failing to 
 obtain satisfaction, would lay the whole matter before 
 Congress — the representative of the public will, and next 
 to the people, the tribunal before which the ultimate appeal 
 must be made. 
 
 These harangues were applauded, and were generally 
 very successful. Masses of patriots broke off and return- 
 ed to their respective homes, declaring, that if Scott had 
 been accompanied by an army they would not have lis- 
 tened, but persevered. The friends of order were also 
 encouraged- to come out in support of authority, and at 
 length peace and quiet were restored. In the mean while, 
 one of those incidents occurred which make history dra- 
 matic, and which illustrate how much depends on indi- 
 vidual men and single events. Many days after the 
 destruction of the " Caroline," another steamer, the " Bar- 
 celona," was cut out of the ice in Buffalo harbor, (January, 
 1 838,) and taken down the Niagara river, to be offered, 
 as was known, to the patriots, who were still on Navy 
 Island.* Scott wished to compel them to abandon their 
 criminal enterprise. He also desired to have them, on 
 returning within our jurisdiction, arrested by the marshal, 
 who was always with him. For this purpose, he sent an 
 agent to hire the Barcelona for the service of the United 
 States, before the patriots could get the means to pay for 
 her, or find sureties to indemnify the owners in case of 
 capture or destruction by the British. He succeeded in 
 a.l these objects. The Barcelona proceeded back to Bjif- 
 fald, wh^re Scott had immediate use for her on Lake 
 
 ' 53 Niles's Register, 337. 
 

THE BARCELONA COMES Ul' THE B.1VER. 295 
 
 Erie, yet navigable in all its length. The authorities on 
 the Canada side were on the alert to destroy her. 
 
 As the Barcelona slowly ascended against the current 
 on our side of Grand Island, (belonging to the United 
 States,) three armed British schooners, besides batteries 
 on the land, were in positions, as the day before, to sink 
 her as she came out from behind that island. On the 
 16th of January, Scott and Governor Marcy stood on 
 the American shore opposite that point, watching events. 
 The smoke of the approaching boat could be seen in 
 the distance, and the purpose of the British was per- 
 fectly evident in all their movements. The batteries 
 on our side were promptly put in position. The matches 
 were lighted. All wasreadytoreturn the British fire. There 
 was a crisis ! 
 
 The day before this, when it was supposed the Navy 
 Island people were coming up the same channel in other 
 craft, and before it was known that the Barcelona had 
 accepted his offered engagement, Scott wrote on his 
 knee, and dispatched by an aid-de-camp, the following 
 note. 
 
 "To the Commanding Officer of the Armed British Vessels 
 in the Niagara. , 
 
 " Head-quarteis, Eastern Division U. 
 S. Anny, two miles below Black | 
 Rock, January 15th, 1838. 
 
 " Sir— 
 
 With his Excellency the Governor of New York 
 who has troops at hand,^ we are here to enforce the neu 
 
 ' Tlicse men were, in strictness, not yet under Scott's command, sin>j>iy 
 
296 THE CANNON LOADED AND POINTED, 
 
 trality of the United States, and to protect our own soil 
 or waters from violation. The proper civil officers are ^ 
 also present to arrest, if practicable, the leaders of the 
 expedition on foot against Upper Canada. 
 
 "Under these circumstances, it gives me pain to per 
 ceive the armed vessels, mentioned, anchored in our waters, 
 with the probable intention to fire upon that expedition 
 moving in the same waters. 
 
 " Unless the expedition should first attack — in which 
 case we shall interfere — we shall be obliged to consider a 
 discharge of shot or shell from or into our waters, from 
 the armed schooners of her Majesty, as an act seriously 
 compromiting the neutrality of the two nations. I hope, 
 therefore, that no such unpleasant incident may occur. 
 " T have the honor to remain, &c., &c~. 
 
 "WiNFiELD Scott." 
 
 The same intimation was repeated and explained the 
 next morning, January 16th, to a captain of the British 
 army, who had occasion to wait upon Scott on other 
 business, and who immediately returned. It was just 
 then that the Barcelona moved up the current of the 
 Niagara. The cannon on either shore were pointed, the 
 matches lighted, and thousands stood in suspense. On 
 the jutting pier of Black Rock, in view of all, stood the 
 tall form of Scott, in full uniform, watching the approach- 
 ing boat. On Scott's note and his personal assurances, 
 alone depended the question of peace or war. Happily, 
 .these assurances^ had their just effect. The Barcelona 
 
 from the want of time to muster them iuto the service of the United 
 States — a ceremony of sonic hours. 
 
AND THEREFORE PEACE IS PRESERVED. 297 
 
 passed along. The British did not fire. The matches 
 were extinguished ; the two nations, guided by wise 
 counsels, resumed their usual way; and war's wild alarms 
 were hushed into the whispers of peace. 
 
 Small a place as this incident may occupy in history, it 
 was a critical moment in the affairs of nations. Had one 
 British gun been fired, and much more had the Barcelona 
 been 'destroyed, no authority or influence would have re- 
 strained our excited population. We should probably 
 have had an unpremedited war, one of those calamities 
 which nations have to endure for their sins, and which is 
 without the consoling and self-supporting consciousness 
 of a great moral right. It would have been war from an 
 incident, and not a national controversy. 
 
 War may be justified on moral grounds, when the 
 thing in dispute is of small physical magnitude, but there 
 must be a question of right at the bottom. Such was the 
 case when Scott, oii this same Niagara frontier, had, by 
 glorious achievement, mingled his fame with the eternal 
 voices of its cataract. Then, he was contending for those 
 rights of man and of citizenship without which a nation 
 could neither be independent, nor respect itself, nor be 
 respected by the nations of the earth. Now, the dictate 
 of right was peace, a peace which should leave the people 
 of Great Britain and its colonies to settle their own do-> 
 mestic government in their own way, while our citizens 
 were left undisturbed in their rights, and our sjiores un 
 touched by the hand of aggression.' 
 
 ' It should be mentioned, that tlie Patriots had evacuated Navy Island oii 
 the 15th inst., and had landed in tlieir small craft eleven miles below, where 
 Vaxi Rensselaer and his associates were immediately arrested, as Scott 
 had said (hey should be, in his note written u few hours Iwfore the arresls. 
 
298 THE SOLDIER AND THE SCHOLAR. 
 
 Soon after this time, General Scott passed through 
 Albany, when the legislature was in session, and received 
 "the attentions of a large number of public men and other 
 citizens, without distinction of party. A public supper 
 was given him, principally by members of the legislature, 
 at which the lieutenant-governor presided, and Governor 
 Marcy was a guest. All vied in expressions of respect 
 for, and confidence in, the gallant officer whom they had 
 assembled to welcome to the capital. 
 
 Among the toasts given on this occasion, may be cited 
 the following, as characteristic of the prevailing tone 
 and spirit — 
 
 " WiNFiELD ScoTT^not Icss the scholar than the 
 soldier, whose pen and sword have been wielded with 
 equal skill in the defence of his country." 
 
 " The Soldier — who has ever made the law of the 
 land his supreme rule of action, and who, vvhile he has 
 always fulfilled its utmost requirements, has never, in a 
 single instance, transcended its limits." 
 
 "Our Guest — the invincible champion of our rights, 
 the triumphant .vindicator of our laws." 
 
 A similar entertainment was given on the following 
 evening at another hotel, the Honorable Gulian C. Ver- 
 planck presiding. 
 
 The feelings and confidence of his fellow-citizens were 
 . thus, in various ways and in numerous quarters, mani- 
 fested towards the man who was not merely a soldier, 
 nor only a leader, but who was the servant of the laws, 
 the faithful citizen, and the pacificator of troubled com- 
 munities. 
 
POSSESSIONS OF THE CHEROKEES. 299 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1838. 
 
 CheroKee Oontroversy.^Measures for Removal. — General Scott ordered 
 to command the Troops. — His Arrangements. — General Order. — Ad- 
 dress to the Indians. — Enrolment for Removal. — Indian Encampment 
 — Scott's humane Care. — He is ordered again to the North. — Reflec- 
 tions. — Dr. Channing's Eulogy. 
 
 For more than ten years, extending from 1828 to 1838, 
 a controversy was maintained, in various forms, between 
 the state of Georgia and the Cherokee tribe of Indians, 
 most of whom were residents of Georgia, and between 
 the United States and each of those parties. The sub- 
 ject of this controversy was the lands belonging to the 
 Cherokees in the state of Georgia. As the white settle- 
 ments advanced, the Indians were gradually enclosed. 
 They had become cultivators of the soil. They held 
 good farms. They had a yet greater attraction, in the 
 discovery of gold within their territory — that shining ob 
 ject, which had added new energy to the enterprise of 
 settling the Western World, when as yet the ocean was 
 a trackless waste, and the land an unsubdued wild. It is 
 not surprising that these attractions were enough to allure 
 the desires of the whites, and occasion efforts to drive the 
 Indians from their lands. The only question was the 
 just'ce of the means used to attain the end. 
 
3Q0 RELATIONS .01' THE INDIANS. 
 
 The civil relations of the Cherokees with the United 
 States, and with Georgia, were not a little complicated ; 
 BO that, in fact, each party to the controversy maintained 
 some shadow of right. ' In the opinion of Chief Justice 
 Marshall, delivered in the case of S. A. Worcester versus 
 the State of Georgia,' the relations which the Indian 
 tribes bear to the United States are- fully stated. 
 
 " Their relation," says the chief justice, " is that of a 
 nation claiming and receiving the protection of one more 
 powerful ; not that of individuals abandoning their na- 
 tional character and submitting, as subjects to the laws 
 of a. master." 
 
 Speaking of th« acts of Congress to regulate trade and 
 intercourse with the Indians, he says, " All these acts, 
 and especially that of 1802, which is still in force, mani- 
 festly consider the several Indian nations as distinct politi- 
 cal communities, having territorial boundaries within 
 which their authority is exclusive, and having a right to 
 all the lands within those boundaries, which is nol only 
 acknowledged but guarantied by the United States." 
 
 The relation of the Indians to the United States was 
 that, of pupillage and guardianship, the guardian having 
 acknowledged the separate existence, distinct character, 
 and positive rights of the pupil. 
 
 In pursuance of this relationship, the United States had 
 made repeated treaties of alliance and friendship with the 
 Cherokees, acknowledging their rights, and offering en- 
 coviragements for their civilization. 
 
 One of these treaties contained the following stipula- 
 
 '42 Nilps's Register, 41. "35 Nilee, 292. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM A TREATY. 301 
 
 " Art. 1. The United States solemnly guaranty to the 
 Cherokee nation, all their lands not hereby ceded." 
 
 " Art. 14. That, the Cherokee nation may be led to a 
 greater degree of civilization, and to become herdsmen and 
 cultivators, instead of remaining in a state of hunting, the 
 United States will, from time to time, furnish gratuitously 
 the said nation with useful implements of husbandry, &c." 
 
 Under this encouragement .the Cherokees did become 
 " herdsmen and cultivators ;'' and they are yet by far the 
 most educated and civilized of any aboriginal tribe. 
 
 These were the rights -which the Cherokees could 
 claim of the United States, and the United States had 
 guarantied to them. The position of Georgia, however, 
 was very different. Georgia, by virtue of her municipal 
 sovereignty as one of the States of the Union, claimed a 
 right to extend her criminal jurisdiction over the Indians, 
 and claimed also that the general government was bound 
 to extinguish, the Indian title to lands within her territory. 
 Accordingly, in April, 1802, the United States entered 
 into a compact with Georgia, that the general government 
 would purchase the lands of the Indians, and remove 
 them as soon as this could be peaceably accomphshed. 
 Georgia, then, did not acknowledge that any duties were 
 due from her to the Cherokees, while she claimed from 
 the United States the vacation of the Indian lands and 
 claims. On the other hand, the Cherokees replied, that 
 it was no matter what claims, real or imaginary, Georgia 
 might have on the United States, she had none upon 
 them ; that they had a right to their lands, and that the 
 United States were bound by the faith of treaties to respect 
 those ri^ts. The refusal of the Indians to sell their lands, 
 and the impossibility of satisfying Georgia without extin* 
 
302 THE CHEUOKEES MUST REMOVE. 
 
 guishing the Indian title, prolonged the controversy 
 through many years, and finally resulted in an unsatis- 
 factory treaty, and a forcible removal of the Indians. 
 
 During this controversy, a plan was formed for the set- 
 tlement of the Indians on lands beyond the Mississippi, 
 where it was supposed they would be undisturbed by the 
 contact or the competition of the whites. In pursuance 
 of this plan, a treaty was at length concluded with a por 
 tion of the Cherokee chiefs, and a partial ratification ob 
 tained. It was claimed to be legal, although controverted 
 and alleged to be fraudulent by a portion of the Cherokee 
 nation. The United States, however, proceeded to en- 
 force it, and the Indian's were, at length, compelled to 
 yield to vvhat seemed an inevitable destiny. 
 
 On the 10th of April, 1838, General Scott received 
 orders to take the command of the troops dispatched to 
 the Cherokee country, and to assume the general direc- 
 tion of affairs in that quarter. Having concerted meas- 
 ures with the war department for the removal of the 
 Cherokees, and for the protection of the neighboring citi- 
 zens, he entered upon his painful field of labor with that 
 conscientiousness, and that high regard to duty, which 
 forms a distinguished characteristic of his public as well 
 as private acts. 
 
 Indeed, to remove against their general will a large 
 body of Indians, some of whom were wealthy, and most 
 of whom were partially civilized and Christianized, and 
 all tillers of their own lands under a guarantee that their 
 rights should not be disturbed, was a painful and trying 
 duty. That God might enable him so to perform this ser- 
 vice that its hard requiremenls should be tempered with 
 mercy, was now his frequent prayer. ' 
 
ARRANGEMENTS OF COLONEL LINDSAY. 303 
 
 According to the terms of the treaty of 1835, the Cher- 
 okees occupying portions of Georgia, Alabama, North 
 CaroUna, and Tennessee, were obHged to emigrate, at this 
 time, to lands allotted them by the United States, on the 
 Arkansas River. Of this tribe there were yet left (some 
 had previously emigrated) about fifteen thousand, qling- 
 ing to their ancient homes and to the graves of their fa- 
 thers. These it was the duty of General Scott to remove ; 
 and his orders were to effect it peaceably if he could, but 
 forcibly if he must. Several regiments of troops were 
 placed at his command, and authority given him to call 
 upon the governors of^the neighboring States' for all the 
 forces which would be required. 
 
 On the 10th of May he issued an addtess to the Cher- 
 okee nation, having, two days before, reached the Cher- 
 okee agency in Tennessee. There he found Colonel 
 Lindsay, an old and valued friend, in command. The ju- 
 dicious arrangements which had already been commenced 
 by Lindsay, received high praise from Scott. Posts had 
 been established in important settlements of the Chero- 
 kees, and the principal mountain-passes were well guard- 
 ed. It was at this place he issued his address, which was 
 circulated in handbills, and with it an address to the 
 troops. From the last, which was a general order, we 
 extract here enough, separated from military detail, to 
 show the caution, care, discretion, and humanity, which 
 Scott enjoined upon the troops, and the pains he took to 
 prevent any untoward accident, or any acts of unnecessary 
 severity or cruelty : — 
 
 ' 54 Niles's Register, 129. 
 20 . 
 
304 THE TROOPS URGED TO BE GENTLE AND KIND. 
 
 " Head Quarters, Eastern Division, » 
 Clierokee Agency, May 17tli, 1838. \ 
 
 " Considering the number and temper of the mass to be 
 removed, together with the extent and fastnesses of the 
 country occupied, it will readily occur that simple indis- 
 cretions, acts of harshness, and cruelty on the part of our 
 troops, may lead, step by step, to delays, to impatience, 
 and exasperation, and, in the end, to a general war and car- 
 nage ;- a result, in the case of these particular Indians, ut- 
 terly abhorrent to the genefous sympathies of the whole 
 American people. Every possible kindness, ■ compatible 
 with the necessity of removal, must, therefore, be shown 
 by the troops ; and if, in the ranks, a despicable individ- 
 ual should be found capable of inflicting a wanton injury 
 or insult on any Cherokee man, woman, or child, it. is. 
 hereby made the- special duty of the nearest good*ofiicer 
 or man instantly to interpose, and to seize and consign the 
 guilty wretch to the severest penalty of the laws. The 
 major-general is fully persuaded that this injunction will 
 not be neglected by the brave men under his commaild, 
 who cannot be otherwise than jealous of their own honor 
 and that of their country. 
 
 " By early and persevering acts of kindness and hu- 
 manity, it is impossible to doubt that the Indians may soon 
 be induced to confide in the army, and, instead of fleeing 
 to mountains and forests, flock to us for food and clothing; 
 If, however, through false apprehensions, individuals, or 
 a party here and there, should seek to hide themselves, 
 they must be pursued and invited to surrender, but not 
 fired upon, unless they should make a stand to resist. 
 Even in such cases, mild remedies may sometimes better 
 succeed than violence ; and it cannot be doubted, if we 
 
DIRECTJONS FOK THE REMOVAI. OP THE SICK. 305 
 
 get possession of the women and children first, or first cap- 
 , ture the men, that, in either case, the outstanding mem- 
 bers of the same famihes will readily come in on the as- 
 surance of forgiveness and kind treatment. 
 
 " Every captured man, as well as all who surrender 
 themselves, must be xiisarmed, with the assurance that 
 their weapons will be carefully preserved and restored at, 
 or beyond the Mississippi. In either case, the men will 
 be guarded and escorted, except it may be where their 
 women and children are safely secured as hostages ; but, 
 in general, families in our possession will not be separated, 
 unless it be to send men, as runners, to invite others to 
 come in. 
 
 " It may happen that Indians will be found too sick, in 
 the opinion of the nearest surgeon, to be removed to one 
 of the depots indicated above. In every such case, one 
 or more of the family or the friends of the sick person 
 will be left in attendance, with ample subsistence and 
 remedies, and the remainder of the family removed by the 
 troops. Infants, superannuated persons, lunatics, and 
 women in helpless condition, will all, in the removal, re- 
 quire peculiar attention, which the brave and humane will 
 seek to adapt to the necessities of the several cases.'" 
 
 This address, the reader observes, is characterized by 
 humanity, kindness, and a careful regard to the well-being 
 and safety of the Indians. 
 
 The Address to the Cherokees was as follows — 
 
 ' Executive Documents, No. 453, Sd session, 25th Congreao. 
 
306 ADDRESS TO THE CHEROKEES. 
 
 " MAJOR-GENERAL SCOTT, of the United States 
 Army, sends to the Cherokee people remaining in North 
 Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama, this 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 " Cherokees — The President of the United States has 
 sent me, with a powerful army, to cause you, in obedi- 
 ence to the treaty of 1835, to join that part of your people 
 who are ah-eady estabhshed in prosperity on the other side 
 of the Mississippi. Unhappily, the two years which were 
 allowed for the purpose, you have suffered to pass away 
 without following, and without making any preparation to 
 follow, and now, or by the time that this solemn address 
 shall reach your distant settlements, the emigration must 
 be commenced in haste, hut, I hope, without disorder. I 
 have no power, by granting a farther delay, to correct the 
 error that you have committed. The full moon of May is 
 already on the wane, and before another shall have passed 
 away, every Cherokee man, woman, and child, in those 
 states, must be in motion to join their brethren in the far 
 West. 
 
 " My friends — This is no sudden determination on the 
 part of the President, whom -you and I must now obey. 
 By the treaty, the emigration was to have been completed 
 on or before the 23d of this month, and the President has 
 constantly kept you warned, during the twc years allowed, 
 through all his officers and agents in this country, that 
 the treaty would be enforced. 
 
 " I am come to carry out that determination. My 
 troops already occupy many positions in the country thai 
 
A. WARRIOR TO WARRIORS. 307 
 
 you are to abandon, and thousands and thousands are ap- 
 proaching from every quarter, to render resistance and 
 escape ahke hopeless. All those troops, regular and 
 militia, are your friends. Receive them and confide in 
 them as such. Obey them when they tell you that you 
 can remain no longer in this country. Soldiers are as 
 kind-hearted as brave, and the desire of every one of us 
 is to execute our painful duty in mercy. We are com- 
 manded by the President to act towards you in that spirit, 
 and such is also the wish of the whole people of America. 
 
 " Chiefs, head men, and warriors — Will you then, by 
 resistance, .compel us to resort to arms' God forbid! 
 Or will you, by flight, seek to hide yourselves in moun- 
 tains and. forests, and thus oblige us to hunt you down f 
 Remember that, in pursuit, it may be impossible to avoid 
 conflicts. The blood of the white man, or the blood of 
 the red man, may be spilt, and if spilt, however acciden- 
 tally, it may be impossible for the discreet and humane 
 among you, or among us, to prevent a general war and 
 carnage. Think of this, my Cherokee brethren ! I am 
 an old warrior, and have been present at many a scene 
 of slaughter ; but spare me, I beseech you, the horror of 
 witnessing the destruction of the Cherokees. 
 
 " Do not, I invite you, even wait for the close approach 
 of the troops ; but make such preparations for emigration 
 as you can, and hasten to this place, to Ross's Landing, 
 or to Gunter's Landing, where you will all be received in 
 kindness by ofiicers selected for the purpose. You will 
 find food for all, and clothing for the destitute, at either 
 of those places, and thence at your ease, and in comfort, 
 be transported to your new homes according to the terms 
 of the treaty. 
 
308 THE REMOVAL BEGINS IN GEORGIA. 
 
 " This is the address of a warrior lo warriors. May 
 his entreaties be kindly received, and may the God of 
 both prosper the Americans and Cherokees, and preserve 
 them long in peace and friendship with each other. 
 
 " WiNFiELD Scott." 
 
 To show unity of sentiment and purpose, the printed 
 order and address went together to soldiers anjl Indians. - 
 
 Several families immediately enrolled themselves for 
 voluntary emigration ; and but for the rapid circulation, 
 at this time, of a report that the Cherokee delegation, still 
 at Washington, would succeed in obtaining a modification 
 of the treaty, Scott's most anxious desire to effect the 
 removal voluntarily and at once, might have been -realized. 
 They believed that the power and influence of their dele- 
 gation would be sufficient to accomplish that object, and 
 therefore turned a deaf ear to the entreaties and advice of 
 Scott, who was, in fact, their friend. He had deemed it 
 humane, by the strength of numbers and measures, to 
 make resistance hopeless. He had therefore spread his 
 troops rapidly, and soon informed the superintendent of 
 removal, a civil ' ofiicer, that the Indians from Georgia 
 would be sent in by the end of June, and from the other 
 states by the end of July. 
 
 The collection was commenced in Georgia, May 26, 
 under the eye of Scott. The Indians were brought into 
 the military posts, where they were amply provided for. 
 Thence they were escorted to emigrating depots as rapidly 
 as was consistent with the collection of their personal 
 effects, their health, and comfort. By the middle of June 
 the operations in Georgia had been so nearly completed, 
 that orders were issued for the honorable discharge of the 
 
IT CONTINUES IN THE OTHER STATES. 300 
 
 troops of that state. In Scott's order/ high praise was 
 bestQwed on Brigadier-General Charles Floyd and the 
 troops under his command, who were all of Georgia, for 
 the handsome and humane manner in which their duties 
 were perforined. 
 
 Scott hoping that the Cherokees in North Carolina, 
 Tennessee, and Alabama, might be encouraged to enroll 
 themselves voluntarily, by the kind treatment shown to 
 their brethren in Geprgia, now sent Indian runners, who 
 tendered their services, to those distant settlements ; and 
 in the mean time suspended further collections to th? 
 20th of June. On the morning of the 13th, those Indians 
 were found by the troops as entirely^ unprepared as the 
 Georgian Cherokees had been ; yet, at the end of ten 
 days, all but a few stragglers in the mountains were 
 brought in, with their personal property. The volunteers 
 were discharged before the 15th of July, and as rapidly as 
 arrangements could be made for their being mustered and 
 paid, except a single company, retained a little longer for 
 special service. More than a million of dollars was saved 
 by the rapidity of these movements and discharges. With 
 the exception of a few principal families, allowed to re- 
 main at their comfortable homes until called for, and some 
 stragglers in the mountains, the whole body of the Chero- 
 kee nation had been collected for emigration before the' 
 middle of July, and without shedding one drop of blood. 
 They were not without arms and fastnesses, nor without 
 courage for the defence of their native homes. They ■ 
 were conquered by skilful movements, and yet more by 
 generous kindness. All the volunteers, like the regulars, 
 
 ' 54 Niles's Register, 394 , 
 
310 A DROUGHT DRIES UP THE RIVERS. 
 
 liad caught the spirit of Scott's addresses and orders. It 
 was a pleasant and edifying scene to see officers and men 
 everjrwhere giving ready aid, in every difficulty and dis- 
 tress, to the helplessness of age and infancy. Tears were 
 doubtless shed, and not alone by the Indian race. 
 
 Scott's business up to this date had been simply mili- 
 tary. To bring in the Indians, and to turn them over 
 with guards, if needed, to the civil agent for Cherokee 
 emigration, was the only duty assigned him by the 
 government. That agent had already put in motion some 
 three thousand for their Western destination. But now, 
 the Hiwassee, the Tennessee, and the Arkansas rivers 
 had ceased to be navigable. A drought which had com- 
 menced in June, and which lasted to October, had already 
 become distressing. In the next ten days, drinking-water 
 for men and horses near the land route of emigration was 
 not to be found, except at intervals of ten, or more fre- 
 quently, of thirty miles. Scott, from humanity, and at 
 the instance of the Cherokees, took upon himself to stop 
 the emigration until the return of the cool and healthy 
 season. That determination was subsequently approved 
 ftt Washington. 
 
 All the principal Indians were first called to head- 
 quarters. Scott spoke of the drought, stated his wish to 
 suspend the- movement to the West, the expense of de- 
 lay, the extreme inconvenience to himself of remaining 
 with- them till autumn, the want also of the regular troops 
 • elsewhere, and the fear that their people might break and 
 disperse, if not kept within the chain of posts and senti- 
 nels. Every chief instantly agreed to sign a solemn 
 pledge, not only for himself but for his family and friends; 
 not" only to prevent dispersion, but to send runners of their 
 
THE REMOVAL TEMPORARILY POSTPONED. 311 
 
 own, to bring in the stragglers and those concealed, who 
 still remained out. This written pledge was kept in good 
 faith. 
 
 Scott immediately sent oiF three regiments of regulars 
 to the Canada frontiers and Florida, where he knew they 
 were much needed. The other two were retained more 
 to aid and protect than to guard the Indians. 
 
 The Cherokees were now distributed into three large 
 camps ; the principal, twelve miles by four, on high and 
 rolling ground, on the Hiwassee, well shaded and abound- 
 ing in springs and flowing rivulets. All necessary supplies 
 were abundant and good, including medicines ; vaccina- 
 tion was introduced by the personal influence of Scott 
 against the general prejudice ;* dram-shops were put under 
 the guard of troops, to prevent the sale of liquors ; and 
 numerous Indian superiors were appointed to visit every 
 family daily, and to report on their wants. All worked 
 well. Scott established himself for long months at the 
 agency, in the midst of the principal camp, charged with 
 innumerable labors and cares for the good of his pupils ; 
 for such they were, both by the relation they sustained to 
 the United States, and the watching and instruction he 
 gave them. 
 
 The delegation, with Ross the principal chief, returned 
 from Washington in July, when Scott received authority 
 from the war department to transfer, by negotiation, the 
 further emigration from the civil agent to the Cherokees 
 
 ' The reader will recollect what desolation has been brought on 
 reveral tribes of Indians in the West, by their refusal to be vaccinated- 
 The service rendered to the Cherokee" in this single particular, was in- 
 valuable. 
 
 U 
 
312 THE LAST OF THE CHEROKEES DEPART. 
 
 themselves. The proposition was submitted to the nation, 
 and adopted with joy. The same delegates were appoint- 
 ed to arrange the general terms with Scott. The cost of 
 the movement, as in the previous arrangement, was to bs. 
 paid out of the five milUons' of dollars stipulated by the 
 United Slates to be given in exchange with the new 
 country West, for the one inhabited by the Cherokees in 
 the East. 
 
 To Scott, the sum to be paid per capita, for the remo 
 val, as proposed by the delegates, appeared much too 
 high. The subject was referred back to the genera' 
 council of the Cherokees, the largest they had ever held, 
 who approved the new terms proposed to Scott. Tht 
 same authority appointed a purveyor of supplies on the 
 route, and the delegates specially charged with that duty 
 proceeded to enroll their people into convenient parties 
 for the road, with a conductor, sub-conductor, and phy- 
 sician, for each, to collect wagons, horses, and every thing 
 necessary for the movement, as soon as the season and 
 rain might permit. 
 
 Here was a vvonderful change. A few months before, 
 seven-tenths of the Cherokees threatened to die in defence 
 of their ancient homes. Now the only contest among the 
 chiefs and parties was — who shall first take the road to 
 the far West. All were eager to lead or to follow. 
 
 At length October came, with some slight showers of 
 rain, and by the 16th of November the last detachment 
 
 ' The compensation allowed the Cherokees was not an insuffioient one. 
 They were allowed the value of their improvements, their expenses, and 
 a new country, which in naturaf advantages may be deemed superior to 
 the other. 
 
SCOTT HASTENS TO THE NORTH. 313 
 
 was in motion. The sick and helpless only were left to 
 proceed by steam on the rise of the rivers. 
 
 Scott followed the line of emigration to Nashville, in 
 order to help and cheer on the movement. He had in- 
 tended to proceed farther ; but an express overtook him 
 from Washington, with dispatches, saying that the Patriots 
 were reorganized to the number of eighty thousand, and 
 were getting ready to break into tiie Canadas at many 
 points. He instantly departed in that direction. Stopping 
 nowhere to accept the public honors tendered him, he 
 arrived at Cleveland and Detroit at critical moments. 
 Thence he passed down the frontier into Vermont, and 
 completed the work we have described in the preceding 
 chapter. He re-established peace, law, and order all 
 along the disturbed frontier of Canada. 
 
 In all this he had moved with almost the swift flight of the 
 birds, and his work was completed in the brief space of 
 their summer excursions. In this short, season had 
 Scott performed the work of Cherokee emigration, ana 
 returned to new and arduous labors in an opposite region 
 and a very different climate. Such sudden changes, and 
 such rude exposures, are the soldier's lot in pursuit of duty 
 and in obedience to his country. 
 
 In this brief story we have narrated the manner in which 
 the Cherokees— ;-fi.fteen thousand in number — were car- 
 ried from the homes of their fathers and the graves of their 
 dead. That they left them in sadness, and looked to the 
 uncertain future with dread and dark foreboding, none 
 can doubt. However adventurous, far-searching, or cu- 
 rious may be the human mind when voluntarily pursuing 
 its own objects, it cannot be forced from its ancient asso- 
 ciations, without, like the uplorn tree, breaking its deepest 
 
314 THE PARTING FROM THE HOME OF CHILDHOOD. 
 
 roots, snapping its tendrils, and blighting its softest ver- 
 dure. This is a shock, too, which is felt the most in the 
 most secluded retreats of the family. It touches the 
 hearts which have grown in the shade, where few rays 
 from the glaring light of the world have ever fallen. It 
 would not be' difficult to imagine some Indian woman, and 
 perhaps an aged one, stopping alone by the rippling stream 
 to hear the murmur of waters she should hear no more — 
 to break a twig from trees whose shade she should enjoy 
 no longer — to linger, round the lonely mound, which was 
 henceforth to be the only memorial of her race — to cast 
 one last look on the summits of hills, to which, with the 
 friends of her youth, she had often gazed in the glowing 
 sunsets of summer. They fade now in the shades of even- 
 ing, and she heaves the last sigh, drops her last tear, and 
 hills, and woods, and murmuring streams, live for her 
 only in the memory of the exile ! 
 
 The remaining years of her life she spends in strange 
 scenes, and looking intensely into the future, hopes, per- 
 haps,- for ~ 
 
 " Some safer world in depths of woods embraced, 
 Some happier island in the watery waste, 
 Where slaves once more their native land behold, 
 No fiends torment, no Chi-istians thirst for gold." 
 
 Such scenes as these may be easily imagined, and it is 
 scarcely possible they should not have occurred in any 
 nation, savage or civihzed, on leaving their native land. 
 The question, however, remains, whether, in the plans of 
 Providence, and their merciful development, the policy 
 of the United States towards the Cherokees has not really 
 been the true policy, and its effect for their ultimate good ? 
 It is certain that they have received a rich and valuable 
 
THE COUNTRY AND PROGRESS OF THE INDIANS. 315 
 
 territory, where, on the waters of the Arkansas, tliey yet 
 cultivate lands — where they have organized a civil govern- 
 ment, and where they appear still to, advance in numbers 
 and prosperity. Should this continue to be their history, 
 may they not hereafter become a State of aboriginal in- 
 habitants, in a condition of civilization and Christianity ? 
 If this should happily be the case, the Cherokee State 
 will be a monument enduring through after ages of that 
 'wild and singular race, who seemed the children of the 
 forest, defying the scrutiny of philosophy, and sHunning 
 the gaze of civilized man. The lone mound will not be 
 their only memorial, nor tradition their only story. They 
 will live to enjoy the fruits of legal liberty, to extend the 
 dominion of the arts, to rest in the shade of peace ; and, 
 no longer hunters and warriors, adorn the realms of sci- 
 ence, religion, and philosophy. 
 
 But whatever may be thought of the act or the result 
 of removing the Indians, no one can doubt that the part 
 Scott had in that business was performed with a skill, a 
 humanity, and a forbearance worthy of much admiration. 
 
 In the National Intelligencer of that time there ap- 
 peared an article from a responsible writer, describing the 
 character of Scott's acts, narrated in this and the previous 
 chapter.* From that we take the following extract, as just 
 as it is historically true : — 
 
 " The manner in which this gallant officer has acquitted 
 himself within the last year upon our Canada frontier, and 
 lately among the Cherokees, has excited the universal 
 admiration and gratitude of the whole nation. Owing to 
 his great popularity in the North, his thorough knowledge 
 
 ' National Intelligencer, September 27tli, 1838. 
 
316 AN ACCOUNT OF RECENT EVENTS. 
 
 of tlie laws of his own country, as well as those which 
 govern nations, united to his discretion, his great tact and 
 experience, he has saved the country from a ruinous war 
 with Great Britain. And by his masterly skill and energy 
 among the Cherokees, united to his noble generosity and 
 humanity, he has not only effected what everybody sup- 
 posed could not be done without the most heart-rending 
 scenes of butchery and bloodshed, but he has effected it 
 by obtaining the esteem and confidence of the poor Cher- 
 okees Ihemselves. They look upon him as a benefactor 
 and friend, and one who has saved them from entire de- 
 struction. 
 
 " All the Cherokees were collected for emigration with- 
 out bloodshed or violence, and all would have been on 
 their way to the West before the middle of July, had not 
 humanity induced Gen. Scott to stop the movement until 
 the 1 St of September. Three thousand had been sent off 
 in the first half of June by the superintendent, before the 
 general took upon himself the responsibility of stopping 
 the emigration, from feelings which must do everlasting 
 honor to his heart. 
 
 " An approval of his course had been sent on by the 
 War Department before his report, giving information that 
 he had stopped the emigration, had reached the seat of 
 government. 
 
 " In the early part of January last, the President asked 
 Congress for enlarged powers, to enable him to maintain 
 our neutral obligations to England ; that is, to tranquillize 
 the Canadian frontiers. 
 
 " Before the bill passed Congress, Gen. Scott had fin- 
 ished the work, and effectcc' all its objects. These, too, he 
 effected by flying froni one end of the frontier to the other 
 
TlIK GLORY OP A PAClriCATCR. 317 
 
 in the dead of winter, and during the severest and coldes 
 period of it. 
 
 " He returns to Washington, and is immediately or- 
 dered to the Cherokee nation, to take charge of the^very 
 difEcult and hazardous task to his own fame of removing 
 those savages from their native land. Some of his best 
 . friends regretted, most sincerely, that he had been ordered 
 on this service ; and, knowing the disposition of the world 
 to cavil and complain without cause, had great apprehen- 
 sions that he would lose a portion of the popularity he had 
 acquired by his distinguished success on the Canadian fron- 
 tier. But, behold the manner in which thi.s last work has 
 been performed ! There is so rnuch of noble -generosity 
 of character about Scott, independent of his skill and 
 bravery as a soldier, that his life has really been one of 
 romantic beauty and interest." 
 
 The truth of this picture may be judged by the facts 
 of this history. But whatever opinion may be formed on 
 that point, there have been men of the most eminent in- 
 telligence, themselves disinterested and capable of judg- 
 ing, who have formed the same estimate of the character 
 and acts of Scott. We subjoin the following testimony 
 of the Rev. Doctor Channing, in a work published in 
 Boston : 
 
 " To this distinguished man belongs the rare honor of 
 uniting with military energy and daring, the spirit of a 
 philanthropist. His exploits in the field, which placed 
 him m the first rank of our soldiers, have been obscured 
 by the purer and more lasting glory of a pacificator, and 
 of a friend of mankind. In the whol« history of the in- 
 tercourse of civilized with barbarous or half-civilize'd com- 
 munities, we doubt whetlier a brighter page can be found 
 
318 TRUTH MORE STICCESSPUL THAN POLICY. 
 
 than that which records his agency in the removal of the 
 Cherokees. As far as the wrongs done to this race can 
 be atoned for, General Scott has made the expiation. 
 
 " In his recent mission to the disturbed borders of our 
 country, he has succeeded, not so much by policy as by 
 the nobleness and generosity of his character, by moral 
 influences, by the earnest conviction with which he has 
 enforced on all with whom he has had to do, the obliga- 
 tions of patriotism, justice, humanity, and religion. It 
 would not be easy to fin(J among us a man who has won 
 a purer fame ; and I am happy to oifer this tribute, be- 
 cause I would do something, no matter how- little, to 
 hasten the time, when the spirit of Christian humanity 
 shall be accounted an essential attribute and the brightest 
 ornament of a public man." 
 
THE 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1839. 
 
 Scott again on the Northern Frontier. — Maine Boundary Question. — ^Ifa 
 Origin. — Scott's Reception by Governor Everett. — Proceedings of thn 
 State of Maine. — Scott's Arrival and Reception at Augusta. — Remarks 
 in Congress on the anticipation of War. — Mr. Van Buren's Message. — 
 The " Memorandum." — Effect of the " Memorandum" in Maine. — 
 Governor Fairfield's Message. — Resolutions of the Legislature. — Former 
 Friendship of Scott and Harvey. — Interesting Anecdote. — Correspond- 
 ence of Scott and Harvey. — Scott's " Memorandum." — Termination of 
 the Difficulties. — Treaty made by Daniel Webster. 
 
 Fkom the land of the Cherokees and the scene ol 
 their .exile, General Scott hastened back to that northern 
 frontier, which had so nearly become the theatre of war. 
 He again visited and tranquillized the Canadian borders, 
 from Detroit along nearly the whole line to Northern 
 Vermont. Here he learned that hostile movements were 
 on foot on both sides of what was then known as the 
 Disputed Territory. This was a territory on the bor- 
 ders of the State of Maine, the boundaries of which the 
 United States and Great Britain had not been able exactly 
 to ascertain, so as to determine satisfactorily the line be- 
 tween the two nations. * 
 
 The territory between the two lines claimed by each 
 party respectively as the true line, was the territory known 
 as the "disputed" district. On one side of this district 
 lay New Brunswick, a British province, and on the other 
 the State of Maine. The governors and authorities of 
 
 21 
 
320 MILITARY POSTS ESTABUSHED. 
 
 each of these States were jealous of. their respective rights, 
 and felt impelled to aid the settlement of their own citi- 
 zens, and resist whal they called the encroachments of the 
 other side. Trespassers on both sides continued in some 
 form to occupy some parts of the country, especially for 
 the purpose of cutting timber. Both the British and the 
 Americans then established military posts, and in fine, by 
 a succession of claims and counter claims, aggressions and 
 defences from either side, naturally and necessarily arising 
 out of an uncertain boundary, and an unsettled territory, 
 to which there was an undetermined ownership, there 
 came complicated border difficulties, and extreme danger 
 of hostile collision. 
 
 Hearing of these difficulties and of this danger, and 
 fearing that letters to him might be misdirected in conse 
 quence of the rapidity of his movements, Scott hastened 
 immediately to Washington. He presented himself at the 
 War Department a day and a half ki advance of the mail 
 from the Canada line. 
 
 The condition of affairs, on his arrival, was perilous 
 to the peace, not merely of this country or of Great Brit- 
 ain, but of the civilized world ; for it can hardly be sup- 
 posed that the two greatest commercial, nations of the 
 world could come in conflict on every sea, and in al'most 
 every port of the globe, and yet not involve other nations, 
 or that war would cease with the cessation of the imme- 
 diate cause. # The passion for war is contagious. The 
 bystanders in the play of battles feel an instinctive im- 
 pulse to share in the action. Their reason and their con- 
 science can hardly restrain them from feeling, and even 
 believing, that their interest, their honor, or their fame 
 requires that they also should enter the arena of a bloody 
 
A BILL PASSED IN HASTE. ■ 381 
 
 ambition, pursuing tiie rewards of conquest or the glory 
 of victories. Hence it is that a war between leading na- 
 tions; especially between the new and old systems of gov- 
 ernment, would, reasoning from experience and probabili- 
 ties, result in one of those general and long-continued 
 seasons of bloodshed, revolutions, and conquests, whicli 
 have so often impoverished the substance, and corrupted 
 the morals of nations. 
 
 When Scott arrived at Washington, such a crisis seem- 
 ed to be tangibly and visibly present. The President of 
 the United States, Mr. Van Buren, just then announced 
 to Congress, by special Inessage, that " the peace of the 
 two nations is daily and imminently endangered." The 
 President also said, thijt in a certain event, he should feel 
 himself bound to call out the militia to repel invasion, and 
 he invited from Congress such action as it deemed expe- 
 dient. So extraordinary was the danger, that Congress 
 adopted extraordinary measures. In five days, ah act was 
 passed authorizing the President, if he deemed best, to 
 call out the militia for six months, to accept, if necessary, 
 the services of fifty thousand volunteers ; and appropria- 
 ting ten millions of dollars for these objects. 
 
 Scott having g-rrived at Washington, had interviews with 
 the President, with the Secretaries of State and War, and 
 with the committees in Congress on foreign and military 
 affairs. He assisted in drawing and urging the bills to put 
 at the disposition of the Executive fifty thousand volun- 
 teers, and ten milhons of dollars to meet exigencies.* This 
 
 ' This act boro all the Impress of an expectation of an instant war. It 
 was taken up on the 26th of February, 1839, signed and approved March 
 3d, 1839. It passed the Senate by a unanimous vote, notwithetandiug the 
 great power it placed in the hands of (he President. 
 
322 sco'tt's meeting wjth governor everett. 
 
 being done, he immediatfel-y departed, and reached Au- 
 gusta, the seat of government in Maine, in about eight 
 . days after his arrival at Washington. It turned out 
 that had he been three days later, he would have found a 
 war made to his hands. 
 
 Passing through Boston, and having official business 
 with Governor Everett, of Massachusetts, he repaired to 
 the State-house, where that accomplished officer and 
 scholar addressed him in substance as follows : — 
 " General : — 
 
 " I take great pleasure in introducing you to the mem- 
 bers of the Executive Council of Massachusetts ; I need 
 not say that you are already known to them by reputation. 
 They are familiar with your fame as it is recorded in some 
 of the arduous and honorable fields of the country's strug- 
 gles. We rejoice in meeting you on this occasion, charged 
 as you are with a most momentous mission by the Presi- 
 dent of the United States. We are sure you are intrusted 
 with a duty most grateful to your feelings — that of avert- 
 ing an appeal to arms. We place unlimited reliance on 
 your spirit, energy, and discretion. Should you unhappily 
 fail iu your efforts, under the instructions of the President, 
 to restore harmony, we know that you are equally pre- 
 pared for a still more responsible duty. Should that event 
 unhappily occur, I beg you to depend on the firm support 
 of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." 
 
 To this address, the general replied in a manner suita 
 ble to the place and the subject ; and concluded with as- 
 suring the governor and coimcil that the executive of the 
 United States had full reliance on the patriotism and pub- 
 lic spirit of Massachusetts, to meet any emergency which 
 might arise. 
 
RESPONSIBILITY OF MILITARY OFFICERS. 323 
 
 Scott had been called to the Maine border to avert a 
 threatened war. This crisis had been brought about by 
 a long series of acts, disagreements, and events, connected 
 with the Maine boundary. How this difficulty arose, and 
 what discussions and events grew out of it, may be learned 
 by a perusal of the American State Papers, especially in 
 the History of the American Diplomacy. In searching, 
 however, for the materials to ascertain and describe the 
 part Scott performed in this critical affair, and one with 
 which it was certain and admitted he had much to do, but 
 little will be found in the official docuftients of the gov- 
 ernment. The President's message and accompanying 
 reports, in December, 1839, omitted any account of his 
 connection with the preservation of peace, and the settle- 
 ment of the pending and instant threatenings of war ; per- 
 haps because it was thought that the transactions of a 
 military commander were a matter of course, and not to 
 be deemed part of, the diplomatic arrangements by which 
 such questions have finally to be determined. This, how- 
 ever, is a mistake. The questions of peace or war have 
 much oftener depended on the conduct of military officers 
 on the frontiers, than they have on any negotiations.^ In 
 the history already given, in a previous chapter, of Scott's 
 conduct on the Canada frontier, and his efforts for peace, 
 it is most evident, that had either the British or the Amer- 
 ican military commanders preferred war, and been uncon- 
 
 ' SuppoBe a frontier officer were, on some slight or imaginary cause, to 
 make a dash into the territory of a neighboring nation. He would be re- 
 sisted ; blood would be shed. The border population would be excited, and 
 it would be almost impossible for any negotiation to remedy the evil. This 
 was partially the fact in the case of tho " Caroline ;" and it was only by 
 the greatest efforts that peace was then preserved. 
 
324 PEACE DEPENDING UPON THE COMMANDERS. 
 
 scientious as to the means, war must have inevitably haj)- 
 pened.' Blood would have been shed, the patriots would 
 have moved in masses, and the people and governments 
 would have followed them. The eiForts of the military 
 commander were here far more potent than any negotia- 
 tions. 
 
 The War Secretary's report should, at least, have no- 
 ticed these events, tending more than any other events of 
 the year to show that military men had something beyond 
 and above the mere qualities of a soldier ; and that to these 
 superior capacities of mind the war department had been 
 indebted for some of the best acts for the peaceful as well 
 as martial glory of the country'.^ 
 
 Early in the winter preceding the period of which we 
 now speak, the State of Maine had sent a land-agent, 
 
 ' It was somewhere stated that Sir Allen McNab, then commanding on 
 the Canada shore, said, after the adventure of the Barcelona, that the Brit- 
 ■ ish officer had mistaken his orders in not firing on the Barcelona. But sup- 
 pose he had fired, the American cannon would have answered ; the war 
 would have been commenced, and the people would have continued it. 
 Canada would have been Invaded, and no one can tell what might have 
 been the result. 
 
 ^ In the General Regulations for the Army, drawn up by Scott in 1825, 
 is this paragraph, which proves his own sense of justice in this respect: — 
 
 " As reports and orders, relativfe to battles and other military operations, 
 constitute, in the case of subordinates, the foundations of military fame, and 
 that fame the principal reward of merit, too much care cannot bo observed 
 by," &c. &c!, before offering names " to the notice of government, and 
 the admiration of the country." He then gives rules for collecting the 
 principal facts, in order that reports, &c., may be made with impai'tiality 
 imd fidelity, in execution of that " high and delicate trust." 
 
 Official reports have sometimes made strange mistakes. 
 
 " Thrice happy he whose name has been well spelt 
 In the dispatch : — I knew a man whose loss 
 A\'as printed Orove, although his name was Grose." 
 
CORRESPONDENCE OP THE GOVERNORS. 325 
 
 accompanied by an armed civil posse, to drive off from 
 the disputed territory certain trespassers, whom she al- 
 leged were cutting the timber, which gave the chief value 
 to this cold and not very fertile territory. The land-agent, 
 and head .of this posse, was seized by the authorities of 
 New Brunswick, and carried off to prison in that province. 
 This act aroused the indignation of Maine. A spirited 
 (Correspondence was carried on between the governor of 
 the state and the governor of the province, which was un- 
 satisfactory to both of them, and finally resulted in cool- 
 ness and silence. The land-agent, however, was soon 
 released ; but to carry out her purpose of driving off the 
 trespassers, Maine passed an act placing eight thousand 
 volunteers and eight - hundred thousand dollars -at the 
 command of the governor. Some of these troops WQfe 
 pushed forward in February; and in the beginning 
 of March the whole force, under a universal excite- 
 ment, was in motion to conquer, if necessary, and to 
 hold by arms, the long-withheld territory. The other 
 side remained neither ignorant nor inactive. The governor 
 of New Brunswick was Sir John Harvey, a major-general, 
 distinguished in the field and in the administration of civil 
 affairs — a man of ability and of high character. He had 
 received, some time before,' instructions from his govern- 
 ment to meet the case long apprehended, and now about 
 to occur. All correspondence on the part of the two govern- 
 ors had ceased, and British troops, both regulars and militia, 
 were now in march for the theatre of impending hostilities. 
 It was just at this time (eth of March) that Scott ar- 
 rived at Augusta, the seat of government in Maine. He 
 had passed, on the way, many of the fine volunteers of 
 Maine. They were eager for the contest. The Legis- 
 
326 DEBATES IN CONGRESS. 
 
 lature was in session, and it was thought and believed by 
 many that he had come to put himself at the head of the 
 movement, and to open the war. N9 person seemed to 
 imagine that the preservation of peace was more than a 
 distant possibility. Tliis impression was common to 
 nearly all the people of the Union, and was attended by 
 all the hopes, fears, and anxieties which are excited by 
 the prospect of so momentous an event. 
 
 As evidence of this fact, some passages of the debates 
 in Congress may be cited. Mr. Caleb Cushing, of Mas- 
 sachusetts, said, February 26, in the debate on the ex- 
 traordinary bill for raising fifty thousand volunteers : — 
 
 " But how stands the fact ? We have these threaten- 
 ing events in the northeast, and these new pretensions 
 otthe colonial authorities of Great Britain to show what is 
 doing there. How is it in the North ? We have heard 
 much of the success of a distinguished Pacificator^ in re- 
 storing a peaceful state of things there ; but the fires of 
 indignation along the whole lin6, which the misrule of 
 Great Britain, and the misconduct of the ruling party in 
 Upper and Lower Canada, have awakened, are smother- 
 ed, not extinguished, and it needs but the touch of a spark 
 to kindle them into a devouring flame to spread like lights 
 ning from Maine to Michigan."^ 
 
 Mr. John Quincy Adams also said, on the 2d of March : 
 
 " Whatever might be the action of the House at the 
 present time, lie believed the question would eventually 
 
 ' Scott was then at Washington, urgmg the passage of the bill under de- 
 bate ; but it was known that he was soon to be off for Maine. 
 
 " The Canadian Patriot troubles had, at the end of February, 1839, 
 been tranquillized, and did not again break out. Mr. Cushing, a merr^i 
 from Massachusetts, perhaps partook a little more of the excitement grow- 
 ing out of the Maine boundaiy tlian belonged to others. 
 
MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT. 327 
 
 have to be settled by force of arms, and for one he was 
 not disposed to have much further negotiation."^ 
 
 The Globe, then the official organ of the government, 
 copied a letter from the Boston Atlas', dated Senate 
 Chamber, Augusta, March 2d, 1839, in these words : — 
 
 " I speak advisedly when I say, that if the contempla-* 
 ted visit of General Scott to Maine is only to persuade a 
 withdrawal of our troops from the disputed territory, or a 
 relinquishment of our present position, he might as well 
 stay awrfy." 
 
 On the 27th of February, the President, Mr. Van Bu- 
 ren, transmitted to Congress a message, enclosing a mem- 
 orandum, mutually signed by the Secretary of State and 
 the British Minister, the object of which was to prevent an 
 instant collision, and consequently war ; but by some un- 
 accountable oversight, the interests and sensibilities of the 
 people of Maine were too little considered, and there 
 was much difficulty in reconciling them to the new state ■ 
 of things. The following are copies of the message and 
 memorandum : — 
 
 " NORTHEASTERN FRONTIER. 
 
 " The President submitted the following message from 
 the President of the United States : 
 
 "Washington, Feb. 27, 1839. 
 " To the Senate of the United States : 
 
 " I transmit to Congress copies of various other docu- 
 ments received from the governor of Maine, relating to 
 
 ' The danger of war growing out of the Maine boundary was much 
 greater than it has since been on the Oregon question. Besides, there was 
 a present and instant danger of collision at any moment. The extreme 
 naProwness of the crisis may be known and understood by the text. 
 
328 ■ THE " MEMORAND'UM.' 
 
 the dispute between that State and the Province of New 
 Brunswick, which formed the subject of my message of 
 the 26th inst., and also a copy of a memorandum signed 
 by the Secretary of State of the United States, and Her 
 Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
 Plenipotentiary near the United States, of tlie terms upon 
 which it is believed all collision can be avoided on the 
 frontier, consistently with and respecting the claims on 
 either side. As the British Minister acts without specific 
 authority from his government, it will be observed that 
 this memorandum has but the force of recommendation on 
 the provincial authorities and on the government of the 
 state. 
 
 " M. Van Buren." 
 
 " MEMORANDUM. 
 
 "Her Majesty's authorities consider it to have been 
 understood and agreed upon by the two governments, that 
 the territory in dispute between Great Britain and the- 
 United States, on the northeastern frontier, should remain 
 exclusively under British jurisdiction until the final settle- 
 ment of the boundary question. 
 
 " The United States government have not understood 
 the above agreement in the same sense, but consider, on 
 the contrary, that there has been no agreement whatever 
 for the exercise, by Great Britain, of exclusive jurisdic- 
 tion over the disputed territory, or any portion thereof, but 
 a mutual understanding that, pending the negotiation, the 
 jurisdiction then exercised by either party, over small por- 
 tions of the territory in dispute, should not be enlarged, 
 but be continued merely for the preservation of local tran- 
 quillity and the public property, both forbearing as far as 
 
IT RECOMMENDS FORBEARANCE. 329 
 
 practicable to exert any authority, and, when any should 
 be exercised by either, placing upon the conduct of each 
 other 'the most favorable construction 
 
 "A complete understanding upon the question, thus 
 placed at issue, of present jurisdiction, can only be arrived 
 at by friendly discussion between the governments of the 
 United States and Great.Britain ; and, as it is confidently 
 hoped that there will be an early settlement of the ques- 
 tion, this subordinate point of diffeirence can be of but lit- 
 tle moment. 
 
 "In the mean time, the governor of the Province of New 
 Brunswick and the government of the State of Maine, will 
 act as follows : Her Majesty's officers will not seek to ex- 
 pel, by military force, the armed party which has been 
 sent- by Maine into the district bordering on the Aroostook 
 river ; but the government of Maine will, voluntarily, and 
 without needless delay, withdraw beyond the bounds of 
 the disputed territory any armed force now within them ; 
 and if future necessity should arise for dispersing notori- 
 ous trespassers, or protecting public property from depre- 
 dation by armed force, the operation shall be conducted 
 by concert, jointly or separately, according to agreements 
 between the governments of Maine and New Brunswick. 
 
 " The civil officers in the service respectively of New 
 Brunswick and Maine, who hav-e be'en taken into custody 
 by the opposite parties, shall be released. 
 
 " Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to 
 fortify or to weaken, in any respect whatever, the claim of 
 either party to the ultimate possession of the disputed ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 " The Minister Plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty 
 having no specific authority to .make any arrangement on 
 
330 THE " memorandum" without effect. 
 
 the subject, the undersigned can only recommend, as they 
 now earnestly do, to the governments of New Brunswick 
 and Maine, to regulate their future proceedings according 
 to the terms herein set forth, until the final settlement of 
 the territorial dispute, or until the governments of the 
 United States and Great Britain shall come to some defi- 
 nite conclusion on the subordinate point upon which they 
 are now at issue. 
 
 " John Forsyth, Secretary of Stale ^ 
 of the United States of North America. 
 , " H. S. Fox, H. B. M. Envoy 
 
 Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. 
 "Washington, February 27, 1839." 
 
 This memorandum did not settle the difficulty. The 
 Baltimore American, in making a summary of some in- 
 telligence from Maine, says : — 
 
 "The President's message and the recommendatory 
 agreement do not appear to be received with favor in 
 Maine ; but there is hope that after they have been duly 
 considered by the good people of that State, they will see 
 the propriety of falling in with the pacific policy which 
 they go to maintain. 
 
 " Major-General Scott reached Portland on Tuesday 
 afternoon last, and was to address the citizens that even- 
 ing. We rely much on the discretion, zeal, and talent of 
 this invaluable officer, in bringing matters back to a peace- 
 ful attitude." 
 
 This MEMORANDUM, v^ich, at first view, seemed to 
 Bmooth the way to an honorable retreat for both parties, 
 and consequently to the adjustment of ihe immediate 
 
IT DISPLEASES THE PEOPLE OF MAINE. 331 
 
 quarrel between the- quasi belligerents, was found by 
 General Scott, at every step, the most difficult elemen to 
 conquer. Both Maine and New Brunswick had long ex- 
 ercised jurisdiction " over small portions of the territory ih 
 dispute," as recited in the memorandum. But when that 
 was signed, it was known each had extended her forces to 
 other portions. The recommendation, therefore, that 
 " Maine will, voluntarily and without needless delay, with-^ 
 draw beyond the bounds of the disputed territory any 
 armed force now within them," merely on the considera- 
 tion that " Her 'Majesty's officers will not seek to expel, 
 by military force," the troops of Maine, without the recip- 
 focal injunction that " any armed force" of the opposite 
 side " will" also be withdrawn, evidently authorized the 
 continued presence of the British forces within those 
 bounds. This necessary construction gave great offence 
 to the people, including the governor of Maine and the 
 majorities in the Legislature, although they were of the 
 same party with the national administration which had 
 made the memorandum. The administration, it was said 
 in Maine, had been outwitted, or had wilfully abandoned 
 the pride, the honor, and the interests of Maine. General 
 Scott, in the discharge of his official duties, was only an 
 American charged with important trusts, and therefore 
 devoted himself in good faith to smooth these difficulties, 
 and reconcile the state and national authorities. 
 
 His reception by the people and authorities of Maine 
 at Augusta, the seat of government, was such as to in- 
 crease his power of harmonizing opposite feelings, by 
 showing the strong sympathy l^etween himself and the 
 body of the people. On Thursday, the 7th of March, 
 General Scott met the citizens of Augusta, representa- 
 
332 scott's keception at augusta. 
 
 lives and soldiers, in the Legislative Hall. A gDrrespon 
 dent of the Portland Argus says : — ' 
 
 " The hall was full and the galleries were crowded. 
 Many could not get places. The greeting of the general 
 to the officers and soldiers introduced to him was pecu- 
 liarly happy. In one of the representatives, Mr. Frost of 
 Bethel, he recognised a fellow-soldier of the last war. 
 .They were both wounded in the same baftle. The inter- 
 view was enthusiastic. The' general seemed hardly will 
 ing to part with his hand. 
 
 " After a half hour spent in these mutual interchanges 
 of friendship, Mr. Allen of Bangor, in a few remarks, wel- 
 comed General Scott among us, to which welcoming he 
 replied by thanking the audience for the hearty reception 
 they had given him in the capitol of Maine, and by ex- 
 pressing his happiness at being enabled, face to face, to 
 see so many of her sons — and, should war come, he 
 should be glad to be found shoulder to shoulder, breast to 
 breast with such soldiers." 
 
 General Scott remained at Augusta several weeks, and 
 on the 12th of March Governor Fairfield, of Maine, trans- 
 mitted a message to the Legislature,^ stating strongly the 
 objections to the terms of the memorandum, as we have 
 already narrated them, but concluding with the following 
 recommendation — ^ 
 
 What then shall be done ? The people of the State 
 surely are not desirous of hurrying the two nations into a 
 war. Such an event is anxiously to be avoided, if it can 
 be without dishonor. We owe too much to the Union, to 
 
 ' 56 Niles's Register, 34. 
 
 • 56 Nilee's Register, ,70. = Idem, 71. 
 
MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR FAIRFIELD. 333 
 
 ourselves, and, above all, to the spirit and principles of 
 Christianity, to bring about a conflict of arms with a 
 people having with us a common origin, speaking a com- 
 mon language, arid bound to us by so many ties of 
 common interest, without the mo^st inexorable necessity. 
 Under these circumstances I would recommend that, 
 when we are fully satisfied, either by the declarations of 
 the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, or otherwise, 
 that he has abandoned all idea of occupying the disputed 
 territory with a military force, and of attempting an expul- 
 sion of our party, that then the governor be authorized 
 to withdraw our military force, leaving the land-agent with 
 a posse, armed or unarmed, as the case may require, suf- 
 ficient to carry into effect your original design — that of 
 driving out or arresting the trespassers, and preserving 
 and protecting the timber from their depredations." 
 
 On the 20th inst. the Legislature passed resolutions ac- 
 cordant in spirit with the above message of the governor. 
 
 Thus far the presence of Scott in Maine had been at- 
 tended by a pacific temper and salutary effects ; but it 
 will be observed, that the recommendation of the governor 
 and the resolution of the Legislature in accordance with it, 
 required a declaration, or its equivalent, from the lieu- 
 tenant-governor of New Brunswick; that is, they required 
 the British governor to take the first step. To under- 
 stand the difiiculty of- this requisition, it should be re- 
 membered, that just at this moment the people of the 
 Province of New Brunswick were highly inflamed against 
 the people of Maine; that the Provincial Legislature had au- 
 thorized a call for volunteers ; and that large reinforcements 
 of. British troops were on their march to this frontier.^ 
 
 ' During the troubles on the Canada and Maine frontiers, large bodisg 
 
334 SCOTT AND HARVEY IN THE WAR. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding the advantage conceded to Great 
 Britain apparently, in the memorandum made at Washing- 
 ton, it was necessary to induce the governor of New 
 Brunswick to make the first advance towards the- local 
 adjustment, in the hope of one general and final. 
 
 The two governors, it will be remembered, had from' 
 some personal offence, given by one side or the other, 
 long ceased all correspondence. A mediator was needed. 
 Scott fortunately had some peculiar advantages for that 
 office, and now applied himself to it with all his heart and 
 might. 
 
 Colonel Scott and Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey were, in 
 the campaign of 1813, the adjutant-generals of the oppo-' 
 sing armies in Upper Canada. Both being always in 
 front, they very generally found themselves pitted against 
 each other in the battle-field. Their staff positions also 
 made them the organs of their respective armies, by letters 
 and by personal interviews, under flags of truce. In that 
 olEcial intercourse they cordially united to soften down 
 the asperities of war — to provide for the general wants 
 of prisoners, to appoint exchanges and to obtain paroles, 
 and to the devising of means for enforcing the laws of 
 civilized war on the Indian allies of the two armies. It 
 was also through them that letters and money passed from 
 one army into the hands of the prisoners of the other. 
 Thus it happened that sentiments of high respect between 
 the parties were soon ripened into personal friendship, 
 leading (for both were remarkable in stature) to mutual 
 
 of troops were ordered into British Amejioa from various parte of tlie world- 
 At the very time of Scott's arrival at Augusta, additional regimente had 
 landed at Quebec, and were on their march to Frederiokton, New Bruns- 
 wick. See 56 Niles's Register, 34. 
 
THE ALMOST PRISONER ESCAPES. 335 
 
 reeognition and salutes, when advancing to close combat. 
 If their chivalry went not as far as that of the French 
 officer at the battle of Fontenoi, who, standing in front of 
 his troops, exclaimed, " Gentlemen of the English guards, 
 give us your fire !" yet there was not wanting a touch of 
 the romantic in their meetings. 
 
 Once, when reconnoitring and skirmishing, Scott con- 
 trived, as he thought, to cut oif his daring opponent from 
 the possibility of retreat. In an instant, an American 
 rifle was levelled upon him. Scott struck up the deadly 
 weapon, crying — " Hold ! he is our prisoner." But Har- 
 vey, by a sudden turn, and desperate leap of his horse, 
 broke through the skirmishers, and escaped under a 
 shower of balls,- to reappear in the following campaign, a 
 formidable opponent of his enemy and friend in the fields 
 of Chippewa and Niagara.* 
 
 When Major-General Scott arrived in Maine, it so hap- 
 pened, that he had with him an unanswered private letter 
 from Sir John Harvey, written before the troubles on the 
 borders of New Brunswick, and received at the far South. 
 A reply to that friendly letter brought on at once a semi- 
 official correspondence between the parties, which soon 
 became brisk and public.^ Each established a line of 
 estafettes (couriers) to the frontiers. 
 
 ' After a capture of baggage, on some occasion, in 1813, a splendid coat 
 of a British staff-officer was seen in the hands of an American. On in- 
 quiry, it was learned that it had been taken from a portmanteau marked 
 " Lieut. Col. Harvey," together with the miniature of a beautiful young 
 lady— the brido of that gallant officer, left in England. Scott purchased 
 both, and sent them to him, to whom the likeness, at that distance, was 
 inyaluable. 
 
 ' Sir John Harvey assented to a proposition of General Scott that theii 
 correspondence should be subsequently considered as semi-official. 
 
 15 
 
336 THE SEMI-OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Standing high in the confidence of his own govern 
 ment, and being above pique and petty advantages, all 
 Jrepugnance tow^ards the first step, which was required by 
 the resolution that passed the Maine Legislature, towards 
 preserving the peace of the borders, and the consequent 
 peace of two great nations, on honorable terms, was soon 
 conquered by the governor of New Brunswick. When 
 this was done, Scott felt himself at liberty to appeal to 
 the same generous sentiments on the part of the Maine 
 authorities. 
 
 The correspondence above referred to, and the con- 
 cessions in this correspondence of Sir John Harvey, had 
 occurred previous to the resolutions of the Legislature nar- 
 rated above ; and when that point was gained, the diffi- 
 culty was to procure the pacific action of the governor 
 and Legislature of Maine. 
 
 The governor of Maine became satisfied that he might 
 take the second step, but thought he could not withdraw 
 the troops from the disputed territory without the concur- 
 rence of the Legislature. With his approbation, Scott- 
 had now to urge his suit for peape and compromise with the 
 members of the Legislature. Both politicalparties had been 
 equally excited against New Brunswick and Great Britain 
 about the boundary ; but both were jealous and watchful 
 of each other. Each had, within a few years, gained 
 predominance, by the use of this foreign question. It 
 was natural they should think, that a too ready yielding 
 might be unpopular at home. It was therefore necessary 
 that the members of these political parties in the Legis 
 lature should make a simultaneous movement. Scott had, 
 succeeded in reconciling the leading members of the 
 dominant party in Maine to the measures of their political 
 
THE Goyi;R,j(ORs SIGN scott's memorandum. 337 
 
 friends at Washington ; he had succeeded in obtaining a 
 friendly concession from the Governor of New Bruns- 
 wick ; and now he had the address to reconcile opposing 
 parties in the Legislature. We have been told, and in- 
 deed the newspapers of the day show something of it,* 
 'hat this was a remarkably interesting scene. The details 
 belong chiefly to that private history which public reports 
 do not reach, and which rarely or never are developed till 
 another generation. 
 
 The resolutions of Maine were passed on the 20th in- 
 stant. By that time Scott was prepared with his memo- 
 randum) signed by Sir John Harvey, and coulaining all 
 that was necessary to establish peace. Governor Fair- 
 field immediately a,dded his signature., Copies were duly 
 interchanged by General Scott. Tranquillity was re- 
 stored on the borders, and the subject of peace and wa,r 
 transferred to the national authorities. 
 
 The resolutions of the Maine Legislature were passed 
 on the ZOth of March, and on the 21st instant, General 
 Scott sent his official communication to Sir John Harvey, 
 which was the memorandum of what was assented to by 
 thf Governors of Maine and New Brunswick. Below 
 are the official papers by which the instant danger of war 
 was averted and a foundation laid for future negotiations. 
 
 ' In Niles's Better for April, 1839, will be found many extracts from 
 newspapeiB and other doeuraents, illustrating these facta. The newspapers 
 of Boston, Portland, and Augusta, all contained the detailed history of these 
 •vents. 
 
338 GENKRAL SCOTT S MEMORANDUM. 
 
 From the Augusta (Me.) Journal, March 26, 1839. 
 
 " The War ended. — Important Correspondence. 
 
 " ' Head-Quarters, Eastern Division U. S. Army, ) 
 Augusta, Me., March 21, 1839. \ 
 
 " ' The undersigned, a Major-General in the Army of 
 Jhc United States, being specially charged with maintain- 
 ing the peace and safety of their entire northern and east- 
 ern frontiers, having cause to apprehend a collision of. 
 arms between the proximate forces of New Brunswick 
 and the State of Maine on the disputed territory, which 
 is claimed by both, has the honor, in the sincere desire 
 of the United States to preserve the relations of peace and 
 amity with Great Britain — relations which might be much 
 endangered by such untoward collision — to invite from 
 his Excellency Major-General Sir John Harvey, Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor, &c., &c., a general declaration to this 
 effect . 
 
 " ' That it is not the intention of the Lieutenant-Goternor 
 of Her Britannic Majesty's Province of New Brunswick, 
 under the expected renewal of negotiations between the 
 cabinets of London and Washington on the subject of the 
 said disputed territory, without renewed instructions to 
 that effect from his government, to seek to take military 
 possession of that territory, or to seek, by military force, 
 to expel therefrom the armed civil posse or the troops of 
 Maine. 
 
 " ' Should the undersigned have the honor to be favored 
 with such declaration or assurance, to be by him commu- 
 nicated to his Excellency the Governor of the State of 
 Maine, the undersigned does not in the least doubt that he 
 
ITS STIPULATIONS. 339 
 
 would be immediately and fully authorized by the Gov- 
 ernor of Maine to communicate to his Excellency the 
 Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick a corresponding 
 pacific declaration to this eifect : 
 
 " ' That, in the hope of a speedy and satisfactory settle- 
 ment, by negotiation, between the governments of the 
 United States and Great Britain, of the principal or boun- 
 dary question between the State of Maine and the Prov- 
 ince of New Brunswick, it is not the intention of the 
 Governor of Maine, without renewed instructions from 
 the Legislature of the State, to attempt to disturb by arms 
 the said Province in the possession of the Madavvaska 
 settlements, or to attempt to interrupt the usual commu- 
 nications between that province and Her Majesty's Upper 
 provinces ; and that he is willing, in the mean time, to 
 leave the questions of possession and jurisdiction as they 
 at present stand — that is. Great Britain holding, in fad, 
 possession of a part of the said territory, and the govern- 
 ment of Maine denying her right to such possession ; and 
 the State of Maine holding, in fact, possession of another 
 portion of the same territory, to which her right is denied 
 by Great Britain; 
 
 " ' With this understanding, the Governor of Maine will, 
 without unnecessary delay, withdraw the military force 
 of the state from the said disputed territory — leaving only, 
 under a land agent, a small civil posse, armed or unarmed, 
 to protect the timber recently cut, and to prevent future 
 depredations. 
 
 " ' Reciprocal assurances of the foregoing friendly char- 
 acter having been, throjagh the undersigned, interchanged, 
 all danger of collision between the immediate parlies to 
 the controversy will be at once removed, and time allowed 
 
340 CONCURRENCE OF SIR JOHN HARVEY. 
 
 the United States and Great Britain to settle amicably thb 
 great question of limits. 
 
 " ' The undersigned has much pleasure in renewing to 
 his Excellency Major-General Sir John Harvey, the assu- 
 rances oi" his ancient high consideration and respect. 
 
 " ' WiNFiELD Scott.' 
 
 " To a copy of the foregoing, Sir John Harvey annexed 
 the foltowing — 
 
 " ' The undersigned, Major-General Sir John Harvey, 
 Lieutenant-Governor of Her Britannic Majesty's Province 
 of New Brunswick, having^ received a proposition from 
 Major-General Winfield Scott, of the United States Army, 
 of which ttte foregoing is a copy, hereby, on his part, sig- 
 nifies his concurrence and acquiescence therein. 
 
 " ' Sir John Harvey renews with great pleasure to Major 
 General Scott the assurances of his warmest personal 
 consideration, regard, and respect. 
 
 " ' J. Harvey. 
 
 " ' GoTernment House, Frederiokton, ) 
 
 New Brunswick, March S3, 1839.' 
 
 " To a paper containing the note of General ,Scott, and 
 the acceptance of Sir John Harvey, Governor Fairfield 
 annexed his acceptance in these words — 
 
 " ' Executive Department, ? 
 
 Augusta, Bla'rch 25, 1839. I 
 
 " ' The undersigned, Governor of Maine, in considera- 
 tion of the- foregoing, the exigency for calling out the 
 troops of Maine having ceased, ha^ no hesitation 'in signi- 
 fying his entire acquiescence in the proposition of Major- 
 General Scott. 
 
HIS LETTER TO GENERAL SCOTT. 341 
 
 " • The undersigned has -^he honor to tender to Major- 
 General Scott the assurance of his high respect and 
 esteem. 
 
 " ' John Fairfield.' 
 
 "We learn that General Scott has interchanged the 
 acceptances of the governor and lieutenant-governor, and 
 also' that Goveirnor Fairfield immediately issued orders 
 recalling the troops of Maine, and for organizing the civil 
 posse that is to be continued, for the time, in the disputed 
 territory. The troops in this town will also be immedi- 
 ately discharged." 
 
 These were the of&cial communications ; but Sir John 
 Harvey did not leave it at all in doubt as to whom he 
 relied upon and looked to as the preserver of peace, even 
 if these documents did not disclose that fact. In a letter 
 of even date with the above- written acquiescence, (March 
 23d,) General Harvey' wrote to General Scott thus — 
 
 " My dear General Scott — 
 
 " Upon my return from closing the 
 se.ssion of the Provincial Legislature, I was gratified by 
 the receipt of your very satisfactory communication of the 
 21st instant. My ireliance upon you, my dear general, 
 has led me to give my willing assent to the proposition 
 which you have made yourself the very acceptable means 
 of conveying to me ; and I trust that as far as the province 
 and the state respectively are concerned, an end will be 
 put by it to all border disputes, and a way opened to an 
 
 ' 56th volume Of Niles's Register contains the correspoaJurich 
 
342 SETTLEMENT OF THE QUESTION. 
 
 amicable adjustment of the national question involved.' I 
 shall hope to repeive the confirmation of this arrangement 
 on the part of the State of Maine at as early a period as 
 may be practicable." 
 
 The people of the United States, like Sir John Harvey, 
 looked upon Scott as the Pacificator, who had now 
 made himself as much the friend of peace, as he once had 
 been distinguished as the warrior of battles. 
 
 It was but a short time after this transaction, that 
 another distinguished man, of singular ability and great 
 influence, had the honor of terminating this vexed ques- 
 tion, of fixing, so that it could no longer be mistaken, our 
 northern boundary, from the foot of the Rocky Mountains, 
 by the Lake of the Woods, and down the St. Lawrence, 
 and through this disputed territory to the Atlantic. Met 
 in the same peaceful spirit by the British minister, he 
 was able to close these harassing difSiculties, to quiet the 
 disturbed minds of the people, and in this olive-branch, 
 plucked from the midst of agitated waters, offer to the 
 nations another evidence that a kindlier and better spirit 
 had begun to govern human affairs. He had already Ijeen 
 the strongest actor in forensic combats, the noblest "orator 
 of senate, halls ; and the Ashburton Treaty-, negotiated 
 on the part of the United States by Daniel Webster, re- 
 ceived the speedy confirmation of the Senate.^ 
 
 ' I cannot imagine a more delightful recollection than that of either of 
 these distinguished friends, that he had contributed so much to this " euni- 
 cable adjustment" of so vexed and dangerous a question, between two great 
 nations. 
 
 ' This treaty was called the " Ashburton Treaty," merely as a name. 
 It might aa well have been called the Webster Treaty 
 
DISINTERESTED JUDGMENT OF THE PUBLIC. 343 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 1839 TO 1845. 
 
 Scott presented for the Presidency in 1839.— Whig Convention of 1839. — 
 Scott's Vote. — Scott is made Commander of the Army. — His Letter in 
 answer to Queries. — His Letter to the Dayton Committee in 1842. — 
 His Letter on Slavery in 1843. — His Letters on the question of Peace 
 and War.— Biography defined.— This a Work of History.— Growth and 
 Prospects of the American Nation. 
 
 A LIFE devoted to the public service, and made splen- 
 did by successful achievements, whether civil or military, 
 cannot be without its effect on the public mind of a na- 
 tion. Envy may plaCe its results among the accidents of 
 fortune, or jealousy attribute it to the favor of friends, or 
 calumny assert that it is overrated, and the reality does 
 not sustain the appearance. But it is not so that the 
 common sense of mankind makes up its judgment. It 
 believes that services rendered to the public deserve 
 consideration ; that when well performed they are meri- 
 torious ; and that when to these cond'l-ons there is added 
 an unusual success and a shining career, there is some- 
 thing in all this worthy to receive the applause of men 
 and the highest rewards of piiblic life. Whatever envy, 
 or jealousy, or calumny, may afHrm, the masses of men 
 will ever believe, that there are no effects without causes, 
 and few appearances not sustained by' the reality. Had 
 they not so believed, Washington might have remained 
 forever a surveyor, Franklin a printer, and Roger Sher- 
 
344: SUCCESSFUL RKStllTS OP MANY LABORS. 
 
 man never h^ve been numbered among the most sagacious 
 (Statesmen of the Revolution. The milhonswho make up 
 the body of the people never serek for defects in a public 
 character with the eye of a critic, nor calumniate their 
 acts with the malice of a rival. Public men are the 
 property of their country. "The success of their achieve- 
 ments is the success of the country. The glory they 
 have won is a common heritage. It is not, therefore, 
 strange, that when Scott had added to the fame of a war- 
 rior the glory of a peacemaker ; that when he /had sought 
 by acts of charity and kindness towards the Cherokees, 
 to efface some little of that hard fate by which they had 
 been driven froni their homes ; that when he had exhibit- 
 ed his abilities as a writer ; when, in fact, repeated suc- 
 cess had crowned repeated labors ; it is not strange that 
 the people should have looked upon him as one of those 
 from whom they .might select a President in cabinets not 
 Jess than a general among soldiers. Nor was this feeling 
 diminished by the fact that the venerated Constitution of 
 our country had made the President the commander of 
 the army, not less than the chief magistrate among citi- 
 zens — one who was to bear the sword not less than the 
 mace. 
 
 Accordingly, in 1839, Scott was looked upon as one of 
 those who probably would, or might be, presented as a 
 candidate for the presidency. Not deprived by offices 
 or pubhc service, of ,the right possessed by every citizen 
 to his own political opinions, and his own views of public 
 policy, he had nevertheless never volunteered himself as 
 a partisan. He had not mingled in public discussions, 
 and had served as much for those who differed from, as 
 for those who agreed with him in opinion. Parties had 
 
POLITICAL OPINIONS OF GENERAL SCOTT.. 345 
 
 been organized under other leaders. He meddled not 
 with these organizations. Hence he was made a can- 
 didate by the spontaneous action of the people. They 
 who took part in his favor were patriotic citizens, who 
 remembered his services in peace not less than those in 
 war. • 
 
 Fully informed on all the great questions which had 
 divided parties, and feeling in them the warm interest of 
 a patriotic citizen, that interest had been frequently ex- 
 pressed, and it was well known that his opinions harmon- 
 ized with the principles and policy of the Whigs. When 
 presented by his friends as one of the candidates of the 
 Whig Convention of 1839, it was, however, not so much 
 by his consent as by his sufferance. He believed Mr. 
 Clay the proper Whig candidate and leader, and after 
 him, General Harrison. He therefore addressed no 
 less than five letters to-as many members of the Conven 
 tion, (all to be shown,) urging that, if there appeared any 
 prospect of success before the people, Mr. Clay might 
 be selected, and if not. General Harrison. He further 
 added, that he wished himself not to be thought of as a 
 candidate, if the nomination of either of the others prom- 
 ised success. 
 
 The Convention met on the 4th of December, 1839, at 
 Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania, and must be admitted by all 
 who are acquainted with its members to have been one of 
 the ablest and most important political bodies ever as- 
 sembled in this country.' 
 
 ' On the ballot preceding the last, Scott received the votes of New 
 York, 42 ; Nevir Jersey, 6 ; Connecticut, 6 ; Vermont, 5 ; Michigan, 3 • 
 making in all 63. The total number of votes given was 3S4. 
 
346 SCOTT APPOINTED COMMANDER OF THE ARMY. 
 
 The result of the nomination, and the pohtical events 
 which immediately followed, are well known to all the 
 people of the United States. 
 
 General Harrison received the nomination. The friends 
 of General Scott as well as those of Mr. Clay were among 
 the foremost and ablest of those who yielded to that nomi- 
 nation their hearty concurrence,, and gave to its support 
 their best political services. In an election which called 
 forth nearly every voter in the Union, General Harrison 
 was chosen by a popular majority as unprecedented as it 
 was remarkable in the strength and fervor of the popular 
 feeling with which it was accompanied. The five states 
 which had originally voted for General Scott in the Con- 
 vention, gave their entire vote, by great majorities, to 
 General Harrison. 
 
 The President elect was inaugurated, but had scarcely 
 more than chosen his cabinet and entered on the duties 
 of his office, when Death, the conqueror of conquerors, 
 laid him beyond th,e means of action or the reach of ap- 
 plause. The traveller who now descends the Ohio, and 
 looks upon the green turf which covers his buried re- 
 mains, will be reminded at. once of the brevity of life, the 
 instability of prosperity, and the uncertain tenure of politi- 
 cal power ! ^ 
 
 A few months after this event, in consequence of the 
 death of Major-General Macomb, which occurred June 
 35th, 1841, General Scott was called to the command of 
 the entire army. This duty, in ordinary times, requires 
 his presence' three-fourths of the year at the seat of gov 
 ernment. A part of each year is spent in the duties of 
 inspection, visiting the remote military posts, and ac- 
 quainting himself personally with the wants and discipline 
 
HIS DUTIES IN ALJ, PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. 347 
 
 of the army. It is thus that, in^eace as in war, his duties 
 call him to all parts of the Union, make him acquainted 
 with large masses of the people, and with the various 
 districts and interests of the country. The summer resi- 
 dence of his family is at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, 
 where, and in the city of New York, he resided for the 
 greater part of the time from 1817 to 1840; and where 
 yet are centred those pleasing associations which encircle 
 the expressive word — home. 
 
 In less than a year after the death of General Harrison, 
 many of the Whigs, as well as members of other parties,' 
 began to look around for a candidate at the election of 
 1844. Among those who might be selected, General 
 Scott stood prominent, as he had done in 1839. There 
 were many citizens, eminent for public service, for great 
 abilities, and enlightened patriotism, any one of whom 
 might with great propriety have been chosen as a candidate 
 for the highest honors of the republic. But practically the 
 choice was confined to but. very few. General Scott was 
 one of these, and as there was no small share of popular 
 feeling in his favor, there were very many letters addressed 
 to him, as there are to all who are supposed to be within the 
 least probability of choice, as to what his opinions were 
 on various subjects. He found it inconvenient, if not im- 
 possible, to answer these ; and hence adopted the form of 
 a circular, as the best mode of reply to these various in- 
 terrogatories. The circular embodied the opinions of 
 General Scott long entertained and frequently expressed. 
 
 ' Among those who firet proposed General Scott for the presidency, 
 were many of the original friends of General Jackson. Indeed, men of all 
 parties were more or less his friends in 1839. 
 
348 POWERS AND RIGHTS OF THE SUPREME COURT. 
 
 It has been so widfely published, and the opinions are so 
 generally known, that we extract only what relates to the 
 Supreme Court of the United States. 
 
 "The Judiciary. From an early and long-continued 
 Study of elementary law, ray mind has ever been imbued 
 with deep reverence for the bench, state and federal, an 
 independent department in our systems of government, 
 and which, holding neither the purse to corrupt, nor the 
 sword of power to terrify, addresses itself only with the 
 mild force of persuasive reason to the intelligence and 
 virtue of the whole community. By the federal consti- 
 tution every possible safeguard is provided to shield its 
 judiciary against fleeting prejudice, political rancor,' and 
 party dependence, to which legislators and the executive 
 are unavoidably, directly, and constantly exposed. Hence, 
 to the ' one sfipreme court' is wisely extended (by ' appel- 
 late jurisdiction') ' all cases in law and equity arising under 
 this constitution, the laws of the United States, and trea- 
 ties made, or which shall be made, under their authority.' 
 
 " Looking to this express provision, I have always 
 hel4, that, when a doubtful question, arising under either 
 the constitution itself, the supreme law of the land ; under 
 ah act of .Congress, or a treaty has once been solemnly 
 adjudicated, by that court, the principle of the decision 
 ought to be taken by all, as definitively settled, unless, in- 
 deed, it be upon a rehearing before the same tribunal. 
 This appears to me too clear for disputation ; for the 
 court is not only declared to be supreme, and hence there 
 can be no bench beyond ; but to Congress is only given 
 the power to constitute ' inferior^ tribunals. By appeals 
 to the Supreme Court a. settlement was intended to be 
 reached, and anarchy, through a long distraction of the 
 
THE MANLY VIRTUE OF FRANKNESS. 349 
 
 public mind, on great questions of legislative and execu- 
 tive power, thus rendered impossible. Practically, there- 
 fore, for the people, and especially their functionaries, to 
 deny, to disturb, or impugn principles thus constitution- 
 ally established, strikes me as of evil example, if not of a 
 direct revolutionary tendency, except, indeed, in the case 
 of a judicial decision enlarging power and against liberty ; 
 and any dangerous error of this sort can always be easily 
 corrected (and should only be corrected) by an amend- 
 ment of the constitution, in one of the modes prescribed 
 by that instrument itself, the organic law of the states and 
 the people. Misconstructions of law, other than the con- 
 stitution, are yet more readily corrected by aniendatory or 
 declaratory acts of Congress." 
 
 This letter was looked upon by some as rather too 
 frank ; but it should be remembered that frankness in a 
 republican country is a virtue. A cautious silence, or a 
 reply in double meanings, may be prudence, but it is the 
 prudence of a courtier, rather than the honesty of a patriot 
 Whoever replies to questions of his political life and 
 opinions, must speak personally ; and whoever replies to 
 them honestly, must speak frankly. In an hour of the 
 deepest political darkness to his political friends, Scott 
 hesitated not to answer openly and fairly the que.stions 
 proposed to him on long-agitated subjects of public policy. 
 
 In the summer of 1842 he was nominated by a full 
 state convention in Pennsylvania, and was supported by 
 numerous friends elsewhere. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, however, he vnrote the following let- 
 ter to a committee in Dayton, Ohio, which was intended, and 
 was so understood, to withdraw h.'s name from the field of 
 election, in deference to th superior claims ot Mr. Clay. 
 
350 scott's letter to the ohio ccmmittee. 
 
 From the Dayton (Ohio) Journal. 
 
 " The press of other matter from the 29th to the day 
 of election prevented the pubhcation of the letters re- 
 ceived from many distinguished Whigs in reply to the in- 
 vitations given them to attend the barbecue. After the elec- 
 tion they were considered rather out of season. Among 
 the number, however, is one from General Scott, which 
 is of general interest, and it is here given : 
 
 '.' ' Detroit, September 22, 1842. 
 
 " ' Gentlemen — 
 "■• !^ " ' Your letter of the 7th instant, addressed to me 
 at Washington, has followed me to this distant region. 
 
 " ' With your invitation requesting my presence at the 
 entertainment about to'be given by the Whigs of Ohio to 
 the Whigs of Keiitucky, who in 1840 so magnanimously 
 postponed their first choice for the Presidency, I am 
 highly honored ; and, if it. were compatible with my posi- 
 tion as a Federal officer, I should certainly be in the 
 midst of you on the interesting occasion. 
 
 " ' With one candidate for the Presidency, and the best 
 interests of the country at heart, it ought not to be doubt- 
 ed that the Whigs, appealing to the virtue and inteUigence 
 of the people, will be as successful in 1844 as they were 
 in 1840. Whether that one candidate be, as all indica- 
 tions seem to determine, Kentucky's illustrious . son, or 
 any of hundreds of his followers, my prayers for a -Whig 
 triurftph shall be ardent and unceasing. 
 
 '"I have the honor to remain; gentlemen, with high 
 consideration, your friend and fellow-citizen, 
 
 " ' WiNFIELD ScOTT. 
 " ' Messrs. J. H. Crane, S. Forrer, H. G. Phillips, K. GS-een, D. A. 
 Haynes, and Charles Anderson, Corresponding Committee, Dayton, O.' " 
 
HIS LETTER ON THE, SVBJEOT OF SLAVERY. 351 
 
 Among the subjects of political and social interest in 
 the United States, few have been niore' discussed, or with 
 more various and opposite opinions, than that of domestic 
 slavery. The complex nature of an association of states, 
 each of which held certain political rights exclusively its 
 own, and yet all of which were bound by a common na- 
 tional constitution, a part of which also held slaves' and a 
 part of which none, made' the subject more difficult to 
 handle properly, and,, the p'roblam presented -to political 
 philosophy, by the existent fact of acknowledg6tl slave 
 property, more diificult of solutipn. The civil, rights 
 which law concedes and gUarant-ies must be maintained ; 
 while, on the other hand; moup country and our age, full 
 scope must be given to the utterance of opinions, the pro- 
 gress of legislation, and the development of a Christian 
 civilization. 
 
 General Spott owhed no slaves*,' btit he was educated 
 in a community where slavery existed, and where intelli- 
 gent men were familiar with all the practical bearings of 
 this profound and difficult subject. A gentleman of Vir- 
 ginia addressed him a letter of inquiry, to which he replied 
 in the following expression of his opinions : 
 
 General Scotfs Letter on the Subject of Slavery. 
 
 " Washington, February 9, 1843. 
 
 "Dear Sir— 
 
 ■I have been waiting for an evening's leis- 
 ure to answer your letter before me, and, after an unrea- 
 sonable delay, am at last obhged to reply in the midst of 
 official occupations. 
 
 " That I ever have been named in connection with the 
 23 
 
352 ORIGIN OF SCOTt's OPINIO>fS ON SLAVERY 
 
 Presidency of the United States, has' not, I can assure 
 you, the son of an ancient neighbor and friend, been by 
 any contrivance or desire of mine ; and certainly I shall 
 never be in the field for that high office unless placed 
 there hy a regular nomination. Not, then, being a candi- 
 date, and seeing no near prospect of being made one, I 
 ought, perhaps, to decline troubling you or others ^yith 
 ray humble opinions on great principles of state rights and 
 federal administration ;- b it as I cannot plead ignorance 
 of the partiality of a few friends, in several parts of the 
 Uiiion, who may, by possibility, in a certain event, suc- 
 ceed in bringing me within the field from which a Whig 
 candidate is to be selected, I prefer to err on the side of 
 frankness and candor, rather than, by silence, to allow 
 any stranger unwittingly to commit himself to my sup- 
 port. * 
 
 " Your inquiries open the whole question of domestic 
 slavery, which has, in different forms, for a number of 
 years, agitated Congress and the country. 
 
 " Premising that you are the first person who has inter- 
 rogated me on the subject, I give you the basis of what 
 would be my reply in greater detail, if time allowed and 
 the contingency alluded to above were less remote. 
 
 " In boyhood, at William and Mary College, and in 
 common with most, if not all, my companions, I became 
 deeply impressed with the views given by Mr. Jefferson, 
 in his ' Notes on Virginia,' and by Judge Tucker, in the 
 Appendix to his edition of Blackstone's Commentaries, in 
 favor of a gradual emancipation of slaves. That Appen- 
 dix I have not seen in thirty odd years, and, in the same 
 period, have read scarcely any thing On the subject ; but 
 my early impressions are fresh and unchanged. Hence, 
 
POWERS OF CONGRESS ON THIS QUESTION. 353 
 
 if I had had the honor of a seat in the Virginia Legislature 
 in the winter of 1831-2, when a bill was brought forward 
 to carry out those views, I should certainly have given it 
 my hearty support. 
 
 " I suppose I scarcely need say that, in my opinion, 
 Congress has no color of authority, under the Constitu- 
 tion, for touching the relation of master and slave within 
 a state. 
 
 " I hold the opposite opiliion in respect to the District 
 of Columbia. Here, with the consent of the owners, or 
 on the payment of 'just compensation,' Congress may 
 legislate at its discretion. But my conviction is equally 
 strong that, unless it be step by step with the Legislatures 
 of Virginia and Maryland, it would be dangerous to both 
 races in those states to touch the relation between master 
 and slave in" this Djjgtrict. 
 
 " I have from the first been of opinion that Congress^ 
 vyas bound by the Constitution to receive, to refer, and to 
 rfeport upon petitions relating to domestic slavery as in 
 the case of all other petitions ; but I have not failed to 
 see and to regret the unavoidable irritation which the 
 former have produced in the Southern States, with the 
 ' consequent peril to the two colors, whereby the adoption 
 of any plan of emancipation has everywhere among us 
 been greatly retarded. 
 
 " I own, myself, no slave ; but never have attached 
 blame to masters for not ' liberating their slaves — well 
 knowing that liberation, without the means of sending 
 them in comfort to some position favorable to ' the pur- 
 suit of happiness,' would, in most cases, be highly inju- 
 rious to all around, as well as to the manumitted families 
 themselves — tmless the operation were general and under 
 
354 THE COMPENSATING BENEFIT. 
 
 the auspices of prudent legislation. But I am persuaded 
 that it is a high moral obligation of masters and slave- 
 holding states to employ all means, not incompatible with 
 the safety of both colors, to meliorate slavery even to ex- 
 termination. 
 
 " It is gratifying to know that general melioration has 
 been great, and is still progressive, notwithstanding the 
 disturbing causes alluded to above. The more direct ■ 
 process of emancipation may, no doubt, be earlier com- 
 menced" and quickened in some communities than in 
 others. Each, I do not question, has the right to judge 
 for itself, both as to time and means, and I consider inter- 
 ference or aid from without, except on invitation from 
 authority within, to be as hurtful to the sure progress of 
 melioration, as it may be fatal to the lives of vast multi- 
 tudes of all ages, sexes, and colors. The work of libera- 
 tion cannot he forced without such horrid results^ Chris- 
 tian philanthropy is ever mild and considerate. Hence 
 all violence ought to be deprecated by the friends of re- 
 Ugion and humanity. Their persuasions cannot fail at the 
 right time to free the master from the slave, and the slave 
 from the master ; perhaps before the latter shall have 
 found out and acknowledged that the relation between the 
 parties had long been mutually prejudicial to their worldly 
 interests. 
 
 " There is no evil without, in the order of Providence, 
 some compensating benefit. The bleeding African was 
 torn from his savage home by his ferocious neighbors, 
 sold into slavery, and cast upon this continent. Here, in 
 the mild South, the race has wonderfully multiplied, com- 
 pared with any thing ever known in barbarous life. Thes 
 descen4ants of a few thousands have become many mil- 
 
THE SMOOTH PATH OF CHARITY 35S 
 
 lions ; and all, from the first, made acquainted with the 
 arts of civilization, and, above all, brought under the light 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 "From the promise made to Abraham, some tvtro thou- 
 sand years had elapsed before the advent of our. Saviour, 
 and the Israelites, the chosen people of God, were, for 
 vrise purposes, suffered to remain in bondage longer than 
 Africans have "been on our shore. This race has already 
 experienced the resulting compensations alluded to ; and, 
 as the white missionary has never been able to penetrate 
 the dark regions of Africa, or to establish himself in its 
 interior, it may be within the scheme of Providence that 
 the great work, of spreading the Gospel over that vast 
 continent, with all the arts and comforts of civilization,' is 
 to be finally accomplished by the black man restored from 
 American bondage, A foothold there has already been 
 gained for him, and in such a scheme centuries are but 
 as seconds to Him who moves worlds as man moves a 
 finger. 
 
 " I do but suggest the remedies and consolations of 
 slavery, to inspire patience, hope, and charity on all sides 
 The mighty subject calls for the exercise of all mah's 
 wisdom and virtue, and these may hot sufiiee without aid 
 froin a higher source. 
 
 " It is in the foregoing manner, my dear sir, that I have 
 long been in the habit, in conversation, of expressing my- 
 self, all over our common country, on the question of 
 negro slavery, and I must say that I have found but very 
 few persons to differ with me, however opposite their 
 geographical positions. 
 
 " Such are the views or opinions which you seek. I 
 cannot suppress or mutilate them, although now liable to 
 
356 SCOTT's LETTEll TO THE PEACE SOCIETY. 
 
 be more generally known. Do with them what you 
 please. I neither court nor shun publicity. 
 
 " I remain, very truly, yours, 
 
 "WiNFIELD ScOTT. 
 " T. p. Atkinson, Esq., Danville, Virginia." 
 
 For many years a numerous body of religious and phi 
 lanthropic individuals in the United States have believed 
 and inculcated, that peace was the best condition of hu- 
 man society, and that wars were injurious and ought to 
 be discouraged. The Society of Friends were foremost 
 in this, as they have been in several other noble and ex- 
 cellent principles and practices. Many members of other 
 religious societies adopted the same ideas, and have been 
 consistent and firm in their endeavors to impress them on 
 the public mind. 
 
 General Scott, though a soldier by profession, and cer- 
 tainly one of no little renown, had nevertheless, at three 
 several and remarkable epochs, been not only the friend 
 of peace, but had exerted himself successfully in preserv- 
 ing it. 
 
 About a year since, the secretaty of the General Peace 
 Society addressed to General Scott a letter on the same 
 subject, of his answer to which the following is a copy — 
 
 , " Washington, March 24th, 1845. 
 
 " I have received your letter of the 21 st instant, accom- 
 panied by certain Proceedings of the General Peace Con- 
 vention. 
 
 " My participation in war, as well as endeavors on sev- 
 eral occasions to preserve peace, without sacrificing the 
 
HIS ARTICLE ^N A PEACE ALBUM. 357 
 
 honor and the interests of my country, are matters of pub- 
 lic history. These antecedents, together with my senti- 
 ments on the abstract question of peace and war, inserted a 
 year ago in a Peace Album, and since published, I lejim, 
 in several journals, might be offered as a sufficient reply 
 to your communication. 
 
 "I have always maintained the moral right to wage a 
 just and necessary war, and, consequently, the wisdom 
 and humanity, as applicable to the United Sta,tes, in the 
 present state of the world, of defensive preparations. If the 
 principal nations of the earth liable to come in conflict 
 with us in our natural growth and just pursuits, can be 
 induced to disarm, I should be happy to see the United 
 States follow the example. But without a general agree- 
 ment to that effect, and a strong probability that it would 
 be carried out in good faith by others, I am wholly op- 
 posed to giving up home preparation, and the natural and 
 "Christian right of self-defence. 
 
 " The published sentiments alluded to may not have 
 fallen under your observation. I enclose a copy. 
 " I remain respectfully, 
 
 " Your most obedient servant, 
 
 " WiNFIELD ScOTT. 
 " J. C. Beckwith, Esq., Corresponding Secretary." 
 
 [Written in a Peace Album.] 
 
 " Peace and War. 
 
 " If war be the natural state of savage tribes, peace is 
 the first want of every civilized community. War no 
 doubt is, under any circumstances, a great calamity ; yet 
 
358 RESPONSIBILITY OF GOVERNORS. 
 
 submission to outrage would often be a greater calamity. 
 Of the two parties to any war, one, at least, must heja 
 the wiong^ — not unfrequentiy both. An error jn such an 
 issue is, on the part of chief magistrates, ministers of 
 state, and legislators having a voice in the quest'oii; a 
 crime of the greatest magnitude. The slaying of an indi- 
 vidual by an individual is, in comparative guilt, but a 
 drop of blood. Hence the highest moral obligation to 
 treat national differences with temper, justice, and fair- 
 ness ; always to see that the cause of war is not only 
 just but sufficient ; to be sure that we do not cmet our 
 neighbor's lands, ' nor any thing that is his ;' that we are 
 as ready to give as to demand explanation, apology, in- 
 demnity;., in short, we should especially remember,- ' all 
 things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, 
 do ye even so to them.' This divine precept is of uni- 
 versal obligation : it is as applicable to rulers, in their 
 transactions with other nations, as to private individuals in 
 tkdir daily intercourse with each other. Power is in- 
 trusted by ' the Author of peace and lover of concord,' to 
 do good and to avoid evil. Such, clearly, is the revealed 
 will of God. 
 
 " WiNFiELD Scott. 
 
 « Washington, April 26, 1844." 
 
SCOTT ORDERED TO MEXICO. 359 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 1846, 1847. 
 
 (General Scott ordered to Mexico in May, 1846. — Correspondence with 
 the Secretary of War. — Reasons why he did not go. — Again ordered in 
 November. — Letter of the Secretary of War. — Departs for the Brazos. 
 — Siege and Capture of Vera Cruz. — March of the Aiany into the In- 
 terior. — Battle of Cerro Gordo. — Army enters Fuebla. 
 
 When the information reached Washington,- in May, 
 1846, that the Mexican forces had crossed the Rio Grande, 
 the President of the United States immediately commu- 
 nicated to General Scott his intention of sending him to 
 the army to assume the chief command. General Taylor 
 had been placed in command of the troops, then in the 
 presence of the enemy, on the recommendation of Gen- 
 eral Scott, who well knew that a proper occasion only 
 .was necessary for a development of those brilliant quali- 
 ties of soldiership which have since rendered the name of 
 Taylor so illustrious. 
 
 Not wishing to assume the immediate command of the 
 
 army, and thus snatch from his old companion in arms 
 
 the glory he was about to acquire ; nor willing, at , the 
 
 same time, to decline a service corresponding to his rank, 
 
 he suggested to the President,. through the Secretary of 
 
 War, that he be permitted during the summer months to 
 
 collect and drill the troops destined for service in Mexico, 
 
 -—to collect the materiel of the army, and, after the wel 
 
 16 
 
SCOTT ORDERED TO MEXICO. 361 
 
 season on the Rio Grande had passed, to join General 
 Taylor with such additional forces as would secure with 
 certainty the objects of the campaign, and at the same 
 time respect the well-established military usage, " that a 
 junior of distinguished merit ought to be superseded by a 
 senior in rank, only by the addition of large reinforce- 
 ments." The spirit in which- these suggestions were re- 
 ceived by the President and Secretary of War, evinced a 
 want of confidence in the plans proposed by General 
 Scott ; and a fear lest the political effect of the measure 
 might prove injurious to the administration, was doubt- 
 less the main reason which caused the order to be coun- 
 termanded. 
 
 Smarting under a rebuke so little deserved, General 
 Scott addressed a letter to the President, recapitulating 
 the difficulties that lay in the way of inimediate action 
 on the Rio Grande, stated anew his plans for prosecuting 
 the war, and concluded by reminding the President, that 
 no general, exercising the difficult function of a distant 
 command, could feel secure without the support and con- 
 fidence of his government at home. He said, in terms, 
 what General Taylor has so painfully reahzed, " that the 
 enemy in front is not half so much to be feared as an at- 
 tack from the rear." 
 
 The views of General Scott, set forth in. this corre- 
 spondence, have been realized by the events that have 
 since transpired ; and' what seemed at the time to be but 
 vague opinion has now become a matter of history. Af- 
 ter the correspondence with the War Department reached 
 the banks of the Rio Grande,, officers near General Tay- 
 lor, and known to be his personal friends, addressed letters 
 to the friends of General Scott, expressing the kindest 
 
362 SeOTT ORDERED TO MEXICO. 
 
 feelings on the part of General Taylor, and the hope that 
 the general might yet assume the command of the army. 
 Being satisfied that his presence on the Rio Grande would 
 not be unacceptable to General Taylor, he addressed a 
 letter to the Secretary of War, early in September, re- 
 questing to be assigned to that command, to which request 
 he received a rude and flat denial. , 
 
 About this time, as subsequently appeared by the state- 
 ments of Senator Benton, the President decided to create 
 the ofiice of lieutenant-general, and thus supersede not 
 only the scar-marked hero of Chippewa and Niagara, but 
 also to tear the fresh laurels of Palo Alto and Resaca de 
 la Palma from the brow of the gallant Taylor. After 
 this plan had been finally arranged, the President sent for 
 General Scott, and confided to him the command of the 
 army in Mexico, and gave to him the most solemn assu- 
 rance of his confidence and support. The following 
 order was from the Secretary of War : — 
 
 " War DErARTMENT, Washington, 
 November 23d, 1846. 
 
 i 
 
 ' Sir — The President, several days since, communicated 
 in person to you his orders to repair to Mexico, to take 
 the command of the forces there assembled, and particu- 
 larly to organize and set on foot an expedition to operate 
 on the Gulf coast, if, on arriving at the theatre of action, 
 yOu shall deem it to be practicable. It is not proposed. 
 lO control your operations by definite and positive inslruc- 
 lions, but you are left to prosecute them as your judg 
 ment, under a full view of all the circumstances, shall 
 dictate. The work is before you, and the means pro- 
 dded, or to be provided, for -accomplishing it, are com- 
 
, SCOTT ORDERED TO MEXICO. .363 
 
 Jftitted to you, in the full confidence that you will use 
 them to the best advantage. 
 
 " The objects wkich it is desirable to obtain have been 
 indicated, and it is hoped that you will have the requisite 
 force to acconaplish themr 
 
 " Of this you must be the judge, when preparations 
 are made, and the time for action arrived. 
 " Very respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant 
 W. 'L. Maecy, 
 "General Winfield Scott." Secretary of War." 
 
 General Scott immediately made all the arrangements 
 to carry the plan into full effect. The requisite number 
 of transports were to be provided, surf-boats for the land- 
 ing of the troops constructed, a train of siege ordnance 
 Was to be collected and sent forward, and ten new regi- 
 ments were to be added to the line of the army, at the- 
 earliest possible moment after the meeting of Congress. 
 In a very few days all the preliminary arrangements were 
 completed, and General Scott left Washington on the 24th 
 November, in the full belief that he enjoyed the confidence 
 of the government, and that the conduct of the war, under 
 general instructions, had been entirely confided to his dis- 
 cretion and judgment. 
 
 Immediately on the opening of Congress the project of 
 creating a higher military grade was brought forward, and 
 the friends of Generals Scott and Taylor saw with alarm 
 that a plan was maturing by which they were both to be 
 degraded to subordinate stations, and the entire directior 
 of affairs in Mexico confided to other and untried hands 
 The friends of General Scott now saw thai his appreheo 
 
364 SCOTT ORDERED TO MEXICO. 
 
 sions of an attack " from the rear," and wliicli bad been 
 frankly expressed in liis former letters, were indeed but 
 too well founded ; and that notwithstanding ihe assurance 
 given on his departure from Washington for the army, of 
 the full and cordial support of the government, the plan of 
 wrestingfrom him the command, at the earliest possible 
 day, was then matured, and ready for speedy execution. 
 In view of all the circumstances, it is, perhaps, not un- ^ 
 charitable to suppose that he was selected for that com- 
 mand, for the purpose of stirring up a spirit of rivalry 
 between his friends and those of General Taylor, and 
 thus affording a plausible pretext for superseding them ' 
 both. 
 
 On the 30th of November General Scott sailed from 
 New York, i-n the fullest confidence that the government 
 was acting in good fa'ith, and that every means would be 
 furnished him for the prosecution of the war. Little did 
 he then suppose, that before he could reach the theatre 
 of active operations the government which had selected 
 and sent him, would attempt to degrade him in the eyes 
 of the world, by declaring, in effect, that he was unfit 
 for the very place to which he had been so recently^ 
 appointed. 
 
 With the generous confidence of a brave soldier, who 
 had often met the enemy in deadly conflict, he received 
 through the President the plighted faith of the nation. that 
 all was right. The President saw him depart in the 
 fulness of this confidence, and yet before he reached the 
 army, the proposition to supersede him was already there.. 
 Yes, the very army into which he was to breathe the 
 inspiration of hope — which he was to train and prepare 
 ff r the deadly conflicts that awaited them — was informed, 
 
SCOTT REACHES THE ARMY'. 365 
 
 in advance, that the President had no confidence m their 
 commander-in-chief. 
 
 General Scott reached the Rio Grande about the first 
 of January. Early in the month it became evident that 
 some of the principal arrangements for the attack on Vera 
 Cruz were not likely to be carried out by the government. 
 The bill for raising the ten additional regiments was lost 
 sight of by the administration, in the desire to carry their 
 favorite project of placing a political partisan at the head 
 of the army ; and this bill, which ought to have been 
 passed in the first week of the session, was not finally 
 disposed of till a day or two before the adjournment. 
 
 What was the condition of things in Mexico at this 
 critical period ] 
 
 Santa Anna, with a force of twenty-two thousand men, 
 was at San Louis Potosi, a fortified city containing sixty 
 thousand inhabitants, and about equally distant from 
 Monterey, Vera Cruz, and Mexico. 
 
 General Taylor was in the vicinity of Monterey, in the 
 command of a force of about eighteen thousand men, 
 occupying the long line from Saltillo to Camargo, and 
 thence to the mouth of the Rio Grande, where General 
 Scott had just arrived with a small force, for the purpose 
 of attacking Vera Cruz as soon as possible. He well 
 knevv that the vomito makes its appearance there in the 
 early spring, and that delay would be fatal. The trans- 
 ports, stores, and munitions, were beginning to arrive. 
 What was to be done 1 Was the expedition against Vera 
 Cruz to be abandoned, or was General Scott to go for- 
 ward and do the best he could under circumstances so 
 discouraging? He adopted the latter alternative. He 
 reviewed all the disposable forces within his command, 
 
868 SCOTT DIVIDES HIS FORCES. 
 
 and carefully weighed chances and probabilities. He 
 forwarded to General Taylor a firil plan of his proposed 
 operations.' By the capture and assassination of Lieuten- 
 ant Ritchie, the bearer of these dispatches, the plans were 
 fully disclosed to Santa Anna, and he became apprized 
 that Vera Cruz was to be the main point of attack. At 
 Vera Cruz, and its immediate vicinity, there were six or 
 seven thousand fnen, and a much larger number could be 
 collected from the adjoining country on a short notice. 
 Would Santa Anna break up his camp at San Louis 
 Potosi, and march on Vera Cruz — fill the city and castle 
 with his best troops, and oppose the landing of General 
 Scott with a selected army of forty thousand men ? Or, 
 was he likely to abandon the town and castle to their fate, 
 thus leaving open the road to Mexico, and march with his 
 whole force against General Taylor, over a desert of 150 
 miles, with a certainty of having to encounter his enemy 
 either in the defiles of the mountains or from behind the 
 impregnable battlements of Monterey ? ' 
 
 Under such circumstances it became the duty of Gen- 
 eral Scott so to divide the forces of the Rio Grande as 
 would be most likely to meet any contingency that might 
 arise. He collected the regular infantry — for these might 
 be necessary to carry with the bayonet the fortified city 
 and castle of Vera Cruz. He left within the limits of 
 General Taylor's command, about ten thousand volun- 
 teers and several companies of the best artillery of the 
 regular army. These General Taylor might have con- 
 centrated at .Monterey, and General Scott suggested to 
 him, in his instructions, to do so, if it became necessary. 
 With this comparatively small force. General Taylor not 
 only maintained all the posts within his command, but 
 
SIEGE OP VERA CRUZ. obl 
 
 with the one-lialf of it achieved the^memorable victory of 
 Buena Vista. 
 
 General Scott assigned tw^elve thousand men to the- 
 expedition against Vera Cruz, and had Santa Anna con- 
 centrated his forces at that point, the disparity of numbers 
 would have been much greater than at Buena Vista. These 
 remarks are not made for the purpose of comparing the 
 skill, or the conduct, or the claims to public gratitude of the 
 two distinguished generals who have so well fulfilled every 
 trust reposed in them by their country ; but simply to show 
 that in the disposition of the forces made by Gen. Scolt, 
 he did not take a larger portion for his own command 
 than the interests of the service imperatively demanded. 
 
 The troops which v^Tere recalled from the upper Rio 
 Grande halted for a few days at the mouth of the river, 
 and were then taken on board transports, and joined others 
 who had made their rendezvous at the isknd of Lobos, 
 about 125 miles west and north of the city of Vera Cruz. 
 The troops being thus collected, the whole armament 
 proceeded to Antonia Lizardo. 
 
 On the morning of the 7th of March, General Scott, in 
 a steamer, with Commodore Connor, reconnoitred the city, 
 for the purpose of selecting the best landing-place for the 
 army. The spot selected was the shore west of the island 
 of Sacrificios. The anchorage was too narrow for a large 
 number of vessels, and on the morning of the 9th of 
 March the troops were removed from the transports to 
 the ships of war. The fleet then set sail— General Scott 
 in the steamship Massachusetts, leading the van. As he 
 passed through the squadron, his tall form, conspicuous 
 on the deck, attracted the eyes of soldier and of sailor ; a 
 cheer burst spontaneously forth, and from vessel to vessej 
 
 24 
 
%^- r A^ CASTLE 
 
 m^ 
 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 2^ ^,<f^^j^^J<^ 
 
 ns 
 
 22 
 
 LavaiLdera, Shoalll; 
 32 ^-^icW 
 
 "^^^B^^^J^^g, 
 
 
 YIP»E A. CEIU^ 
 
LANDING OF THE TROOPS. 369 
 
 was echoed, and answered through the line. The voices 
 of veterans, and of nevv recruits-^of those who had been 
 victorious at Monterey, and of those who hoped for vic- 
 tories in the future — were mingled in loud acclamation 
 for him, whose character inspired confidence, and whose 
 actions Were already embodied in the glorious history of 
 their country ! 
 
 Near. Sacrificios the landing commenced. It must be 
 observed at this point, that every man expected to be met 
 at the landing ; for such, in military judgment, should 
 have been the course of the enemy, and such would have 
 been the case had the landing been made at the point 
 where the enemy expected it, and where his forces were 
 collected. Preparations were therefore made for any 
 possible contingency. Two steamers and five gunboats, 
 arranged in line, covered the landing. Five thousand five 
 hundred troops embarked in sixty-seven surf-boats. The 
 signal-gun was fired. The 'seamen bent to their oars, 
 and in a magnificent semicircle the boats swept rapidly 
 towards the beach. Every man is anxious to be first. 
 They plunge into the water before they re^ch the shore ! 
 they rush through the sand-hills ! and with loud shouts 
 they press fbrward ! They wave the flag of their country 
 in the land of the Aztecs ! Where are their comi4des ? 
 They also soon embark — they hurry through the water — 
 they land in safety — they rejoin their companions— they 
 return shout for shout,*to friends in the vessels and friends 
 on shore. Safely, but hurriedly they then pass through 
 this-exciting crisis. 
 
 In the meanwhile, the sun shines down in the brilliance 
 of his light, the waters are but just ruffled by a breeze, 
 while the deep waves are ealm and the sky serene. Full 
 
370 LANDING OF THE TROOPS. 
 
 in view lies the city of Vera Cruz, and near is the re- 
 nowned castle of San Juan d'Ulloa ! The harbor is 
 crowded with foreign vessels, and decks and rigging are 
 filled with wondering spectators ! Never, says one, shall 
 I forget the excitement of that scene ' 
 
 The first division of troops had landed a little before 
 sunset, the second and third followed in succession, and 
 before ten o'clock the whole army (numbering twelve 
 thousand men) was landed, without the slightest accident 
 and without the loss of a single life ! 
 
 Thus, at the distance of more than three hundred years, 
 was renewed the landing and march of Corlez ! Both 
 were brilliant and remarjiable in history and conduct. 
 The Spanish hero came to encounter ana subdue on un- 
 known shores, the Aztectic-American civilization. The 
 Anglo-American came to meet and prevail against the 
 Spanish-Aztec combination. Both came with inferior 
 numbers, to illustrate the higher order and vastly superior 
 energies of moral power. Both came agents controlled 
 by an invisible spirit, in carrying forward the drama of 
 Divine Providence on earth. In vain do we speculate as 
 to the end ; it will be revealed only when the last curtain 
 is drawn from the deep, mysterious Future. 
 
 The landing at Vera Cruz, as a military operation, de- 
 serves a credit which is seldom awarded to bloodless 
 achievements. It is common to measure mihtary opera- 
 tions by the current of blood which has flowed. But 
 why ? Is he not the best general who accomplishes the 
 greatest results with the least loss ? Or must we adopt 
 the savage theory, that the greatest inhumanity is the 
 greatest heroism ? Mere animal bravery is a common 
 quality Why, then, should the exhibition of so common 
 
LANDING OP THE TROOPS. 371 
 
 a' quality, in an open battle, give distinction, when it is 
 skill only that is valuable, and science only that is uncom- 
 mon ? This skill and science were exhibited in a most 
 singular and felicitous manner, in the pre-arrangements, 
 combinations, and success, which attended the landing of 
 the American army under the walls of Vera Cruz. 
 
 Of this landing, as compared with a similar oje by the 
 French at Algiers, the New Orleans Bulletin of March 
 27lh makes the following correct and interesting remarks : 
 
 " The landing of the American army at Vera Cruz has 
 been accomplished in a manner that reflects the highest 
 credit on all concerned ; and the regularity, precision, and 
 promptness with which it was effected, has probably not 
 been surpassed, if it has been equalled, in modern war- 
 fare. 
 
 " The removal of a large body of troops from numer- 
 ous transports into boats in an open sea-^their subsequent 
 disembarkation on the sea-beach, on an enemy's coast, 
 through a surf, with all their arms and accoutrements, 
 without a single error or accident, requires great exertion, 
 skill, and sound judgment. 
 
 " The French expedition against Algiers, in 1830, was 
 said to be the most complete armament, in every respect, 
 that ever left Europe ; it had been prepared with labor, 
 attention, and experience, and nothing had been omitted 
 to ensure success, and particularly in the means and fa- 
 cilities for landing the troops. This disembarkation took 
 place in a wide bay, which was more favorable than an 
 open beach directly on the ocean, and (as in the present 
 instance) without any resistance on the part of the enemy 
 — ^yet, only nine thousand men were landed the first day, 
 and from thirty to forty lives were lost by accidents, or 
 
378 SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ. 
 
 upsetting of boats ; whereas, on the present occasion, 
 twelve thousand men were landed in one day, without, so 
 far as we have heard, the slightest accident, or the loss of 
 a single life." 
 
 No troops of the enemy made direct opposition to the 
 American army on reaching the beach, but the guns of 
 the castle and city kept up a constant firing with round- 
 shot and thirteen-inch shells. The several corps imme- 
 diately occupied the lines of investment to which they 
 had been respectively assigned by General Scott's orders.' 
 .These orders pointed out the most minute particulars, and 
 were based on prior information, obtained by the engi- 
 neer and topographical departments, and carefully ana- 
 lyzed and thoroughly studied, by the commander-in-chief. 
 This information was so accurate, and so well understood 
 by the commander, the engineers, and the chief of the 
 staff, that they made no mistakes. They found all as 
 they anticipated ; their arrangements resulted as they, 
 intended, and the regiments and companies took their re- 
 spective places as quietly and orderly as if they were 
 parading on the green banks of the Potomac ! Parties 
 of the enemy appeared, and skirmishes took place, but 
 nothing seriously interrupted the progress of the invest- 
 ment. On the 12th instant, the entire army had com- 
 pletely occupied its positions.^ 
 
 All tiiis was not done without labor, fatigue, and expo- 
 sure of the severest kind. The carts, horses, and mules, 
 except a very few,^ had not yet arrived. Innumerable 
 
 ' General Orders, No. 47. 
 
 ' General Scott's Official Report, dated 19th of March, 1847. 
 ' There had then arrived but fifteen carta and one hundred draught- . 
 borfies. 
 
SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ. 373 
 
 hills of loose sand, and almost impassable thickets of 
 chapporal^ covered the ground of operations. Through 
 these, by their own hands, and on their backs, soldiers, 
 both regular and volunteer, dragged iheir.provisions, their 
 equipments, and munitions of war, under the rays of a sun 
 already hot in a tropical climate. The sands of this pe- 
 culiar region are so light, that during the existence of a 
 " norther," (a so-called wind of the Gulf,) if a man should 
 lie down for an hour or two, he would inevitably be 
 buried in the floating drifts ! He must therefore, at this 
 season, seek shelter iti chapporals. In such circum- 
 stances — under the distant fire of the enemy's fortresses, 
 and in the midst of sharp skirmishes — the investment was 
 completed. The lines of siege were five miles in length, 
 and on that whole distance provisions must be carried and 
 communications kept up with depots, and with ships at 
 sea. In this, the ofBcers and seamen of the navy co- 
 operated with those of the army, in the most gallant and 
 skilful manner. 
 
 During this part of the siege, a " norther" ^irevailed, 
 which rendered it impossible to land heavy ordnance. 
 On ihe 17th, a pause occurred in the storm, and ten mor- 
 tars, four twenty-four-pound guns, and some howitzers 
 were landed. On the night of the 18th, the trenches 
 were opened, and, the engineers with the sappers and 
 miners leading the way, the army gradually closed in 
 nearer the city. 
 
 On the 22d of March — seven of the ten-inch mortars 
 being in battery, and other works in progress — General 
 Scott summoned the Governor of Vera Cruz to surrender 
 the city. The governor, who was also governor of the 
 castle, chose to consider the summons to surrender that, 
 
374 SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ. 
 
 as well as the city, and rejected the proposition. On thfl 
 return of the flag, the mortar battery,; at -the distance of 
 eight hundred yards from the city, opened its 'fire on the 
 city, and continued to fire during the day and night. 
 
 On the 24lh, the batteries were reinforced with twenty- 
 four pounders and paixhan guns. On the 25th, all the 
 batteries were in "awful activity." Terrible was the 
 scene ! The darkness of night was illuminated with bla- 
 zing shells circling through the air. The roar of artillery 
 and the heavy fall of descending shot were heard through 
 the streets of the besieged city. The roofs of buildings 
 were on fire. The domes of churches reverberated with 
 fearful explosions. The sea was reddened with the 
 broadsides of ships. The castle of San Juan returned, 
 from its heavy batteries, the fire, the light, the smoke, the 
 noise of battle. Such was the sublime and awfull}^ ter 
 rible scene, as beheld froni the trenches of the army, from 
 the 22d to the 25th of March, when the accumulated sci 
 ence of ages, applied to the military art, had,- on the plains 
 of -Vera Cruz, aggregated and displayed the fulness of its 
 destructive power. 
 
 On the evening of the 25th instant, the consuls of Eu- 
 ropean powers residing in Vera Cruz, made application, 
 by memorial, to General Scott for a truce, to enable them 
 and the women and children of the city to retire. To 
 this General Scott replied, — that a truce could only be 
 granted on application of General Morales, the governor, 
 with a view to .surrender ;^ that safeguards had already 
 been sent to the foreign consuls, of which they had re- 
 fused to avail themselves ; that the blockade had been 
 
 • Scott's Official Report of March 25, 1847. 
 
SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ. 375 
 
 left open to consuls and neutrals to the 22d proximo ; and 
 that the case of women and children, with their hardships 
 and distresses, had been fully considered before one gun 
 was fired. 
 
 The memorial represented, that the batteries had al- 
 ready a terrible effect on the city — and by this, and other 
 evidence, it was now clear that a crisis had arrived. The 
 city must either be surrendered, or it must be consigned 
 to inevitable and most melancholy destruction. 
 
 Accordingly, "early on the morning of the 26lh of 
 March, General Landero, on whom the command had 
 been devolved by General Morales, made overtures of 
 surrender. Arrangements had been made by Scott for 
 carrying the city by assault on that very day. The prop- 
 osition of the Mexican general 'made this unnecessary, 
 and Generals Worth and Pillow, with Colonel Totten of 
 the engineer corps, were appointed commissioners on the. 
 part of the American army, to treat with others appointed 
 by the Governor of Vera Cruz. Late on the night of 
 the 27th the articles of capitulation were signed and ex- 
 changed. 
 
 On the 29th of March, the official dispatch of General 
 Scott announced that the flag of the United States floated, 
 over the walls of Vera Cruz and the castle of San Juan 
 d'Ulloa. The regular siege of the city had continued from 
 the day oi investment, the 12th of March, to the day the 
 articles of capitulation were signed, the 27th, making a 
 period oi fifteen c/az/s, in which active, continuous, and 
 vigorous operations were carried on. During this time, 
 our army had thrown 3,000 ten-inch shells, 200 howitzer 
 shells, 1,000 paixhan- shot, and 2,500 round-shot, weigh- 
 ing on the whole about half a million of pounds ! Most 
 
376 SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ. 
 
 elective and most terrible was the disaster and destruc- 
 tion they caused within the walls of the city, whose ruins 
 and whose mourning attested both the energy and the 
 sadness of war. 
 
 By some, it was thought strange that the Governor of 
 Vera Cruz should have surrendered so soon ; but, on a 
 full exhibition of the facts of the siege, surprise gives 
 place to admiration at -the progress, power, and develop- 
 ment of military science. The thirty years which had 
 elapsed since the fall of Napoleon, had not been idly 
 passed by mihtary men. They had acquired and sys- 
 tematized new arts and new methods in the art of war. 
 Nor were American officers inattentive to this progress. 
 They had shared in it all, and when the siege of Vera 
 Cruz was undertaken, this new power and method were 
 fully displayed. The city was environed with cords of 
 strength, in which all its defences must be folded and 
 crushed. The result was inevitable. The officers of 
 Vq^-a Cruz saw this, and althougJi the castle of San Juan 
 might have held out a few days longer, for what purpose 
 would it have been ! There is no rule of military science 
 which requires fighting when fighting is useless. There 
 is no law of humanity which would not be violated by 
 the wanton exposure of towns and inhabitants when de- 
 fence was impossible. The surrender was, therefore, 
 alike just to victors and defenders, both of whom had ar- 
 rived at an inevitable end, — the result of progress in high 
 civilization, and of the highest military skill and accom 
 plishments. 
 
 By the terms of capitulation, all the arms and muni- 
 lions of war w£re given up to the United States ; five 
 thousand prisoners surrendered on parole ; near five hun- 
 
SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ. 377 
 
 dred pieces of fine artillery were taken ; the best port of 
 Mexico captured and j)ossessed ; and the famed castle of 
 San Juan, said to be impregnable, and which had been 
 refitted and equipped in the best possible manner, yielded 
 its defences to the superior skill and energy of the'Anglo- 
 Americans. At 10 a. m., on the morning of the 29th, 
 that people, who centuries before had, with a small band, 
 marched through the Aztec empire, and, with the pride 
 of power, supplanted its ancient dominion, struck their 
 flags, and quietly submitted to another and a newer race, 
 who had come over the Atlantic later than themselves, 
 but who had imbibed other principles, and been impelled 
 by stronger energies, in the colder regions of the north. 
 On the castle of San Juan, on the forts of Santiago and 
 Conception, the banner of the American Union gracefully 
 " ascended, and, amidst the shouts and cheers of warriors 
 on sea and shore,. bent its folds to the breeze, and looked 
 forth over the Mexican Gulf. 
 
 In this great and successful enterprise, the American 
 arms met with but little loss. Two officers,' (valuable, 
 however, to their corps and country,) with a few soldiers, 
 were all the deaths. So great a result, obtained with so 
 little loss, may be sought in vain among the best cam- 
 paigns of the best generals of modern times. There are 
 those, who think victory brightest when achieved in the 
 carnival of death, and the laurel greenest which is plucked 
 from a crimson tree. But this is not the estimate of the 
 humane, the honorable, or the intelligent. They, in this 
 age of the world, will deem that achievement greatest 
 
 ' Captains Alburtia and Viuton, both distinguished oiEcers, were killed, 
 with several private soldiers. 
 
MARCH INTO THE INTERIOR. 379 
 
 which costs the least, where skill has been substituted 
 for death, and science for the brave but often wasted en- 
 ergy of bodily force. 
 
 Some incidents of this siege are related, which illustrate 
 the character of General Scott and the nature of the war. 
 On one occasion, when the general was walking along the 
 trenches, the soldiers would frequently rise up and look 
 over the parapet. The general cried out, " Down — down, 
 men ! — don't expose yourselves." " But, General," said 
 one, "you are-exposed." "Oh!" said Scott, " generah, 
 now-a-days, can be made out of anybody, biit ?nen cannot 
 be had." , ^ 
 
 Something has been severely said, as to the loss of 
 women and children by the bombardment of the city ; but 
 this is unjustly said. Scott, as appears by the official pa-- 
 pers, gave ample notice of the danger to consuls, neutrals, 
 and non-combatants in the city, and ample time for them 
 to remove. ThaJ they, or at leastanany of them, did not 
 avail themselves of that notice, was their own fault ; and, 
 fey the laws of war, it was both unnecessary and impossi- 
 ble that the siege should be delayed, or given up, on ac- 
 count of the inhabitants within, who had long known that 
 the United States army would land there, and who had • 
 received from the commander full notice of danger. 
 
 We must now resume the march of Scott's army to the 
 capital of Mexico. Worth is appointed (for the time) 
 governor of Vera Cruz. The army is organized for an 
 advance on the Jalapa road,' but wagons are wanting. 
 Eight tliousand men are to be thrown forward inte the 
 heart of Mexico. Quantities of ammunition, provisions, 
 cannon, arms are to be carried. Yet the wagons, horses 
 and mules which are to do this service are not yet ar- 
 
380 BAT LE OF CERRO GORDO. 
 
 lived. A little while since, and they were two thousand 
 miles off, in the heart of the United States. But, they 
 will come. They are descending the Ohio and the Mis- 
 sissippi. They will be here. One by one, dozen by 
 dozen, they arrive. ' On the 8th of April, ten days after 
 the surrender of Vera Cruz, the veteran Twiggs, with his 
 heroic division, takes the Jalapa road. Other divisions 
 rapidly follow. In three days they reach the foot of the 
 mountains, from whose heights may be seen the splendid 
 vision of Orizabo, and its snow-crowned tops, along whose 
 ridges the road continues to the ancient capital of the 
 JMontezumas ; and from whose almost impregnable sum 
 mits, looks down Santa Anna with fifteen thousand men. 
 The Mexican chief, defeated at Buena Vista, had rapidly' 
 traversed the interior provinces with the greater part of 
 his array, and now sought to defend the heights of Ccrro 
 Gordo, formidable by nature, with batteries and intrench- 
 ments. 
 
 Here Twiggs makes a reconnoissance on the 12th, and 
 determines to attack the enemy next morning. In the 
 meanwhile Patterson arrives with volunteers, and delays 
 the attack till the arrival of the general-in-chief. Scott 
 makes a new reconnoissance, and perceives that an attack 
 in front would be in vain, for the batteries there are com- 
 manded by the still higher ones on the summits of Cerro 
 Gordo. He orders a road to be cut to the right of the 
 American army, but to the left of Cerro Gordo, which 
 winds round the base of the mountains and ascends them 
 in the rear of the Mexican forts, there rejoining the Jalapa 
 road, and behind the whole Mexican position. The labor, 
 the skill, the courage of American soldiers accomplish it. 
 For three days the Mexicans do not discover it. It is 
 
BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 381 
 
 nearly done on the' 17th, wHen they fire with grape and 
 musketry on the worliing parties. Twiggs again advances 
 to the storm. He carries the hill below Cerro Gordo, 
 but above the new road. All is safe now, and all is ready 
 for the coming battle. On the 17lh of April Scott issues 
 his celebrated order, dated Plan del Rio. It details, with 
 prophetic accuracy, the movements of the following day, 
 — the positions, the attack, the battle, the victory, and the 
 hot pursuit, till the spires of Jalapa should appear in 
 sight. It is an order most remarkable in history. "Here 
 it is : — 
 
 General Orders, No. 111. 
 
 HeadouaAters of the Army, ( 
 Plan del Rio.'April 17, 1847. ) 
 
 The enemy's ■whole line of intrenchments and batteries will 
 be attacked in front, and at the same time turned, early in the 
 day to-morrow — probably before ten o'clock, a. m. 
 
 The second (Twiggs') division of regulars is already ad- 
 vanced within easy turning distance towards the enemy's left. 
 That division has instructions to move forward before daylight 
 to-morrow, and take up a position across the National road in 
 the enemy's rear, so as to cut off a. retreat towards Xalapa. 
 It may be reinforced to-day, if unexpectedly attacked in force, 
 by regiments — one or two taken from Shields' brigade of vol- 
 unteers. If not, the two volunteer regiments will march for 
 that purpose at daylight to-morrow morning, under Brig. Gen. 
 Shields, who will report to Brig. Gen. Twiggs, on getting up 
 vrith liim, or the general-in-chief, if he be in advance. 
 
 The remaining regiment of that volunteer brigade will receive 
 instructions in the course of this day. 
 
 The first division of regulars (Worth's) will follow the move^ 
 ment against the enemy's left at sunrise to-morrow morning. 
 
382 BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 
 
 As already aiTanged, Brig. G-en. Pillow's brigade wiU marcl 
 at six o'clock to-morrow morriing along the route he has care- 
 fully reconnoitred, and stand ready as soon as he hears tht 
 report of arms on our right, or sooner if circumstances should 
 favor him, to pierce the enemy's line of batteries at such poin1 
 — the nearer the river the better — as he may select. Once ir 
 the rear of that line, he will turn to the right or left, or both, 
 and attack the batteries in reverse ; or, if abandoned, he wil 
 pursue the enemy with vigor until further orders. . 
 
 Wall's field battery and the cavalry will be held in reserve 
 on the National road, a little out of view and range of the 
 enemy's batteries. They will take up that position at nine 
 ▼clock in the morning. 
 
 The enemy's batteries being carried or abandoned, all oiu 
 divisions and corps will pursue with vigor. 
 
 This pursuit may be continued many miles, until stopped 
 by darkness or fortified position? towards Xalapa. Conse- 
 quently, the body of the army will not return to this encamp, 
 ment, but be followed to-morrow afternoon, or early the next 
 morning, by the baggage trains of the several corps. Foi 
 this purpose, the feebler officers and men of each corps wil 
 be left to guard its camp and effects, and to load up the lattei 
 in the wagons of the corps. A commander of the preseni 
 encampment will be designated in the course of this day. 
 
 As soon as it shall be known that the enemy's works have 
 been carried, or that the general pursuit has been commenced, 
 one wagon for each regiment and one for the cavalry will 
 follow the movement, to receive, under the directions of medi- 
 cal officers, the wounded and disabled, who will be brought 
 back to this place for treatment in general hospital. 
 
 The Surgeon-general will organize this important service 
 and designate that hospital, as well as the medical officers tc 
 be left at it. 
 
 Every man who marches out to attack or pursue the enemy, 
 
BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 383 
 
 will take the usual allowance of ammunition, and subsistence 
 for at least two days. 
 
 By command of Maj. Gen. Scott, 
 
 H. L. SCOTT, A. A. A. General. 
 
 The order thus given was realized to the letter, with 
 the exception that General Pillow's brigade was repulsed 
 in the attack on the batteries in front. They were, how- 
 ever, taken, and their garrisons made prisoners, by the 
 "advanced corps of the army, at the close of the battle. 
 In each particular — of march, battle, victory, and pursuit 
 — the order of Scott was prophetically correct. It proves 
 the confidence of the commander in the indomitable ener- 
 gy of his troops. On the night of that day, (the ITth,) the 
 enemy's position appears almost impregnable. On their 
 right rolls a deep river. Along its side rises a chain of 
 mountains one thousand feet in height. On these, heavy 
 batteries frown down on all below. Over all rises the 
 summit and tower of Cerro Gordo. Winding among the 
 gorges of these mountains, and at last turning between 
 the highest battery and the river below, is the National 
 road, by which only the American army must pass. The 
 Anglo-American soldier looks out from his camp at Plan 
 del Rio, and sees this deep river on the side, this rampart 
 of mountains in front, the high batteries beyond, and 
 knows that the Mexican chief with fifteen thousand men 
 is encamped on these mountains thus strongly defended. 
 How shall he be attacked ? The General order points 
 out each step in the way. 
 
 On the night of the 17th, a thousand men of Twiggs' 
 division are detailed on their route to plant an American 
 battery on the captured hiir below Cerro Gordo. A heavy 
 
 twenty-four pounder was brought up, and two twenty-four 
 
 25 
 
384 BATTLK OF CERRO GOEDO. 
 
 pound howitzers. These were dragged by main force up 
 the hill, hundreds of feet high, in a night of total darkness. 
 A fire is built below, and the officers and men are told to 
 take the cannon straight up. They are already fatigued, 
 exhausted, and parched with thirst ; but they stop not for 
 these. They are divided into two parties, of five hundred 
 men each, for r«lief. They drag the pieces up with the 
 hands. Here they stop, block up, and chain the wheels, 
 till they are relieved by the other division. Again they 
 go on, and again they relieve. Thus they go on from 
 seven in the evening till three in the morning. The 
 ground is covered with exhausted soldiers, some to sleep 
 and some to rest. But the cannon are carried up. The 
 morning finds them on the hill, and as the rosy light 
 blushes in the heavens, the soft music of the Mexican 
 reveillee is heard summoning their men to the muster. 
 The batteries and encampments are revealed. The fine 
 body of Mexican lancers, in splendid uniforms and with 
 an unfurled standard, are moving along. Here battalions 
 of artillery, and there a dense column of infantry, arrest 
 the attention. Below and above are batteries darkly 
 threatening to open their fire. This captured position 
 thus commands all the defences but Cerro Gordo. But 
 that is above. That can fire down upon every position 
 which could be taken. It is plain then, that the fort of 
 Cerro Gordo is the key position of all the rest. This the 
 discriminating eye of military science had clearly seen. 
 Scott sees it, and has prepared for it. Hence the new 
 road was made, winding, as you see, around the base of 
 the mountain to our right, but to the left of Cerro Gordo, 
 so that this citadel of the Mexifcan camp may be stormed 
 from the flank, and the retreat of the troops by the Na- 
 
BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 385 
 
 tional roavl cut olSf. Hence, Pillow's brigade is to attack 
 their batteries on the front-hill rampart, and either lake 
 them, or divert their attention from our flank movement. 
 Hence, the night work of our men, so that our new hill 
 fort may command these batteries of the enemy, and at 
 the right moment compel their surrender. All is well 
 done. All is ready. The night-watch is past. Twiggs' 
 division, which has rested on its arms, is rousing itself at 
 the first light. The gallant artillerymen and engineers on 
 the hill cut away the light brush in front of their guns, and 
 now the heavy cannon begin their fire on the hill batteries. 
 Their thunder tones are echoed from the mountain sides, 
 and returned from the pieces of the enemy. The division 
 of Twiggs is iTiarching. The -volunteers of Shields are 
 hurrying on to seize the Jalapa.road in rear of Santa 
 Anna. Cerro Gordo now opens its plunging fire on 
 Twiggs, and the issue has come. Cerro Gordo must be 
 stormed. The storm is led by the gallant Harney. They 
 fight under the eye of Scott. Here march the rifles, the 
 1st artillery, the 7th infantry ; and near them, and with 
 them storming the heights, are the 2d and the 3d infantry, 
 and the 4th artillery. These are the regulars of Twiggs, 
 and here they march up the rocky ascent, so steep that 
 they must climb as they go, and with no covering but the 
 very steepness of the hill. They receive a plunging fire 
 in front and a rolling fire on the flanks — but, on they go 
 On — on, Harney leads his men. The front rank melts 
 away before the shot ; but they stop not till the hill is 
 gained, and then a long and loud shout echoes from the 
 mountain sides — Cerro Gordo is gained ! Vasquez, the 
 Mexican general, is killed in the fortress. Now the flags 
 of the 1 St artillery and 7th infantry are planted on tlie 
 
386 BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 
 
 batteries, and now Sergeant Henry hauls down the na- 
 tional standard of Mexico. The Anglo-American again 
 unfurls the flag of his comitry, and again renews the 
 victories of Cortez. But where are the Volunteers ? 
 Yet further to the right, and hastening to the Jalapa 
 road. They storm a fort in front — the heroic Shields is 
 shot through the lungs — but the fort is taken — the road 
 is gained — and the flying army of Santa Anna is pursued 
 in all directions; 
 
 On the river batteries in front, Pillow's attack is not 
 successful. The batteries enfilade our men, and after 
 bravely fighting, they are drawn back ; but their effort is 
 not lost. The corps of General La Vega is kept em- 
 ployed till Cerro Gordo has fallen. Then he surrenders, 
 with three thousand men prisoners of war. Santa Anna, 
 with Almonte, Canalizo, and eight thousand have escaped, 
 leaving carriages and baggage behind, and are now on the 
 road to Jalapa. The sun is at noon, and the battle is 
 ended ; but the pursuit continues. The reserve division 
 of Worth comes up, passes Twiggs, and hurries rapidly 
 on after the confused and flying Mexicans ; nor does he 
 stop till Jalapa appears in sight ! 
 
 On the 19th of April, from Plan del Rio, Scott an 
 hounces to the "War Department, that he is embarrassed 
 with the results of victory ! Three thousand prisoners, 
 forty-three pieces of bronze artillery manufactured at Se- 
 ville, five thousand stand of arms, five generals, with the 
 munitions and materials of an army, captured in a single 
 battle, are the fruits of victory, and demand the earnest 
 care of the conquering general ! The men must be 
 paroled ; the small-arms must be isstroyed ; we have not 
 men to take care of them. 
 
BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 387 
 
 Such Was the battle op Cerro Gordo, in the skill 
 with which it was planned, in the formidable defences to 
 be surmounted, in the heroism of the attack, and in the 
 magnitude of results, with which of American battles 
 will it not compare ? There were almost impassable ob- 
 stacles, surmounted by skill ; there were almost impreg- 
 nable batteries, stormed by valor ; there were thousands 
 • of prisoners captured, and an army destroyed ; there was 
 a road to the capital laid open, and towns 'and cities taken 
 in the long vista of a victorious march ! The Mexican 
 empire lies under the feet of the conqueror, and again 
 is the Aztec compelled to witness the triumphs of power, 
 and utter by the Ruins of the Past, the mournings of the 
 Present ! 
 
 Look around you upon the battle-field, now that the 
 dark chariot of war has driven by ! Hear the description 
 of one who has been to look upon the dead. 
 
 " A dragoon we encountered on the way kindly offered 
 to be our guide, and from him we learned the positions 
 of the different armies, their divisions and subdivisions. 
 As winding around the hills by the National road, the 
 enemy's intrenchments, their barricaded heights, strong 
 fort's, and well-defended passes, came in view, we halted, 
 and gazed for several moments in mute amazement. No 
 one, from reading the newspaper accounts or the reports 
 of the generals, can form a proper idea of the advantages 
 possessed by the enemy in his chosen position. The 
 battle, I knew it had been fought atid won by our troops ; 
 yet it seemed, in its bare, still reality, a dream. I could 
 not shake off this feeling as- I rode along the enemy's 
 lines of intrenchments, entered his dismantled forts and 
 magazines, and looked from his chosen heights upon 
 
388 BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 
 
 the paths up which our troops rushed into the jaws of 
 death. * * * 
 
 " Passing down the ravine where the National Guard 
 had three times attenipted to dislodge the mounted rifle- 
 men, who, supported by the howitzer battery, literally 
 rained death among their ranks, I was obliged to turn 
 back and retrace my steps. The gorge was choked up 
 with the mangled bodies of the flower of the Mexican 
 army. The wolf-dog and the buzzard howled and 
 screamed as I rode by, and the stench was too sickening 
 to be. endured. Returning to the National road, we pass- 
 ed a large number of cannon taken by our troops, and saw 
 piles of muskets charred with fire in heaps, where they 
 had been heaped and burned, * * * 
 
 " All along the road were the bodies of Mexican Ian 
 cers and their horses, cut down by Colonel Harney's dra- 
 goons, when these fire-eaters chased Santa Anna and his 
 retreating troops into and beyond Jalapa. Almost every 
 man's skull was literally split open with the sabres of our 
 horsemen, and they lay stretched upon the ground in 
 ghastly groups." 
 
 From this sad scenery of war, as exhibited in the relics 
 of a battle-field, we must hasten on with the gallant gen- 
 eral, who renewed with yet deeper verdure the laurels of 
 Niagara on the summits of Cerro Gordo. Scott was nc 
 distant spectator of the combat. He had called others tc 
 the field, and he shared its dangers himself. Having 
 prepared all things for the storm of the tower, {called by 
 the Mexicans the Telegraph,) he took post at the point 
 Colonel Harney charged, and under the heavy fire of the 
 enemy's artillery. There he witnessed the gallant charge, 
 and there he encouraged the troops. It was then that he 
 
BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 389' 
 
 thus addressed Colonel Hamey, (between whom and him- 
 self there had been some coolness :) " Colonel Harney, I 
 cannot now adequately express my admiration of your 
 gallant achievement, but at the proper time I shall take 
 great pleasure in thanking you in proper ternis." Har- 
 ney, with the modesty of true valor, claimed the praise 
 ?-as due to his officers and men. 
 
 At this time Captain Patten, an excellent officer of 
 the 3d infantry, was wounded, losing a part of his left 
 hand. It was in the midst of the thunder-crash of battle, 
 when the dying fell thickest, and when ihe crisis was at 
 hand. It was a plunging fire ; and after thus wounding 
 Captain Patten, the ball struck a rock which it broke into 
 fragments, one of which cut down and wounded the sec- 
 ond sergeant of Captain Patten's company. 
 
 While Captain Patten was yet in the field, holding with 
 his right hand the arm of the shattered left, General Scott 
 rode slowly by, " under a canopy," to use Captain Pat- 
 ten's expression, " of cannon-balls." Seeing a wounded 
 man, and supposing him to be a soldier, he exclaimed, 
 slacking his pace, " There is a brave soldier badly wound- 
 ed, I fear," and then, being told by an officer that it was 
 Captain Patten, the general halted, and called to Captain 
 Patten to inquire the nature of the wound ; but in the roar 
 of battle he was not heard. 
 
 Captain Patten spoke with enthusiasm as well of the 
 calm and soldiexly bearing of his gallant commander, 
 amid the hottest and thickest of this murderous cannon- 
 ade, as of his ready sympathy with, and attention to the 
 wounded men and officers. 
 
 When the battle was closed, the hoped-for victory had 
 become reality, and the future no longer absorbed all the 
 
"390 BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 
 
 mind, Scott hastened to the side of the wounded. It was 
 from an hospital of wounded and sick, that his firs :official 
 report, dated April 19th, was dispatched. An ofiicer who 
 was present in these scenes, relates that General Scott 
 visited in person the wounded, and saw, himself, that they 
 were attended in the best manner. His men were in all 
 cases, when the events of the campaign allowed him any- 
 time for thought on other subjects, his first care. He 
 was ever as humane as heroic. He attended the bedside 
 of the sick with cholera in the Northwest, and- he now 
 visited and aided, in the hospitals of the wounded of 
 Cerro Gordo. Soon after this event, and on the occupa- 
 tion of Jalapa, he caused the removal of the wounded and 
 sick to the more comfortable and healthier quarters in 
 that town. Among these was the brave Shields, in whose 
 dangerous condition he deeply sympathized. 
 
 It will be recollected that Santa Anna's carriage, with a 
 large amount of specie, was captured, just after the Mex- 
 ican army fled from the field. Whatever of this property 
 belonged personally to General Santa Anna, Scott was 
 most careful to return to his agent and man of business. 
 It was a principle with General Scott, whicli he has 
 most carefully carried out, that war was not a scheme for 
 robbery, but the honorable contest of nations for national 
 rights. He suffers no plunder of private property, no 
 aggression on the rights of citizens, and he is most anxious 
 to vindicate the American soldier and the American name 
 from that barbarism which would convert war into the 
 pillage of plunderers,' and the glory of victory into the 
 grossness of brutahty. 
 
 From the field of Cerro Gordo the rout of the Mexican 
 army was complete Jalapa was entered on the 19th. 
 
BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 391 
 
 The Strong position of La Hoya was abandoned, with its 
 artillery and works ; and on the 22d of April, Worth and 
 his division occupied the strong castle and town of Pe- 
 ROTE ! Here fifty-four pieces of cannon, and mortars, 
 (both bronze and iron,) eleven thousand cannon-balls, 
 fourteen thousand bombs, and five hundred muskets, 
 swelled the vast amount of the munitions of war captured 
 from the army of Mexico ! 
 
 On the 15lh of May, General Worth, after encountering 
 but little resistance, entered the ancient city of Puebla. 
 Thus, in a campaign which extended only from the 12th 
 of March to the 15th of May, the city of Ver,a Cruz had 
 been besieged and taken, the famed castle of San Juan 
 d'Ulloa had fallen, the battle of Cerro Gordo was fought 
 and won, the city of Jalapa taken, the castle and town of 
 Perote captured, and the fine city of Puebla occupied ! 
 Ten thousand men made prisoners of war, seven hundred 
 splendid cannon, ten thousand stand of arms, thirty thou- 
 sand shells and shot, were the spoils of the triumphant 
 victories which had attended the American army, in a 
 campaign of only two months ! History has few parallels 
 for such rapid and such brilhapt achievements! But a 
 few months before an unguarded expression had made 
 WiNFiELD Scott the mark of a ribald ridicule ! Now, the 
 government journal pronounces his campaign the rival of 
 European splendor in war, eloquence is fervid in its de- 
 clamatory praises, and the more just and grateful senti- 
 ment of the people renders back to the commander at 
 Cerro Gordo, the admiration so gloriously won on the 
 memorable plains of Niagara ! 
 
This Map in n copy from Itie Survey of Mnjor TurnbuU, Capt. McClcllan, nnil Mout. 
 Uordcastle, U. S. Topogrnphie=' ".::,;.-_ ; 
 
ENTRANCK INTO PUEBLA. 393 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 1846-1848. 
 
 Entrance of the American Army into Puebla. — Strength of the Army. — 
 Scott's Proclamation. — His liumanity. — ^Mission of Trist. — Reasons for 
 remaining at Puebia. — Reinforcements. — Drilling. — Concentration of 
 the Army. — Its Divisions. — ^March. — Pass of Rio Frio. — Position of the 
 Army on the 13th of August. — Reconnaissance of El Penon.— Turning 
 of Lake Chalco. — March on San Augustine. — Position of the Army on 
 the 18th of August. 
 
 In a morning of the beautiful month of May, and 
 within the tropical zone, the American army of the- north 
 entered the " City of the Angels ;" in the Spanish tongue, 
 Puebla de los Angelas. They came with the renown, 
 sounding far in advance, of San Juan de Ulloa captured, 
 and the heights of Cerro Gordo victoriously stormed. 
 They had landed on the shores of the Mexican Gulf, 
 intrenched themselves in the wind-driven sands, battered 
 the defences of Vera Cruz, received the surrender of the 
 castle, and marched two hundred miles into the land of 
 the Spanish- Aztec Americans. The National Bridge had 
 been passed, Jalapa had surrendered, Perote made no 
 resistance, and now the bold invaders of Mexico ap- 
 proached a city surrounded by the monuments of ancient 
 civilization, and deemed fit, in the warm imagination of 
 southern climes, for celestial residents. 
 
 The citizens of Puebla crowded the streets, and the 
 
 balconies, on the line, were filled with spectators. They 
 
 had formed the idea, that such troops must be extraordi- 
 
 17 
 
394 EFFECTIVE FORCE OF THE ARMY. 
 
 nary in appearance, or superhuman in power. But, what 
 was their surprise, when they beheld men of common 
 stature, dressed in the common gray uniform, and with 
 weary aspect ! In truth, many of them had been ill ; they 
 were fatigued with their march, and negligent of their 
 dress. They piled their arms in the public square, aird 
 lay down to sleep, as if no enemy were near ! 
 
 The army, as it entered Puebla, was stated, by a Mex- 
 ican eye-witness,' to have numbered four thousand two 
 hundred and ninety effective men, with thirteen pieces of 
 artiller}!. This was the marching force, at that date, and 
 the official returns prove that this statement was very 
 nearly correct. Scott's force, at that time capable of 
 marching on Mexico, -did not exceed four thousand five 
 hundred men. This will be explained by a brief refer- 
 ence to previous facts. 
 
 The army of all sorts and kinds, (including the labor- 
 ers of transportation,) when concentrated at the island of 
 Lobos, numbered fourteen thousand men. A portion of 
 this army consisted of several of the" twenty-three regi- 
 ments called out in May, 1846, and whose time (twelve 
 months) expired in May, 1847. These were discharged 
 on the march to Puebla. Sickness, also, had been rife 
 among the soldiers. The camp-dysentery had disabled 
 many, and destroyed others. At Vera Cruz, at Cerro 
 Gordo, and in various skirmishes, many of the brave men 
 who had landed in May, had fallen in battle, or been 
 wounded, and consigned to the hospitals. Detachments 
 of men were also left in garrison. Finally, numerous de 
 
 ' Letter from a native of Puebla, dated May 16th, 1847, and published 
 in the London Times. 
 
OBJECT OF THK CAMPAIGN. 395 
 
 serlions from the regular army took place, of whom there 
 were no less than seventeen hundred reported in one 
 year.' 
 
 Thus it happened, that only^ue thousand effective men 
 could be gathered in Puebla immediately after Scott's ar- 
 rival. Was this small force (henceforth to be isolated) 
 to march on the capital of Mexico ? With the confidence 
 of an American, the ardor, of a successful general, and in 
 full reliance on the energies of the American soldier, 
 Scott would have advanced, even with this diminished 
 force. He was stopped, however, by other and unex- 
 pected events. 
 
 The cabinet at Washington both professed and felt an 
 anxious desire for peace. The war had not been antici- 
 pated. The results, however successful and glorious to 
 the United States, were, politically, very uncertain. If 
 Mexico was entirely conquered, what could be done with 
 its strange and heterogeneous population ? If new terri- 
 tories were acquired, what would be their influence on the 
 various sections of the Union ? How were the fruits of 
 victory to be handled and disposed of? Fearful, not of 
 failure in arms, but of results in peace, the cabinet of Mr. 
 Polk.' held out professions of anlity whenever it honorably 
 could. The campaign of the Rio Grande had been 
 planned and conducted on the same principle. Its object 
 was to cut off the Rio Grande provinces, and thus induce 
 Mexico to make peace, without forcing us, to conquer the 
 heart of the country. 
 
 It was with these views and feelings that the Execu- 
 tive Government undertook the singular and remarkable 
 
 ' Their names were published in the Police Gazette. 
 
396 MISSION OF MR. TRIST. 
 
 mission of Mr. Nicholas P. Trist. This gentleman was, 
 in the commencement of 1847, chief clerk in the Depart- 
 ment of State. He was dispatched by the cabinet with 
 letters to certain persons in Mexico, and with powers to 
 conclude a peace.' He was not an envoy — a character 
 known only in peace — ^but a sort of extraordinary Commis- 
 sioner near the seat of war. Trist arrived at Jalapa just 
 before Scott's departure for Puebla. He immediately 
 intimated a desire to transmit certain papers to the Mexi- 
 can government. The army, however, continued its 
 march to Puebla. Such was the condition of things in 
 the beginning of June. A Government Commissioner 
 was there, anxious for peace, and seeking negotiation. 
 The army was reduced to less than five thousand men, — in 
 the midst of an enemy's country, and already nearly iso- 
 lated in its communications ; while Scott is anxious to go 
 forward, and, in the city of Mexico, complete that " con- 
 quest of peace,'" which, from the beginning, he had fore- 
 seen must be done. Yet he is restrained, by imperative 
 considerations, both, civil and military. The civil reason 
 was this mission of Mr. Trist. If the propositions he 
 made were acceptable to the authorities in Mexico, then 
 the negotiation necessarily implied a cessation of hostili- 
 ties. 
 
 The military reasons were sufficiently serious to re- 
 strain the ardor of the boldest commander : and the event 
 proved the sagacity of the General, who, anticipating only 
 victory, nevertheless sacrifi.ced his ardor to the highest 
 prudential considerations. 1st. The small force of which 
 the army was then composed, was unable to keep open 
 
 ' See Mv. Polk's official commission to Tjist. 
 
DISCIPLINE OF THE ARMY. 397 
 
 its cornmuiiicalions. In fact, notwithstanding all ihe re- 
 inforcements which arrived between May and Septem- 
 ber, the communication of the main army with Vera Cruz 
 was cut off during the whole period. 2dly. The whole 
 army, then at Puebla, was only suiEcient.to constitute a 
 garrison for the city of Mexico, — in which it would have 
 been shut up, incapable of offensive movements. 3dly. 
 The main army of Santa Anna was yet unbroken, and 
 would have been left free to have fallen on the advancing 
 reinforcements, attacking them in detail. Such were the 
 conclusive reasons which restrained General Scott's desire 
 to advance, and obliged him to remain at Puebla. 
 
 Happily the delay was most fortunate. The opportunity 
 for peaceful negoliations was offered to Mexico. Rein- 
 forcements arrived. The possibility, almost, of misfortune 
 or accident was removed by the care, foresight, and precau- 
 tions which time enabled the commander to take. Nor was 
 that time unemployed or useless in the army. None knew 
 better than Scott the necessity and advantage of discipline 
 to an army. None knew better the value of the drill, in 
 giving the soldier a facile use of arms, and ready movement 
 of the body. More than thirty years previous, Scott had, 
 in the camp of Buffalo, availed himself of a leisure period 
 to drill and discipline that gallant brigade, which figured 
 so gloriously on the fields of Chippewa and Niagara.' 
 
 Previous to the mission of Trist, General Scott had 
 himself made every possible effort tO conciliate the Mexi- 
 can people, to inform them of the true condition of things, 
 to point out the disasters which certainly awaited them in 
 future combats, and the ultimate triumph of the United 
 
 • Chapter Vlll.-page 100 
 
398 scott's proclamation. 
 
 States, if the war was not immediately closed. Some of 
 his orders and proclamations in Mexico bear the stamp, 
 not merely of military genius, a clear foresight, and a sa- ' 
 gacious comprehension of surrounding events, but they 
 have also the marks of a high literary excellence,. which 
 is seldom found in the camp and'the field. Of this char- 
 acter was his Proclamation from Jalapa, dated May lllh, 
 1 847. After reciting the military events which preceded 
 the battle of Cerro Gordo, the triumph of the American 
 arms, the unskilfulness of the Mexican generals, the cer- 
 tain fate of the soldiers, he calls upon the Mexicans to 
 look at the condition of their country ; its citizens and 
 property threatened, — the possessions of the Church me- 
 naced, — the fortunes of the rich held out for plunder, — 
 all classes of people subjected to contributions, excises, 
 and monopolies, — persecutions abounding, and crirbinals 
 unpunished — he thus continues : 
 
 " I will not believe that the Mexicans of the present 
 day are wanting in courage to confess errors which do not 
 dishonor them, and to adopt a system of true liberty, of 
 peace and union with their brethren and neighbors of the 
 north ; neither will I believe that they are ignorant of the 
 falsity of the calumnies of the press, intended to excite 
 hostility. No ! public sentiment is not to be created or 
 animated by falsehood. We have not profaned your tem- 
 ples, nor abused your women, nor seized your property, 
 as they would have you believe, 
 
 " We say this with pride, and we confirm it by youi 
 own bishops, and by the clergy of Tampico, Tuspan, 
 Matamoras, Monterey, Vera Cruz, and Jalapa, and by all 
 the authorities, civil and religious, and the inhabitants of 
 every town wo have occupied. We adore the same God, 
 
PROPHETIC ANNOUNCEMENTS. 399 
 
 and a-large portion of our army, as well as of the popula- 
 tion of the United Stales, are Catholics, like yourselves. 
 We punish crime wherever we find it, and reward merit 
 and virtue. 
 
 " The army of the United States respects, and will al- 
 ways respect, private property of every description, and 
 the property of the Mexican Church. 
 
 " Mexicans ! the past cannot be remedied, but the fu 
 ture may be provided for. Repeatedly have I shown you 
 that the government and people of the United States de- 
 sire peace, desire your sincere friendship. 
 
 " Abandon, then, rancorous prejudices, cease to be tlie 
 sport of individual ambition, and conduct yourselves like 
 a great American nation ; leave off at once colonial hab- 
 its, and learn to be truly free, truly republican, and you 
 will become prosperous and happy, for you possess all 
 the elements to be so. Remember that you are Ameri- 
 cans, and that your happiness is not to come from Eu- 
 rope." 
 
 General Scott concludes this beautiful letter with the 
 declaration, which time so amply fulfilled, — " I am 
 marching on Puebla and Mexico ; and from those capi- 
 tals I shall again address you." 
 
 Nothing has more surprised European observers of the 
 war with Mexico, than this prophetic precision with 
 which Scott announced, in advance, all the events of his 
 military operations ! The order for the battle of Cerro 
 Gordo contained, also, the announcement of its perfect 
 success in every detail ! And now this proclamation an- 
 nounced, as an absolute fact — predestined — that from the 
 walls of Puebla and the halls of Mexico, he would again 
 address them This page, which narrates these events, 
 
400 scott's humanity. 
 
 glides on with no more certainty than did the events so 
 prophetically announced ! 
 
 This proclamation contain'ed no vain boast of the hu- 
 manity or the power of the American. Except in battle, 
 no injury had been done the citizens of Mexico. Scott 
 entered Mexico with the avowed determination that no 
 lawless plunder, no acts of unnecessary violence, no dis- 
 respect to the sacred character of the Church, no unhappy 
 victims of military crime should disgrace his army, or rise 
 in judgment against it at the tribunal of history. His de- 
 termination was faithfully carried out. Private property, 
 personal rights, the temples of worship, were all respect- 
 ed, and the army was made illustrious, not less by its hu- 
 manity than its victories. 
 
 The delay at Puebla, as we have stated, proved emi- 
 nently advantageous to the future operations of the army. 
 The troops were drilled, disciplined, and recruited in 
 strength. In the mean while, the government had exert- 
 ed itself to supply the places of the discharged volunteers 
 with new regiments. Congress had authorized the en- 
 listment of ten new regiments. The recruiting went for- 
 ward rapidly ; and, as fast as the men could be got ready, 
 they were sent forward. On the 5th of May, Colonel 
 Mcintosh left Vera Cruz with a large train and eight 
 hundred men. They were attacked at Passo de Ovejas, 
 and checked ; but were, in a few days, joined by General 
 Cadwallader with six hundred men and six howitzers. 
 
 On the 17th of May, General Pillow left Vera Cruz 
 with another detachment of one thousand men ; and, at a 
 subsequent period. General Pierce was sent forward with 
 two tiiousand five hundred. The garrison at Jalapa was 
 also broken up and added to the main army. These va 
 
COUNCIL OF WAR. 401 
 
 rious reinforcements, minor detachments, the garrison of 
 Jalapa, the convalescents, invalids, and garrison of Pue- 
 bla, with the original force, conS'tituted the army of Scott 
 in the beginning of August, and is represented in the fol- 
 lowing table : 
 
 ARMY OK THE 6th DAY OF AUGUST, 1847. 
 
 Scott's forces at Puebla, (including all,) 7,000 
 
 Cadwallader's Brigade, 1,400 
 
 Pillow's " 1,800 
 
 Pierce's Corps " 2,409 
 
 Garrison of Puebla, under Colonel Childs,. 1,400 
 
 Total an-ived at Puebla, 14,009 
 
 Deduct from this, garrison of Puebla, with the sick 
 in hospitals, 3,261 
 
 Total marched from Puebla, . .'. 10,748 
 
 Thus the effective force of the army which left Puebla 
 for the city of Mexico was just 10,748 men. There 
 were left in Puebla 3,261 men ; of whom no less than 
 1,900 were, at one time, in the hospitals ! Of these, 700 
 there foiind their graves ! 
 
 On the 5th of August, a council of war was held in 
 Puebla, at which the heads of Divisions and Brigades 
 were present ; among whom were Major-Generals Worth, 
 Quitman, and Pillow, with Brigadiers Twiggs, Shields, 
 and Cadwallader. At this council, the General-in-Chief 
 (Scott) laid down distinctly the plan of operations, the 
 routes, and the modes by which he proposed to reach, at 
 tack, and capture the city of Mexico. The general plan 
 had been formed before he left the city of Washington ; 
 and it is the most remarkable among the remarkable 
 
 26 
 
402 
 
 DIVISION OF THE ARMY. 
 
 events of thi? campaign, that a plan formed thousands- of 
 miles from the scene of action, should, even in its details, 
 be carried so completely into effect. Of the ability and 
 sagacity with which this plan was formed, its complete 
 success, and the approval of all intelligent men, furnish 
 the most solid and ample evidence. 
 
 The time had now come for the army to commence it*' 
 march to. Mexico. It was divided into four Divisions, 
 with a Cavalry Brigade, of which the following is a tabu- 
 lar view : 
 
 Cavalry Brigade, 
 Col. Harney. 
 
 1st Division, 
 Gen. Worth. 
 
 2d Division, 
 Gen. Twiggs, 
 
 3d Division, 
 (ien. Pillow. 
 
 4th Division, 
 Gen. Quitman, 
 
 ■ 1st Dragoons, Capt. Kearney, 
 
 '2d " Maj. Sumner, 
 
 ' 3d " Capt. McReynolds, 
 
 Parta. 
 
 1st Brigade, 
 Col. Garland. 
 
 2d Brigade, 
 Col. Clarke. 
 
 I 2d Regiment Artillery. 
 3d " " 
 
 4th " Infantry. 
 
 Duncan's Field Battei'V. 
 C 5th Infantry. 
 I 6th 
 t 8th 
 
 (Rifle Regiment. 
 1st Artillery. 
 3d Infantry. 
 Taylor's Battery. 
 
 2d Brigade, S f^ r^f^^^^' 
 CoLRUey J 7th ^ ^ 
 
 1st Brigade, 5 7il'^f ^''i 
 
 Gen: Cadwailader, J J^* ^'^''^^'y- 
 
 2d Brigade, 
 Gen. Pierce, 
 
 9th 
 12th " 
 15th « 
 
 1st Brigade, LSouth Carolina Volunteers. 
 Gen. Shields, ^ New York Volunteers. 
 
 ^' ■ } Detachment of U. ^. Marines, 
 
 These regiments would represent, according to military 
 computation, twenty thousand men. But, it mutt be rec- 
 
MARCH TO MEXICO. 403 
 
 ollecled, that they were many of them only skCieton regi- 
 ments. They averagecT not more than half the nominal 
 number of a regiment, and some of them had not more 
 than three hundred men each. 
 
 As there was no large Mexican army immediately ia 
 frpnt, Scott directed these divisions to move forward sep- 
 arately on different days, that they might move easily, 
 and without confusion, but so that they could reinforce 
 each other at four hours' notice. 
 
 On the .7lh of August, Harney's Brigade of Cavalry, 
 followed by the 2d Division under Twiggs, commenced 
 their march. On the 8th, Quitman's Division of volun- 
 teers moved forward ; on the 9lh, the 1st Division under 
 Worth; and on the 10th, the 3d Division, under Pillow. 
 General Scott himself joined and continued with the lead- 
 ing division. 
 
 Thus commenced the march of the Anglo-American 
 army from Puebla to Mexico, through the country once 
 densely populated by the Tlascalans, and not far from the 
 road travelled by Cortez in the first conquest of Mexico. 
 The troops followed the stage-travelled route. But the 
 route of Cortez here crossed the modern road, and, pass- 
 ing to the left through Cholula, and round the base of 
 Popocateptl, rejoined the present road near Lake Chalco. 
 Cholula was then a magnificent city, and Cortez pursued 
 the common road ; but that city is now a ruin, and the 
 road has been changed to suit the modern towns. 
 
 On the morning of the 7th, Twiggs' Division took up* 
 its march tlrrough a beautiful rolling country, whose gar- 
 dens supplied the city with fruits and vegetables. The 
 road passed over the Anahuac range of the Cordilleras, 
 and from point to point presented some of the finest 
 
404 PASS OF THE RIO FR[0. 
 
 scenery in the world. Nearly ihirly miles tc the left, but 
 in full view, arose the snow-topped Popoca eptl and its 
 twin sumnait Iztac-cithuatl, whose icy brows, far above 
 the region of perpetual congelation, rose eighteen thou 
 sand feet in the air, in cold and isolated glory ! Under 
 nealh these sublinne summits, and amidst the ruins ol 
 Cholula and TIascala, the army moved on. Gradually 
 the road ascended through mountain hills, now covered 
 with woods, and now presenting little lakes interspersed 
 in the valleys. They had ascended a height of ten thou 
 sand feet, amidst the Cordilleras, when the thirsty soldier 
 was refreshed with the water of a little stream, of icy 
 coldness and crystal purity, whose springs were in the 
 Snow Mountains.' 
 
 This was the -pass of Rio Frio. Here the army had 
 anticipated resistance, for the mountains closed upon and 
 overhung the road, so as to offer great capabilities of de- 
 fence. Some signs ,of preparation were found, but they 
 had been abandoned, and the troops passed on without 
 seeing an enemy.' A few miles farther and they passed 
 over the crest of the mountains, where suddenly burst 
 upon them the brilliant scenery of the Valley of Mexico, — 
 scenery which has been described by travellers as among 
 the most beautiful and picturesque in the world. It is 
 thus described by an officer of the Rifles :' 
 
 " When all were pretty nearly worn out, a sudden turn 
 in the road brought to our view a sight which none can 
 *ver forget. The whole vast plain of Mexico was before 
 us. The coldness of the air, which was most sensibly 
 
 ' Letter to the New York Courier, dated August, 31st 
 ' -Letter to the New York Oourier. 
 
APPROACH TO MEXICO. 405 
 
 felt at this great height, our fatigue and danger, were for- 
 gotten, and our eyes were the only sense that thought of 
 enjoyment. Mexico, with its lofty steeples and its check- 
 ered domes — its bright reality, and its former fame — its 
 modern splendor, and its ancient magnificence, was be- 
 fore us ; while around, on every side, its thousand lakes 
 seemed like silver stars on a velvet mantle." 
 
 This was the picture of that city and its remarkable 
 environs, which the Anglo-American now came to con- 
 quer. From the summit of volcanic mountains he looked 
 down, like an eagle from the cliffs, upon his prey below, 
 but not without admiration of the beauty which surrounded 
 his weaker'adversary. 
 
 The army was now on the great road from Puebla to 
 Mexico, Vvhich passed to the east of Lake Chalco, and 
 between that and Lake Tezcuco.' On the 11th inst., the 
 division reached Ayotla, north of Lake Chalco, and only 
 fifteen miles by the National Road from the city of 
 Mexico, where it waited for the other divisions to come 
 up. As yet, they had met no enemy. The time had now 
 come, however, in which it was necessary to reconnoitre 
 the defences of Mexico, and determine on the ultimate 
 plan of action. 
 
 By referring to a map of the valley of Mexico, it will 
 be seen, that in front (to the north) lay the great Lake of 
 Tezcuco, along the south border of which wound the 
 National Road to the city of Mexico, on the west side of 
 the lake. South of Ayotla, where the division of Twiggs 
 now lay, is Lake Chalco. West of Ayotla, and near 
 Chalco, is Lake Xochimilco. West of that, and nearly 
 
 ' Refer to the Map of the Battle-grounds in Mexico, page 360. 
 
406 RECONNAISSANCE OF EL PENON. 
 
 at right angles with the National Road, is the Acapulco 
 road, leading from Mexico to the Pacific, and passing 
 through the villages of San Antonia and San Augustine. 
 Still further west is the Toluca road, passing through 
 Tacubaya. The ground through which these roads enter 
 Mexico is generally a marshy valley or plain, which is 
 protected from the water by dykes and causeways. The 
 intermediate marshes, filled with bogs and water, were 
 almost or quite impracticable for the passage of troops. 
 On the other hand, the great roads and causeways were 
 fortified by the Mexicans. In front, near the National 
 Road, and about seven miles from Mexico, was El Penon, 
 a fortified mountain. West of that, near the head of 
 Lake Xochimilco, and five miles from Mexico, is Mexi- 
 calcingo, another fortified point. To the west of the 
 lakes, and on or near the Acapulco road, (between San 
 Augustine and the city of Mexico,) lay, in succession, San 
 Antonia, Contreras, and Churubusco, fortified points. 
 Contreras was a hill rather to the west of San Augustine. 
 Churubusco was at the crossing of a canal or river, called 
 the Churubusco River. At this point was a tete du pont, 
 or. bridge-head, a fortification. Much nearer to the city 
 wore the King's Mill (Molino del Rey) and Chapultepee. 
 Thus there was a continuous circle of fortified points, on 
 the practicable roads or approaches to the city. 
 
 On the 13th of August, the position of the American 
 army was as follows, viz. : Twiggs' division, at Ayotla, 
 north of Lake Chalco ; Worth's division, near the village 
 of Chalco, at the south end of the lake ; and the divisions 
 of Pillow and Quitman, intermediate. Between Ayotla 
 and Chalco may have been five miles. 
 
 The problem now presented to Scott was, on whi&h' of 
 
TURNING OF LAKE CHALCO. 407 
 
 the main roads should he march to and attack the city 1 
 Should he continue on the National Road, and storm El 
 Fenon ? or should he turn off and gain the Acapulco 
 road ? Was the last practicable ? 
 
 General Scotthad long previouslydetermined, if possible, 
 to turn the enemy's defences on the Puebla road, and 
 passing round Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco, approach the 
 city on the Acapulco road, by San Augustine.' The com- 
 ^nanderof an army, however, must act practically in refer- 
 ence to the circumstances which surround him. Having 
 advanced the army to the point at which the choice of 
 approaches must be determined, a reconnaissance must 
 now be made to settle the question. This duty was in- 
 trusted to the Rifle regiment, accompanied by three com- 
 panies of cavalry ; and it was successfully and gallantly 
 performed. On the 12th of August, they advanced to 
 El Penon, and ascertained its position and defences. 
 Turning to the left, and endeavoring to find an easier ap- 
 proach to the city, they came upon Mexicalcingo, where 
 five strong batteries commanded the road. Counter- 
 marching, they found themselves under the bristling bat- 
 teries of El Penon, which now lay between them and 
 Twiggs' camp. They were not attacked, and, after a rapid 
 march, arrived in camp at midnight. This was pronounced 
 by General Scott, "the boldest reconnaissance of the war." 
 
 El Penon is a rocky hill, impassable on one side, sur- 
 rounded by a deep and broad ditch, and mounted with 
 batteries having fifty-one guns, completely commanding 
 and enfilading the National Road. Gen. Scott thus speaks 
 of it, in bis report of the 19th of August, 1847 : 
 
 , -n . . . . I .. .- ' ■•■ 
 
 • General Scott's Official Report, dated August 19tb, 18i1. 
 18' 
 
408 TURNING OF LAKE CHALCO. 
 
 " This mound, close to the National Road, commands 
 the principal approach to the city from the east. No 
 doubt it might have been carried, but at a great and dis- 
 proportionate loss, and J was anxious to spare the lives of 
 this gallant army for a general battle, which I knew we 
 had to win before capturing the city, or obtaining the 
 great object of the campaign — a just and honorable 
 peace." 
 
 Of the jpass of Mexicalcingo he thus writes, and dis- 
 closes the plan which he had originally conceived, and 
 was ultimately adopted : 
 
 " It might have been easy (masking the Penon) to 
 force the passage ; but on the other side of the bridge 
 we should have found ourselves, four miles from this 
 road, on a narrow causeway, flanked to the right and left 
 by water, or .boggy grounds. These difficulties closely 
 viewed, threw me back upon the project long entertained, 
 of turning the strong eastern defences of the city, by 
 passing around south of Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco, at 
 the foot of the hills and mountains, so as to reach San 
 Augustine, and hence to manoeuvre on hard, though qauch 
 'broken ground, to the south and southwest of the capital, 
 which had been more or less under our view since the 
 10th inst.'" 
 
 The real question on the ground was, Could the Lake 
 Chalco be turned ? The reconnaissances made, and the 
 information of scouts, determined that point, and the oi-der 
 was immediately given to reverse the movement of the 
 entire army. 
 
 On the 15th of August, the several divisions took up 
 
 ' Bcott's Official Report, dated 19th of August, 1847. 
 
MARCH ON SAN AUGUSTINE. 409 
 
 their line of march, Wortli's corps being now in advance, 
 and the others following in the reverse order of their 
 advance. 
 
 The road lay along the margin of the lake, at the base 
 of rocky mountains, and at times crossing their spurs. 
 The hills were often precipitous, and the army migh't have 
 been much obstructed and annoyed by sharp-shooters and 
 the rolling of stones. Little of this, however, was at- 
 tempted ; and in two days' time (on the 17th) the head of 
 Worth's division had reached San Augustine, on the'Apa- 
 pulco road. Twiggs' division, which was in advance, but 
 was now in rear, left Ayotla on the 16th, with the train ; 
 the brigade of General Smith forming the rear-guard. 
 
 At the village of Buena Vista, near Lake Chalco, a 
 Mexican division appeared, and there was a slight skir- 
 mish, but it was soon ended, the Mexicans retreating. 
 
 On the 18th of August, the army of Scott was concen 
 trated in the valley of Mexico, his head-quarters being at 
 San Augustine. The movement of the last two days was 
 one of great importance. On the 13th, as we have seen, 
 the army had taken position east of and beyond Lake 
 Chalco, on the National Road, the advance being at 
 Ayotla, fifteen miles from Mexico. On the 18th, it was 
 to the west of Lake Chalco, on the Acapulco road, and 
 nine miles from Mexico. Lake Chalco and the Mexican 
 defences on the National Road had been completely turned. 
 The fortifications in front were not so strong, the distance 
 to the city less, and the field of operations for the army 
 better. 
 
 We have now followed Scott from the 7th of March, on 
 which he left the Island of Lobos, to the 18th of August, 
 on which he is in full view of the capital of Mexico. In 
 
410 CRISIS or THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 that time, he had captured the castle- of Vera Cruz, won 
 the great battle of Cerro Gordo, received the capitulations_ 
 of Perote, Jalapa, and Puebla, turned the Lake Chalco, 
 and was now ready to descend, with victorious arms, on 
 the city of the Montezumas. His plans were formed 
 with the highest military skill, and were executed with, the 
 utmost success. His conduct was marked with humanity 
 and discretion. He was now come to the crisis of the 
 campaign, and we shall see with what brilliant- victories 
 and extraordinary success this great American general was 
 crowned, in the battles of Mexico. 
 
MKXICAN LINE OF DEFENCES. 41'' 
 
 CHAPTER, XXIV. 
 
 1850. 
 
 Mexican Line of Defences. — Position of the American Army. — ^Battle of 
 Cpntreras. — Rout of the Mexicans. — Recapture of the Buena Vista 
 Guns. — Battle of Churubusco. — Storm of the T6te dii Pont. — Defeat of 
 the Mexicans. — Truce. — Trist's ITegotiations. — Their Failure. 
 
 On the 18th of August, when the American army had 
 gained its position on the Acapulco road, the city of Mex- 
 ico was surrounded by two hnes of defences, manned by 
 a numerous and well-appointed army, under the command 
 of General Santa Anna. These defences must be over- 
 come and that army defeated, before Scott can enter the 
 city and conquer a peace. The fortifications were of a 
 most formidable character, and the ground of su^h a nature 
 that they could not be passed with safety. Mexico, as 
 we have seen, lie's in a valley, and is almost the lowest 
 spot in the valley.' This valley was probably, at some 
 time, the bottom of a great lake, of which Lakes Tezcuco, 
 Christobal, Chalco, and Xochimilco are the remains. Not 
 many centuries since, the city of Mexico was surrounded 
 wholly by water, and approached only by great cause- 
 ways, built up in the water. These causeways yet make 
 the only good and safe approaches to the city ; for, in the 
 wet season, the intermediate spaces are covered with wa- 
 
 ' The Great Square of Mexico is but one foot and one inch higher than 
 the level of Lake Tezcuco, and is several feet lower than the other 
 lakes. • / 
 
tIS MEXICAN LINE OF DEFENCES. 
 
 ter, and in the dry season are boggy and marshy. Scolt's 
 army approached the city in the month of August, when 
 the country was dry, yet the fields were unfit for the pas- 
 sage of an army. Hence it was by the main roads that 
 the army must attack the city, and, in moving forward, 
 must attack and capture the 3efences on one or more of 
 the causewaj's. Let us see how the Mexican defences 
 were situated. 
 
 The exterior line of defences commenced with El Pe- 
 W072, a rocky and precipitous hill, near Lake Tezcuco, 
 surmounted with batteries of heavy cannon, and impreg- 
 nable, except with great loss of men. This 'fortress com- 
 manded the National Road, by which the American army 
 had advanced beyond Lake Chalco, and to defend which 
 Santa Anna had placed his strongest preparations. West 
 of this, on another causeway leading from Lake Xochi- 
 milco to the city, was Mexicalcingo, also surmounted 
 with batteries and breastworks. To attack these had 
 been decided by Scott inexpedient. He therefore, as we 
 have seen, turned all these defences, and, marching round 
 Lake Chalco, was now at St. Augustine, on the Acapul- 
 co Road. But here, again, the line of defences was con- 
 tinued. Immediately in front lay the fortified village of 
 San Antonia. Nearer the city, where the road crosses a 
 canal or stream, was Churuhusco, defended by a Tete du 
 Pont (Bridge-head) in front, by stone house's garrisoned, 
 and by a line of intrenchmenis. To the left (west) of St. 
 Augustine was the hill of Contreras, also fortified with 
 batteries. Between that and St. Augustine the ground was 
 covered with pedrigal, or lava-stone, broken, rough, and 
 almost impassable. Nearer Mexico is Chapultepec, a 
 Iiill strongly fortified, on which is situated the Mexican 
 
FORTIFICATIONS TO BE TAKEN. 413 
 
 Military College. At the foot and near the hill is Molina 
 del Rey, (the King's Mill,) Casa de mata, and a fortified 
 stone wall. 
 
 These defences, as will be observed by reference to the 
 map,' covered every practicable road to the city of Mexi- 
 co; and it cannot be denied that the Mexican general 
 (Santa Anna) had chosen and prepared his plan of de- 
 fence with great military skill. There was no neglected 
 point by which the ci' y could be assailed, without a battle 
 previously fought and won. The fortifications which 
 must be taken before the army stormed Chapultepec or 
 captured Mexico, were these : 
 
 Battcriea. 
 
 Contieras 1 
 
 San Antonia 7 
 
 Churubusco 2 
 
 Total '. 10 61 
 
 These fortifications could not be turned, on account of 
 the nature of the ground ; and, even if turned, could not 
 be safely left in the lear. The time had now come for 
 the battle of Mexico, which, whether it were one or several, 
 must in its finality terminate in the capture of these for- 
 tresses, and the total defeat of the Mexican arntiy ; or the 
 city of Mexico could not be taken, nor peace result from 
 previous victories. This Scott had foreseen ; had calcu- 
 lated with precision the surrender of San Juan de Ulloa, 
 the successful march from Vera Cruz to Mexico, and the 
 turning of the strong defences to the east pf Lake Chalco. 
 
 ' See plan. 
 
 Guns. 
 22 
 
 Infantrj Breastworks. 
 
 
 24 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 
 
414 POSITION OF THE AMKRICAN ARMY. 
 
 The hour had now come when the final issue of the cam- 
 paign must depend only on the victory of arms. 
 
 •On the night of the 18th of August, 1847, the position 
 of the American army was thus : — The head-quarters of 
 General Worth, with his division, was at a hacienda on 
 the road near Antonia, and within reach of the enemy's 
 guns. Twiggs' division slept at a little hamlet, in sight 
 of Worth. The divisions of Pillow and Quitman were not 
 far off. The head-quarters of Scott were at San Augustine. 
 
 On the night of the same day, General Valencia, with 
 " the flower" of the Mexican army, about seven thousand 
 strong, occupied thefortified intrencliments on the heights of 
 Contreras, about five miles to the northwest of San Augus- 
 tine.' General Rincon commanded at Churubusco, whose 
 fortifications were not complete, but to finish which he 
 immediately addressed himself.' The garrison of that post 
 was composed of the battalions of National Guards called 
 Independencia and Bravo, and on the 19th and 20th were 
 reinforced by different batteries of artillery. 
 
 At San Antonia was another Mexican division, rein- 
 forced, on the morning of the 19fh, by the battahons of 
 Hidalgo and Victoria. Besides these several garrisons, 
 General Santa Anna commanded an army of about twelve 
 thousand men, posted on th6 hills beyond Contreras, in 
 the village of San Angel and the. neighborhood, so as to 
 reinforce the points inost exposed to attack. 
 
 This was the position of the American army on the 
 night of the 18th. During that day, reconnaissances had 
 been made by the engineer officers, with a view to ascer- 
 tain the best point of attack. Captain Mason ascertained 
 
 ' Gea Rinoon's Official Report. 
 
PPS.ITI0]S( OF THE MEXICAN TROOPS. 415 
 
 that San Antonia could only be approached in front, over. 
 a narrow causeway of great length, flanked by wet ditches 
 of great depth.' To the. right, the ground was too boggy 
 to turn this post ; and to the left, the movement of troops 
 must be over the pedrigal, or broken stones and lava. 
 This consisted of such sharp rocks and broken pieces, 
 that it was supposed impassable. Yet it was over this 
 difficult ground that Scott determined to advance, by cut- 
 ling a road through these obstructions, and finally turning 
 San Antonia, by gaining position at Coyahacen, on the 
 San Angel road, and whence they might attack Antonia 
 in the rear. Accordingly, Worth, with his division, was 
 ordered to mask, but not to attack Antonia ; while the ad- 
 vance on Contreras was to be made by Pillow's division 
 cutting a road, and Twiggs' covering it in front. 
 
 On the morning of the 19th, all was activity. Valencia 
 was strongly posted in tlieintrenched camp on the heights 
 of Contreras. Rincon-was busy fortifying Churubusco ; 
 and Santa Anna was reinforcing Contreras and San An- 
 tonia with bodies of. troops drawn from the city. The 
 camp of Contreras contained about seven thousand of the 
 best Mexican troops. Santa Anna commanded full twelve 
 thousand, held on the heights, in the rear of Contreras; 
 in the intrenchments, and behind causeways, between 
 that and the city. The divisions of Rincon and others on 
 the Churubusco side, and others near, amounted to several 
 thousand more. The whole Mexican force present on the 
 19th and 20th amounted to twenty-five thousand men. 
 
 On the American side, all was prepared for an advance 
 in the direction of Contreras. Captain Lee, of the Engi- 
 
 ' Scott's Official Report. 
 
416 SCOTT IN FUONT OF OONTRERAS. 
 
 ■neers, having, in ihe reconnaissance of the 1 9th, discovered 
 an enemy's cohjnnn of observation in front, near Conlrci-as, 
 Twiggs' division, as stated above, was thrown forward. 
 At 1 p. M. of the 19th they advanced from the village of 
 San Juan, where posted, witli blankets on their shoulders, 
 knapsacks in their wagons, and two days' supply of bread 
 and beef in their haversacks. They proceeded forward, 
 dragging with them Magruder's battery and the mountain 
 howitzers.' At 2 p. m., General Smith's brigade had ar- 
 rived at the crest of a hill, from which Valencia in his in- 
 trenchments was plainly visible. He had twenty-two 
 pieces of artillery (mostly heavy) in batttery, commanding 
 the broken and rocky ground on which the American 
 troops had now to manoeuvre. His position was connected 
 with the city of Mexico by an excellent road, leading down 
 the heights, by the hamlets of Contreras and Anselda, and 
 through the village of San Angel. On this road, but out 
 of reach, great bodies of Mexican troops cuuld be seen 
 advancing to the support of Valencia. 
 
 The American batteries, of twelve and six pounders, 
 under Captain Magruder, and the howitzers, under Lieu- 
 tenant Callander, were brought with extreme difficulty. 
 An officer writing from the spot says, that the ground was 
 " covered with rocks, large and small, prickly pear, or 
 cactus, intersected by ditches filled with water, and lined 
 with maguey plant, itself imperviable to cavalry, and with 
 patches of corn which concealed the enemy's skirmishers, 
 while it impeded our passage. "^ 
 
 General Scott took position on an eminence in front of 
 Contreras, at 4 P. sr. of the 19lh, and continued to direct 
 
 ' Letter of an Officer, in the Ne-w York Courier. 
 
BATTLE Of CONTREllAS. 417 
 
 the movements of troops during the action which ensued. 
 Our artillerymen could get but three pieces into play, while 
 the batteries of Contreras had twenty-two, which therefore 
 rendered our fire nearly nugatory. The same officer quoted 
 above, and who was an eye-witness, says : "Fortwo hours, 
 our troops stood the storm of iron and lead which hailed upon 
 them, unmoved. At every discharge they laid flat down, 
 to avoid the storm, and then sprung up to serve the guns. 
 At the end of that time, two of the guns were dis- 
 mounted, and we (the Rifles) badly hurt. Thirteen of 
 the horses were killed and disabled, and fifteen of the 
 cannoniers killed and wounded. The troops were then 
 recalled." 
 
 The American cavalry could not advance on the ground 
 passed, and^ the infantry could not advance in column, 
 without being mowed down by the grape and canister of 
 the batteries, nor advance in line, without being ridden 
 over by the enemy's numerous cavfilry.' The action of 
 the 19th lasted three hours, till nightfall, in which time 
 the American troops sustained several charges of the 
 Mexican cavalry, and maintained their position. The 
 action of the day was indecisive. Our army, however, 
 had gained the great point of seeing precisely what was to 
 be done the next day, and of making important move- 
 ments during the night. 
 
 From his position in front of Contreras, Scott, with the 
 quick perception of military relations which belongs only 
 to high military genius, had seen Santa Anna reinforcing 
 Contreras by troops from Mexico, along the San Angel 
 road ; had seen the hamlet at the foot of Contreras com- 
 
 ' Scott's Official Report. 
 27 
 
418 BATTLE OP CONTUERAS. 
 
 manding that road ; had seen the ravines in rear (we'sl):of' 
 Contreras ; and had seen the covering of woods and 
 orchards near the hamlet ; and had formed, at a glance, 
 the plan which was ultimately carried into effect. This 
 was to throw forward a body of troops,' in the evening, 
 into the hamlets of Contreras and Anselda, which would 
 cut off reinforcerhents during the attack on Contreras, and 
 intercept the retreat .of the enemy, when that intrench- 
 ment was taken ; then to attack Valencia from the ravine 
 in the rear, while a strong diversion was made. in front; 
 When this succeeded, San Antonia could- be turned, and 
 attacked in rear, as well as in front. Accordingly, all ar- 
 rangements were made for this result. It was now even- 
 ing, and the brigade of Cadwallader had already advanced 
 in the direction of the hamlet. The 14th Regiment of In- 
 fantry, under Col. Morgan, was then ordered by Scott to 
 occupy the village ; and a few minutes later, they were 
 joined by the brigade of Shields, composed of New York 
 and South Carolina volunteers. These troops made their 
 way through a dense forest, and in the night took post on 
 the road in the hamlet. The brigades of Riley and Smith 
 advanced still further, and had taken post in rear and 
 flank of the enemy's camp on the hill of Contreras. 
 
 The night of the IQlhwas'by no means promising. 
 That portion of the troops immediately engaged (the 
 Rifles, 1st Artillery, and 3d Infantry) had terminated a 
 day of conflict, without any decisive result ; and had 
 marched to their new position, through chapporal and 
 cacti, tired, hungry, and dispirited. The night was dark, 
 rainy, and cold. So dark was it, that seven officers sent 
 on by Scott for information from Shields and Smith, had 
 failed to return ; and one only (Captain Lee) had beeii 
 
BATTLE OP CONTRERAS. 419 
 
 able to bring intelligence from Shields.' At night, when 
 the brigades of Smith, Riley, Shields, and Ransom's regi- 
 ment, lay in and about the hamlet o'f Contreras, or An- 
 selda, the rain poured down, so that the stream in the road 
 flooded them. There they stood, crowded together, 
 drenched and benumbed, waiting till daylight.^ The cry, 
 however, that they were " to storm" the enemy's post, re- 
 animated them, and all was again ready for action. 
 
 At 3 A. M. of the 20th, the decisive movements of the 
 day commenced. General PersifekF. Smith, an officer 
 whose skill and gallantry are of the highest order, was first 
 on the ground, and became the immediate commander in 
 the action. General Shields, his senior, yielded that po- 
 sition to him, and undertook to hold the village, and cut 
 off the enemy's retreat, which was gallantly performed. 
 
 At 4 A. M., the troops of Riley and Smith, which had 
 occupied the hamlet and road of Contreras during the 
 night, defiled into their position in rear of the enemy, 
 through a ravine covered by orchards and corn-fields. 
 The nature of the ground, and the negligence of the Mexi- 
 cans, favored our troops in a remarkable manner. The 
 enemy's batteries and their whole attention appear to have 
 been directed to the eastern and southern declivity of the 
 hills, where our first attack had been made, and where 
 they afiticipated another. On the contrary, however, the 
 brigades of Riley, Smith, and Cadwallader had, during 
 the night, lain in the village on the north, and had now 
 crept up the ravine on the west, till nothing but the crest 
 of a hill intervened between them and the Mexicans ! 
 
 ' Scott's Official Report. 
 
 - Letter of an Officer in the New Tork Courier. 
 
420 BATTLE OF CONTRERAS. 
 
 Riley's brigade was on the extreme south, in the ravine 
 behind the enemy's right, Cadwallader's next, and Smith's 
 behind the enemy's left, all ready to Spring up, at 6 a. m., 
 when the arrangements were completed.' 
 
 When the word of attack was given, our men sprung up 
 in both rear and flanks of the astonished Mexicans, rushed 
 headlong over the crest of the hill, and dashed pell-mell 
 into the inlrenchments -! The batteries were taken, the 
 army of Valencia driven out, and its flying remnants pur- 
 sued on the road to Mexico ! So admirable were the dis- 
 positions, and so energetic the action, that the battle was 
 ended almost as soon as begun ! The actual conflict 
 lasted but seventeen minutes ! The pursuit was for hours. 
 The results were gigantic. Of the scene during the bat- 
 tle, we take a description from the same graphic writer 
 to whom we have before referred : 
 
 " At last, just at daylight. General Smith, slowly walk- 
 ing up, asked if all was ready. A look answered him. 
 ,' Men, forward !' and we did ' forward.' Springing up at 
 once, Riley's brigade opened, when the crack of a hun- 
 dred rifles startled the Mexicans from their astonishment, 
 and they opened their fire. Useless fire, for we were so 
 close that they overshot us, and before they could turn 
 their pieces on us, we were on them. Then such cheers 
 arose as you never heard. The men rushed forward like 
 demons, yelling and firing the while. The carriage was 
 frightful, and though they fired sharply, it was of no use. 
 
 ' These brigades were all led to their respective posts by the officers 
 of Engineers — Riley^, by Lieutenant Tower ; Cadwallader's, by Lieu- 
 tenants Beauregard and Brooks ; and the regiment of Voltigours, by 
 Captain Lee. See also the Map of the Battles of Mexico, by Major 
 Trumb ill. Captain McClellan, and Lieutenant Ilardcastle. 
 
BATTLE OF CONTREKAS. 421 
 
 The earthen parapet was cleared in an instant, and the 
 blows of the stocks could be plainly heard, mingled 'with 
 the yells and groans around. Just before^ihe charge was 
 made, a large body of lancers came winding up the road, 
 looking most splendidly in their brilhant uniforms. They 
 never got to the work, but turned and fled.' In an in- 
 stant all wa-s one mass of confusion, each trying to be 
 foremost in the flight. The road was literally blocked 
 up ; and, while many perished by their own guns, it was 
 almost impossible to fire on the mass from the danger of 
 killing our own men. Some fled up the ravine on the 
 left, or on the right, and many of these were slain by turn- 
 ing their own guns upon them. Towards the city, the 
 rifles and 2d infantry led off the pursuit. Seeing that a 
 large crowd of fugitives were jammed up in a pass in the 
 road, some of the men ran through the corn-field, and by 
 thus heading them off and firing down upon them, about 
 thirty men took over five hundred prisoners, nearly a hun- 
 dred of them officers.'" 
 
 The position of Shields was now made effective. His 
 New York and South Carolina volunteers were novir or- 
 dered into the road to cut off the retreat of Valencia's 
 corps. Large parties were met by the fire of these regi- 
 ments, and either scattered or made pWsoners. Three 
 hundred and seventy-five were taken, of whom twenty- 
 five were oflacers, including General Nicholas Mendoza. 
 
 ' This dastardly conduct of the Mexican cavalry, commanded by Gen- 
 eral Torrejon, is fully described by General Salas (Mexican) in his Offi- 
 cial Report. He says that Torrejon " fled like a coward, and the cavalry 
 followed his example " 
 
 " Letter of an officer in the New York Couiier. 
 
422 RESULTS OP THE BATTLE. 
 
 The results of the battle are thus described by General 
 Scott, in his Official Report :' 
 
 " Thus was the great victory of Contreras achieved ; 
 one road to the capital opened ; 700 of the enemy killed ; 
 813 prisoners, including, among 88 officers, 4 generals ; 
 besides many colors and standards.; 22 pieces of brass 
 ordnance, half of large calibre ; thousands of small arms 
 and accoutrements ; an immense quantity of shot, shells, 
 powder, and cartridges ; 700 pack mules, many horses, 
 &c., &c.-^all in our hands." 
 
 Salas, Mendoza, Garcia, and Guadalupe, among 
 the principal Mexican generals, were captured. The two 
 brass cannon taken from .us in the battle of Buena Vista 
 were recaptured. Of this event General Scott thus 
 speaks : 
 
 '^ One of the most pleasing incidents of the victory is 
 the recapture, in the works, by Captaia Drum, 4th artil- 
 lery, under Major, Gardner, of the two brass six-pounders 
 taken from another company of the same regiment, though 
 without the loss of honor, at the glorious battle of Buena 
 Vista, about which guns the whole regiment had mourned 
 for so many months. Coming up, a little later, I had the 
 happiness to join in the protracted cheers of the gallant 
 4th, on -the joyous event; and, indeed, the whole army 
 sympathizes in its just pride and exultation.'" 
 
 The Battle op Contreras was' both brilliant. and de- 
 cisive. It was fought by four thousand Jive hundred 
 men against seven thousand, under Valencia in the in- 
 trenchments, and twelve thousand, commanded by Sailta.; 
 
 ' Scott's Official Report, dated " Gates of Mexico, August 28th." 
 ' Scott's Official Report. 
 
ROAD OPENED TO CHURUBUSOO. 423, 
 
 Anna, supporting them, — making nearly twenty thousand 
 of the enemy actually in the field. It was fought and 
 won so rapidly, that the divisions of Worth and Quitman, 
 which had been ordered to make -a diversion in front, east, 
 had not time to arrive! But it was not merely the hattli 
 which gave consequence and brilliancy to this achieve- 
 mfeht: it illustrated, in a remarkable manner, the high 
 skill and superior strategy by which Scott accomplished 
 his triumphal conquest of Mexico. We have seen him 
 turning all the strong eastern defences of Mexico, making 
 San Augustine the centre of his operations ; and now we 
 see him turning San Antonia, by this storm and victory 
 at Contreras. The moment the divisions of Twiggs and 
 Pillow had achieved the victory, and were in pursuit of 
 the Mexicans, they were on the road, through San Angel 
 and Coyohacan, to Chu-rubusco, which they would attack 
 in flank, and San Antonia in the rear ! It was this strate- 
 getic movement, and its successful result, which cleared 
 the road to Mexico. 
 
 At 8 A. M., five hours after the troops commenced 
 taking their positions in the ravine of Contreras', and two 
 after the commencement of the battle, all was ended on 
 the heights and in the village of Contreras. The rem- 
 nants of Valencia's corps, who had escaped death or cap- 
 tivity, had fled to the main army. The decisive move- 
 ment which ctit the enemy's line, and opened the road to 
 Churubusco, was completed. The dvisions of Twiggs 
 and Pillow were now in full march through the village of 
 San Angel towards the Bridge-head. 
 
 From the village of Contreras to that of Churubusco is 
 about five miles by the road which crosses from San An- 
 gel through Coyohacan;— the last village being about one 
 
424 CAPTURE OF SAN ANTONIA. 
 
 mile from the fortified ciiurch. Tiiis distance it would 
 take two or three hours for troops with artillery to pass 
 over and be prepared for action. 
 
 In the mean while, (as we have stated,) Worth's and 
 Quitman's divisions, which had moved towards Contre- 
 ras to make a diversion in front, but which had not arrived 
 when the battle was terminated, were countermarched to 
 attack and carry Antonia. That -post, being now de- 
 prived of the support of Contreras, could be turned; and 
 it was turned by Colonel Clarke's Brigade, which (con- 
 ducted by Captain Mason of the Engineers, and Lieuten- 
 ant Hardcastle of the Topographical Corps) made a 
 sweep to the left, and came out on the high road to Mex- 
 ico.' While this was doing, however, the garrison of 
 Antonia, perceiving that their position was now untena- 
 ble, evacuated the post. In retreating, they were met in 
 flank by the advancing column of Clarke, and cut in two, 
 the advanced portion moving upon Churubusco, and the 
 remainder, about two thousand, under General Bravo, 
 retreating east towards Dolores. 
 
 Garland's Brigade, advancing on the causeway, soon 
 took possession of Antonia, with its defences, which made 
 the second victory of the day.' The Brigades of Clarke 
 and. Garland were united about six hundred yards beyond 
 Antonia, and moved on simultaneously in hot pursuit of 
 the enemy, towards Churubusco. 
 
 The crisis of the day had. now come. The enemy 
 were united at the Tete du Pont and its neighborhood.. 
 Scott's army were now rapidly advancing on different roads 
 to concentrate in the final attack. The capital of the Mex- 
 
 ' Scott's Official Report. See, also, the Map of Battle-fields. 
 
THE TfiTE DU PON J' CONVENT-CH CJRCH. 425 
 
 ican Republic, the heart of the Spanish-Aztec empire, lay 
 in full view, — to be defended on one side with all the 
 strength of excited nationality, and assailed on the other 
 with all the energy of the Anglo-American,^-determined 
 to conquer a peace by glorious victory ! None in our 
 camp doubted the issue. With the American soldier, to 
 march is to fight, and to fight is to conquer. The fortifi- 
 cations of Churubusco presented two points of strong de- 
 fence, which must be carried by main force. The first 
 was the Tete du Pont, (Bridge-head,) which was erected 
 on the main causeway, in front of the Bridge . over Chu- 
 rubusco river, and consisted of two bastions with flanks. 
 This was strongly garrisoned, and mounted with batte- 
 ries. 
 
 The second fortification was the Convent-Church, 
 about five hundred yards to the west, and a httle in ad- 
 vance of the river. Around this lay the hacienda, or 
 hamlet. The defences were, on the outside, a covering 
 of stone walls ; next to these a stone building or fortifi- 
 cation with higher walls, and above all a stone church 
 higher than either. The outside walls were pierced with 
 two ranges of embrasures, and high enough to command 
 the surrounding country, and fire plungingly upon those 
 approaching to the assault.'' The church and the hacien- 
 da were surrounded by this outside field-work. By pass- 
 ing along the causeway, the church and field-work would 
 be left a little on the west side, and the troops would be 
 first arrested by the Tele du ,Pont. This was the case 
 with Worth's division. 
 
 The retreat of the enemy from San Antonia, and the 
 
 ' Scott'a Official Report, 
 
436 POSITION OP THE KN;EMY> 
 
 general march of all the American divisions soon after 8 
 A. M., commenced the grand movement of the day. On 
 the west, the divisions of 'Twiggs and Pillow were ad- 
 vancing on the cross-road from San Angel, by Coyoha- 
 can ; and on the causeway south the division of Worth 
 was rapidly coming up to storm the Tete du Pont. The 
 brigade of Quitman, consisting of the Pennsylvania Vol- 
 unteers and U. S. Marines, were left in charge of the 
 ge'neral depot at San Augustine. General Scott well re- 
 marked in his report, that this might liave become the 
 post of honor ; for it might have been suddenly attacked,- 
 and its loss would have endangered the existence of the 
 army.' 
 
 At 1 p. M. the different divisions of the army were uni- 
 ted (not in line) in one circuit of attack ; those on the 
 west preparing to attack the fortified -church, and those 
 from the south, under Worth, to attack thfe Tetc du 
 Pont. 
 
 In the mean while, the enemy were concentrated at 
 the fortifications of Churubusco, and behind Churubusco 
 river, in the same manner and for the same reasons as the 
 American army were in front, the one to attack, and the 
 other to defend. Correra, commander of Artillery, had 
 arrived in the morning^ with six pieces of artillery, which 
 were placed in battery on the road to Coyohacan, in a 
 field-work surrounding the hacienda, at the commence- 
 ment of the causeway leading to the western gate of the 
 city. The retreating corps from San Angel, the brigade 
 of Peres at Portalis, a part of the garrison of San Anto- 
 
 ' Letter io the New York Courier. 
 
 ' General Rincon's Official Dispatch, dated August 26th, 1847. 
 
THREE BATTLES AT ONCE. 437 
 
 nia, and, in fine, the residue of Santa Anna's army, were all 
 concentrated in or behind Churubusco. 
 
 General Scott had, in the mean while, placed himself 
 at Coyohacan, where, just one mile from Churubusco, he 
 made the arrangements of the day. Gn the 19th he was 
 posted on an eminence in front of Contreras, whence he 
 had given directions for the storm of hill and batteries. 
 Early this morning he had directed the forward movement 
 of Worth on the Tete du Pont. Being without escort 
 at Coyohacan, the General-in-chief now advanced in the 
 rear of Twiggs' division,- as it advanced to the storm of 
 the fortified chtirch and convent. The attack on that post 
 was made by the brigades of Smith and Riley (Twiggs' 
 command) — less the Rifles, who were soon after sent to 
 the support of Shields. That officer, with his own brig- 
 ade, (New York and South Carolina Volunteers,) and the 
 brigade of Pierce had been placed iii command of the 
 American left wing, which were advancing to attack the 
 enemy's right and- rear, by a third road leading in that 
 direction.' The object of this movement was to favor the 
 movement on the convent, and cut off the enemy's retreat 
 to the capital. 
 
 In the morning two battles had been fought and won, 
 at Contreras and Antonia. Now three battles were going 
 on at once ! . On the right of the American line. Worth 
 advancing on the causeway was storming the T^te du 
 Pont. In the middle ground, Twiggs was assaulting, 
 amidst a tremendous fire, the church and convent ; and 
 far to the left, and on the right and rear of the Mexicans, 
 Shields was assailing their lines. When Scott reached 
 
 ' Scott's Official Eeport 
 
428 THE TfiTE DU PONT CARRIED. 
 
 the scene of action, the battle raged from the right to the 
 left of our whole line. 
 
 The battle of the Tete-du Pont was first decided. Two 
 columns, under Garland and Clarke respectively, ad- 
 vanced to the front of the work under the fire of a long 
 line of infantry, to the left of the bridge, and of several 
 pieces of artillery in battery. Moving perpendicularly to 
 the work, they suffered much ; but their coolness, en- 
 ergy, and determination overcame all difficulties. The 
 Tete du Pont was assaulted and carried by the bayonet. 
 Its deep and wet ditch was first gallantly crossed by the 
 8th and 5th infantry, commanded by Major Waite and 
 Lieutenant-colonel Scott. The storming parties entered 
 the fort, and the enemy rapidly retreated on the road to 
 Mexico. This was the third victory of the 20th of Au- 
 gust ! 
 
 About an hour before Worth had reached the Tete du 
 Pont, Twiggs had commenced the attack on the citadel 
 of Churubusco, consisting, as we have said, of the forti- 
 fied church and hacienda. Here the battle raged more 
 fiercely, and was more bloody and eventful. The walls 
 of the church were pierced with loop-holes, and so ar- 
 ranged that two tiers of men fired at the same time.^ A 
 field-work surrounded the church, and seven pieces of ar- 
 tillery inside were well manned and served. The posi- 
 tion was, in all respects, a strong one, and it was defended 
 by the best officers and bravest men in the Mexican ser- 
 vice." It was at this point in the middle of the afternoon 
 of the 20th, that the storm of war, in the valley of Mexi- 
 co, raged the fiercest. It was her-e that for three hours 
 
 ' Letter in the New Tork Courier.- 
 
BATTLE OF CHURUBUSCO. 429 
 
 the hot elements of destruction rolled over the field ! The 
 harsh voices of death were mingled with the roar of artil 
 lery, and crimson banners flamed over the battle. 
 
 The veterans of Smith and Ri^ey quailed not amidst 
 the whirlwind of fire and the storm of balls which rolled 
 from the well-directed guns of San Pablo in front, while 
 far to the left, the gallant volunteers of Carolina and Newr 
 York were rapidly filling their untimely, though glorious 
 graves ! Here, the Mexican general, Rincon, ably de- 
 fended his post. There, the masses of Santa Anna 
 poured themselves on the division of Shields ! A lurid 
 canopy of sulphurous smoke rose over the heads of the 
 combatants, and, far over the ancient plains of Mexico, 
 rolled the roar of cannon and the crash of arms — that aw- 
 ful music which makes the song of battle the prelude of 
 death, and the voice of angry nations. One might ima- 
 gine the fierce spirit of Guatimozin hovering exultant over 
 the plain, where the Celt and the Saxon, the enemies of 
 his race, poured out in mortal conflict (as if in just retri- 
 bution) their blood and their lives, over the graves of his 
 fathers. 
 
 It is remarkable that the most desperate defence was 
 
 made at San Pablo, by a company of deserters from the 
 
 American army, — more than a hundred in number, and 
 
 commanded by Thomas Riley, a deserter from the 3d In- 
 
 • fantry.' They manned three pieces of artillery, and often 
 
 ' Twenty-nine of these men were captured and tried by a general 
 Court Martial, of which Colonel Riley, of the 2d Infantry, was President. 
 The Court found them guilty, and sentenced them to be hung. In a gen- 
 eral order, dated the 8th of September, General Scott approved the sen- 
 tence, with the exception of three who had deserted previous to the war ; 
 two others who were recommended to favor by the Court, and four in 
 
430 CAPTURE OF THE CITADEL. 
 
 tore down the white flag, when hoisted by the Mexicans ! 
 They fought desperately, and, Irom their position, the 
 firing was tremendous. 
 
 In vain, however, was displayed all this fierceness, and 
 in vain, were the strong defences of Churubusco ! The 
 fall of the Tete du Pont enabled Captain Larkin Smith 
 and Lieutenant Snelling of the 8th Infantry, to seize upon 
 a field-piece and fire from the flank upon the citadel. In 
 iust three hours from the commencement of the battle by 
 Twiggs, the citadel (San- Pablo) was entered, sword in 
 hand, by two companies of the third Infantry, under Cap- 
 tains Alexander and J. M. Smith, with Lieutenant Shep- 
 ler. Captain Alexander received the surrender, and hoist- 
 ed on the balcony the flag of the 3d Infantry. This was 
 the fourth victory of the day ! 
 
 Another battle yet raged ! Another victory was yet to be 
 won ! We have seen the brigades of Shields and Pierce, 
 with the gallaqt Rifles, advancing to the right of the 
 Mexican line, and turning to the rear of, the defences of 
 Churubusco. There, behind the , river of Churubusco, 
 was the main army of Santa Anna. Four thousand in- 
 fantry and three thousand cavalry there met our brave 
 troops. Hotly and furiously the battle raged ! Regiment 
 after regiment came up to the , charge. There, the chiv- 
 alry of Carolina and the volunteers of New York were 
 covered with glory and with blood 1 There Pierce was 
 
 ■whose palliation there appeared some mitigating circumstances. Sixteen 
 were executed at San Angel, on the 10th of September. General Scott 
 appears to have released every man from the penalty of death in whose 
 favor .iny plausible reason for such an exemption could be found. 
 
 Such scenes are sad, and the lesson given a terrible one ; but if there 
 were no punishment for crime, how could law ever be enforced ? 
 
BATTLE OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO. 431 
 
 taken fainting from the field ; the brave Butler fell ; and 
 many a gallant soldier sunk to rise no more ! It was a 
 memorable field. And victory again crowned the Amer- 
 ican arms, in this ffth battle of this illustrious day ! 
 
 The enemy retreated rapidly from the scene of their 
 defeat. The fugitives were pursued along the causeway 
 and over the dead ; and it was not till the gates of Mexi- 
 co were reached, that the impulsive Kearney reined in his 
 horse.' 
 
 Thus closed what may be historically termed the Bat- 
 tle OF THE Valley of Mexico, consisting, in fact, of 
 five detached actions, each gallantly fought and triumph- 
 antly won ! 
 
 The numerical > forces engaged were in all about 9000 
 effective American soldiers to 32,000 Mexicans ; the 
 former commanded, in chief, by General Scott, and the 
 latter by General Santa Anna. The grand result was a 
 complete /orcm^ and capture of the exterior line of Mexi- 
 can defences — of Contreras, San Antonia, and Churubus- 
 co — opening the causeways to the city, and leaving it no 
 resources but its gates and the Castle of Chapultepec. 
 The loss on both sides was very great,^ but not more than 
 
 ' Orders had been dispatched to recall the dragoons, but they were 
 not received in time ; and Captain Kearney, who had lost an arm, 
 stopped only at the gates of Mcjdco. 
 
 ' The ^sses sustained by both armies in the battles of Mexico may be 
 thus stated : 
 
 American Lose. Mexican Loss, 
 
 Killed 139 Killed 1,250 
 
 Wounded 876 'Wounded 2,000 
 
 Missing 38 Prisoners 2,600 
 
 .- . Total Jfidi Missing _6J50 
 
 Total 12,000 
 
 The total above of Mexican loss is derived from the report of Santa 
 19 
 
432 SCOTT AT CHURUBUSCO. 
 
 seemed inevitable to ihe defence of a great city, in the 
 heart of a great empire. The Spanish-Aztecs had reigned 
 here for near three hundred years, and the Lake of 
 Tezcuco reflected back more than the splendors which 
 had shone from the capital of the Montezumas ! Here 
 was their battle-field ; and it could not be imagined that 
 such a city, and such an empire, would be yielded with- 
 out fierce conflicts and bloody fields. 
 
 Scott was now at Churubusco. The battle is over — 
 the victory won — and he turns from the bloody field to 
 rejoice with his soldiers in the success of their achieve- 
 njents and the glory of their country. He pours out his 
 thanks to officers and men. The old soldiers seize his 
 hands. There is silence ; and in " eloquent and patriotic 
 words," he commends their gallant conduct.^ When he 
 ceased, there arose a shout that might have been heard 
 on the grand Plaza of Mexico. 
 
 An officer, who was present, says : " During this thril- 
 ling scene, I looked up to a balcony of the church that 
 had been so bravely defended. It was filled by Mexican 
 prisoners. Among them General Rincon, a venerable 
 old soldier, was leaning forward, his countenance glowing 
 and his eyes sparkling with every manifestation of de- 
 light. I verily believe that the old veteran, with the spirit 
 of a true soldier, upon beholding a victorious general so 
 greeted by the brave men he had just led to victory, for- 
 
 Anna, -who stated that he had only 18,000 remaining of 30,000 he had 
 two days before I The great body of the missing were dispersed dui'ing 
 and after the battle. Gen. Scott reports the total number of prisoners at 
 BOOO, of whom 205 were officers, and eight generals, — including Salas, 
 RiNcoN, Mendoza, Gaboia, Guadalupe, and others of note. 
 ' Letter in the Journal of Oommerce. 
 
PROPOSITIONS FOR AN ARMISTICE. 433 
 
 got for a moment his own position, that he was defeated 
 and a prisoner ; and saw and thought only of the enthu- 
 siasm by which he was surrounded."^ 
 
 Thus passed the 20th of August in the valley of Me.xi- 
 00. It was unsurpassed in dramatic interest or national 
 glory by any thing which had preceded it in American 
 military history. The shades of evening gatliered round 
 the hamlet of Churubusco, and all was still, as if no 
 fierce tempest of bloody war had ever passed over that 
 peaceful scene ! The bugle sounded the last call. The 
 wearied soldier sank to rest. The moon and the stars 
 kept watch over the bodies of the slain. Passed were 
 the thunders of artillery, and quenched their fires, as is 
 the roar and flame of that silent volcano, which now rears 
 its snow-crowned summit on the distant horizon ! 
 
 The next morning (the 21st) General Scott, on his way 
 to Coyohacan, was met by propositions for an armistice. 
 He rejected them, the time asked being not agreed' to. 
 He informed the commissioners that he should sleep at 
 Tacubaya, They told him if he would delay his march, 
 they would direct the fortress of Chapultepec not to fire 
 on him. But he did not delay his march. He entered 
 Tacubaya, attended by the dragoons alone, and that night 
 occupied the Archi-Episcopal palace of Mexico. He 
 might have entered the Plaza of Mexico by storm, but 
 did not. He chose rather to cultivate the milder graces 
 of humanity, than to seize, at the expense of new blood, 
 new laurels in Mexico. The voice of Peace whispered 
 " Forbearance" in his ear, and he answered, in the spirit 
 of Christian magnanimity, " Too much, blood has been 
 
 ' Letter in the Journal of Commerce. 
 28 
 
434 FORBEARANCE TOWARDS THE MEXICANS. 
 
 already shed in this unnatural war.'" No laurel he has 
 won in war, no renown which is chanted by the voice of 
 victory, will, in the estimation of posterity, be greener or 
 more worthy, than that which he has won by a continual 
 deference to the claims of peace and humanity. 
 
 The views of General Scott, in reference to the effort 
 he should make for peace, are contained in the following 
 extract from his Report of the 28th of August : 
 
 " After so many victories, we might, with but little ad- 
 ditional loss, have occupied the capital the same evening. 
 But Mr. Trist, commissioner, &c., as well as myself, had 
 been admonished by the best friends of peace — intelhgent 
 neutrals and some American residents — against precipita 
 tion ; lest, by wantonly driving away the government and 
 others, dishonored, we might scatter the elements of 
 peace, excite a spirit of national desperation, and thus in- 
 definitely postpone the hope of accommodation. Deeply 
 impressed with this danger, and remembering our mis- 
 sion — to conquer a peace — the army very cheerfully sac- 
 rificed to patriotism, to the grfeat wish and want of our 
 country, the eclat that would have followed an entrance, 
 sword in hand, into a great capital. Willing to leave 
 something to this republic — of no immediate value to us — 
 on which to rest her pride, and to recover temper, I 
 halted our victorious corps at the gates of the city, (at 
 least for a time,) and have them now cantojjed in the 
 neighbpring villages, where they are well sheltered and 
 supplied with all necessaries." 
 
 In conformity with these views. General Scott had 
 written a note to Santa Anna ; and en the 22d, commis- 
 
 Scott's Letter to- Santa Anna, August.21st. 
 
INSINCERITY OF SANTA ANNA. 435 
 
 sioners to treat of peace were appointed on both sides. 
 We need not detail the negotiations which took place. 
 They belong to general, rather than personal history, and 
 may be found in the account of the Mexican war.' It is 
 sufficient to say, that the discussions between Mr. Trist 
 on the part of the United States, and the Commissioners 
 (General Herrera, General Cento, General Villamil, Mr. 
 Arroyo, Secretary, and Mr. Atristain) appointed on the 
 part of Mexico, were continued from the 22d of August 
 to the 7th of September, when they were broken off. 
 
 While these discussions were going on, the Mexicans 
 of the cily were secretly conveying arms and munitions 
 of war to the Castle of Chapultepec. A letter from a 
 Mexican' to a correspondent in New York, thus expresses 
 the manner in which this was, done : — " Anticipating a 
 breach of the armistice, Santa Anna, for several days, had 
 caused to be conveyed, in every possible manner, so as 
 not to excite suspicion, arms, munitions, and food to the 
 fortress of Chapultepec. Our citizens had carried -under 
 their mantles, and on their mules, a great quantity of 
 powder, balls, and provisions, without being once discov- 
 ered, so great Was the feeling of security and confidence 
 among the Americans. General Scott was not a little 
 surprised, on attacking Chapultepec, to find such obsti- 
 nate resistance." 
 
 Whether General Scott was surprised or not, (though 
 it is not probable that he was unsuspicious of that insin 
 
 ' " The Mexican "War : aSistory of its origin, and a detailed account 
 of the victories, which terminated in the surrender of the Capital!' By 
 Edward D. Mansfield, a graduate of the Military Academy, Published 
 by A. S. Barnes <fe Co., 51 John-street, N. Y. 
 
 ' Letter published in the Jfew York Sun. 
 
436 SANTA anna's charges against our 'army. 
 
 eerily which seems habitual in the Mexican character,) 
 this letter (which appears authentic) proves that the armis- 
 tice was intentionally violated by Santa Anna. 
 
 General Scott, however, seems to have known what 
 • was going on. For, on the 6 th of September, he ad- 
 dressed, from Tacubaya, a note to Santa Anna, in which 
 he states that the 7th and 12th Articles of the Military 
 Convention, which stipulated for a supply of provisions 
 from Me.xico, had been violated ; and that he had good 
 reason for believing, that within twenty-four hours, the 
 3d Article also had been violat'ed. He slated that he had, 
 therefore, a right to recommence hostilities without no- 
 tice ; but that in order to allow time for explanation, he 
 would notify him, that if satisfaction on these points was 
 not given by 12 o'clock the next day, (the 7th,) the armis- 
 tice would terminate at that hour. 
 
 The same day (the 6th) General Santa Anna returned a 
 reply, in which he denied the charges made ; complained 
 that the American army had, in some cities and villages, 
 violated temples, plundered the sacred vases, and pro- 
 faned " the images venerated by the Mexican people ;" 
 and finally, that' the^ true cause of recommencing hostili- 
 ties was that he (Santa Anna) was not willing " to sign 
 a treaty which would lessen considerably the territories 
 of the Republic.'" 
 
 In relation to the charge of profaning "terafjjes," it was 
 the very opposite of truth. Scott had incurred the dan- 
 ger of reproaches at home, and of murmurs in the army, 
 in order to repress any tendency to a violation of the re- 
 ligious feelings or public worship of the Mexican people. 
 
 ' See Santa Anna's Official Letter, dated 6th of September 
 
THE ARMISTICE ENDED. 437 
 
 No hand of violence or word of contempt was allowed 
 among the soldiers of the army, in regard to the temples 
 and worship of religion in Mexico. There was, in all the 
 conduct of Scott towards the private property and reli- 
 gious rights of the Mexican people, a high honor and a 
 manly humanity which claims praise from all who love 
 Jtnercy or regard justice. 
 
 Thus ended the armistice ; and the American army, 
 which had closed the 20th of August in a series of splen- 
 did victories, now prepared to resume, amidst struggle 
 and battle, its triumphant march to the city of Mexico 
 
438 DEFENCES OF MEXICO. 
 
 CHAPTJIR XXV. 
 
 Description of the Defences of Mexico. — Of Molino del Rey. — Of Oha- 
 pultepec. — Battle of Molino del Rey. — Storm of Chapultepec. — Cap- 
 ture of Mexico. — Entrance into the City. — Scott's Address. — Insurrec- 
 tion of the Leperos. — Scott's Orders. — Speech to the Rifles. — ^Scott 
 levies Contributions. — Police Regulations, — Quiet of the City. 
 
 At 12 meridian of the 7th of September, 1847, the ar- 
 mistice, or military convention, between the armies of 
 Mexico and the United States, terminated, by the terms 
 of General Scott's note to Santa Anna. The Mexicans, 
 as we have seen, had availed themselves of the time occu- 
 pied in negotiations to arm and provision their remaining 
 fortifications. We must now take a glance at their de- 
 fences, in order to understand what was yet necessary to 
 be accomplished by the American army. 
 
 The exterior line of defences had now been either 
 turned or forced. Scott and his troops were oh one of 
 the main causeways, and in full sight of the city. It was 
 yet defended, however, by its garitas, or fortified gates 
 and posts, and by the fbrmidable castle of Chapultepec. 
 Tacubaya, the head-quarters of Scott, was, at the nearest 
 point, about twelve hundred yards {point-blftnc range for 
 twelve-pounders) from the fortified hill of Chapultepec' 
 The city of Mexico is ,two and a half miles off. At the 
 foot of Chapultepec, and on the east side, the Tacubaya 
 causeway branches into two ; one eastwar'dly to the Belen 
 gate, and one northwardly to the San Cosmo gate. At the 
 
 ' Measured from the Map of the " Battle Fields," by Tm-nbull, Hard- 
 castle, and McClellan. 
 
CHAPULTEPEC. 439 
 
 village of Tacubaya, another road led to the Piedad cause- 
 way ; also leading to the Belen gate.' The farthest point 
 of either of these three roads (the' Piedad causeway) was 
 only 2500 yards ; while the whole of the Tacubaya cause- 
 ways to the Belen and San Cosmo gates was under the fire 
 of the castle. The city itself was within reach of bom- 
 bardment from heavy mortars. This view of the topog 
 raphy and localities around Chapultepec will inform the 
 reader why it was necessary to the military possession of 
 Mexico, that Chapultepec should be taken. Let us now 
 examine the nature and extent of the defences which re- 
 mained to be taken. » 
 
 Chapultepec is a porphyritic rock, called, in the Aztec 
 language, " Grasshopper's Hill." It rose from the former 
 margin of the lake, was the resort of the Aztec princes, 
 and is the real site of the much-sought Halls of the Mon- 
 tezumas. Here are the remains of gardens, groves, and 
 grottoes — the lingering remnants of that magnificence 
 which adorned the ancient city of Mexico. Here, also, 
 the Spanish viceroys selected their residence, as the most 
 beautiful spot in the valley of Mexico. And here was now 
 placed the Military College. The cadets of the institution 
 were now among its defenders. The buildings on the top 
 were' well fortified, and the base of the hill was nearly 
 surrounded by a thick stone wall. On the north, east, and 
 south, this hill was abrupt and stony. On the west 
 only (from the city) it seemed to permit any approach. 
 On this side, down the slope, was a heavy forest. On 
 this side, the American commander determined to assault 
 it ; but here, also, were formidable defences. 
 
 ' See Map. 
 
440 
 
 MOLINO DEL REY. 
 
 El Molino del Rey is just at the foot of this hill-slope, 
 adjoins the grove of trees, and is a stone building of thick 
 and high walls, with towers at the end. This was strongly 
 garrisoned, and made a sort of depot, and was supposed 
 to have been used as a foundry recently, though really 
 built for mills, and called " the King's Mill." 
 
 Casa de Mata is another massive, thick-walled stone 
 building, standing about four hundred yards to the west 
 of Molino del Rey, and in a straight line with that and the 
 castle of Chapultepec. It is also at the foot of a gentle de- 
 clivity or ridge, descending from the village of Tacubaya. 
 
 General Scott had ascertained" that the Molino del Rey 
 actually contained a cannon foundry of great use to the 
 enemy ; and that within the last two days (prior to the 7th), 
 church bells had been sent out to be cast into cannon.' In 
 addition to this, it was discovered that Casa de Mata con- 
 tained a large supply of powder. A large body of the 
 enemy were now hovering about Molina del Rey, and 
 General Scott determined at once to destroy the foundry, 
 arms, and munitions there, to prevent the enemy from 
 arming the city with cannon ; and thus, perhaps, to avoid 
 the necessity of taking Chapultepec, if the southern gates 
 of the city could be approached easier. 
 
 The assault on Molino del Rey was intrusted to General 
 Worth, one of the most gallant officers of the army. He 
 was ordered to carry the enemy'g lines, capture their ar- 
 tillery, destroy their machinery, and then return to TaKU- 
 baya ; the army being not prepared to make the. final at- 
 tack on Chapultepec, if that attack should prove to be in- 
 evitable." The actual number, strength, and batteries of 
 
 ' Scott's Official Report of September 11th. " Ibii 
 
MEXICAN FORCE. 441 
 
 the enemy were unknown before the attack, and proved 
 in the end to be greater than was anticipated. According 
 to the Mexican account, the Casa de Mata was occupied 
 by 1500 Mexican regulars, under the command of General- 
 Perez.' The Molino del Rey was commanded by General 
 Leon, who had with him the battalion of Mina, com- 
 manded by Colonel Balderos ; the battalions of Union and 
 La Patria, from Oaxaca ; and a body from Queretaro, 
 mostly National Guards.'' Besides these, there were in 
 lines, extending from post to post, ten thousand men, un- 
 der the command of Santa Anna. It was afterwards ascer- 
 tained from prisoners that the whole Mexican force en- 
 gaged amounted to fourteen thousand men.' 
 
 The corps ordered by General Scott to the attack of 
 this line was composed as follows : 
 
 1st Division (General Worth), about 2,000 
 
 Cadwallader's Brigade (Uth, 14th, and Voltigeurs),. .784 
 Three squadrons of dragoons and company of mount- 
 ed riflemen, under Major Sumner 270 
 
 Drum's battery (three field-pieces), i 
 
 Huger's battery (two 24-pounders), J 
 
 Total corps of General Worth^ men, 3154 
 
 Worth's dispositions for the attack conformed to the 
 enemy's line of defences. The enemy's left wing rested 
 on Molino del Rey, extending to Chapultepec ; his centi'e 
 was formed in lines, defended by a field-battery ; and his 
 right wing rested on Casa de Mata. The weak point was 
 the centre, and it was there that Worth directed an as- 
 saulting party of five hundred picked men, under the 
 
 ' Scott's Official Report. ' Worth's Report. 
 
 ' Boletin de AtUsco, ' The same. 
 
442 BATTLE OF MOLINO DEL KEY. 
 
 command of Major Wright, of the 8th Infantry. This 
 was supported by Huger's battery. Garland's brigade 
 formed the right wing, supported by Drum's battery, at- 
 tacking Mohno del Rey, and endeavoring to cut it off 
 from the support of Chapultepec. The 2d Brigade, com- 
 manded by Col. Mcintosh, and supported-by Duncan's bat- 
 tery, formed the left ; between which and Huger's battery, 
 on a ridge, was placed Cadwallader's brigade, in reserve. 
 At 3* o'clock on the morning of the 8th of September 
 the several columns were put in motion ; and at dawn the 
 action commenced, by the opening of Huger's gunfe on 
 Molino del Rey. A sensible effect w"as produced, when 
 the column under Wright, guided by Captain Mason of 
 the Engineers, dashed forward to the assault. Rushing 
 forward, they drove infantry and artilleiymen before them. 
 The field-battery was taken, and the guns turned upon the 
 enemy. Just then, however, he ralhed, and, with supe- 
 rior forces, poured in a destructive fire of musketry. The 
 column falters. Eleven officers out of fourteen are 
 killed ! The Mexicans regain their position ; but they 
 'are not destined to keep it. A portion of (Cadwallader's 
 brigade, under Captain Kirby Smith, come into action. 
 The enemy is driven back again, and routed. His two 
 wing forts, Casa de Mata and Molino del Rey, are left 
 isolated. 
 
 Molino del Rey, on the right, was assaulted and carried 
 by Garland's brigade ; biit on the left of our line, a more 
 desperate and doubtful battle was maintained around Casa 
 de Mata. It proved to. be a strong stone citadel, with 
 Here was a hot fight ; the column 
 
 General Worth's Official Report. 
 
DEFEAT OP THE MEXICANS. 443 
 
 of Mclntosli charging on, and the enemy, behind walls 
 and parapets, pouring upon them a deadly fire. Here 
 Col. Scott, Waile, and Mcintosh fell ; while our gallant 
 men, for a moment dismayed, fell back behind Duncan's 
 battery. Then advanced a splendid column of Mexican 
 cavalry, in bright uniforms, defiling round the right of their 
 intrenchments, to, fall upon our repulsed column. But 
 now the fire of Duncan's battery opens upon them, when 
 near by, scattering their columns in confusion. Sumner's 
 dragoons then charge upon them, and the rout of the 
 enemy is complete ! Our battery again re-opens upon Casa 
 de Mata. A few shots more, and the Mexican infantry 
 retreat. The cavalry is already routed, and the fortifica- 
 tions are abandoned. The battle of Molino del Rey has 
 been fought and won. The Mexican army, numbering 
 fourteen thousand, when well posted, and supported by 
 three strong fortifications, had been defeated by one-fourth 
 their number, fighting without defences ! This victory, 
 though glorious, was one of the bloodiest recorded in 
 American history.' 
 
 Nearly one-fourth of Worth's whole corps were either 
 killed or wounded ! The Mexican loss was equally great 
 Leon, Balderos, Huerto, Mateos, and others of their best 
 officers, were killed ; while fifty-two commissioned officers 
 and eight hundred men remained prisoners in the Amer- 
 
 ' The official return of troops engaged, under the command of General 
 Worth, at Molino del Rey, shows that there were o^ all arms engaged 
 3447 men. The official return of casualties in the battle proves that 
 729 privates, and 58 officers, were killed or wounded. Out of 197 offi- 
 cers present, there were 68 officers, being 30 per cent, of the whole, 
 killed or wounded ! Among them were some of the most gallant men 
 of the army and the losses of that day were severely felt. 
 
444 DESTRUCTION OF CASA DE MATA. 
 
 ican hands. General Worth immediately blew up Casa 
 de Mata, destroyed the machinery and materiel in the 
 mill, and ca5.'ied off large quantities of arms and ammuni- 
 tion. These were the objects of the battle — to cut off 
 these resources from the defence of Mexico. When this 
 was accomplished, the ruins were evacuated, and the army 
 withdrew to Tacubaya. 
 
 There is no doubt that in the battle of Molino del Rty, 
 the fcfrtifications of the enemy, and the garrison and mu- 
 nitions within them, were greater than General Scott an- 
 ticipated ; but this was from no want of proper precaution. 
 The most daring reconnaissance of the ground had been 
 made by Captain Mason of the Engineers, on the day 
 previous (the 7th)' ; and so far as the defences could be 
 measured in advance, they were so. The heavy walls and 
 deep ditches, however, of both the stone buildings, ena- 
 bled the enemy to maintain a steady and well-directed fire 
 upon the" assaulting column, so that the battle, though won, 
 was attended with severe loss. 
 
 The city of Mexico now lay under the eye of General 
 Scott, with none but its own peculiar defences — the Mili- 
 tary College, on Chapultepec hill, being one. It undoubt- 
 edly occurs to the reader, as it did to General Scott — 
 Could not Mexico be approached on another causeway, 
 and thus avoid Chapultepec 1 To determine this point, he 
 immediately detached tlie engineer. Captain Lee, with 
 Lieutenants Beauregard, Stevens, and Tower, to make 
 reconnaissances of other approaches, especially the south- 
 ern gates, the Piedad Nino Perdido, and Paseo de la 
 Viga. 
 
 ' General 'Worth's Official Repcrt 
 
APPROACHES TO THE CITY. 445 
 
 " The oily of Mexico stands on a slight swell of ground, 
 near the centre of an irregular basin, and is girdled with 
 a ditch in its greater extent — a navigable canal of great 
 breadth and depth — very difficult to bridge in tHe presence 
 of an enemy, and serving at once for drainage, custom- 
 house purposes, and military defence ; leaving eight en- 
 trances or gates, over arches, each of which we found de- 
 fended by a system of strong works, that seemed to re- 
 quire nothing but some men and guns to be impregnable.'" 
 
 The approaches to the city are over elevated cause- 
 ways, flanked by ditches. The roads and bridges were in 
 many places broken by the enemy, to. prevent the ap- 
 proaches of our army. It had now got to be the wet sea- 
 son, and the intervening meadows were in many places 
 covered with water, or covered with marshes. After a 
 personal survey of the whole ground, General Scott 
 deemed the approaches by Chapultepec less difficult, and 
 determined to adopt that route. 
 
 In the mean time he had advanced (to cover the recon- 
 naissance) the division of Pillow and Riley's Brigade, on 
 the San Antonia road, towards the southern gates ; and 
 now he made a sudden inversion of that movement 
 towards the south-west, in order to approach by Chapul- 
 tepec. In order to do this with less loss, he masked the 
 real movement by the appe|rance of a general attack on 
 the southern gates. Accordingly, Pillow's division was 
 marched up, in the day-time, the 11th of September; 
 while both divisions of Pillow and Quitman were ordered 
 back, by night, to rejoin Scott at Tacubaya. Twiggs, 
 with Riley's Brigade, and Taylor's and Steptoe's batteries, 
 
 ' General Scott's Eepco-t. 
 
446 DESCRIPTION OF CHAPULTEPEC. 
 
 were left in front of the southern gates, to manoeuvre and 
 make false attacks. It appears, from Mexican accounts, 
 that \hs feint was entirely successful.' The light batteries 
 of Steploe and Taylor, on the San Antonia road, diverted 
 the enemy's attention, and left them uncertain where the 
 real attack was to be made. 
 
 The first thing to be done was to carry Chapultepec. 
 This hill we have already described. A steep, rdtky 
 height, rising one hundred and fifty feet above the sur- 
 rounding grounds, it vi'as defended by a strong castle of 
 thick stone walls. The whole fortress is nine hundred 
 feet in length, and the terre-plein and maiij buildings six 
 hundred feet. The following description is by an officer 
 of the army :^ 
 
 " The castle is about ten feet high, and the whole struc- 
 ture, including the wings, bastions, parapets, redoubts, 
 and batteries, is very strongly built, and of the most splen- 
 did architecture. A splendid dome decorates the top, 
 rising in great majesty about twenty feet above the whole 
 truly grand and magnificent pile, and near which is the 
 front centre, supported by a stone arch, upon which is 
 painted the coat-of-arms of the republic, where once floated 
 the tri-colored banner, but is now decorated by the glori- 
 ous stars and stripes of our own happy land. Two very 
 strongly built stone walls surround the whole ; and at the 
 west end, where we stormed the works, the outer walls 
 are some ten feet apart,' and twelve or fifteen feet high, 
 over which we charged by the help of fascines. It was 
 defended by heavy artillery, manned by the most learned 
 
 ' Boletin de Atlisco. 
 
 ' Letter of Lieutenant Sutten, of the 15 th Infantry, in tlie Washings 
 (on Union. 
 
STORM OF CHAPULTEPEC. 447 
 
 and skilful gunners of their army, including some French 
 artillerists of distinction. The infantry force consisted of 
 the officers and students of the institution, and the national 
 guards, and chosen men of war of the republic — the whole 
 under the command of General Bravo, whom we made 
 prisoner. The whole hill is spotted with forts and out- 
 posts, and stone and mud walls, which were filled with 
 their picket or castle guard, A huge, high stone wall ex- 
 tends around the whole frowning craggy mount, and -ano- 
 ther along the southeast base, midway from the former 
 and the castle. A well-paved road leads up in a triangu- 
 lar form to the main gate, entering the south ierre-plein ; 
 and the whole works are ingeniously and beautifully orna- 
 mented with Spanish fastidiousness and skill." 
 
 To carry this fortress with the least loss, General Scott 
 determined to batter it with heavy ordnance, so as to make 
 a decided impression before the storming parties ad- 
 vanced.* This could be easily done, as Tacubaya was 
 within cannon-shot ; and a- ridge or hill in front, declining 
 towards Molino del Rey (foot of Chapultepec), afforded a 
 good position for batteries. Accordingly, on the pight of 
 the 11th, four batteries of heavy cannon-were erected be- 
 tween Tacubaya and Chapultepec,' commanded respect- 
 ively by Captain Drum, Captain Hagner, Captain Brooks, 
 and Lieutenant Stone. These batteries were placed in po- 
 sition by the engineer officers, Huger and Liee, so that 
 they were within good range for siege-pieces. On the 
 morning of the 12th, the batteries commenced their fire. 
 That day was occupied entirely.in the cannonade on both 
 sides. It was a splendid sight. Burning fuzees passed 
 
 ' Scott's Official Eeport. 
 
448 ATTACK ON CHAPXJLTEPEC. 
 
 through the air ; bombs burst around ; every ball went 
 crashing through the building, and every shell tore up the 
 ramparts ! The fire of the enemy was scarcely less se- 
 vere ; and night only closed this scene of fiery illumina- 
 tion and descending balls. 
 
 On the 13th, all arrangements were made for the as- 
 sault. General Smith's Brigade, which, on the afternoon 
 of the 12th, had moved up to Piedad, had now arrived on 
 the ground. The attack is to be made in two columns : 
 one on the west side, under the command of Pillow ; and 
 one on the southeast, under the command of Quitman. 
 Each is to be preceded by a storming party': that of Pil- 
 low, by 250 men, volunteers from Worth's division, under 
 Captain McKenzie, of the 2d Artillery ; that of Quitman, 
 by the same number, under Captain Carey, of the 2d In- 
 fantry. Each of 'the storming parties was furnished with 
 scaling-ladders.' 
 
 The signal for the attack was given at a momentary 
 cessation of fire, on the part of our batteries. This was 
 at 8 A. M. of the 13th, when the divisions of Pillow and 
 Quitman moved forward ; while our batteries, when they 
 had opportunity, threw shot and shells over the heads of 
 our men, to deter the enemy from reinforcing the castle. 
 While this was going on, the Reserve, under Worth, was 
 to turn Chapultepec, and, gaining the north side, either 
 assist in the. attack, or cut off the enemy's retreat. 
 
 The assaulting column under General Pillow advanced 
 on the west, through an open grove filled with sharp- 
 shooters, Vvfhich were speedily dislodged, and rapidly 
 gained the foot of the rocky acclivity. Here Pillow was 
 
 ' Scott's Official Report. 
 
SCOTT S DESCRIPTION O* THK BATTLE. 449 
 
 wounded, by a shot in the ankle ;. and the command (re- 
 inforced by Clarke's Brigade from Worth) devolved on 
 General Cadwallader. Here occurred the main battle, 
 and it is best described in the words of General Scott :' 
 
 " The broken acclivity was still to be ascended, and a 
 strong redoubt, midway, to be carried, before reaching the 
 castle on the heights. The advance of our brave men, 
 led by brave oiHcers, though necessarily slow, was un- 
 wavering, over rocks, chasms, and mines, and under the 
 hottest fire of cannon and musketry. The redoubt now 
 yielded to resistless valor, and the shouts that followed 
 announced to the castle the fate that impended. The 
 enemy were steadily driven from shelter to shelter. The 
 retreat allowed not time to fire a single mine, without the 
 certainty of blowing up friend and foe. Those who, at a 
 distance, attempted to apply matches to the long trains, 
 were shot down by our men. There was death below as 
 well as above ground. At length the ditch and wall of 
 the main work were reached ; the scaling-ladders were 
 brought up and planted by the storming parties ; some of 
 the daring spirits first in the assault were cast down — 
 killed or wounded ; but a lodgment was soon made ; 
 streams of heroes followed ; all opposition was overcome, 
 and several of our regimental colors flung out from the 
 upper walls, amidst long-continued shouts and cheers, 
 which sent dismay into the capital. No scene could have 
 been more animating or glorious." 
 
 While this was going on to the west of Chapultepec, 
 the column of Quitman was performing a similar part on 
 
 ' General Scott's QflScial Report, dated Kational Palace of Mexico, 
 September 18, 1847. 
 
 29 
 
450 TRUE HALLS OF THE MONTEZUMAS. 
 
 the east. Having to advance on a causeway, flanked' by 
 deep ditches, he had little room for manoeuvring. In front 
 was a strong body of the enemy and two batteries. These 
 were soon carried ; and the volunteers of New York, 
 South Carolina, and Pennsylvania, with the gallant Rifles, 
 under Smith, arrived in time to join the storming party of 
 Pillow's division, and capture together this formidable 
 fortress. The enemy was chased in every direction ; 
 many killed, and many more captured. " The castle," 
 says an officer, " was completely torn to pieces. Nearly 
 every part was riddled by our shot, while the pavements 
 and fortifications were completely torn up by the shells. 
 In it were crowds of prisoners of every rank and color ; 
 among whom were fifty general officers, and about a hun- 
 dred cadets of the Mexican Military Academy. The lat- 
 ter were pretty little fellows from ten- to sixteen years of 
 age. Several of them were killed fighting like demons ; 
 and, indeed, they showed an exiample of courage worthy 
 of imitation by some of their superiors in rank.'" ■ 
 
 Chapultepec is taken. Here were the true Halls of 
 the Montezumas ; those halls which had so allured the 
 adventurous soldier. Here Montezuma himself had re- 
 tired from the cares of business, and the heat of the city, 
 to enjoy the ease of retirement. Here the luxurious Vice- 
 roys of Spain had erected their regal palaces ; and here 
 was now the National Military School, placed amidst the 
 remains of gardens, and the ruins of palaces, once occu- 
 pied by the royal race of the Aztecs. Fallen now are 
 the monuments of the Aztecs ; fallen, too, their' Span- 
 ish conquerors; and fallen, also, the mixed descend-, 
 
 ' Letter in the New York Courier. 
 
SCOTT ON THE WALLS OF THE CASTLE. 451 
 
 ants of both, who had here planted the standard of inde- 
 pendence. The Anglo-American replaces both with the 
 arms of a superior skill and a greater strength. It was a 
 triumph of civilization, as well as a victory to military 
 genius, when Scott's victorious troops shouted their con 
 quest from the battlements of Chapultepec ! It was a 
 demonstration of the superior strength and energy imparted 
 to a people, both physically and morally, by the freedom, 
 tolerance, and general education of a really republican 
 government.. 
 
 Nothing now remained between the victorious army 
 and the National Palace but the gates, or gai-itas, which 
 were small fortified posts, serving as custom-houses in 
 time of peace, and forts in war. Between Chapultepec 
 and the city, on two causeways, lay the gates of Belen 
 and San Cosmo. 
 
 Scott had arrived on the walls of the castle just as it 
 had been carried, and, with a rapid coup d'ceil, surveyed 
 the city, the fields, and the causeways before him. He 
 immediately determined to enter the city with Worth's 
 corps, by the San Cosmo gate, leaving Quitman's division 
 to make a feint by- the Belen gate. Both attacks, hov^- 
 ever, proved real. Worth's division, during the assault 
 on Chapultepec, had turned the hill, and got round by the 
 north-centre of that fortress, where he attacked the right 
 wing of the Mexican army, and was now pursuing him 
 on the San Cosmo road. Quitman, on the other' hand, 
 was in full march on the causeway to the Belen gate.' 
 
 Scott, after garrisoning Chapultepec with the 15th In 
 fantry, and ordering Cadwallader to tlie support of Worth, 
 
 Scott s Official Report. 
 
452 - ■ A STREET FIGHT. 
 
 joined the advance of his corps, in the suburb of San 
 Cosmo. Here, at the junction of the roads, he found one 
 of the enemy's most formidable defences dismantled — a 
 proof that the enemy had been mistaken in the movements 
 of our army. They either expected that the southern 
 gates would be attacked (where the feint was made by 
 Twiggs), or that our army would fail in tlieir attack on 
 Chapultepec. 
 
 In this suburb, however. Worth's troops became en- 
 gaged in a st-reet fight with the enemy, posted in gardens, 
 at windows, and on house-tops. The mountain howitzers 
 of Cadwallader's Brigade, preceded by pioneers, with pick 
 axes and crowbars, soon opened the way. Two batteries 
 were carried ; and by 8 a. m.. Worth had placed his sen- 
 tinels and sheltered his troops for the night. 
 
 In the mean time, Scott had returned to the fort of 
 Chapultepec, and ordered up siege-guns, intrenching tools, 
 ammunition, and reinforcements. Quitman had continued 
 his advance towards the Belengate. The general-in-chief 
 had repeatedly stated to him, that the San Cosmo gate 
 was the easiest to carry, and hence he need not press his 
 advance on this route. But the gallantry and impetuosity 
 of the corps urged them forward ; so that, at 2 p. m., this 
 division had carried a battery of two guns, and, at length, 
 the Belen gate itself ! This was not done, however, with- 
 out hard fighting, and a tremendous fire of artillery from 
 both front and flank batteries. In tlje centre of the cause- 
 way was an aqueduct, from arch to arch of which the 
 men crept along. About 1 p. m., the garita was charged 
 by the Rifles, and carried. Here the men constructed a 
 battery of sand-bags, and commenced a sharp fire on the 
 enemy Thus Quitman's division was actually within 
 
VIGILANCE OF SCOTT. 453 
 
 llie city ; and that night the men slept within the arches 
 of the aqueduct and the houses of the garita} 
 
 Thus closed the 13th day of September. On the 8th, 
 the battle of Molino del Rey had been fought. On the 
 9th and 10th, reconnaissances had been made. On the 
 lllh and 12lh, the preparations were finished, and the 
 troops moved. into position. 
 
 On the morning of this day, Chapultepec had been 
 stormed ; and all day, the corps of Worth and/;Quitrnan 
 had been pursuing the remnants of Santa Anna's army — 
 fighting their way to the San Cosmo and Belen gates — 
 and were now within the very precincts of Mexico. In 
 all this arduous and glorious day, Scott had been wher- 
 ever iie could best give his directions, or animate his men, 
 or share in the conflicts of glorious battle. From the ridge 
 of Tacubaya, he directs his engineers to place the batteries 
 against Chapultepec. On the summit of that renowned 
 castle, he joins the victorious columns, who plant their 
 colors and shout their joy on its dismantled walls. On 
 the San Cosmo causeway, he hastens on with the advan- 
 cing division of Worth. In the suburb, he finds them 
 engaged in a street fight, and returns to send up the sifige- 
 train, and collect the scattered men. Thus, from point to 
 point, he overlooks and superintends the complicated 
 operations of this eventful day ; in every place manifesting 
 the highest military genius, and in all circumstances exer- 
 cising the greatest self-command, the most prudential 
 care, and the most sagacious foresight. 
 
 Night has gathered round the valley of Mexico. The 
 army of Santa Anna, which in the morning had displayed 
 
 ' Letter in the New York Courier. 
 
454 NIGHT AFTER A BATTLE. 
 
 its brilliant uniforms, poured its deadly fire from the battle- 
 ments of Chapultepec, defended the causeways, and fought 
 at San Cosmo and Belen, had now disappeared ! The flag 
 of the Union, with its stars in azure, and its bars of crim- 
 son, floated gracefully from the walls of the castle and the 
 garitas of the city. The sentinels are set. The weary 
 soldiers have sunk to rest, as if no battle had ever been 
 fought — no dangers ever incurred ! The stars shine 
 above ; but, alas for the dead ! the famished dogs of the 
 city are seen to prowl out, and seize upon their cold 
 bodies — the once-loved bodies of those for whom mothers, 
 sisters, wives, will wait and long for in vain !' 
 
 In the midst of the night, Santa Anna, with the small 
 remains of his army — about two thousand in number- 
 marched out by a northwestern gate, and Mexico was left 
 at the mercy of our army. At 4 a. m. (about daylight) of 
 the 14th, a deputation of the Ayuntamiento (city council) 
 waited upon General Scott, to inform him that the army 
 and federal government had fled, and to demand terms of 
 capitulation for the church, the citizens, and the munici 
 pal authorities.' He promptly rephed that he would sign 
 no capitulation, for the city was virtually in possession of 
 the divisions of Quitman and Worth the day before. He 
 informed them that he should levy on the city a moderate 
 contribution for special purposes ; but the army would 
 come under no terms not self-imposed, and such as its 
 own honor, the dignity of the United States, and the spirit 
 of the age demanded. He then sent orders to the divisions 
 of Worth and Quitman to advance cautiously to the heart 
 of the city, and occupy its strong and commanding points. 
 
 ' Intercepted Mexican Letters. ' General Scott's Official Report. 
 
SCOTT IN THE CITY OP MEXICO 455 
 
 By express order of Scott, the division of Worth, which 
 might have been in advance, were halted at the Alameda 
 —a green park, within three squares of the Grand Plaza. 
 This was an act of honorable justice to the corps of Quit- 
 man, which had, the night before, been the first to capture 
 a gate, and enter the city. 
 
 j\nd now a detachment of Quitman's division marches 
 into the Grand Plaza of Mexico ; and from the top of the 
 National Palace, the stars and stripes of the Union, and 
 the regimental colors of the " Rifles," floating on the wind, 
 gave notice to the world that the second conquest- of 
 Mexico was complete ! 
 
 Just at this moment, Scott, in full uniform, mounted on 
 his charger, and conspicuous amidst his staff, rode through 
 thp column to the Plaza. The enemy were still firing 
 from the house-tdps ; and as he passed the Voltigeurs, 
 who were yelling and cheering, he waved his cap, wjiile 
 the tears ran down his cheeks, and exclaimed, " My heart 
 is with you"^ 
 
 It was just 9 o'clock in the morning when he made his 
 way to the National Palace. " A tremendous hurrah broke 
 from the corner of the plaza, and in a few minutes were 
 seen the towering plumes and commanding form of our 
 gallant old hero. General Scott, escorted by the 2d Dra- 
 goons. Tiie heartfelt welcome that came from our little 
 band was such as Montezuma's halls had never heard, 
 and must have deeply afiected the general. Well they 
 might, for of the ten thousand gallant spirits that welcomed 
 him at Puebla, scarcely seven thousand were left. The 
 bloody fields of Contreras, Churuhusco, San Antonia, El 
 
 Letter of a Voltigeur. 
 20 
 
456 scott's sympathy for the soldier. 
 
 Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and the Garita had laid low 
 three thousand of our gallant army, and filled with grief 
 and sorrow the hearts of all the rest.'" 
 
 Wherever Scott moved among the soldiers, he addressed 
 them with warm affection, participating both in their joys 
 and their sorrows. The campaign had been one of hard- 
 ship and loss. Glorious were its victories, but bloody 
 its battle-fields ! He remembered this, and sympathized 
 with the soldier. His short but emphatic addresses had 
 a profound effect on the men. As he passed a portion of 
 the Rifle Regiment, he returned their salute, saying with 
 energy and emphasis — " Brave Rifles ! Veterans ! You 
 have been baptized in fire and blood, and have come out 
 steel!" The unbidden tear stole to the eyes of those 
 rough but gallant spirits, whose hearts knew no fear, and 
 who had never yet, in their long trial, faltered or fallen 
 back, while their flashing eyes and upright forms declared 
 its truth. " Had you seen this," said one who was presir 
 ent, " you would have felt, with me, that such words as 
 those wiped out long months of hardship and suffering."" 
 
 Scott was now standing in the Grand Plaza of Mexico, 
 and the band of the 2d Dragoons played Yankee Doodle. 
 An immense crowd of blanketed leperos, the scum of the 
 capital, were congregated in the Plaza. They pressed 
 upon our soldiers, and eyed them as if they were beings 
 of another world.' So much were they in the way, that 
 General Scott was obliged to clear the street with the 
 dragoons, being careful, however, not to injure them. In 
 a short time, a fire was commenced on our troops from 
 the tops of houses, windows, streets, and wherever a place 
 
 ' Letter of an Officer in the New York Courier. ' Tlie same. 
 ' Kendall's Letter of the tith September. 
 
A HOUSE-BATTLE. 457 
 
 of refuge could be found. A large number of prisoners 
 had been let loose the night before. These were joined 
 by scattered bands of Mexican soldiers, and finally by the 
 leperos who had crowded the Plaza. It seems that this 
 attack was deliberately made by the people and soldiers,' 
 but was not approved by the municipal authorities.* 
 
 This was the commencement of a house-battle in the 
 city. It continued during the greater part of the day 
 (14th), and many of our men and officers were killed or 
 wounded. The divisions of Twiggs and Worth were en- 
 gaged in a severe fight ; but, by sweeping the streets with 
 light batteries, and picking the enemy off by the rifles, the 
 enemy were silenced before night. Some houses were 
 blown up, and General Scott was obliged to threaten the 
 destruction of all housefe, convents, or buildings, from 
 which the army should be fired upon. At length, how- 
 ever, all was quiet. In a few days the people began to 
 resume their business, and all things went on as usual. 
 This was owing, in a great degree, to the humanity and 
 moderation of Scott in his treatment of the Mexicans, and 
 his careful forbearance from any injury or insult towards 
 the religious or social institutions of the country. Indeed, 
 no conqueror has ever entered a city on earth, either within 
 Christian or pagan times, and exercised so much kindness, 
 withheld so much that might have been done within the 
 rules of war, and exhibited so much of that knightly courtesy 
 which alone graces a Christian soldier in the best period of 
 civilization ! The proof of this will be found in his or- 
 ders, police regulations, and whole military conduct within 
 the city. 
 
 ' Letter of a Mexican, in the Boletin d» Atlisco. 
 " Scott's OfScial Report. 
 
458 scoTr's respect for the 
 
 No sooner was the insurrection in Mexico entirely 
 quelled, than Scott issued General Order No. 286, dated 
 Sept. 16th, 1847, which begins with these words : 
 
 " The general-in-chief calls upon his brethren in arms 
 to return, both in public and private worship, thanks and 
 gratitude to God for the signal triumphs which they have 
 recently achieved for their country." 
 
 It is well known that the religion of Mexico is Roman 
 Catholic. On the other hand, the great body of the 
 Americans, as well as General Scott - himself, were Prot- 
 estants. That in such a case there should be some dis- 
 turbance or annoyance to the religious customs and feel- 
 ings of the conquered, by the conquerors (however wrong 
 such things intrinsically are), is no more than natural, and 
 what has certainly happened in dll the previous history of 
 the world. Aware of this, and determined that his coun- 
 try should have no such wrong lajd to its charge, Scott 
 had, on his departure from Washington, and on his arrival 
 at Vera Cruz, taken measures to prevent such an occur- 
 rence. He issued the strictest orders that the churches 
 and religious properly should be held sacred, that no in- 
 terruption to religious ceremonies should be allowed, and 
 that a decent respect should be paid to the religious opin- 
 ions of all. In conformity with this principle, Order 297, 
 dated September 24th, 1847, was issued, which contained 
 the following paragraphs, viz. :' 
 
 "1. Here, as in all Roman Catholic countries, there 
 are frequent religious processions in the streets, as well as 
 in churches — such as the elevation of the Host, the viati- 
 cum, funerals, &c. 
 
 ' Order No. 297, issued from the National Palace. 
 
REI.IGI(.US FEELINGS OF T^E MEXICANS. 459 
 
 " 2. The interruption of such processions has already 
 been prohibited in orders ; and as no civilized nerson will 
 ever wantonly do any act to hurt the religious feelings of 
 others, it is earnestly requested of all Protestant Amer- 
 icans either to keep out of the way, or to pay to the 
 Catholic r-eligion and its ceremonies every decent mark of 
 respect and deference." 
 
 General Quitman was appointed by Scott civil and 
 military governor of Mexico. In this capacity, he issued 
 orders establishing police regulations, insuring the quiet of 
 the city; but, at the same time, the mildest and most 
 moderate in terms towards the Mexicans. The city 
 council were left in possession of the custom-house, post- 
 office, public records and archives, and were made respon- 
 sible for the protection of private property. On the 16lh, 
 the Ayuntimiento organized a civic force of six hundred 
 men, who, under the protection of the American army; 
 should preserve order and quiet. On the 18th, they issued 
 adecree directing the courts, custom-house, and post-office 
 to reopen, and the people to resume their business, trades, 
 and occupations. 
 
 These prompt measures on the part of the commander- 
 in-chief, the city governor, and the Ayuatimiento had the 
 most happy effect. In a few days, all was quiet. The 
 people recommenced their affairs, and the streets again 
 appeared busy and cheerful. The storm of war was 
 passed, and commerce resumed its wonted sway.' 
 
 In all conquests of cities, without an express capitula- 
 tion, it has been usual either to deliver them over to the 
 sack of soldiers, or to impose upon them enormous contri- 
 
 ' El Arco Iris, of the 30th September. 
 
460 MILITARY ASYLUMS. 
 
 butions. Even in Christian countries, this has been the 
 case. General Scott permitted neither of these. Although 
 he signed no capitulation, he observed towards Mexico, 
 now a conquered city, all the courtesy and kindness which 
 it was possible to bestow. History presents scarcely a 
 parallel to such generous conduct in war. It was felt by 
 all present. -A foreigner says : " General Scott is taking 
 great precautions to prevent outrages ; and I must say, to 
 the credit of the Americans, that they have behaved with 
 much' more prudence than could have been expected under 
 existing circumstances, and the inhospitable reception they 
 met with."' 
 
 A slight contribution of $150,000 was imposed onihe 
 city, for the use of the army. This was distributed by 
 Scott as follows : — $20,000 for " extra comforts for the 
 wounded and sick in hospitals ;" $90,000 for the purchase 
 of " blankets and shoes for gratuitous distribution among 
 the rank and file of the army ;" and $40,000 " for other 
 necessary military purposes.'" 
 
 This last sum, with other military funds, was, in the 
 session of Congress 1850-51, made the basis of a perma- 
 nent fund for the establishment of military asylums for the 
 retired invalids of the army. This measure is alike honor- 
 able to Congress and to General Scott. When these 
 asylums shall arise to meet the eyes of coming genera- 
 tions, and the war-worn veteran be seen reclining in his 
 comfortable quarters, it will be remembered that the hero 
 who was made illustrious by battles, was also graced by 
 humanity to a fallen foe, and a generous gratitude to his 
 companions in arms. 
 
 ' Ifev Orleans Picayune. ' General Orders, ITth Sept. 
 
LOSSES OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 461 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Relative Loss of the American and Mexican Armies. — Plan of the Cam- 
 paign. — Ita Consequences. — Fruits of Victory. — Acquisitions of Terri- 
 tory. — Scott's Uniform Success. — His Sagacity. — Cass's Speech. — Par- 
 allel between Scott and Ifapoleon, and Scott and Cortez. 
 
 On the 18th September, 1847, the American army was 
 in quiet possession of the city of Mexico. The roar of 
 battle was heard no more ; the insurrection of the city 
 was over; the shops were opened ; the church-bells rung; 
 the theatres were thronged ; and the conquerors had re- 
 stored order, repressed crime, and reanimated the people. 
 The genius of Scott was as much exhibited in the charms 
 " of peace as in the terrors of war. 
 
 All this was accomplished with the smallest possible force. 
 After deducting the positive losses, and the garrison of Cha- 
 pultepec, with the sick in hospitals, the effective men which 
 composed the army in Mexico were only six thousand ! 
 
 The following tables represent the losses of the Amer- 
 ican and Mexican armies respectively : 
 
 Losses of the American Army. 
 
 KUled. Wounded. 
 August 19, 20. . ) j3^ g,^ 
 
 itreras, Antonia, and Churubusco . i 
 
 Septembers. , ^^^ ^^^ 
 
 Battles of Contreras, Antonia, and Churubusco 
 
 Battle of Molino del Rey \ 
 
 September 12, 13, 14. ) ^g^ ^^g 
 
 Chapultepec, and Gates of Belen and San Cosmo . S 
 Missing, (probably killed) 85 
 
 TotalLosses 468 2,245 
 
 Aggregate • • • • 2,713 
 
462 LOSSES OF THE MEXICAN 
 
 Army marching from Puebla 10,738 
 
 Dedactjosses 2,713 
 
 Remaining 8,025 
 
 Deduct sick and garrison of Chapultepec 2,000 
 
 Effective men in Mexico 6,02S 
 
 Losses op the Mexican Army. 
 
 Killed and wounded 7,000 
 
 Prisoners 3,730 
 
 Total hors du combat 10,730 
 
 Among the officers killed or taken were thirteen gen- 
 erals, of whom three had been presidents of the republic 
 
 The entire force of the Mexican army in the field in 
 the valley of Mexico was more than thirty thousand men ! 
 Of this army, not more than three or four thousand were 
 now together ; and these so dispirited, that in a few days 
 afterwards they were entirely disbanded. Santa Anna 
 appeared a few days before Puebla, and undertook the 
 siege of Col. Childs' intrenchments. The attempt, how- 
 ever, was abortive ; and in a short time his men deserted 
 him, and he was left with scarcely a guard of cavalry. 
 Thus ended the active part of the war in Mexico. Scott's 
 march into the Grand Plaza of Mexico proved in reality 
 the " conquest of peace." 
 
 Scott found himself, as we have said, with only six 
 thousand effectives in the city of Mexico. It appeared, 
 however, in official reports, that many thousand men had 
 been sent him beyond what were ever present with the 
 army. This was true. But while these men were on the 
 way, sickness, battle, and desertion were rapidly dimin- 
 ishing the active corps in the field ; so that there were never 
 
AND AMERICAN ARMIES. 
 
 463 
 
 so many, by at least one-third, as were represented in the 
 oflicial returns of the nuaibers sent out to recruit the army. 
 The following table of the original strength and subse- 
 quent losses of five regiments (three of regiilars, and two 
 of volunteers) will illustrate the manner in which the 
 troops dwindled away : 
 
 Regimen.. Origi™^ 
 
 So'ath Carolina Volunteers' 750 
 
 Rifle Regiment" 669 
 
 New York Volunteers' 700 
 
 Voltigeurs, and the 11th and 14th) 
 Regiments of Infantry* S 
 
 2,000 
 
 strength 
 at Mexico. 
 
 Dimi- 
 nution. 
 
 203 
 
 657 
 
 170 
 
 489 
 
 158 
 
 542 
 
 784 
 
 1,216 
 
 Total of six regiments 4,109 1,315 2,804 
 
 Reported for duty near Mexico 33 per cent. 
 
 Lost by sickness, battle, desertion, and wounded in hos- 
 pitals '. 67 ." 
 
 In the Appendix to the " Mexican War"° is the following 
 table of the " Killed," " Died of Wounds," " Died of Sick 
 ness," and " Deserted," in these five regiments, viz. : 
 
 Regiments, 
 
 Killed in 
 
 battle. 
 
 Died of 
 Woimds. 
 
 Died of 
 Disease. 
 
 Deserted. 
 
 Disch. 
 from dis- 
 abiKty. 
 
 Total. 
 
 S. Carolina Volunteers. 
 New York Volunteers . 
 
 Rifle Regiment 
 
 Voltigeurs, and Uth ) 
 and 14th Regiments J 
 
 30 
 29 
 27 
 
 27 
 
 26 
 19 
 18 
 
 31 
 
 234 
 
 77 
 
 120 
 
 279 
 
 41 
 
 362 
 
 64 
 
 186 
 
 104 
 117 
 
 435 
 604 
 229 
 
 623 
 
 
 113 
 
 94 
 
 710 
 
 653 
 
 ■221 
 
 1791 
 
 ' Lieutenant-Colonel Dickinson's Official Report of strength and loss at 
 Churubusco. 
 
 " Letter of an Officer of the Rifles, in the New York Courier. 
 
 ' General Shields' Official Report. 
 
 ' General Worth's Official Report, which gives the strength of Cad 
 wallader's Brigade. 
 
 ' The Mexican Wak, by Edward D. Mansfield, a graduate of the Military 
 Academy ; pubUshed by A. S. Barnes & Co., 61 John street, New York. 
 
464 MISTAKEN POLICY OF THE ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 The diminution here is 1013 less than in the former 
 table ; but the diiference is probably caused by the fact, 
 that the sick and the wounded in hospitals is not included 
 in the last table, while they are included in the former : 
 the " strength at Mexico" being the " effectives" only. 
 
 The general order of the army (No. 284), on the morn- 
 ing of the 18th of September, announced that through 
 " God's favor and the valor of the army have the colors of 
 our country been hoisted in the capital of Mexico, and 
 upon the palace of its government." The army had in- 
 deed been most signally blest, both, by the Divine favor, 
 and in the successful conduct of its own arrangements. 
 To the origin and direction of those arrangements it is the 
 duty of history to refer, that posterity may know to whose 
 skill, prudence, or sagacity are due results which were at 
 once so glorious and so much applauded by mankind. 
 
 The war with Mexico had been prosecuted through 
 1846, up to the battle of Buena Vista, with a view to force 
 a peace with Mexico, by cutting off the provinces of the 
 Rio Grande. That this was a mistaken view of policy, 
 was proved not only by the result, but by a mere glance 
 at the actual condition of the Mexican Republic. The 
 central States — Mexico, Puebla, Queretaro, &c. — con- 
 tained four-fifths the population and weUlth of the whole 
 country. Those on the Rio Grande, and those on the 
 Pacific, though extensive in territory, were sparse in num- 
 bers, and scant in commerce and wealth. The attack and 
 even conquest of those new and unsettled States would, 
 therefore, be comparatively unfelt in the heart and body 
 of the empire. The invasion and conquest of the 'country 
 on the Rio Grande was, however, made the object of the 
 campaign of 1846. General Taylor's gallant army com- 
 
ITS CHANGE OF PLANS. 465 
 
 menced its march from Corpus Christi. Matamoras was 
 taken. The briUiant battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de 
 la Palma were won. 'The army advanced to Camargo, 
 and at length stormed and took the well-defended walls of 
 Monterey. But had all this series of successes availed 
 any thing ? Were the enemy disposed to peace ? Not in 
 the least. In vain had Taylor waved his banners along 
 the Rio Grande, and sounded his bugles amidst the sum- 
 mits of the Sierra Madre. In vain had he conquered or 
 hard-fought fields, and stormed almost invincible battle, 
 ments. The army was still separated by hundreds of 
 miles from the heart of the enemy's country ; who, secure 
 in his capital,- smiled at this distant war, and made prepa- 
 rations for more vigorous defence. 
 
 It was in the autumn of 1846, when Taylor's victories 
 were yet fresh, that the administration felt constrained, by 
 a political necessity, to change the plan and seat of the war, 
 lest it should be indefinitely prolonged, at an indefinite 
 expense. 
 
 It was in November, 1846, that Secretary Marcy com- 
 municated to General Scott, officially, the President's 
 order to repair to Mexico, take command of the troops 
 there, and operate on the Gulf coast. In this order, Mr. 
 Marcy said that it was not proposed to control General 
 Scott ; but that he should be left to prosecute the object as 
 " his judgment, under all the circumstanceSj shall dictate.'" 
 
 This discretionary power required that Scott should ar- 
 range and direct the preparations of the army, so as to 
 secure final success in the distant and dangerous cam- 
 paign in the heart of an enemy's country, of which but 
 
 ' Marcy'B Order, 23d of November, 1846. 
 30 
 
466 Scott's sagacity and judgment. 
 
 little was known, and which was continually filled with a 
 larger army than the United States had heretofore ever 
 maintained. Nor was this all. The supposed invincible 
 castle of San Juan de Ulloa must be captured, the enemy 
 beaten from point to point of strong positions, and his 
 numerous and well-appointed army driven back to the 
 gates of the capital, before the capital could be besieged, 
 and peace forced, by its surrender. Scott foresaw all the 
 difficult task placed before him. His spirit rose equal to 
 the occasion, and he devised, directed, and secured the 
 performance of even the details of the numerous arrange- 
 ments which such an extensive plan required. Two qual- 
 ities, which belong only to minds of the highest executive 
 order, are possessed by him in large measure : the 
 sagacity to foresee what means and instruments are re- 
 quired to fulfil the end, and the judgment to select the 
 proper men to use those means and instruments. These 
 qualities he immediately brought to bear with singular 
 success. The anaount of munitions and materials requisite 
 for the campaign ; the proper kind of provisions to supply 
 the army in that climate ; the proper equipage ; the surf- 
 boats, for landing ; the siege-train, which would be needed 
 in the valley of Mexico ; all these and numerous other 
 details were attended to by him before he left the city of 
 Washington, These details were so accurately arranged, 
 that there was nothing wanting to their completeness, 
 when, in the coming year, they were actually employed 
 in the support, progress, comfort, and conquests of the 
 army in Mexico. 
 
 In obtaining the proper information and availing himself 
 of valuable ideas. General Scott never disdained the sug- 
 gestions of even the youngest officer. Always generous 
 
HIS PLAN OF THE CAMPAIGN. 4(57 
 
 and high-minded, he sought to develop talent, even in the 
 humblest of his subordinates, and to make all classes of 
 mind and experience useful to the general end. 
 
 In the choice of his staff and superior officers, he was 
 equally discreet. He knew the importance of the object, 
 and he adapted his men and measures to prevent the possi- 
 bility of failure. The engineer and topographical corps, 
 the inspectors and adjutants, the generals of brigade, and, 
 in fine, all upon whose skill and fidelity much depended, 
 were men of disciplined minds or much experience — rnen 
 who could be charged with neither want of talent nor want 
 of knowledge, in their respective departments. It was this 
 fact which caused a writer from Puebla to say, that while 
 the appearance of the American army presented nothing 
 uncommon or superior, it was evident its victories were 
 chiefly due to the superior skill and experience of its 
 officers. 
 
 Thus had Scott made every needed and practicable prep- 
 aration. To this must be added a feasible and sagacious 
 plan, looking not merely to victory, but to the consequences 
 of victory, which in this case was to force a peace. The 
 campaign of the Rio Grande had been tried, and brought 
 no peace. It was evident the enemy must be conquered 
 in his capital. 
 
 The plan of the campaign comprehended the landing of 
 an army sufficiently strong, in the judgment of the general, 
 to overcome all obstacles and vanquish all opposing forces, 
 on the coast of Mexico, at or near Vera Cruz ; capture 
 that city and its castle ; thence proceed on the National 
 Road to Perote, Jalapa, Puebla, and finally the city of 
 Mexico — if peace should not be made before the conquest 
 of that city. This plan had the superior advantage over 
 
468 A SERIES OF VICTORIES 
 
 all other plans, if successful, of penetrating to the very 
 centre of the nation, capturing its strong places, destroy- 
 ing its munitions of war, possessing its richest cities, and 
 finally leaving the enemy almost virithout resources. The 
 result corresponded with the plan. The thing intended 
 was done, and peace was the fruit of victory. In the pre- 
 ceding pages, we have traced, step by step, the complete 
 execution, in detail, of this whole plan, and the final 
 accomplishment of all the objects contemplated. The 
 army was assembled at the island of Lobos. Every man 
 was safely landed in surf-boats, at Vera Cruz — an enter- 
 prise which is seldom accomplished without loss by the 
 best-appointed armies of Europe. A siege-train was 
 landed, with all its munitions, in perfect order. The city 
 of Vera Cruz was regularly invested by trenches. The 
 castle of San Juan de Ulloa was bombarded. The 
 castle and the city surrendered. Over the heavy sands, 
 and through the thick bushes which beset thern, the army 
 marched on. The heavy cannon and mortars were dragged 
 along. The battle of Cerro Gordo is fought and won. 
 The Mexican army flies in disorder. Jalapa surrenders. 
 La Hoya is abandoned. The strong castle of Perote, 
 with its immense supply of all the munitions of war, sur- 
 renders. At length Puebla is taken, and the army rests 
 a while from its fatigue. 
 
 Again it resumes its triumphant march, and the valley 
 of Mexico, with all its splendor and beauty, soon appears 
 before the eyes of the astonished soldier. From the crest 
 of the Anhuac range of mountains he looks down upon 
 that splendid vision, which seems more like the creations 
 of fancy than the realities of earth. In the midst of the 
 valley is a beautiful city, surrounded by shady paseos, 
 
IN RAPID SUCCESSION. 469 
 
 bright fields, and picturesque haciendas. There is the 
 Lake Tezcuco, shaded by floating clouds ; while beyond 
 and above rise the snowy summits of volcanic mountains, 
 glowing in tiie rays of the sun, while they shade the plain 
 below." 
 
 Suddenly did this view burst upon the army ; but the 
 soldier passes on. New fields must be won before that 
 city is his. Chalco and its lake appears. He still presses 
 on, till, at last, he encamps in San Augustin. Then come 
 the glorious 19th and 20th of August. Fields are crimson 
 with blood ; batteries are stormed ; fortresses carried ; 
 till at length the American army inscribes upon its 
 banners, in vivid colors, the victories of Contreras, An- 
 TONIA, and Churubusco. Again there is a pause. Scott, 
 whose march is a continued triumph, waits for the offer of 
 peace. He desires that no more battles may be fought, 
 if they must be won at the expense of so much blood. 
 The army has won laurels enough. Let humanity demand 
 the rest. The pause and the parley are in vain. Other 
 battles must be won. Moling del Rey, Chapultepec, 
 and the gates of Belen and San Cosmo remain to offer 
 new glories to the conquering American. At last Mexico 
 itself is taken, and the last battle is fought in its streets ! 
 Eight battles gloriously won ; two cities besieged 
 and taken. Two castles and numerous strongholds, 
 with thousands of prisoners, and an immense quantity of 
 all the munitions of war, were the immediate trophies and 
 results of that wonderful campaign, which, commencing 
 on the 7th of March, at the landing at Vera Cruz, termi- 
 nated on the 17th of September, in the city of Mexico. 
 
 ' Captain Lyon's Journal of a Tour in Mexico. 
 
470 RESULTS OF SCOTt's .CAMPAIGN. 
 
 But the immediate trophies and victories of the cam 
 paign, however brilliant and admirable, were less impoi 
 tant than the ultimate results to this country and the 
 world. The campaign of Scott in Mexico conquered 
 peace. It did more. It restored good feelings to both 
 countries, and gave order and confidence to vanquished 
 Mexico. It added to our own country the immense terri- 
 tories of California, Utah, and New Mexico. It opened a 
 new and vast field to American enterprise. It has devel- 
 oped the marvellous gold mines of the Sierra Nevada, 
 whose overflowing wealth pours into all the channels of 
 commerce, and quickens the energies of industry. It has 
 given us a coSist and ports on the Pacific, whence we 
 look out on the islands of the sea, and can hold intercourse 
 with the nation^ of Asia. A new era opens on the hills 
 and valleys of our Western wilderness. Soon, a wilder- 
 ness no longer, they will bloom with the roseate hues of 
 civilization, and be filled with a people breathing the air 
 of liberty, and diffusing light through the regions of 
 darkness ! 
 
 Such were the direct results of Scott's campaign — 
 victory, peace, and empire. 
 
 One thing only we note beyond the even course of this 
 narrative. In all the arrangements, all the contests — in 
 all the wide field of action we have described, there was 
 no failure. Even accidents, such as often mar the hap- 
 piest plans, seemed here to have forgotten their customary 
 ofiice. The army was, indeed, long cut off from its com- 
 munications ; it was delayed at Puebla for want of rein- 
 forcements ; it was delayed by the first negotiations ; 
 but still it marched on — still victory attended its banners, 
 and" all things conspired to give it a glorious fortune. 
 
ELOQUENT TRIBUTE BY GEN. CASS. 471 
 
 Scott demonstrated in this campaign that his genius was 
 ecjual to devising the best of plans ;■ his administrative 
 talent adapted to securing the best means ; and his energy 
 in action capable of carrying his designs int^ execution, 
 and giving complete success to every enterprise. He left 
 nothing undone which it was his duty to accomplish ; and 
 has left nothing for history to record but a series of illus- 
 trious triumphs, achieved without a single failure — without 
 a single act of inhumanity — without a single shade of any 
 kind upon his fair renowp. Such success is rare in any 
 nation, and in any pursuit. It can only be attributed to 
 some remarkable gifts of mind, as well as to an extraor- 
 dinary measure of Providential favor. 
 
 It was in reference to this triumphant march from Vera 
 Cruz to Mexico, that General Cass, in the United Stales 
 Senate, pronounced the following eloquent and beautiful 
 tribute : 
 
 " The movement of our army from Puebla was one of 
 the most romantic and remarkable events which ever oc- 
 curred in the military annals of our country. 
 
 " Our troops did not, indeed, burn their fleet, like the 
 first conquerors of Mexico ; for they needed not to gather 
 courage from despair, nor to stimulate their resolution by 
 destroying all hopes of escape. . But they voluntarily cut 
 off all means of communication with their own country, 
 by throwing themselves among the armed thousands of 
 another, and advancing with stout hearts, but feeble num- 
 bers, into the midst of a hostile territory. The uncer- 
 tainty which came over the public mind, and the anxiety 
 everywhere felt, when our gallant little army disappeared 
 from 6u] view, will not be forgotten during the present 
 generation. There was a universal pause of expectation 
 
472 TWO PARALLELS TO SCOTT's MARCH 
 
 — hoping, but still fearing ; and the eyes of twenty mil- 
 lions of people, were anxiously fixed upon another country 
 which a little band of its armed citizens had invaded. A 
 veil concealed them from our view. They were lost to us 
 for fifty days ; for that period elapsed from the time when 
 we heard of their departure from Puebla, till accounts 
 reached us of the issue of the movement. The shroud 
 which enveloped them then gave way, and we discovered 
 our glorious flag waving in the breezes of the capital, and 
 the city itself invested by our army.'" 
 
 There are but two passages in modern history which 
 present parallels to the march of Scott from Vera Cruz to 
 Mexico. These are the first' conquest of Mexico by Cor- 
 tez, and the other is the campaign of Napoleon in Egypt. 
 Each of these has a strong resemblance to the second 
 conquest of Mexico by Scott. In the march of Cortez, 
 the observer is struck by the smallness of numbers in the 
 Spanish invaders — the contrasted multitude of those op- 
 posed to them — the desperate energy of Cortez, which 
 destroyed retreat, and threw him unaided amidst unknown 
 enemies — and, finally, the novelty, the mystery, and the 
 romance which then threw a charm of marvellous interest 
 over the New World. 
 
 The reader will at first be inclined to say, that these 
 incidents have been unequalled by any thing in the cam- 
 paign of Scott. There are, however, striking similarities ; 
 and to the apparently' greater marvels in the march of 
 Cortez, there are parallel incidents in that of Scott. If 
 the troops of Cortez were cut off by design, as well as 
 Providence, from the distant shores of their mother coun- 
 
 ' Speech of Lewis Cass in the Senate, January 3, 1848. 
 
FKOM VERA CRUZ TO MEXICO. 473 
 
 try, there was nearly two months, as stated by Senator 
 Cass, when the army of Scott was cut off from its depots, 
 by total inability to perform the double operation of ad- 
 vancing on the enemy, and keeping open its communica- 
 tions. Its skilful and daring commander chose the for- 
 mer, not by any rash reliance on the chances of good for- 
 tune, but by deliberate calculation on the valor and disci- 
 pline of his troops, and the superior skill of their oflScers. 
 If the band of Corlez appears comparatively small, it must 
 be observed that it had two advantages, in the relative 
 contest, over the army of Scott. The difference between 
 the military science of the Spaniards and that of the Aztecs 
 was far greater than that between the Anglo-Americans 
 and the Mexicans of this day. The latter are students in 
 the same military school with the English, the French, 
 and the Americans. The castle of San Juan, the batteries 
 of Cerro Gordo, the defences of Churubusco, and the 
 ramparts of Chapultepec, all bear witness to the fact that 
 they were well acquainted 'with the modern science of 
 war, and made no mean use of their knowledge in defence 
 of their native land. Another and the greatest advantage 
 possessed by the army of Cortez was, that he divided his 
 enemies. He succeeded in convincing many that he was 
 their destined conqueror, invincible to all opposition. 
 They joined his standard, and he enteredthe city at the 
 head of ten thousand Tlascalan troops ! Such was not 
 the case with Scott. He met troops disciplined in the 
 science of modern warfare. He received no aid from his 
 hostile opponents. He entered the city of Mexico amidst 
 the fires of both citizen and soldier, rode into the Plaza 
 with no troops but his own, and waved on its palace walls 
 10 banner but that of the victorious American ! 
 
474 SCOTT AND NAPOLEON COMPARED. 
 
 Scott's conquest of Mexico bears a strong resemblancej 
 also, to Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, but was unlike it 
 both in conduct and results. Napoleon left France at the 
 head of forty thousand men, crossed the seas in ships, was 
 cut off by the destruction of his navy in Aboukir Bay, en- 
 tered the ancient cities of Egypt, and conquered on the 
 shores of the Nile. At length, tired of battle in Egypt, he 
 left his army to his subordinates, and returned, like Cassar, 
 to become the Dictator of France. No love of peace 
 adorned his character ; no gentle humanity graced his 
 conduct ; no strong devotion to liberty restrained his am- 
 bition, or made him obedient to the claims of duty or of 
 law. His generals, left to pursue a various fortune, were 
 at length driven from the land which they came to conquer. 
 
 Scott also embarked in ships ; was cut off from his 
 depots of supply ; was engaged against an enemy better 
 acquainted with the art of war than the Egyptians ; but 
 pursued his even way, victorious in battle, yet using every 
 effort to procure peace and to soften the asperities of 
 war. No cruelties are permitted — no wanton insults given. 
 He returns not till the conquest is achieved, and his part 
 fully performed in all that grand drama of action. 
 
 Such was the second conquest of Mexico by Winfield 
 Scott. Is there one who'delights in the sound of glorious 
 victory, and will not say that his victories were complete, 
 and his action honorable ? Is there one whose heart is 
 pained with every sound of v^ar, and will not say that he 
 performed the painful duties of war with the strictest re- 
 gard to the claims of humanity, and with the utmost 
 solicitude for the return of peace ? ^ 
 
SCOTT AS A CIVILIAN. 475 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Scott's Ideas of Military Occupation. — His Civil Administration. — Gathers 
 Statistics. — Reports on the Coinage. — Prepares to occupy the Country. 
 — Secret Service Fund. — His Accounts: — Military Asylum. — Corre- 
 spondence with the Archbishop of Mexico. — Military Controversy. — 
 Court of Inquiry. — Suspended from his Command. — Returns Home. 
 
 On the 18th of September, the valley of Mexico re- 
 posed in peace. The storm of war had in a great degree 
 passed over. A few dark clouds and an occasional flash 
 of hghtning were alone visible on the horizon. The vie 
 tories of Scott had accomplished their object. Peace was 
 surely though slowly approaching. There was yet another 
 task to be performed — to organize a civil administration 
 under military authority, capable of maintaining the civil 
 functions of the country. This was no easy affair ; and 
 for the next five months, Scott applied his mind to this 
 object with energy and industry. This part of his con- 
 duct, though brilliant with no glare of battle, is illustrative 
 of his character and qualifications as a civilian. It ex- 
 hibits him actually performing, and fully adequate to, all 
 the duties of an eminent statesman. Left in the sole com- 
 mand not only of. the city of Mexico, but of all the rich 
 provinces around, with the Mexican government scattered 
 and prostrate, a'ad uncertain how long this state of things 
 might continue, Scott was now obliged to consider how, 
 if war continued, the country was to be occupied, and how 
 the army was tc derive a revenue from the districts in 
 their occupation. 
 
476 VIEWS OF MILITARY OCCUPATION. 
 
 In a letter* written by the War Department, after having 
 heard of the victories of Contreras and Churubusco, Scott 
 is told to levy on the Mexicans contributions for the sup- 
 port of the army, in every way consistent with the usages 
 of civilized warfare. In this he is left to his own discre- 
 tion. The Secretary says : " Left as you are to your 
 own judgment as to your military operations, the fullest 
 confidence is entertained that you will conduct them in the 
 most effective way to bring about the main and ultimate 
 object of the war — namely, to induce the rulers and people 
 of Mexico to desire and consent to such terms of peace as 
 we have a right to ask and expect." 
 
 Left with this discretion, there were two things to be 
 considered — the military occupation of the country, and 
 the assessment of contributions. Scott's general views of 
 a military occupation in Mexico were given in several 
 subsequent dispatches. In one of these he gives his 
 opinion, that no annexation could take place without occu- 
 pation, and thus describes the character of the Mexican 
 rulers : 
 
 " Annexation and military occupation would be, if we 
 maintain the annexation, one and the same thing, as to the 
 amount of force to be employed by us ; for if, after the 
 formal act, by treaty or otherwise, we should withdraw 
 our troops, it cannot be doubted that all Mexico, or rather 
 the active part thereof, would again relapse into a perma- 
 nent state of revolution; beginning with one against annex- 
 ation. The great mass of this people have always been 
 passive under every form of government that has prevailed 
 in the country ; and the turbulent minority, divided info 
 
 » Marcy's Letter, dated October 6, 1847. 
 
MILITARY OCCUPATION. 477 
 
 ins and outs, particularly the military demagogues, are 
 equally incapable of self-government, and delight in 
 nothing but getting power by revolution, and abusing that 
 power when obtained."* 
 
 Military occupation, then, was the sole resource of the 
 conquerors, should the war be continued. Accordingly, 
 Scott was directed by the War Department to dispose his 
 troops in such a manner as to occupy as many of the 
 principal places as possible. Ten days before the letter 
 quoted above, Scott issued his order^ announcing the in- 
 tended occupation of Mexico, in the following terms : 
 " This army is about to spread itself over, and to occupy 
 the republic of Mexico, until the latter shall sue for peace 
 on terms acceptable to the government of the United 
 States." 
 
 At the same time, he proceeded at once to take posses- 
 sion of the revenues of the districts occupied, for the sup- 
 port of the army, and the maintenance of the American 
 government over that country. In the same " order," he 
 forbid the payment of any taxes or dues (which were 
 heretofore collectable) to the Mexican government, after 
 the occupation of_ the " principal point or points in any 
 State, as all such taxes and dues will be demanded of the 
 proper authorities, for the support of the army of occupa- 
 tion." As Mexico, Vera Cruz, Puebla, and Tamaulipas 
 were so occupied, all taxes were considered as due and 
 payable to the army in those States, after the 1st of De- 
 cember. The exportation of gold and silver in " bars or 
 ingots" was forbidden ; for the reason, that when the 
 
 ' Scott's Dispatch, dated December 25, 1847. 
 • Order No. 376, dated December 15, 1847. 
 
478 SYSTEM OF REVENUE. 
 
 precious metals are exported in hulk, without being con- 
 verted into a currency, they are of no practical use to the 
 people of the country in their domestic exchanges. The 
 rents, as they were called, of tobacco, playing-cards, and 
 stamped paper, which had been allowed heretofore by the 
 government, were offered to the highest bidders. 
 
 In fine, this " general order" from the commander of the 
 army marked out an entire system- of finance for the con- 
 quered provinces of Mexico.* This was, in fact, to solve 
 a problem of great importance to our government, for the 
 support of the army in Mexico had become an exhausting 
 burden on the Treasury Department, and was a source of 
 anxiety to the- administration. While so successfully 
 establishing a system of revenue for Mexico, General 
 Scott's correspondence with the War Department shows 
 his high and delicate sense of the limits which civilization, 
 properly understood, places to the exactions of an army. 
 In his letter to Secretary Marcy, of December 25, 1847, 
 he says : " It will be perceived that I do not propose to 
 seize the ordinary state or city revenues, as that would 
 be, in my humble judgment, to make war on civilization ; 
 as no community can escape absolute anarchy without 
 civil government, and all government must have some 
 revenue for its support. I shall take care, however, to 
 see that the means collected within any particular State 
 or city, for that purpose, are moderate and reasonable.'" 
 
 Thus, in the midst of an enemy's country, where, ac- 
 cording to the policy which had governed the Clives, 
 Napoleons, and Bluchers of the world, he had a military 
 
 " See Order 376, December 15, 1847. 
 
 ' Scott's Dispatch, 'So. 41, December 25, 1847. 
 
COLLECTS REVENUES. 479 
 
 right to make what exactions he pleased, Scott guarded, 
 with scrupulous care, the rights of civilization. In the 
 above paragraph he states clearly the principles which 
 originate and support civil government. There is no 
 escape from anarchy, that wild beast of society, but by 
 civil government ; and there can be no civil government 
 without regular and adequate means of support. 
 
 In the same dispatch he states the manner in which the 
 revenue is to be collected. He says : " Each State will 
 be required to collect the amount claimed, according to the 
 federal assessment for the year 1843, under certain penal- 
 ties, which may be the seizure, without payment, of the 
 supplies needed for the support of the occupation, and 
 particularly the property of the State functionaries, legis- 
 lative and executive, with the imprisonment of their per- 
 sons, &c., &C., &c. The fear is those functionaries may 
 abdicate, and^eave the States without governments. In 
 such event, the like penalties will be, so far as practi- 
 cable, enforced." 
 
 Still intent on the means of peace, he says, in reference 
 to the execution of his plan : " The success of the system 
 — on the details of which I am now with ample materials 
 employed — depends on our powers of conciliation. With 
 steady troops, I should not doubt the result ; but the great 
 danger lies in the want of that quality on the part of the 
 new reinforcements, including the recruits of the old 
 regiments." In one word, Scott was bent on the concilia- 
 tion of the Mexican nation by the restoration of order, the 
 restraint of his troops, the prevalence of law, and an exhi- 
 bition of all the genial qualities of high civilization. It 
 
 ' Scott's Dispatch, No. 41, December 26, 1847. 
 21 
 
480 SCO'l'T GATHERa STATISTICS. 
 
 will here be remarked, that none but one who had won 
 his right by victories, attended by no failure, could safely 
 undertake such a task. In any other, it would be regarded 
 as timidity ; as the exhibition of weakness, rather than of 
 humanity. It was success in battle which gave Scott the 
 power to become the conciliator of Mexico. 
 
 In the mean while, from September to December,he had 
 been acting the part of a prudent and sagacious statesman. 
 He had been gathering statistics of the country, and 
 especially had procured and sent on to Washington a valu- 
 able memoir on the coinage and exportation of bars and 
 ingots of silver.' 
 
 Six days after his dispatch of the 25th of December, 
 Scott issued an order levying three millions of dollars oil 
 the several States of Mexico, and giving the details, at 
 length, of the manner in which it should be paid.' This 
 was just quadruple the ordinary direct taxes ; but, on the 
 other hand, the transit duties payable at the cities were 
 abolished. This order was accompanied by a circular to 
 the commanders of the military departments, instructing 
 them to conciliate rather than enforce payment, if possible. 
 Force was only to be resorted to in case of extreme 
 Necessity. 
 
 In the general order of the 31st of December, he says : 
 " The American troops, in spreading themselves over this 
 republic, will lake care to observe the strictest discipline 
 and morals in respect to the persons and property of the 
 country ; purchasing and paying for all necessaries and 
 comforts they may require, and treating the unoffending 
 inhabitants with forbearance and kindness." 
 
 ' Executive Document, No. 60, page 105, year 1848. 
 ' Order 895, December 31, 1847. 
 
SCOTT CORRESPONDS WITH THE ARCHBISHOP. 481 
 
 Such were the measures taken by General Scott to 
 support the American army in Mexico, while he observed 
 all the humanity and consideration towards the citizens of 
 that country which could have been observed by civil 
 officers towards citizens of his own. In the six months 
 during which he was commander in Mexico, after the 
 storm of Chapultepec, he performed the several duties of 
 general-in-chief, president of the country, and secretary 
 of the treasury. His were not, indeed, the nominal titles 
 to these offices of statesmen, but they were his in sub- 
 stance ; and that their functions were carefully and judi- 
 ciously performed, the official records of our government 
 amply prove. 
 
 In the mean while, a correspondence took place between 
 General Scott and the Archbishop of Mexico, in relation 
 to the Mexican prisoners, honorable to the humanity of 
 both. Archbishop Juan Manual addresses General Scott, 
 November 5th, thus : 
 
 « Ecclesiastical Goveknmekt of the J 
 
 " Archbishop of Mexico, >■ 
 
 "Mexico, Nov. 5, 1847. ) 
 
 " Most Excellent Sir — The respect which your Ex- 
 cellency has manifested to the Mexican church (of which 
 I am the unworthy head), in calling upon me, has induced 
 me to take advantage of the favorable disposition of your 
 Excellency, to ask a favor which will perpetuate your 
 memory, and will make known to the faithful members of 
 my diocese the feeling of benevolence which you entertain 
 towards them. 
 
 " A multitude of fathers, wives, children, brothers, and 
 other relations of the prisoners who are now confined un 
 
 31 
 
482 GRANTS HIS REQUEST. 
 
 der the order of your Excellency, loudly entreat their 
 liberty ; and the prisoners themselves vehemently lament 
 the many evils which their confinement has brought down 
 upon their families, who depend upon them for subsist- 
 ence, and who, consequently, are reduced to misery, and 
 in many cases to an absolute' state of indigence. Were 
 there any important political reason why these prisoners 
 should not be liberated, I sliould net have been so bold as 
 to ask it ; but their number is small, and distributed, as 
 they will be, in different parts of the republic, their im- 
 portance must be insignificant. 
 
 " I ask their liberty, not only because it is a duty of my 
 office, but my heart also impels me to solicit some real 
 consolation for these unfortunate men, whom the fates of 
 war have reduced to so lamentable a condition." 
 
 General Scott received this communication with great 
 respect, and stated that at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo the ' 
 Mexican prisoners were promptly and cheerfully paroled 
 (that is, released on word of honor not to take up arms), but 
 that they had repeatedly violated their paroZe* ; that of the 
 officers taken in the valley of Mexico, but one remained 
 in confinement, and he only because he asserted his inten- 
 tion to take up arn:is again ; and that in regard to certain 
 propositions for the release of certain American prisoners 
 taken from the army of the Rio Grande, he had received 
 only evasive repHes. Notwithstanding these things, how- 
 ever. General Scott replies : 
 
 " But the application of your grace comes to me undesr 
 sanctions too high to be neglected. 
 
 " I therefore beg to say, that if your grace will have the 
 goodness to appoint some dignitary of the church to visit 
 
PAROLES PRISONERS. 483 
 
 the Mexican prisoners of war (rank and file, or common 
 men), now confined in this capital^ and explain to them 
 the customs and usages of war in such cases, viz. that 
 prisoners, released on parole, are always put to death, if 
 taken in arms against the same belligerents before being 
 duly exchanged, and add the solemn admonition of the 
 church against the violation of their paroles, I will imme- 
 diately, under that holy sanction, cause the said prisoners 
 to be released on parole, so that they may return to their 
 respective families, friends, and peaceful occupations." 
 
 The Archbishop replies (December 16) that he will 
 fulfil all the conditions ; and that he will " personally ad- 
 minister the requisite oath.'" 
 
 On the 22d of December, the Archbishop, in the pres- 
 ence of Lieutenant-Colonel Hitchcock, Inspector-General, 
 administered the oath to eight hundred men, who were 
 released on parole. 
 
 The period now approached when Scott was to be relieved 
 (^suspended) from the command in Mexico. His two last 
 acts were, happily for him, and happily for the complete- 
 ness of that fame which he and the country shared in 
 common, the only two which remained for him to perform 
 in Mexico, either in reference to his own character or his 
 public duties. These were the settlement of his accounts, 
 and the transmission of the Mexican propositions for 
 peace. 
 
 As a commander taking possession of a distant country, 
 and having continual need of funds for contingent ser- 
 vices, and for the unexpected and frequently pressing 
 wants of the army, Scott, at different times, received and 
 
 ' Executive Document, No. 60 (1848), pages 1054—1067. 
 
484 SCOTT EXPENDS MONEY FOR SOLDIEUs' COMFORTS 
 
 expended large amounts of money. Much of this money 
 was expended in services for which a detailed account 
 ought not to be made pubhc. ^ This is set down in gov- 
 ernment accounts as a " secret service fund." In his letter 
 of February 6, 1848, he says that certain " explanations'' 
 ought not to be reduced to writing ; but adds — " I may, 
 however, briefly add, that I have never tempted the honor, 
 conscience, or patriotism of any man, but have held it as 
 lawful in morals, as in war, to purchase valuable informa- 
 tion or services voluntarily tendered me." For thesie 
 secret services he paid about sixty thousand -dollars, in- 
 cluding the service of a " native spy company.'' 
 
 In this letter, he states that he had charged himself with 
 the amount of money received at Washington ; 'the 
 $150,000 levied upon Mexico for the army, in Heu of 
 pillage ; for the proceeds of captured tobacco, and other 
 smaller sums ; for all of which he will " strictly account." 
 
 Among the expenditures, he enumerates the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 Blankets and shoes {gratuitously distributed) .... $63,745 
 
 Hospital comforts (extra) 10,000 
 
 Each crippled man, discharged or furloughed .... 10,00 
 Secret services some 60,000 
 
 After saying thus much, he incloses to the Paymaster- 
 General a draft^ for one hundred thousand dollars, which, 
 
 ■ We put this draft on record, in memory of one of the most honorable 
 transactions of the army : 
 
 " CiTT OF Mexico, Jan. 21, 1848. 
 
 " At tea days after sight, for value received, please pay this my second 
 of exchange (the first and third being unpaid), to the order of Major- 
 Oeneral Winfield Scott, one hundred thousand dollars, on account of the 
 
MONEY FOR A MILITARY ASYLUM. 485 
 
 by special request of General Scott, became the founda- 
 tion for the Army Asylum Fund, as established by act of 
 Congress, in the session of 1850-51. 
 
 Since the occupation of the city of Mexico, one of 
 Scott's desires was, by conciliation, by the re-establish- 
 ment'of order, the occupation of the country, and, in fine, 
 by all honorable means, to induce a peace. There was 
 reason to suppose this could be done, if the Mexican gov- 
 ernment itself could be protected against the violence of 
 the military and the mob. On the 11th of November, 
 General Anaya had been elected president, and Pena y 
 Pena secretary of state. A commission was immediately 
 appointed to negotiate peace. Mr. Trist, the American 
 commissioner, had been recalled, but fortunately, as it 
 turned out, had not left Mexico. 
 
 On the 27th of November, Scott wrote to the War De- 
 partment that the commissioners were understood to be 
 present in Mexico ; and that he had informed the govern- 
 ment at Queretaro that he would send home any com- 
 
 pay of the army, for \rbich I am accountable to the treasury : payable 
 at the Bank of America, city of 'New York, without further advice. 
 
 "E. KIRBY, 
 "Acting Chief of the Pay Department, 
 " At the Head-quarters of the Army. 
 " Brigadier-General K TowsoM, 
 
 " Paymaster-General XJ. S. Army, 
 
 " City of Washington." 
 
 (Endoesed.) 
 *■ The Bank of America, city of New York, will place the within 
 amount to the credit of Army Atylwm, subject to the order of Congress. 
 
 « WXNFIELD SCOTT, 
 
 " Major-General, Ac." 
 
486 SCOTT SUSPENDED. 
 
 munications looking to a renewal of negotiations. On the 
 2d of February, 1848, the treaty of peace was signed at 
 Guadalupe by Trist and the Mexican commissioners. 
 The last important dispatch of General Scott to the War 
 Department was transmitted by the same express which 
 carried to Washington' the treaty of peace. Without 
 probably any very prophetic calculations as to the con- 
 currence of the two events, it happened, in the course of 
 history, that when Scott had finished the last acts which 
 he could perform, in securing to his country the fruits of 
 victory, by the restoration of peace, that just then the order 
 arrived which suspended him from the command of the 
 army of Mexico, and summoned him to answer the cap- 
 tious charges of itiferiors, before a tribunal of inferiors 1 
 He who had won the battle of Marathon was condemned 
 as a criminal, and finally died in prison of the wounds re- 
 ceived in battle !' Scott was not condemned as a crimi- 
 nal, nor imprisoned as a felon ; but he was made to feel 
 that, in the estimation of his government, there was nothing 
 in his eminent position, in his life of successful service, in 
 his devotion to country, in his brilliant successes, and in 
 his great renown, which sliould placfe him above the level, 
 or beyond the reach of envious or malicious subordinates. 
 On the 13th of January, 1848, Secretary Marcy ordered 
 Scott " to turn over the command of the army to Major- 
 General Butler, or, in his absence, to the highest in rank, 
 with the column under you." 
 
 ' Miltiades, who commanded in the battle of Marathon, and to whose 
 glorious 'Tictory the Athenians ever after referred, was unsuccessful in 
 an attack on the Isle of Pares, where he was wounded. He was charged 
 hy one Xanthippus with treachery, and condemned to death ; but finally 
 died in prison of wounds received at Paros. 
 
COURT OF INQUIRY. 487 
 
 At the time this order was issued, the treaty of peace 
 had not been signed, and the President could not be cer- 
 tain that the war would not be continued. He suspended 
 the most successful general of the age from a command 
 in which his services were yet needed, to gratify the 
 caprices of subordinates who chose to be displeased with" 
 his conduct ! 
 
 The object and principles of the Cabinet, in regard to 
 the suspension of Scott, are, fortunately for the truth of 
 history, recorded in the official correspondence of the War 
 Department. On the 13th of January, 1848, another 
 order was issued, directing Brevet Brigadier-General N. 
 Towson, Paymaster-General, Brigadier- General Caleb 
 Gushing, and Colonel E. G. W. Butler, of the 3d Dra- 
 goons, to assemble at the castle of Perote, to inquire into 
 the charges and allegations preferred by General Scott 
 against Major-General Pillow and Brevet Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Duncan ; and " the charges, or matters of com- 
 plaint, presented, by way of appeal, by Brevet Major- 
 General Worth against Major-General Winfield Scott.'" 
 
 The object, then, of suspending Scott, was to bring him 
 before a court of inquiry composed of a Paymaster-General, 
 a Brigadier of Volunteers, and a Colonel of Dragoons,'^ to 
 answer complaints made by a subordinate ! What were 
 those complaints ? It is unnecessary to enter into the 
 details of the army controversy (confined chiefly to four or 
 five officers) which unfortunately arose in the military 
 camp of Scott, in order to understand the injustice and in- 
 humanity with which the veteran commander of Mexico 
 
 " Order 13th January, 1848. 
 
 * Cq]. Belknap was substituted for Col. Butler. 
 
488 CORRECTS OFFICIAL REPORTS. 
 
 was treated. A single feature of the transaction will be 
 sufficient to show the origin and character of the whole. 
 The following sentence commences one of the paragraphs 
 in Mr. Marcy's letter to Scott, dated 13th of January, 
 1-848 : 
 
 " Considering the nature and multiplicity of the matters 
 embraced in the charges preferred against Major-General 
 Pillow and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan, especially 
 the former (some of which are hardly consistent with your 
 official reports and commendations)," &c. 
 
 The official reports of Scott are here referred to, as in- 
 consistent with some of the charges against these officers. 
 This very fact illustrates the generous conduct of Scott 
 towards them and others. In making up his reports, he 
 assumed as correct the reports of the commanders of dif- 
 ferent detachments, and especially when they spoke of 
 themselves. Such generosity is not always safe. Errors 
 in the accounts of subordinates may sometimes occur, 
 which require future correction. The official correspond- 
 ence shows that, on the 2d of October, General Scott ad- 
 dressed a note to General Pillow, calling his attention to 
 certain material errors in the report of General Pillow, 
 concerning his part in the battles of Mexico, and pointing 
 out in what they consisted. The next da,y. General Pil- 
 low acknowledges General Scott's kindness, speaks of his 
 gratitude, and says he has " no hesitation in correcting 
 any thing in his report deemed erroneous." Two other 
 notes were written, which General Scott concludes with 
 the remark, that the discrepancies in their memory were 
 so material, that he should forward the reports to Wash- 
 ington with these notes. It thus appears there were 
 errors in the reports of those whose accounts were received 
 
SECRETARY OF WAR WRITES A DEFENCE. 489 
 
 at first as entirely reliable. In that fact originated the 
 controversy, which resulted in the court of inquiry. But 
 upon what principle was General Scott held responsible to 
 that court ? Why should he be tried for the errors of his 
 subordinates ? What were the matters of complaint 
 charged by General Worth? They were simply that 
 General Scott had refused to say whether he was the per- 
 son referred to in a recent army order, and refused to for- 
 ward complaints against himself to the War Department ! 
 In whatever aspect they might be considered by a court, 
 none of General Worth's " complaints" at all impeached 
 Scott's capacity, integrity, or merit, as the commander of 
 an army. Why, then, suspend him, while engaged in the 
 duties of war ? General Worth, one of the most gall^t 
 officers of the army, and Colonel Duncan, a distinguished 
 soldier, have both passed beyond the tribunal of human 
 praise or censure. We may safely assume, that a contro- 
 yersy with their commander about fields of glory, in which 
 they had all a common share, would not have been con- 
 tinued by them, if living. On the contrary, they would 
 have sought to freshen and deepen the laurels ; which, the 
 greener they grew on the brows of Scott, the more they 
 would bloom in their own fair fame. 
 
 Their conduct may be attributed to the heat of passion, 
 and allowed 'to pass in silence ; but that of the cabinet is 
 not so easily excused. Mr. Marcy seems to have felt the 
 necessity of defending the suspension of a commander under 
 such circumstances, at the complaint of his inferiors ; and, 
 m his letter of the 13th, makes an argument in his defence. 
 It appeared in the sequel, however, that the cabinet had 
 greatly underrated the sensibilities of the people to this 
 species of wrong. The whole country was struck with 
 
490 scott's letter. 
 
 astonishment at the suspension of Scott. The people 
 could not realize the propriety, asserted by the War De- 
 partment, of holding a patriotic and successful general, 
 charged with no neglect of duty, to account, at any mo- 
 ment, to the captious complaints of inferior officers. They 
 had no sympathy with that cold indifference which over- 
 looked his forty years of service, and his high renown, in 
 a pretended equality with his subordinates ! There was 
 a universal conviction that a positive injustice and an un- 
 deserved insult had been offered to the conqueror of 
 Mexico. Nor was it unfelt by him, nor altogether unan- 
 ticipated. In his dispatch of the 25th of July he had 
 alluded to the possibility, that when in two months the 
 army should have entered Mexico, he might be re- 
 called.' 
 
 With a profound feeling of injustice — one of the keenest 
 wounds which humanity ever suffers — he thus writes on 
 the 9th of February, 1848, after reading in the newspapers 
 an unofficial account that he was superseded : 
 
 " I make only a passing comment upon these unofficial 
 announcements ; learning with pleasure, through the same 
 sources, that I am to be superseded by Major-General 
 Butler. Perhaps, after trial, I may be permitted to return 
 to the United States. ■ My poor services with this gallant 
 army are at length requited as I have long been led to ex- 
 pect they would be." 
 
 If this natural outburst of feeling contains a sharper 
 charge against the justice and candor of the cabinet than it 
 deserved, it is due to that keen sensibility to personal 
 wrong which is ever one of the qualities of an honorable 
 
 ' Executive Document, No. 60 (1848), 1060. 
 
SCOTT BEFORE THE COUHT. 491 
 
 mind, and which was now made poignant by an official 
 attempt to degrade his services and his position. 
 
 Scott quietly delivered over the army to the command 
 of General Butler, and took his place before the court of 
 inquiry on a level with his factious accusers ; as if he had 
 never commanded a victorious army, or won laurels whose 
 verdure will quicken with tinfe, and be deposited among 
 the memorials of recorded glory. • 
 
 The court of inquiry met in Mexico, and sat several 
 weeks, engaged in examining many witnesses, in respect 
 to some of the minor details of the war ; especially the 
 part taken by General Pillow in the battles of the valley 
 of Mexico ; and as to the authors of certain letters pub- 
 lished in newspapers, signed " Veritas" and " Leonidas," 
 and generally attributed to that officer. In this court 
 General Scott was present, cross-examining the witnesses 
 with great acumen, but generously conceding every fact 
 which, being true, was fairly applicable to the case. At 
 length the court adjourned in the month of April, to meet 
 again in Washington. The meeting was indeed held ; but, 
 in the mean time, the war ended, and the business of the 
 court of inquiry became so obviously odious to the people, 
 '.hat the cabinet were willing to let its proceedings drop into 
 a speedy and deserved oblivion. The court dropped its 
 inquiries', and simply reported a voluminous mass of testi- 
 mony relating to the affairs of the war, which may be of 
 great use to the future historian, if the records are still 
 preserved. 
 
 The idea of visiting a palpable degradation upon the 
 man whoseponduct was faultless, whose character was pure, 
 and whose successes were altogether unparalleled, was 
 not only odious, but absolutely detestable to the people. 
 
492 PKOPLK INDIGNANT. 
 
 This feeling became general, and roused an indignation 
 in the minds of many, even of those who were the politi- 
 cal friends of the administration, which contributed not a 
 little to its subsequent downfall. The spirit of injustice 
 does not belong to the American people. They are ready 
 to contribute their full share of praise to those who, on 
 their part, have contributed to the glory and grandeur of 
 their country. 
 
 Scott having waited patiently upon the sittings of the 
 court of inquiry, at length embarked in the " Petersburg" 
 vessel for his home in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, wheres 
 he arrived on the 20th of May, 1848, intending quietly to 
 remain a short time in that calm domestic retirement, 
 happier than any field of war can ever be, however glo- 
 rious or successful — however much coveted now, or re- 
 nowned hereafter. 
 
SCOTT S RETURN. 493 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 General Scott's Return. — His Reception at New York. — An'angements 
 of the Council — Military Procession. — Address of the Mayor and 
 Aldermea — His Replies. — Presentation of a Medal. — General Mor- 
 ris's Song sung in the Broadway Tabernacle.— Scott's Retvurn to Wash- 
 ington — ^His PublicHonors. — His Journey to the West, on the Board 
 of Military Asylums. — His Public and Private Character. 
 
 Scott, on his return from Mexico, had respectfully 
 declined the honor of a reception at New Orleans, stating 
 that he was under the displeasure of the executive.' On 
 the 20th of May, he arrived in a private vessel at Eliza- 
 bethtown. New Jersey, the residence of his family, having 
 carefully avoided all the cities, and refused to join in any 
 public ceremonial. -In the mean while, however, the coi- 
 poration of New York having learned his departure from 
 Mexico, and his probable arrival at Elizabeth town, deter 
 mined that he who had so often resided among them, who 
 had signalized the Niagara frontier with the glory of vic- 
 tory, and who was now returning from a foreign land 
 crowned with the honors of successful war, but over- 
 clouded with the shadows of executive displeasure, should 
 be received in the commercial metropolis of the nation in 
 a manner to signalize his merit and their gratitude. 
 
 On the 10th of May, 1848, Mr. Havemeyer, Mayor of 
 New York, addressed a message, to the Common Coun- 
 cil, stating that information had been received that Major- 
 
 ' Scotf a Letter to Mr. Crossman, Mayor of Ketr Orleans, dated May 1. 
 
494 scott's return. 
 
 General Scott had embarked on his return home, and 
 he submitted the propriety of "receiving him in a manner 
 commensurate with a proper appreciation of his gallant 
 achievements, and those of his companions in arms." 
 On the reception of this message, resolutions in conformity 
 therewith were, on motion of Mr. Crolius, passed by the 
 Board of Aldermen, and concurred in by the Assistants.' 
 
 On the 21st of May, General Scott arrived in the brig 
 " Petersburg,'' and immediately proceeded to Elizabeth- 
 town. The next day(22d) he was waited upon by a com- 
 mittee of the Common Councilof New York,- and accepted 
 their invitation to visit and receive the hospitalities of New 
 York. 
 
 As the reception of General Scott in the great city of 
 New York was among the most interesting and magnifi- 
 cent ceremonials our country has witnessed, it is the proper 
 province of history to record so much of the proceedings 
 as will illustrate the character of the times, and the high 
 estimation in which the hero of Mexico was held by his 
 fellow-citizens. 
 
 Thursday, the 25th of May, was the day appointed for 
 the reception. The general was to be escorted from 
 Elizabethtown by the committee, the Common Council, 
 and the civic authorities. He was to review the New 
 York division of troops, in four brigades ; be addressed 
 at the City Hall by public functionaries ; and finally 
 escorted to his quarters. In conformity with this plan, all 
 arrangements were made by the military and civil authori- 
 ties. Orders were issued by Major-General Sandford, and 
 the commanders of brigades and regiments, to parade, on 
 
 ' Report of the Joint Special Committee of the Common Council, 
 
franklin's address. 495 
 
 the morning of the 25th, in full unifol-m and equipment. 
 This division comprehends twelve regiments, and is one 
 of the best uniformed and trained corps in the United 
 States. 
 
 The day was an auspicious one. A cloudless sky, a 
 brilHant sun, and streets lined and crowded with dense 
 masses of people eager to behold and receive the gallant 
 and successful hero returning from the scene of his glory, 
 seemed an auspicious augury of the welcome which would 
 now greet him, and -the fame which coming posterity will 
 gladly bestow. Cannon were fired from the Battery, the 
 national flag floatSfl from the City Hall, and streamers 
 waved from the shipping in port. The steamer St. 
 Nicholas, crowded with public functionaries and citizens, 
 proceeded gayly on her way to Elizabethtown. There 
 they were met by the corporate authorities of the borough, 
 who, by their mayor, Mr. Sanderson, committed General 
 Scott, with suitable remarks, to the charge of the Common 
 Council of New York. 
 
 When the cheering had subsided, Morris Franklin, 
 Esq., president of the Board of Aldermen, addressed 
 General Scott in an excellent address, of which the fol- 
 lowing are passages : 
 
 " In contemplating upon the thrilling events which have 
 characterized your history, we find so much to excite our 
 admiration, and to call into action the patriotic emotions 
 of the heart, that we feel proud, as American citizens, 
 that among the many illustrious names which now are, or 
 may hereafter be emblazoned upon the escutcheons. of our 
 country, yours will appear in bold relief, as among her 
 noblest and most honored sons ; for whether upon the 
 plains of Chippewa, or Lundy's Lane — whether at the 
 
496 Scott's reply. 
 
 sortie of Fort Erie, or on the heights of Queenstown — 
 whether landing on the shores of Vera Cruz, or bravely 
 contending at the pass of Cerro Gordo^^whether entering 
 in triumph the capital of Mexico, and there planting the 
 American standard upon its battlements — whether in the 
 wamor's tent, at the solemn hour of midnight, arranging 
 the operations of the coming day, while your faithful sol- 
 diers were slumbering around you, dreaming of their 
 friends and their homes — or whether attending upon the 
 wounded, the dying, and the dead, regardless of yourself 
 in your anxiety for others — we find all those characteristics 
 wh'-ch mark the true dignity of mari^ and bespeak the 
 acco;nplished and victorious chieftain. 
 
 " Under circurastanGes such as these, and fresh from 
 the well-fought battle-fields of our country, we now wel- 
 come you within our midst, as one worthy to receive and 
 forever wear that victorious wreath which the American 
 people have entwined to decorate and adorn your brow ; 
 and we cannot omit, upon this occasion, to bear our testi- 
 mony to the valor, bravery, and skill displayed by that 
 noble band of our adopted fellow-citizens, who, side by 
 side with the natives of our soil, stood bravely by the 
 common standard of our country, or fell nobly struggling 
 in its defence. Peace be to the ashes of those who thus 
 sacrificed their lives, for they died as brave men love to 
 die — ^fighting the battles of their country, and expiring in 
 the very arms of victory." 
 
 Mr. Franklin's address was received with enthusiastic 
 huzzas. 
 
 General Scott made the following reply, which, 
 with the others made in New York, are inserted here, for 
 the purpose of showing the character of his addresses 
 
SCOTT SPEAKS OF ADOPTED CITIZENS. 497 
 
 when drawn from him on public occasions, and the senti- 
 ments he felt and uttered, in reference to the acts and 
 conduct of the army. 
 
 After stating that he had " surrendered himself a pris- 
 oner" to his fellow-citizens of New York, who bad deter- 
 mined to honor a public servant, and, without measuring 
 his little merit, had also determined to do it " in a manner 
 worthy of herself and of the United States," he pro- 
 ceeded : 
 
 " If I had looked to considerations merely personal, I 
 should have declined the high distinction tendered me ; 
 but I knew I was to be received by you as the representa- 
 tive of that victorious army it was so lately my good for- 
 tune to command — an army that has carried the glory of 
 American arms to a height that has won universal admira- 
 tion, and the gratitude of all hearts at home. 
 
 " A very large portion of the rank and file of that army, 
 regulars and volunteers, went forth from the city of New 
 York, to conquer or to die. It was my happy lot to wit- 
 ness their invincible valor and prowess. All dangers, dif- 
 ficulties, and hardships were met and conquered. 
 
 " You have been pleased, sir, to allude to our adopted 
 citizens. I can say that the Irish, the Germans, the Swiss, 
 the French, the Britons, and other adopted citizens, fought 
 in the same ranks, under the same colors, side by side 
 with native-born Americans — exhibiting like courage and 
 efficiency, and uniting at every victory in the same en- 
 thusiastic shouts in honor of our flag and country. From 
 Vera Cruz to the capital of Mexico, there was one gen- 
 erous rivalry in heroic daring and brilliant achievement. 
 Let those who witnessed that career of valor and patriot- 
 ism say, if they can, what race, according to numbers, 
 
 32 
 
498 LANDING AT CASTLE GARDEN. 
 
 contributed most to the general success and glory of the 
 campaign. On the many hard-fought battle-fields there 
 was no room for invidious distinction. All proved them- 
 selves the faithful sons of our beloved country, and no 
 spectator could fail to dismiss any lingering prejudice he 
 might have entertained as to the comparative merits ot 
 Americans by birth and Americans by adoption. 
 
 " As the honored representative of all, I return among . 
 you to bear testimony in favor of my fellow-brothers in the 
 field, the army of Mexico ; and I congratulate you and 
 them that the common object of their efforts, and of youi 
 hopes — the restoration of peace — is in all probability now 
 attained." 
 
 As the boat passed on from Elizabethtown to the city, 
 large numbers of people on the shore saluted the com- 
 pany, with their distinguished companion, by waving 
 handkerchiefs. At Sailors' Snug Harbor they received 
 the united cheers of its inmates ; and at .Castle Garden, 
 the general landed under a national salute, fired by the 
 4th Artillery, under the direction of General Morris. 
 
 The mayor of the city being absent, Morris Frankliuj 
 Acting Mayor, again addressed General Scott. After 
 congratulating him on his return'to his home and friends, 
 he said : 
 
 " And now, fellow-citizens, you .have before you the 
 hero of Chippewa, of Queenstown, of Lundy's Lane, and 
 the conqueror of Vera Cruz and the capital of Mexico, arid 
 it remains for you to say whether you will receive and 
 welcome him as the guest of our patriotic and noble city ; 
 and for the purpose of testing this, I propose that all who 
 are in favor of receiving him as such, will signify by say- 
 ing aye." 
 
MILITARY PROCESSION. 499 
 
 One universal aye burst from the immense assemblage; 
 after which, Mr. Franklin, turning to the general, con- 
 tinued as follows : 
 
 " General Scott — You are now the guest of the city. 
 You have surrendered to the entreaties of your fellow- 
 citizens, and we shall celebrate the victory in such a way 
 as will satisfy you and them, that we appreciate the ser- 
 vices of one of the best and noblest sons connected with 
 the great American family." 
 
 This address was received with great cheering, and 
 jeplied to by General Scott briefly and happily. 
 
 He was then received at the outer entrance of the Garden 
 by Major-General Sandford, with his staff, and proceeded 
 to review the line of military on the Battery. The great- 
 est enthusiasm was manifested by the several regiments. 
 Cheer on cheer burst forth, in which officers and men 
 joined, in token of their admiration for the hero of Mexico. 
 
 After the review was ended, the military formed in 
 column, and the procession moved through the streets in 
 the order of the programme : 
 
 FR0GRAM3IE. 
 
 The First Division of New York State Militia, under the com- 
 mand of Major-General Sandford, acting as the escort to Major- 
 General Scott, in the following order: 
 
 THE FIRSI BRIGADE, 
 
 Under the command of Brigadier-General Storms. 
 
 THE SECOND BRIGADE, '" 
 
 Under the- command of Brigadier-General Morris. 
 
 THE THIRD BRIGADE, 
 
 Under the command of Brigadier-General Hall. 
 
 THE FOURTH BRIGADE, 
 
 Under the command of Brigadier-General Ewen. 
 
500 SCOTT ADDRESSES THE 
 
 TBE CITIO FBOOESSION FOBMED AS FOLLOWS: 
 
 Ex-President of the United States. 
 
 Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of the State of New York. 
 
 Senators and Representatives in Congress. 
 
 Senators of this State. Members of Assembly 
 
 Officers of the Army and Navy of the U. States. 
 
 Joint Special Committee of the Common Council. 
 
 His Honor the Mayor. 
 
 Members of the Common Council of the City of New York. 
 
 Heads of Departments of the City Government. 
 
 Collector of the Port of New York. 
 
 Surveyor of the Port of New York. Naval Officer. 
 
 Postmaster of the City of New York. 
 
 United States District Attorney. 
 
 Marshal of the United States for this District. 
 
 Citizens in carriages and on horseback. 
 
 In the Park, he received a marching salute from the 
 whole division of military, and thence proceeded to the 
 Governor's Room. From every balcony, stoop, window, 
 and house-top in the streets through which the procession 
 moved, there went up the warmest welcomings from both 
 sexes and all ages. 
 
 In the Governor's Room, he was again addressed briefly 
 by Alderman Crolius, to whom he replied in the follow'- 
 ing terms : 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Common 
 Council : — My obligations to the city of New York are 
 known to you all ; but the kind reception of the Common 
 Council, and of the inhabitants of this great emporium of 
 commerce, has bound me to it forever. Had my life 
 been twice as long-— -had my services been treble what 
 they have been — had my sufferings been multiplied, no 
 matter by what figure— all would have been more than 
 
COMMON COUNCIL OP NEW YORK. 501 
 
 compensated by the generous welcome you have given 
 me. 
 
 He then said; that " since the termination of the war 
 with Great Britain, now thirty-four years, I have resided 
 a portion of every year, with the exception of four or five, 
 with you. The first honors I ever received were from 
 the hands of the Legislature of New York. Well, then, 
 may it be believed that every pulsation of my heart beats 
 in unison with her well-being." 
 
 General Scott then proceeded to give his views on the 
 great subject of Peack and War, in which every friend 
 of civilization is interested : ^ 
 
 " Though I am a soldier, and therefore supposed to be 
 fond of fighting, I abhor war, except when prosecuted in 
 the defence of our country, or for the preservation of its 
 honor, or of some great, important, nay, cardinal interest. 
 I hold war to be a great moral evil. It must be for good 
 and substantial reasons — for no forced or false pretext, 
 however plausibly set forth — that war can be warrantably 
 waged, or that can justify one man in shedding the blood 
 of his fellow-being. The interests of New York, and of 
 our whole country, are identified with peace and with 
 every duty of Christian morality. I doubt if there be any 
 member of that respectable body of our fellow-citizens, the 
 Friends, who is a more zealous advocate for peace. Un- 
 happily, too much of my life has been spent on the field 
 of battle. Let us, then, maintain our peace by all honor- 
 able efforts — by such efforts as Washington, the father of 
 our country, made, to establish and preserve a system of 
 equal and impartial neutrality — a system which some of 
 his most distinguished successors, even to a recent period, 
 have commended, with the entire approbation of the 
 
502 PRESENTATION OF A MEDAL. 
 
 American people. And now, Mr. Chairman, in offering 
 again my thanks to your Common Council, and to the in- 
 habitants of your city, which have made an old soldier's 
 heart to throb with gratitude, and caused him to forget all 
 his toils, all his hardships, all his suffering pf mind and 
 body, I desire to acknowledge to yourself especially, and 
 to the gentlemen of both Boards who compose your com- 
 mittee^^the obligations you have imposed uppn me by 
 your kind and gracious attentions. Thanks, my warmest 
 thanks, I return through you to the inhabitants of this 
 city." 
 
 At 12 M., AldermaH' Franklin, on behalf of the munici- 
 pal authorities of the city, presented General Scott with a 
 silver medal, which had been prepared in commemoration 
 of the battles of Chapultepec, Churubusco, Cerro Gordo, 
 and Vera Cruz. Alderman Franklin presented it, in a 
 neat speech ; and General Scott replied in suitable terms. 
 
 The following is a description of the medal : 
 
 It is struck from fine silver, about two inches in 
 diameter, and of the weight of two ounces. 
 
 On the reverse side is a female figure, the head of which 
 is surrounded with stars, representing the genius of Amer- 
 ica, grasping in her right hand the fulman, and pointing 
 with her left to the rising sun ; while her left foot is rest- 
 ing upon. the cactus, and the Mexican serpent lying pros- 
 trate beneath the American eagle. Mountains forni the 
 background ; the palm indicating the South, and a walled 
 city representing Vera Cruz, with the American shipping 
 in the harbor. The figure-rests on the stern of a Roman 
 galley, which is intended to represent the naval power of 
 the United States ; and around the whole are the words, 
 " Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Chapultepec, and Churubusco." 
 
SONG BY GEORGE F. MORRIS. 603 
 
 On the obverse side is a new and beautiful arrangement 
 of the city coat-of arms, designed by Mr. Chapman, with 
 the marginal inscription — " Presented by the City of New 
 York to Major-General Winfield Scott." 
 
 In the course of the day, General Scott visited, with 
 the committee, and various public functionaries," the 
 Asylum for the Blind, and the Deaf and Dumb Institution, 
 at each of which short ?^ddresses were made ; and the in-^ 
 terview with the interesting pupils of those institutions 
 was quite affecting. 
 
 On the evening of the day of reception, the following 
 song, written by George P. Morris, Esq., was sung at 
 the Broadway Tabernacle. It expresses well the warm 
 feelings which animate the great body of the people 
 towards the Patriot Hero, who, in the forty years from 
 1811 to 1851, has served his country with so much merit, 
 and with such unrivalled success. 
 
 the soldier's WEIiCOME HOMB. 
 
 Victorious the hero 
 
 Returns from the wars; 
 His brow bound with laurels 
 
 That never will fade, 
 Willie streams the free standard 
 
 Of stripes and of stars, 
 Whose field in the battle 
 
 The foemen disq^yed. 
 When the Mexican hosts 
 
 In their madness came on, 
 lake a tower of strength 
 
 In his might he arose I 
 
504 SONG BY GEORGE P. MORRIS. 
 
 Where danger most threatened. 
 His banner was borne, 
 
 Waving hope to his friends 
 And despair to his foes. 
 
 Chorus. 
 Huzza! huzza! huzza! 
 
 The hero forever! 
 Whose fame is the glory 
 
 And pride of the .land I 
 
 The Soldier of Honor 
 
 And Liberty, hail ! 
 His deeds in the temple 
 
 Of Fame are enrolled; 
 His precepts, like flower-seeds 
 
 Sown by the gale, 
 Take root in the hearts 
 
 Of the valiant and bold. 
 The warrior's escutcheon 
 
 His foes sgek to blot : 
 But vain are the eiforts 
 
 Of partisan bands, 
 For freemen will render 
 
 Full justice to Scott, 
 And welcome him home 
 
 With their hearts in theu- hands. 
 
 Chorus. 
 Huzza! huzza! huzza! 
 
 The hero forever ! 
 Whose fame is the glory 
 
 And pride of the land! 
 
 The preamble and resolutions adopted by the Common 
 Council were engrossed and placed in an oaken frame. 
 
SCOTT AT WASHINGTON. 505 
 
 surrounded by the insignia of war, and then presented to 
 the general; as a testimonial of the welcome which was 
 rendered, in regard for his eminent services, by the Com- 
 mon Council of New York. 
 
 Thus ended the brilliant and interesting reception given 
 to the conqueror of Mexico by the greatest commercial 
 city of the nation. It was done on behalf of the nation, 
 and as representative of that gratitude and admiration 
 which is due to one who has rendered such important and 
 such illustrious services to our common country. 
 
 For reasons which have never been fully disclosed to 
 the public, Scott was kept wijh his head-quarters at New 
 York, long after his return from Mexico. He needed, in- 
 deed, less of the cares of business, and more of the pleas- 
 ures of retirement, than Washington would have afforded, 
 in order to recruit his health, like that of many another 
 soldier, injured by too long a residence in a tropical 
 climate. At length, however, he was recalled to his 
 proper station — the head of the Army Bureau aj Wash- 
 ington. There he has remained engaged in official rather 
 than military duties, reporting on the condition and pro- 
 posed improvements of the army, but mingling in none of 
 the ambitious schemes or intrigues of politicians. In the 
 midst of those social circles, where worth, patriotism, and 
 intelhgence shone around, he was himself the radiant 
 centre of attraction — affable towards all, while holding and 
 uttering those pure and lofty sentiments which have been 
 acted out in his life. 
 
 In the session of Congress in 1850-51, an act was 
 passed which illustrated, in a remarkable manner, his care 
 and foresight in providing for the wants of the army. We 
 have recorded elsewhere the form of the draft for one hun- 
 
506 ' ARMY asyi,i;ms, 
 
 dred thousand dollars which he had remitted ta the Bank 
 of. America, to be placed to the credit of " Army Asyhims," 
 till Congress should order otherwise. This was part of 
 the contributions levied on the city of Mexico, and had 
 been set aside by him, with some other moneys derived 
 from similar sources, for the purpkose of founding asylums 
 for invalid soldieia. C ongress now ( 1 850'-5 J ) cawied out,, 
 by law, the intentions of Scott, in setting aside this par^ 
 ticular fund. When the act was passed, spring of 1851, 
 he was appointed president of an Army Board to select 
 sites for the asylums. In puisuance of this duty, he was 
 obliged to journey through the valleys of the Ohio and 
 Mississippi. Everywhere there was a spontaneous tributei 
 of admiration and respect paid by the people, who, with- 
 out any notice of the hour of his arrival, or any prepared 
 formalities, everywhere assembled in great numbers, wel- 
 comed him with shouts, and accompanied him to his 
 quarters. At Cincinnati he remained a vyeeli; ; and frpm 
 the hour of his arrival to that of his departure, he was con- 
 tinually surrounded by hundreds who were ende?ivoring to 
 shake him by the hand, and have the pleasure of seeing 
 once, at least, the veteran warrior and patriot who had 
 performed for his country such arduous services, and 
 added so .largely to its high renown. Among thoise whO' 
 crowded around him were large numbers who had served 
 with him in Mexico, as well as citizens from distant parts, 
 of the country, who came purposely to see him. On one 
 occasion, when he was at an evening party, a cannon 
 salute was fired under the windows, to the surprise of the 
 company. On inquiry, it proved to have been done volun- 
 tarily by some of the soldiers who had been with him in; 
 the army. 
 
scott's public services. 507 
 
 Having performed his duty as a member of the board, 
 he resumed his position at Washington, where he remains 
 as commattder-ih-chief of the army, under the President 
 of the United States. 
 
 General Winfield Scott was commissioned a captain of 
 Light Artillery in May, 1808, and has therefore been 
 forty'three years in the service of the United States ; and 
 during that time has been strccEssFUL in every thing he 
 UNDERTOOK, has failed in no duty, excused himself from 
 no service, been presertt on the most memorable fields of 
 battle, and party to some of the most important civil as 
 well as military transactions,. In that time be has every- 
 where, and in every place, been obedient to the civil law ; 
 been observant of all the duties of humanity ; been true 
 to every obligaition of a citizen and a mati ; been the friend 
 of peace rather than of war ; and on three remarkable oc- 
 casions aided in preserving the peace and tranquillity of 
 the country. 
 
 A brief summary of his public services will give the 
 reader an Gutline view of what we have endeavored faith- 
 fully to record on the preceding pages. In cTironological 
 order, the principal events of his life may be thus 
 istated : 
 
 WnfFtELD Scott, Captain of Light Arlalleiy, May, 1808. 
 
 •' « Ijieutenani^Colonel of 2d Artillery, Izard's "Regi- 
 
 ment, July, 1812. 
 
 « « Volunteers in the Battle of QuEEHsxcwif, com- 
 
 mands on the heights, and is oiptured, Odtobei 
 13, 1812. 
 
 " " Interferes in behalf of the captured Irishmen, 
 
 October, 1812. 
 
 • " Assists in getting the Act of Retaliation passed, 
 
 January, 1813. 
 
508 A SUMMARY OP 
 
 WiKFiELD Scott, Adjutant-General of the army under General 
 
 Dearborn, at Niagara, May, 1813. 
 " " Commands the advance guard in the capture of 
 
 Fort Geokge, May 27, 1813. 
 " " Colonel of a double regiment, July, 1813. 
 
 " " Commands the advance guard in the descent of 
 
 the St. Lavifrence, November, 1813. 
 " "Is made Brigadier-General, March 9, 1814. 
 
 « " Drills the troops in the camp of Buffalo, April, 
 
 May, June, 1814. 
 " " Commands the advance brigade, fighting the 
 
 Battle of Chippewa, July 5, 1814. 
 " " Commands the advance brigade in the Battle 
 
 OF Niagara- (Lundy's Lane), July 25, 1814. 
 « « Is, badly wounded, July 25, 1814. 
 
 « « Is brevetted Major-General, July 25, 1814. 
 
 « « Receives the honorary degree of Master of Arts, 
 
 at Princeton, September, 1814. 
 « « Declines the appointment of Secretary at War, 
 
 February, 1816. 
 » « Travels in Europe,- March, 1815-16. 
 
 « " Is married, March, 1817. 
 
 « « Writes the "Military Institutes, 1821. 
 
 a « Writes an Essay on Temperance, 1821. 
 
 « « Again travels in Europe, 1827-28. 
 
 " " Embarks on the Lakes, commanding troops for 
 
 Black Hawk war, July 8, 1832. 
 « « Nurses the sick, August, 1832. 
 
 « « Is commissioned to treat with Indians, September, 
 
 / 1832. 
 " * Concludes treaties, September, 1832. 
 
 « " Commands in Charleston, November, 1832. 
 
 « « Letter to a Nullifler, Decjember 14, 1832. 
 
 " " Commands in Florida, February, May, 1836. 
 
 • « Speech before a Court of Inquiry, October, 1836. 
 
 " " Favorable opinion of the court, October, 1836. 
 
 " " Commands on the Canada frontier, Dec., 1837. 
 
scott's public-services. 509 
 
 Wl^FlKLD Scott harangues the people, January, 1838. 
 " " Maintains Peace, January, 1838. 
 
 " " Removes the Cherokees, May, 1838. 
 
 •• " Addresses the Indians, May, 1838. 
 
 ** ( " Commands in the Disputed Tekeitort, March, 
 
 1839. "* 
 
 " " Corresponds with Gov. Harvey,.March, 1839. 
 
 " " Receives votes in the Whig Convention for the 
 
 Presidency, December, 1839. 
 •• " Supports General Harrison, 1840. 
 
 " " Nominated for the Presidency by the State Con- 
 
 ventiou of Pennsylvania, 1842. 
 " " Writes to the Dayton Committee on the subject 
 
 of the Presidency, September, 1842. 
 « " Writes to Atkinson on the subject of slavery, 
 
 1843. 
 « _ « Writes on Peace, April, 1844. ^ 
 
 " " Ordered to Mexico, November 23, 1846. 
 
 « « Lands at Vera Cruz, March 10, 1847. 
 
 " " Captures San Juan de Ulloa, March 27, 1847. 
 
 " " Wins the Battle of Cerro Gordo, April 18, 
 
 1847. 
 « » Enters the city of Puebla, May 15, 1847. 
 
 « « Commands the army of Mexico in the battle of 
 
 CoNTRERAS, August 19, 1847. 
 " "In the battle of Churubusco, August 20, 1847. 
 
 " "At the battle of Molino del Ret, Sept. 8, 1847. 
 
 « " In the storm of Chapultepec, Sept. 13, 1847. 
 
 « " Captures the Citt of Mexico, September 14i 
 
 1847. 
 » " Levies contributions for the comfort of the army, 
 
 September 18, 1847. 
 « « Devises a system of revenue, November, 1847. 
 
 " " Appears before a Court of Inquiry, April, 1848. 
 
 « " Returns home. May, 1848. 
 
 • "Is received by the corporation of New York with 
 
 military and civic honor*. May, 1848. 
 
510 HONORS CONFERRED ON SCOTT. 
 
 In reviewing this record of more than forty years' pub^ 
 lie service, we find "that Scott has been engaged in three 
 WARS, has been victorious in ten battles, has three times 
 interfered to' preserve peace, and has written several 
 volumes on military institutes, temperance, ahd various 
 topics of public interest. -For this long series of memo 
 rable services he has acquired a renown limited only b) 
 the bounds of the civilized world. In his own country 
 the National Congress, the Legislatures of Stated, tht 
 Corporations of cities, arid literary and scientific bodies 
 have repeatedly bestowed upon him their honors and theii 
 applause. Congress voted him a medal ; the State ol 
 Virginia twice voted him swords ; New York voted him a 
 sword ; the Society of Cincinnati made him an honorary 
 member ; and in various forms, and on nunierous 6cca- 
 sions, have the people hastened to do honor fo one vvhose 
 life has been devoted to their cause. He has been nomi- 
 nated for the presidency repeatedly, by Slate and county 
 conventions, but has never pressed himself on the con- 
 sideration of political bodies. On the contrary, he has 
 shunned all the intrigues of mere poKticians, and left his 
 character and conduct to the Unbiased judgment of the 
 people. While he thought himself, as a man and a citi- 
 zen, entitled to hold and express his political opinions on 
 all proper occasions, he thought his military position pre- 
 cluded him from entering into any active controversies of 
 parties. His opinions have been frankly expressed on al- 
 most all topics ; never concealed from any fear of conse- 
 quences, nor volunteered to gain mere political support. 
 
 The fame of General Scott abroad is founded on a more 
 disinterested, and perhaps a more solid, basis, than that in 
 his own country. It is founded on a calm view and intel- 
 
ELEMENTS IN HIS CHAK.ACTEK. 511 
 
 ligent understanding of the gl-eat actions in which he has 
 been engaged, and the particular merits .of character which 
 have contributed to his success. Kosciusko early wrtite 
 him a comphmenlary letter, and the most competent 
 judges in Europe held him in high estimation ; but it is 
 only since the Mexican war that his European reputation 
 has been brought out in bold relief. Now it is as wide as 
 the circles of intelligence, and durable as the records ot 
 history. 
 
 In the character of Seott are mingled some elements, 
 :^enerally supposed to be very oppositein their qualities, 
 and.yet have been completely harmonized in him. He is 
 ardent, and yet calculating ; energetic, and yet mild ; stern 
 in discipline, yet humane ; a watrior, and yet the friend 
 ■of peace ; authoritative, and yet obedient. In every thing 
 we find- the stern, strong, and vigorous elements of charac- 
 ter restrained and modified by mild and amiable- disposi- 
 tions. 
 
 It is this mixture of the natural elements which has 
 made him so eminently successful, and taken from him 
 all which often renders the mere soldier harsh, sanguinary, 
 and repulsive. Ardent for distinction, emulous in the 
 career of glory he certainly was, but without the least taste 
 -for the sufferings and cruelties of war. On the contrary, 
 all his tastes are refined, and all his impulses generous. 
 War under his command became an element of civiliza- 
 tion. The campaign in Mexico is one of the finest illus- 
 trations of how far and how great have been the advances 
 of humanity, where humanity is supposed least to exist. 
 Let any one compare the conduct of the British armies in 
 the American Revolution, the conduct of the French in 
 Spain, of the Russians in Germany,, or the Austrians in 
 
518 scott's humanity in war. 
 
 Hungary, with that of the American army under Scott, in 
 the valley- of Mexico. The difference is most striking. 
 From the commencement, Scott protected, with the same 
 care as he would have done in the United States, the per- 
 sons, property, religion, houses, and business of Mexican 
 citizens. No outrage, and no encroachment of any sort, 
 was made on the rights of the citizens. Entering the city 
 after the most bloody battles and the most obstinate resist- 
 ance, it was according to the usages of war that a very 
 heavy contribution should be exacted from the city ; yet 
 what he really demanded was a mere trifle. And to whom 
 did that go ? Was it divided as plunder among oflScers 
 and men ? Not a dollar. It was appropriated first to the 
 comfort of the sick and wounded, and then to found an 
 asylum for invalids ! In every step of his progress, the 
 American commander seems to have thought his office 
 was as much that of a priest offering sacrifices on the altar 
 of humanity, as that' of a soldier winning^ laurels in the 
 field. So was his energy and ardor tempered by hu- 
 . manity. 
 
 He was " authoritative, and yet obedient." This, too, 
 is, in the measure possessed by him, an unusual mixture. 
 It is difficult to find eminent military commanders, used 
 to the " habit of command," who have not become arbi- 
 trary ; and it is difficult to find one who has become arbi- 
 trary, who is ready to yield a cheerful and willing obe- 
 dience to others in authority. Yet has Scott manifested 
 this quality in all cases, and under trying circumstances. 
 When, after years of argument, in relation to brevet rank, 
 and when he firmly believed himself right, the President 
 decided against him, he still remained in the army, and 
 took the position assigned him, at the expense of injured 
 
HIS NEW LAURELS. 51S 
 
 feelings. When, at the end of a series of unexampled 
 victories, he received the unexpected and extraordinary 
 degradation of being summoned to answer his inferiors 
 before a court of inquiry, he silently delivered up his com 
 mand, and appeared to answer at the tribunal the Presi- 
 dent had chosen to constitute. Indeed, .through forty 
 years of service, he never once came into collision with 
 any of the civil authorities, or transgressed -in any way the 
 laws of his country. Of how many other mihtary com- 
 manders can that be said ? 
 
 When we closed our first account of the life of General 
 Scott, we left him in the midst of peaceful occupations. 
 The army was on the peaceful establishment. There was 
 Httle for him to do, except to read the reports of subordi- 
 nates, and devise schemes for the improvement of his 
 soldiers. It was only two years after that the war with 
 Mexico broke out, and added a new series of events to his 
 already remarkable career. He then wore greenly and 
 freshly the laurels acquired at Queenstown, at Chippewa, 
 and Niagara. He was remembered as one who had 
 brought peace to the Maine frontier, had quieted the bor- 
 der troubles with Canada, had made the removal of the 
 Cherokee^ seem an act of humanity, who had nursed the 
 sick in hospitals, and had now become a veteran in ser- 
 vice. But the SECOND CONQUEST OF Mexico comcs to 
 add other laurels to those which cluster round the brows 
 of the hero of Niagara; If the victories of Taylor on the 
 Rio Grande surprised and delighted this country, those 
 from the castle of San Juan to the city of Mexico aston- 
 ished the world. Europe marvels at the result, and 
 America has scarcely waked from what sedms the dream 
 of victory and the illusions of conquest. Time is required 
 
 33 
 
514 THE JUDGMENT OF HISTORY 
 
 to do justice to the actors in these, events — to separate the 
 evil from the good — ^the dross from the gold — the vain 
 from the red. Then, when history assumes the oSice of 
 judgment, and a calm philosophy governs the intellect, 
 men &nd events will take their proper place., and a 
 righteous (spirit direct the verdict of posterity. 
 
NOMINATION TO THE PRESIDENCY. 515 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIX. 
 
 1852-1861. 
 
 General Scott's Nomination to the Presidency. — The Election. — Causes 
 of his Defeat. — Brevetted Lieutenant-General.— A Ketired List. — 
 Mission to Vancouver's Island. — Opinion of the Southern Defences. 
 — ^Defence of Washington. — ^Plan of the Campaign. 
 
 In a former part of this work' it has been stated that 
 General Scott belonged to the Whig party. It would 
 have been impossible for a man of his decided charac- 
 ter not to have held some political opinions, or not to 
 have frankly expressed them. In fact, he belonged to 
 the political school of Clay and Webster, and never, 
 while the Whig party existed, separated from. them. 
 His high position in the country, his splendid military 
 services, and his acknowledged excellence of character 
 had early pointed him out as a fit and an available 
 candidate for the Presidency. This was not a scheme 
 of politicians, for with that class of persons he was 
 never particularly popular, but it was rather psessed 
 upon them by the hearty feelings and demands of the 
 common people, who loved and admired him for solid 
 services long and honorably rendered his countr3^ 
 In the Whig Convention, which met in December, 
 1839, he received 62 out of 254 votes. Having, how- 
 ever, written numerous and positive letters to friends in 
 the Convention, stating his personal preference for Mr. 
 Clay or General Harrison, the latter was nominated, 
 
 • Chapter XXI., page 345. 
 
516 THE ELECTION. 
 
 and no man more cheerfully supported the hero of 
 Tippecanoe. On the return of Scott from the Mexican 
 war, covei'ed with the honors of new and victorious 
 campaigns, his political friends were again anxious to 
 nominate him. The Convention of 1848, however, 
 nominated General Taylor, Scott having received 63 
 votes. In the action of the political conventions, as 
 well as in a seeming studied neglect of the administra- 
 tion, there appeared to he an injustice, which large 
 numbers of people were determined, if possible, to re- 
 move. This fueling caused the "Whig party, in 1852, 
 to nominate Scott for the Presidency over Daniel^ 
 Webster and Millard Fillmore. . At the election, which 
 followed in November, Scott was defeated, and Frank- 
 lin Pierce elected by a majority, unexpected io the 
 public and surprising to his friends. Scott received 
 the votes of but four States — Massachusetts and Ver- 
 mont, Kentucky and Tennessee, in which the Whig 
 feeling was strongest and most determined. That this 
 result mortified his p61itical friends is undeniable, but 
 tliat an analysis of causes takes away all ground for 
 mortification is equally certain. History now reveals 
 the objects which mists and shadows then concealed. 
 That we may see them clearly, let us briefly review the 
 political position of affairs at that time. It will serve 
 the double purpose of explaining the political defeat 
 of Scott (the only one of any kind he ever suffered), 
 and of illustrating the military events in which he is 
 again the great actor and leader. 
 
 In 1850, Congress passed a series of acts known as 
 the Compromise Acts. Among those were the present 
 Fugitive Slave Law and the principle of non-restric- 
 tion to slavery. Both these principles, as well as all 
 
CAUSES OF HIb DEFEAT. 517 
 
 the acts of 1850, were endorsed heartily by the Demo- 
 cratic Convention which nominated General Pierce.' 
 In addition to this, all agitation of the slavery question 
 was denounced. When the Whig Convention met, the 
 subject of resolutions came up, and to the surprise of 
 a large body of active and consistent anti-slave»y 
 Whigs, this body also endorsed the Compromise 
 measures, and denounced all further agitation. These 
 two political bodies, supposed to be antagonistic to one 
 another, presented the strange scene of standing on 
 precisely the savne ground in reference to the only 
 great and vital question of naUonaZ politics. The 
 necessary consequence of this was, that if any con- 
 siderable body of zealous, active, anti-slavery people 
 existed in the country, they must either support the 
 candidates irrespective of their platforms, or form a 
 third ticket in opposition to both. A large party of 
 Whigs supported General Scott while denouncing the' 
 platform ;' and another large body joined a portion of 
 dissatisfied Democrats (as they did in 1848) in forming 
 a third ticket under the name of the Free Democracy.' 
 
 In the meanwhile General Scott himself wrote a 
 letter, dated June 24:th, 1852, accepting the nomina- 
 tion, but omitting to say a/n/ything of the platform. 
 The most important part of the letter was as follows : 
 
 "Convinced that harmony or good-will between 
 the difierent quarters of our broad country is essential 
 to the present and future interests of the Kepublic, and 
 with a devotion to those interests that can know no 
 
 " See Kesolutions of the Baltimore Democratic Convention, Jvine, 
 1852 
 '■' See Mr. Greeley's declaration in the Tribune of that date. 
 « See the Pittsburg Platform, August, 1852. 
 
5l8 
 
 CAUSES OF HIS DEFEAT. 
 
 South and no North, I should neither co^mtenanoe any 
 sedition, disorder , faction, Qior resistanoe to the lain or 
 the Union on any pretext in any part of the land, and 
 I should carry into the civil administration this one 
 principle of military conduct, obedience to the legis- 
 lative and judicial departments of government" 
 
 The reader will see at once that the words by which 
 General Scott pledged himself to the law and theintegrity 
 of the Union covers the whole ground of the " sedition" 
 and " resistance to the law" and the Union which has 
 since taken place, and now culminates in open war. 
 
 The failure to elect Scott to the Presidency under 
 the circumstances which attended the Whig Conven- 
 tion was to discerning eyes a foregone conclusion. The 
 officious and over-zealous declaration of the Convention 
 in favor of the pro-slavery, measures, known as the 
 Compromise of 1850, disintegrated the Whig.party ; and 
 it went into the contest disabled and undisciplined, hav- 
 ing no rallying point but the single name of Scott. The 
 great State of Ohio was thus dirtectly lost to the Whigs, 
 and, beyond question, several other States in the North, 
 by the demoralization occasioned by an erroneous and 
 unpopular platform. In the South, where Scott should 
 really have gained by the platform, he lost from the 
 simple fact that his election waS sustained by that por- 
 tion of Whigs supposed to be under the influence of 
 Mr. Seward. In fine, so powerfully were the accidents 
 of the campaign against him, that at this time it is only 
 singular he was so well sustained. The Whig party 
 was demoralized by the want of moral courage in its 
 leaders, and even the splendid achievements and solid 
 popularity of Scott could not make up for the disorder, 
 confusion, and desertion which attended the mal-ad 
 
PEE8IDENTIAL VOTES. 519 
 
 ministration of the party. To those who look deeper 
 than the surface of things, it is apparent that the po- 
 litical strength of Scott was far greater than it was 
 represented to be by the electoral votes. The actual 
 popular vote was as follows, viz. : 
 
 &ott 1,386,580 votes. 
 
 Pierce 1,601,274 " 
 
 Hale 155,825 " 
 
 Scott received 87,518 votes more than Mr. Clay had 
 in 1844, and 26,481 more than Taylor did in 1848. In 
 fact, therefore, Scott received all j;he support which 
 the Whig party was then able to give, and undoubt- 
 edly much on his own account that would not have 
 been rendered to another candidate. 
 
 This brief review shows that the failure of the Whig 
 party, in 1848 and 1852, to realize its true position as 
 the conservator of free institutions, originated the move- 
 ments at Buffalo and Pittsburg, destroyed its own in- 
 tegrity, and foreshadowed the origin and success of the 
 Kepublican party. 
 
 When the political contest oL 1852 was over, there 
 was an unsatisfied feeling in the nation toward General 
 Scott. Political opponents felt it as well as friends. 
 A great party had triumphed. Another had been de- 
 feated. But the nation felt that the merits and services 
 of Scott ought not to depend for their reward on the 
 success or defeat of either. There was an intrinsic 
 claim for a peculiar mark of distinction entirely inde- 
 pendent of all political controversies. At length, -when 
 the political heat of the day had in some measure sub- 
 sided, when the President was in full possession of party 
 power, and when other issues began to take the place- 
 of former ideas, Congress undertook to carry out the 
 
520 BEEVETTED LIEUTENANT-GENEKAL. 
 
 national wishes in regard to the conqueror of Mexico. 
 It will ever remain an honorable memorial to the lib- 
 erality of the Democratic party, that when in full pos- 
 session of power in all branches of the government, it 
 offered, voluntarily, a mark of the highest distinction 
 to the Whig general who had but recently been the 
 leader of their political adversaries. It was proposed 
 and adopted in Congress to confer upon Scott the 
 brevet rank of LiEirTENAirr-GENEEAi,. There were two 
 aspects in which this may be considered the highest 
 compliment and reward ever offered to an American , 
 soldier. In the first place, we may remark, it was a 
 rank unknown to the American service, and only con- 
 ferred upon General Washington, who stood alone in 
 the hearts and confidence of his countrymen. Scarcely 
 less a distinction was it to have received it from polit^ 
 ical opponents, fresh from political controversies. These 
 facts make it incontrovertible that his merits and serv- 
 ices were unsurpassed in the opinion and judgment of 
 his countrymen. 
 
 The office of lieutenant-general was once conferred 
 upon General Washington. The circumstances of his 
 appointment were peculiar. It was after he left the 
 Presidency, and in contemplsttion of a war with France. 
 It was not appointed in order to confer the rank of 
 lieutenant-glneral merely, but to make him com- 
 mander-in-chief of the provisional army.^ In fact, no 
 grade of lieutenant-general existed then, or does now, 
 in the American service ; nor did Congress choose to 
 set any precedent for one, as will be seen by the care- 
 ful wording of the resolution which follows : 
 
 > Letter of President Adams to Washington, July 6, 1798. 
 
A RETIRED LIST. 521 
 
 ^■'^ Resolved, That the grade of lieutenant-general be, 
 and the same is hereby revived in the army of the 
 United States, in order that when, in the opinion of the 
 President and Senate, it shall be deemed proper to ac- 
 knowledge eminent services of a major-general of the 
 army in the late war with Mexico, in the mode already 
 provided 'for in subordinate grades, the grade of lieu- 
 tenant-general may be specially conferred hy brevet, a/nd 
 hy brevet only, to take rank from the date of such 
 service or services : Provided, however, that when the 
 grade of lieutenant-general by brevet shall have once 
 been filled,, and have become vacant, this joint resolu- 
 tion shall thereafter expire, and be of no effect." 
 
 It is seen that this resolution was passed only for a 
 major-general in Mexico ; that it provided for a brevet 
 only, and when once conferred, the resolution expired. 
 No such grade was established in the army, and this 
 single brevet remains a flattering monument to the 
 military services of §cott and the gratitude of the 
 nation. "When the resolution was passed, President 
 Pierce immediately conferred the brevet of lieutenant- 
 general upon Scott, dating from the conquest of 
 Mexico. 
 
 Prom the termination of the war with Mexico, Gen- 
 eral Scott has gen^i;ally resided in New York, where 
 his head-quarters were established, engaged in his 
 general duty as commander-in-chief of the army. 
 Among the reformations he proposed were two of 
 great importance. One of them was, a retired list for 
 officers. "While it is a fact that officers of the army 
 grow old and become invalids, like other men, it is 
 also a fact that the government of the United States 
 
632 A EETIKED LIST. 
 
 has provided no suitable means for their retirement, 
 without being reduced to want. It follows from this, 
 that the humanity of .the government compels it to 
 ■keep in service, by unlimited furloughs, officers who 
 are unfit for any active duty — but who receive full 
 pay — and have yet an unsatisfied sense of dependence, 
 because their subsistence comes by grace, and not law; 
 The service suflfers, because the places of these officers 
 should be filled by active men.. This subject early 
 drew General Scott's attention, and he has not ceased 
 to press it upon the attention of the government; The 
 nature and utility of a retired list are strikingly 
 set forth in the following paragraph from his Report 
 in 1855 : 
 
 " Several recent attempts have been made in Con- 
 gress to improve the efficiency of the body of commis- 
 sioned officers generally by a retired list, as well as by 
 augmented compensation. In the opinion of the un- 
 dersigned, both are measures of demonstrable ne- 
 cessity. 
 
 " Some forty or fifty officers, mostly in the higher 
 commissions, rendered noneffective by the infirmi- 
 ties of age, by wounds, or chronic diseases, now press 
 downward into lethargy, and then despair ; thrice the 
 number of juniors are sighing for inci-eased rank,-which 
 would, before they are too old, increase the field of 
 distinguished usefulness. How soon the undersigned 
 may himself be considered one of the superannuated., 
 he knows not ; but while any vigor remains, he will not 
 cease to urge a remedy for the great, evil in question." 
 
 If a permanent army of any magnitude is to be re- 
 tained, the recommendation of General Scott must be 
 adopted of necessity. How far he was himself from 
 
MISSIOI^ TO VANGOUVEe's ISLAND. 523 
 
 reaching the period of superannuation, his brilliant 
 career at the present time — six years after that report 
 was written — abundantly, testifies. 
 
 It will be remarked here — as characteristic of Scott's 
 mind — that the only original recommendations he had 
 it in his power to make within the narrow sphere of 
 army legislation, were i-ecommendations for objects of 
 humanity. Thus he founded the Military Asylums ; 
 thus he recommends the Eetii-ed List ; thus he guarded 
 in Mexico, and wherever he has commanded, all the 
 rights of private property. It is by such acts that he 
 has shown in his ;whole career a mind which rose 
 above the mere events and necessities of war, and 
 looked beyond to the higher and nobler objects of a 
 general humanity. 
 
 Ill the year 1869, Scott had reached the advanced 
 age of seventy-three, and might he supposed beyond 
 the period of active duties ; yet, just then, there- oc- 
 curred one of those ev.ents which 'might occasion a 
 catastrophe of great magnitude, and which the influ- 
 ence of such a man might prevent. The government 
 looked to him for the service, and he did not hesitate 
 to give it. 
 
 In the treaty called the Ashburton Treaty, in which 
 our northern boundary with Great Britain was defined 
 with great accuracy, the line on the Pacific side ran 
 south of Vancouver's Island with the Straits of Fuca. 
 In the straits, however, was an island whose position 
 in regard to the main channel was doubtful. It was 
 occupied- by the British, who assumed authority over 
 it. American residents denied this, and General Har- 
 ney acting, as he supposed, in defence of American 
 rights, seized the island, and placed a military force 
 
524 SAGACITT AND FOEESIGHT. 
 
 upon it. This act was received by the British resi- 
 dents with great indignation. Douglas, the British 
 governor in the Northwest, resented it, and threatened 
 retaliation. The newspapers of both nations took the 
 matter up, and there was danger of a conflict disas- 
 trous to both. It was obvious that General Harney had 
 acted with too much haste, since it could not be known 
 where the true channel was until the joint commission 
 from the governments could survey and establish it. 
 It was absolutely necessary to restore the status quo, 
 leaving the result of a survey to determine who shpuld 
 be the future occupants of the island. For this pur- 
 pose, Oeneral Scott was sent to the Pacific, an arduous 
 and circuitous journey over thousands of miles. He 
 accomplished his mission with the same grace and suc- 
 cess which had attended him in the troubles on the 
 Canada line and on the borders of Maine. The confi- 
 dence of the nation in him was so great, that no one 
 has inquired by what means the result was brought 
 about. The end was accomplished, the danger of con- 
 flict was over," and General Scott quietly returned to 
 his home and his duties in New York. 
 
 We have now arrived at the scene passing before us. 
 It is the most eventful in the life of Scott. "We can 
 not draw the curtain of th? future, but let the dis- 
 closure of its mysteries be what they may, there are 
 two features of his conduct in relation to the present 
 contest which are already placed irrevocably upon the 
 canvas of history. The first of these is the sagacity 
 with which he foresaw, and the mode in which he 
 would have prevented the present Great Eebellion. 
 This was not by political measures, for these were be- 
 yond his control, and did not enter into his military 
 
OPINION OF SOUTHEEN DEFENCES. 625 
 
 functions. It was by military means he would have 
 prevented, and it seems from what we have since seen, 
 would have succeeded in preventing, any armed insur- 
 rection against the government. 
 
 Let lis look at the actual position of affairs when se- 
 cession commenced, the attitude it actually took, and 
 the practical opinion of Scott as to its action. It is now 
 matter of history that the real, actual operations of 
 secession which alone were of any practical import- 
 ance, or gave it any thought, were the seizure, iy armed 
 lodies-, of the forts, arsenals, revenue cutters, and arms 
 of the goverTvment, without which secession would 
 have existed merely on paper, and have been entirely 
 ineffectual. By this seizure the government was de- 
 prived of all offensive means, and the rebels thor- 
 oughly armed and equipped. If quietly permitted (as 
 it was), it "became a masterly piece of policy on their 
 part, and a most signal example of blindness in the 
 government. Scott, with his experience and sagacity, 
 was not blinded in this way. "Without knowing per- 
 fectly (for no honest person could) all the plans and 
 schemes by which the conspirators had determinedto 
 overthrow the government, he knew from his own ob- 
 servation what they might do, and what with common 
 sagacity they would do. By a singular fatuity, which 
 can only be apolagized for by the smallness of the 
 American army, the government had left a long range 
 of forts and-fortifications on the Atlantic coast, partic- 
 ul3,rly in the South, without any suitable garrisons, and 
 in some cases without even a guard — fortifications 
 which, iu the aggregate, cost the government one 
 hundred millions of dollars, were left utterly defence- 
 less. A common pirate vessel might have seized half 
 
§26 OPINION OF SOUTHEEN DEFENCES. 
 
 of them, and, in fact, a company or two of militia did 
 seize some of the most important forts. When we look 
 back upon this utterly defenceless state of all the gov- 
 ernment forts and positions on the Southern coast, we 
 can only account for it on the supposition of treason 
 or fatuity. Scott took the only means in his power to 
 prevent the result. He had gone to Charleston (S. C), 
 in 1832, to act in tlie double capacity of commander 
 and mediator in the threatened collision between the 
 nullifiers and the government. He was perfectly fa- 
 miliar with the ideas current in that region, and he 
 knew that the dissolution of the Union was one of the 
 events which was calmly and deliberately held in view, 
 as the consequences of their professed policy^ and that 
 the seizure of tie forts was intended to 'be one of the 
 first acts of resistance to the government. Looking to 
 this condition of things. General Scott, months before 
 the occurrence of. secession, wrote to Mr. Buchanan 
 (then President) his views on the subject.' He pointed 
 out to him the defenceless situation, of the forts, and 
 that, in case of secession, the forts and arsenals of the 
 United States would probably be seized, and that to 
 prevent such an unfortunate result, they should be 
 suitably garrisoned. This advice was disregarded, 
 and war not improbably caused by the neglect of these 
 precautions. Looking back upon the succession of 
 events which have occurred since IS^ovember, 1860, we 
 can trace clearly the impetus and boldness given to 
 the rebellion by the successful seizure of the govern- 
 ment defences, and the confidence exerted on the con- 
 
 ■ See the Letter of Scott to Buchanan, published in the newspapers 
 of the day 
 
XEADING MmiTAET EVENTS. S27 
 
 spirators by the apparent paralysis, if not imbecility 
 of the government. A large portion of the Sduthern 
 people, who ultimately embraced secession, wdnld 
 never have taken such a step if they had known the 
 consequences to be a war, fatal to all their best in- 
 terests, carried on by the enormous power of the S"a- 
 tioaal Government. The whole coast and harbors of 
 the Southern Atlantic were lined by national forts and 
 armaments, which, if united to the liavy, v^ould have 
 made resistance to the government almost impossible— 
 certainly with no hope of success. From the very mo- 
 ment of actual outbreak, I^ew Orleans, Mobile, Charles- 
 ton, and Norfolk would have been at the feet of the 
 government. Instead of this, the very reverse took 
 place ; the seizure of one fort encouraged that of an- 
 other. Impunity gave courage, until at last the idea 
 prevailed at the South that there would be no war ; 
 that secession was triumphant, and that even the cap- 
 ital of the nation would fall an easy prey to the bold 
 and defiant conspirators who had so far successfully 
 pursued their magnificent scheme of national destruc- 
 tion. That these expectations were well-founded, we 
 can readily see by referring to a few of the leading 
 military events which preceded the inauguration of Mr. 
 Lincoln. 
 
 December 26th, 1860. — Fort Moultrie, in the harbor 
 of Charleston, was evacuated by Major Anderson, in 
 -Consequence of being untenable against the attack 
 constantly threatened by the Charleston troops. Major 
 Anderson transferred his garrison to Fort Sumpter, a 
 fort in the harbor which cortimanded Fort Moultrie 
 and the channel into the harbor. 
 
 The South Carolina troops took possession of the 
 
628 ^ LEADING MILITARY EVENTS. 
 
 araenalj which contained many thousand arms and 
 much military stores. 
 
 January 3d, 1861. — ^Forts Pulaski and Jackson, near 
 Savannah, Georgia, were seized by order of Governor 
 Brown. 
 
 January ith. — Fort Morgan, Mobile, seized by order 
 of the State. 
 
 January 9th. — Steamer Star of the "West, sent to rein- 
 force Fort Sumpter, fired into by rebel batteries. 
 
 January 12th. — Forts M'Kae and Barancas, with the 
 navy yard at Pensacola, seized by the rebels. 
 
 January 28th. — U. S. revenue cutters, Mint, and 
 property at New Orleans seized. 
 
 March 1st. — General Twiggs surrenders the United 
 States forts, troops, and property in Texas. 
 
 In the latter part of April the navy yard and forts 
 in the harbor of Norfolk were seized by the Virginia 
 forces. Thus, in succession, were seized without re- 
 sistance all the forts and military armaments which the 
 government possessed in the States of Texas, Louisiana, 
 Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina, with the largest 
 part -of those in Florida, South Carolina, and Yirginia. 
 From the Capes of Delaware to the Eio Grande the 
 government possessed no efficient fortresses, except 
 those on the Keys of Florida, and Fort Monroe, in 
 Yirginia. Fort Sumpter was incapable -of defence, and 
 ultimately fell. Fort Pickens is still held, but is in 
 a harbor without commerce, and therefore of but little 
 injury to the rebels. S^ich were the state of things at 
 the close of Buchanan's administration. The whole 
 Southern country was in insurrection — the fortresses 
 of the government seized^- the small army of the United 
 States scattered over a wide country, incapable of being 
 
-DEFENCE OF WASHINGTON. 629 
 
 concentrated— and the capital of the nation openly 
 threatened with capture by a bold, defiant, successful 
 enemy. At this hour of danger, Sco'lr was called in 
 to defend the Capital. The administration was aroused 
 from its paralysis just in time to see the invader at the 
 door and the nation threatened with destruction. The 
 people confided in Scott, and he was able, to act just at 
 the last moment when his success was possible. The 
 inauguration of Mr. Lincoln was approaching ; still 
 the rebels threatened it should never take place, and 
 the capital should be seized." The danger was so 
 imminent that the stoutest and most sanguine patriots 
 trembled for the result. Scott, on the other hand, 
 turning at once to the work of military reconstruction, 
 seized upon the slight materials at hand for defence. 
 About one thousand United States regulars and 
 marines were collected. Several companies of District 
 Union Militia were organized; volunteer corps of 
 residents and employees in Washington were formed. 
 Altogether a respectable body of men, with a few pieces 
 of artillery, were collected and posted in the Capitol, 
 the Treasury and Patent offices, and other stations 
 capable of defence. Thfise were sufficienii to guard 
 against surprise or attack from ordinary militia corps, 
 yvhile time was left to prepare a larger force against 
 the army of the rebels advancing from the South. 
 The inauguration came, and passed safely. The new 
 President entered upon his office, and the alarm for the 
 safety of the capital and the continuance of the gov- 
 ernment passed away. No man breathed freer or 
 more hopeful than Scott when that danger was over. 
 
 3 See the Bichmond Enquirer, and other rebel papers. 
 23 
 
530 DEFENCE OF WASHrnGTON. • 
 
 The gfeat Ceisis, however, not of the capital, but 
 of the nation, rapidly advanced. Fort Sumpter was 
 fired iipon, attacked, and taken. This event was not 
 an electric shock merely. It was more like the trumpet 
 which shall summon the dead. Every paralyzed limb 
 sprung to life-^every peaceful bond was broken — 
 every State took sides — every man felt his heart beat 
 with redoubled energy. In twenty States, and twenty- 
 four millions of people, there was an uprising of men 
 and women, of cities and communities, of hearts and 
 heads, of warlike enthusiasm and of earnest prayer, 
 which has never before been witnessed amid the 
 revolutions of nations. It was a sublime spectacle. 
 It was a scene of tremendous energy which will be left 
 to posterity as one of the grand and striking lessons of 
 history. 
 
 The end is not yet. But the part Scott has already 
 performed is one of the finest illustrations of military 
 genius. Called to the command, not merely of the 
 army, but of all this vast national energy, when he was 
 now approaching seventy-five years of age, what were 
 the problems proposed to him ? Obviously these three 
 things were to be performed : First, to reinforce and 
 defend the remaining forts and the capital, so as to 
 prevent any further successful aggression. Secondly., 
 to gather the munitions, material, and men necessary 
 to advance a superior and overwhelming force against 
 the armies of the rebels. Thirdly, to use this superior 
 force in subduing and paralyzing the military arma- 
 ment of the rebels, repossessing the forts and property 
 of the nation, and restoring order and harmony 
 throughout the country, with as little loss and as much 
 humanity as possible. No man can doubt that these 
 
PLAK OF THE CAMPAIGN. 631 
 
 were the exact problems proposed to Scott. They 
 corresponded with the situation of affairs, and no dif- 
 ferent course of events could be pursued without an 
 ignorance of military science, or a rashness which 
 - would have been unpardonable in a great general. 
 Let us now look to the progress of military affairs in 
 the two naouths between the middle of April and the 
 middle of June, and compare the problems to be solved 
 with the results accomplished. It was not till the 13th 
 of April that it was certainly known that no peaceful 
 remedy was possible, and that secession must actually 
 terminate in its natural results^ — -a war of hostile armies 
 for a final supremacy. The attack on Fort Sumpter 
 ended all doubts. The nation sprung to arms, and Mr. 
 Lincoln called an immense army of volunteers into 
 action. 
 
 Having the perfect confidence of the President, 
 Scott has been the director of military affairs, and the 
 first problem, as we have seen, was the defence of 
 Washington and the reinforcement of the forts. On 
 the 14th of April the President opened Ms proclama- 
 tion. At that moment the rebel Congress at Mont- 
 gomery called for new levies of troops, and commenced 
 the march of the troops, victorious at Charleston, to- 
 ward the North. In the mean time Virginia seceded; 
 Harper's Ferry was seized, and fifty thousand Virginia 
 militia called into the field. What then was the situa- 
 tion of Washington ? In a State naturally sympathiz- 
 ing with the South, but a few miles from Baltimore, 
 filled with secessionists, and whose mob attacked the 
 first advancing troops; and, on the other side, near by 
 railroad to Harper's Ferry, now garrisoned by rebels, 
 while the secession army was rapidly advancing from 
 
632 PLAN OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 the South, while Colonel Lee, an oiScer of the army, 
 was organizing rebellion in the very sight of the city — 
 the capital, little capable of defence with a small gar- 
 rison, was in instant danger of capture. It was* really 
 a question of superior enterprise ; for if the Northern 
 volunteers had arrived slowly, and the Southern army 
 had moved quickly, the result might have been very 
 different. The secessionists of Baltimore saw this, and, 
 beyond doubt, it was their object to obstruct the ad- 
 vance of one army and hasten the approach of the 
 other. A strong army, acting upon the principles of 
 war in Europe, would have seized, if not destroyed 
 Baltimore ; but the government had not a strong 
 army, and the respect still paid to the civil law, and 
 the humanity felt to our own countrymen, prevented a 
 course of action which would have been more decisive, 
 but less humane. Scott's military eye at once saw that, 
 for the moment, the end might be accomplished by a 
 milder course. The great water communication on the 
 Chesapeake, from Havre de Grace to Annapolis, which 
 had been used in the Revolution, was open, and at the 
 command of the government. Promptly did he seize 
 on that line of communication, avoided Baltimore, and 
 garrisoned "Washington. From the 15th to the 25th 
 of April the nation held its breath in anxious sus- 
 pense. All eyes were upon the capital. In the midst 
 of secession camps, with enemies within and advanc- 
 ing armies without, the fearful trembled for its safety, 
 and the most sanguine were held in doubt. Soon, how- 
 ever, the clouds cleared away. The capital was safe, 
 the forts were reinforced. An army of volunteers 
 rallied under the flag which still waved in beauty from, 
 the Capitol Hill, Hope- 
 
PLAN OF THE CAMPAIGN. 633 
 
 " Friend of the brave ih peril's darkest hour," 
 
 was reassured. The soldier 
 
 " Hail'd in his heait the triumph yet to come, 
 And heard its stormy music in the drum." 
 
 The first problem of the war was solved. The con- 
 epirators were defeated in their great object, and hence- 
 forth there remained for them no possibility of success 
 except in the most improbable event of a victory over 
 the tremendous force put forth by this great and 
 energetic nation. 
 
 The second problem, we have said, was to gather the 
 munition, materials, and men necessary to put the 
 success of the national arms beyond a doubt. Few per- 
 sons who have not made the art of war a study, can form 
 a just idea of the immense and complicated operations 
 required for such an object. The number of men, 
 however large, is really the least part of it. The great 
 body of these men knew nothing of military discipline, 
 still less were they armed or clothed. They must be 
 trained ; they must be furnished with the weapons and 
 implements of war ; they must become acquainted 
 with their officers, and all this must be done in a short 
 time ; nor was this all. One of the most important 
 parts of army movement is the means of transporta- 
 tion — waggons, horses, mules, oxen, tumbrels, ambu- 
 lances ; everything necessary to the ready transporta- 
 tion of not only of the well, but of the sick and 
 wounded soldiers must be provided. The labor and 
 the cost of all this is immense, incalculable by those 
 unacquainted with military matters. The impatience 
 of the public was great, yet the result is sufficient to 
 satisfy ^e most querulous mind. On the 4th of July 
 — eighty-three days only from the issue of the Presi- 
 
534 PLAIif OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 dent's proclamation — not less than two hundred thou- 
 sand men had rallied to the national .standard, of 
 which not less than one hundred and fifty thousand 
 were in the field. A quicker work than this, or one on 
 grander scale, has never been performed even aniid 
 the, vast military operations of Europe. 
 
 The- third problem of the war, and the grea,test, is 
 that which i« now passing before us. Events are 
 rapidly giving it shape, and the movements of armies 
 and navies ai-e passing before our eyes.' The result we 
 cannot now know, but in the mean time we see enough 
 of the means, the plans, the power, and the strategy 
 employed, to admire at once the thought of the govern- 
 ment and tke genius of the general. It is obvious that 
 the policy of the administration and the plan of 
 Genera,! Scott perfectly coincide ; each has confidence 
 in the other. Assuming from the first the physical, 
 financial, and social superiority of resources on the 
 part of the national government, it was clear that if 
 the arms of the nation cduld be wrapt around the body 
 of the rebellion, so that it could be cut off from all 
 exterior supplies, and gradually compressed by superior 
 strength, it must be crushed. In one word, the policy 
 of the war on the part of the government must be 
 compression, the same as that with which the boa-con- 
 strictor surrounds and crushes his enemy. It is certain, 
 and it is humane. The national government had all 
 the naval resources, and thus was enabled^ to place all 
 the forts and coast of the South in perfect blockade. 
 On the land it was more diflicult, and to General Scott 
 was left the task of carrying it into effect. "With the 
 coijvp d'ceil of an accomplished soldier, he saw that 
 eteam and railroads had changed the movement of 
 
PLAN OF- THE CAMPAIGN. 535 
 
 troops and the modern art of war. Hence it is that 
 if the navigable streams and railroads could be cut and 
 held at certain points by a military force, it is as perfect 
 a blockade as if the boundary line were the ramparts 
 of a fort. Hence it was that Cairo, on the Mississippi, 
 Petersburg and Wheeling on the Ohio, Cumberland, 
 Baltimore, and Fortress Monroe, became the . great 
 strategic points on which the army o£ compression 
 must move. The seizure and garrisoning of these 
 points cut the lines of communication with the rebel 
 States, and 'rendered the blockade on the land side 
 nearly complete. From the mouths of the Mississippi 
 to the' Keys of Florida, from Pensacola to Fortress 
 Monroe, up Chesapeake Bay, and along the Potomac 
 to Cumberland, down to the Ohio to Cairo, there runs 
 a vast cordon of armies and navies which place the 
 South in a great prison-house from which there is no 
 escape. A single point in this cordon is held by the 
 rebels at Harper's Ferry. Gradually as the forces 
 collect, divisions of the national army are seen ap- 
 proaching. At length, as they converge, the enemy 
 has only the alternative of defeat or retreat. He takes 
 the last ; Harper's Ferry is evacuated, and the strategy 
 of Scott has accomplished all that the most brilliant 
 victory could do. Beyond that the curtains of the 
 future hide all events ; we can see only the storm around 
 us. The grand pordon is moving on, compressing the 
 rebellion within narrower limits. The tramp of troops 
 is heard. The sound of artillery reverberates in the 
 hills. The boom of mortats comes over river and ocean. 
 Martial music ushers in the morning and inspires the 
 soldier, while the star-spangled banner of the Great 
 "Republic still waves over land and sea. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Tbe following Oedee was issued by General Scott, 
 immediately after the capture of Me^dco, and is the 
 highest evidence of his legal as well as administrative 
 abilities. Without this order, discipline could not 
 have been maintained in the Army, the inhabitants of 
 Mexico could not have been conciliated, and conse- 
 quently the campaign would have failed ; for the sole 
 object of the campaign was to make peace. General 
 Scott was bred a lawyer, and the reader will see that 
 this order is drawn up with ati accurate knowledge of 
 the principles bearing upon the case, and the best 
 means of administering justice, where the Civil Law 
 cajonot be appealed to. It is one of the best legal 
 documents ever issued by any functionary of the Ex- 
 ecutive Government. 
 
 HEAD-QUAETEES OP THE AEMY, ) 
 National Palaok op Mbxioo, Sept. 17, 1847. J 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS— No. 287. 
 
 The General-in-Chief republishes, with important additions, his 
 General Orders, No. 20, of February 19, 1847 (declaring Mak- 
 . TiAL Law), to govern all who may be concerned. 
 
 1. It is still to be apprehended that many grave offences not 
 provided for in the Act of Congress " establishing Rules and Ar- 
 ticles for the government of the Armies of the United States," ap. 
 
540 APPENDIX. 
 
 proved April 10, 1806, may be again committed — ^by, or upon, in- 
 dividuals of those armies in Mexico, pending the existing war be- 
 tween the two Republics. Allusion is here made to oflfences, any 
 one of which, if committed within the United States or their organ, 
 ized territories, would of course be, tried and severely punished by 
 the ordinary or civil courts of the land. 
 
 2. Assassination, murder, poisoning, rape, or the attempt to 
 commit either ; malicious stabbing or maiming; malicious assault 
 and battery J robbery; theft ; the wanton desecration of churches, 
 cemeteries, or other religious edifices and fixtures ; the interrup- 
 tion of religious ceremonies, and the destruction, except by order 
 of a superior officer, of public or private property, are such of- 
 fences. 
 
 3. The good of the service, ttie honor of the United States, and 
 the interests of humanity, imperiously demand that every crime, 
 enumerated above, should be severely punished. 
 
 4. But the written code, as above, commonly called the Rules 
 and Articles of War, does not provide for the punishment of any 
 one of those crimes, even when committed by individuals of the 
 Army upon the persons or property of other individuals of the - 
 same, except in the very restricted case in the 9th of those Articles ; 
 nor for like outrages, committed by the same class of individuals, 
 upon the persons or property of a hostile country, except very par- 
 tially, in the dlst, 62d, and 66th Articles ; and the same code is 
 absolutely silent as to all injuries which may be inflicted upon in- 
 dividuals of the Army, or their property, against the laws of war, 
 by individuals of a hostile country. 
 
 6. It is evident that the 99th Article, independent of any re- 
 striction in the 87th, is wholly nugatory in reaching any one of 
 -those high crimes. 
 
 6. For all the offences, therefore, enumerated in the second 
 paragraph above, which may be committed abroad, in, by, or upon 
 the Army, a supplemental code is absolutely needed. 
 
 7. That unwritten code is Martial Law, as an addition to the 
 written military code, prescribed by Congress in the Rules and 
 Articles of War, and which unwritten code, all armies, in hostile 
 eountries, are forced to adopt — not only for their own safety, bu4 
 
APPENDIX. 541 
 
 for the protection of the unoffending inhabitants and their property, 
 about the theatres of military operations, against injuries on the 
 part of the Army, contrary to the laws of war. 
 
 8. Prom the same supreme necessity, martial law is hereby 
 declared as a supplemental code in, and about, all cities, towns, 
 camps, posts, hospitals, and other places which may be occupied by 
 any part of the forces of the United States in Mexico, and in, and 
 about, all columns, escorts, convoys, guards, and detachments of 
 the said forces, while engaged in prosecuting the existing war in 
 and against the said Republic, and while remaining within the 
 same. 
 
 9. Accordingly, every crime, enumerated in paragraph No. 2, 
 above, whether committed — 1. By any inhabitant of Mexico, so- 
 journer or traveller therein, upon the person or property of any in- 
 dividual of the United States forces, retainer, or follower of the 
 same ; 2. By any individual of the said forces, retainer or follower 
 of the same, upon the person or property of any inhabitant of Mex- 
 ico, sojourner or traveller therein ; or, 3. By any individual of the 
 said forces, retainer or follower of the same, upon the person or 
 property of any other individual of the said forces, retainer or fol- 
 lower of the same — shall be duly tried and punished under the said 
 supplemental code. 
 
 10. For this purpose it is ordered, that all offenders, in the mat- 
 ters aforesaid, shall be promptly seized, confined, and reported for 
 trial, before Military Commissions, to be duly. appointed as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 11. Every military commission, under this order, will be ap- 
 pointed, governed, and limited, as nearly as practicable, as prescribed 
 by the 65th, 66th, 67th, and 97th of the said Rules and Articles of 
 War, and the proceedings of such commissions will be duly recorded, 
 in writing, reviewed, revised, disapproved or approved, and the sen- 
 tences executed — all, as near as may be, as in the cases of the pro- 
 ceedings and sentences of courts-martial ; provided, that no military 
 commission shall try any case clearly cognizable by any court-mar- 
 tial ; and provided, also, that no sentence of a military commission 
 shall be put in execution against any individual belonging to this 
 Army, which may notbe, according to the nature and degree of tha 
 
642 APPENDIX. 
 
 offence, as established by evidence, in conformity*- with known 
 punishments, in like cases, in some one of the States of the United 
 States of America. 
 
 12. The sale, waste, or loss of ammunition, horses, arms, cloth- 
 ing, or accoutrements, by soldiers, is punishable under the 37th and 
 38th Articles of War. Any Mexican, or resident or traveller in . 
 Mexico, who shall purchase of any American soldier either horse, 
 equipments, arms, ammunition, accoutrements, or clothing, shall 
 be tried and severely punished, by a military commission, asrahove^ 
 
 13. The administration of justice, both in civil and criminal 
 matters, through the ordinary courts of the country, shall nowhere,, 
 and in no degree, be interrupted by any oflScer or soldier, of the 
 American forces, except, 1. In cases to which an officer, soldier, 
 agent, servant, or follower of the American Army may be a party; 
 and 2. In.poZJZicaZ.cases^-^that is, prosecutions against other individ- 
 uals on the allegations that they have given friendly iisformation,. 
 aid, orassistance to the American, forces,, 
 
 14. For the ease and safety of both parties, in,, all cities and 
 towns occupied by the American Army, a M^o^a police shall be, 
 established and duly harmpni?ed,with.the militwy police of the said _ 
 forces. 
 
 16. This splendid capital — its churches and religious worship, 
 its, convents aiii monasteries,; its inhabitants and property — are, 
 moreover, placed under the special safeguard of the- faith and, 
 honor of the American Arnjy. 
 
 16. In consideration of the foregoing protection, a contribution 
 of $150,000 is imposed on- this capital, to be paid in four weekly 
 ingtalments of thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($37,600) 
 each, beginniiig on Monday next, the 20th instant, and terminating 
 on Monday, the llthof October. 
 
 17. The Ayujitaroiento, or corporate authority of the city, is, 
 specially charged vpith .tiie collection an5 fovm&at of the several in- 
 stalmentSv 
 
 * The United States, as svc?),]iB.ye no common law, and hence the Army could not 
 take along with it abroad a common law as it took th^ Constitution, the Rules and 
 Articles of War, &c. 
 
APPENDIX. 543 
 
 18. Of the whole contribution to be paid over to this Army, 
 twenty thousand dollars shall be appropriated to the purchase of 
 extra comforts for the wounded and sick in hospital: — ninety thou- 
 sand dollars ($90,000) to the' purchase of blankets and shoes for 
 gratuitous distribution among the rank and file of the Army, and 
 forty thousand dollars ($40,000) reserved for other necessary mili- 
 tary purposes. 
 
 19. This Order will be read at the head of every company of 
 the United States forces serving in Mexico, and translated into 
 Spanish for the information of Mexicans. 
 
 By command of Major-General Scott. 
 
 H. L. Scott, 
 
 A. A. A. G. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS 
 
 COMPLIMEKTAET TO GENERAL SoOTT, AND HIS AEMT IN MEXICO, 
 
 At the Anmial Town Meeting of the Borough of Elizabeth, in 
 the State of New Jersey, April 12<A, 1847. 
 
 After the organization of the meeting, Charles King, Esq., oifered 
 the following resolutions, which were unanimously and enthusiasti- 
 cally adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, That this meeting has heard vrith pride, as Americans, 
 intelligence of the unconditional surrender of the City of Vera 
 Cruz, and of the powerful Castle of San Juan de UUoa, to the army 
 of the United States, led by Majop-General Winfield Scott, after 48 
 hours of open trenches. 
 
 Resolved, That this victory, so decisive in its character, by the 
 capture of the whole army of the enemy, including five generals, 
 sixty superior officers, and two hundred and seventy-two company 
 officers — and by the command which it opens to us of the road to 
 the capital of Mexico, is the more precious in our eye, that it was 
 achieved at a comparatively bloodless cost to our force. 
 
544 APPENDIX. 
 
 Resolved, That the skill of the approaches, the foresight in pro- 
 viding adequate means, and the combined humanity and wkdom 
 of only striking the blow at the moment when all was ready, and a 
 force was present so imposing as to render resistance, hopeless, we 
 recognize with pride the qualities of the great commander ; and 
 that in this commander .we are happy to claim an honored towns- 
 man, the admirable qualities of whose life we have had the oppor- 
 tunity through long years of appreciating, and whom on this occa- 
 sion, when he has again so signally illustrated the military annals of 
 our common country, we seek to honor as friends and neighbors, 
 not less than Americans. , 
 
 Resolved, That while rejoicing with the joy of friends in the pre- 
 servation of the large part of our army from the dangers of war, 
 and especially of those of our own townsmen who are among the 
 gallant officers with Gen. Scott — ^we mourn the loss of the slain 
 with a grief not unmingled with satisfaction, that they fell in the 
 discharge of duty, and in the arms of victory. 
 
 (Signed,) JAMES P. MECKER, Moderator 
 
 Attest : 
 (Signed,) M. W. Halset, Clerk. 
 
 State of New Jersey. 
 
 Resolved (Senate concurring). That the thanks of this Legis- 
 lature are presented to Major-General Winfield Scott, and the brave 
 army under his command, for their brilliant achievements and admi- 
 rable campaign from the landing at Vera Cruz, to the capture of the 
 City of Mexico. 
 
 Resolved, That the Governor of this State be requested to trans- 
 mit a copy of the foregoing resolution to Major-General Scott, in 
 Mexico. 
 
 Passed, Feb'y 24, 1848. 
 
 State Of New Jersey. 
 
 I, Charles G. McChesney, Secretary of State, of the 
 
 [Seal.] State of New Jersey, do hereby certify the foregoing 
 
 is a true copy of concurrent resolutions passed- by the 
 
 Legislature of said State, February 24th, 1848, as taken from, and 
 
 compared with the original on file in my office. 
 
/ APPENDIX. 546 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto Bet my hand and affixed 
 my seal of Office at Trenton, this twenty-eighth day of March, one 
 thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. 
 
 (Signed,) ■ Charles G. MoChesnet, 
 
 Seo'y of State. 
 
 JResolutions complimentary to Major-General Winjkld Scott, and 
 the Officers and Soldiers under his command. 
 
 1. Resolved, by tlie General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 
 Kentucky, That Major-General Winfield Scott, by a series of glorious 
 victories unparalleled in the history of war, commencing with the 
 Castle of San Juan de UUoa, and terniinating with the capture of 
 the Capital of the Mexican Republic, by which he has attracted 
 to himself and his army the admiration of the world, has entitled 
 himself to the thanks and gratitude of the people of Kentucky, 
 which are hereby tendered, and cordially given. 
 
 2. Resolved, That the people of Kentucky look with pride and 
 exultation upon the patriotic ardor and steady valor of the officers 
 and soldiers, volunteers and regular, who have given world-viide 
 renown to our national prowess by the various successful, uninter- 
 rupted, and glorious battles, from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. 
 
 3. Resolved, That the Governor be, and he is hereby requested to 
 convey a copy of the foregoing resolutions to Mgjor-General Scott, 
 with the request that he communicate the same to the army. 
 
 (Signed,) James F. Btjcknek, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
 
 (Signed,) Aech'd Dixoh, 
 
 Speaker of the Senate. 
 Approved, February 18, 1848. 
 
 (Signed,) Wm. Owslet. 
 
 By the Governor : 
 
 (Signed,) W. D. Reed, 
 
 Secretary of State, 
 
546 APPENDIX. 
 
 [No. 2.] 
 Joint Resolution expressive of the Thanhs of Gongress to Major, 
 General Winfielcl, Scott, and the Troops under his command, 
 for their distinguished Gallantry and good Conduct in the 
 Campaign of eighteen hundred and forty-seven. 
 
 Resolved, unanimously, by the Senate and House of Representatives 
 of the United Stales of America, in Congress assembled. That the 
 thanks of Congress be, and they are hereby, presented to Winfield 
 Scott, major-general:, commanding in Chief the. army in Mexico, and 
 through him, tp the officers and men of the regular and volunteer 
 corps under him, for their uniform gallantry and good conduct, con- 
 spicuously displayed at the siege and capture of the City of Vera 
 Cruz and castle of San Juan deUllo'a, March twenty-ninth, eighteen 
 hundred and forty-seven ; and in the successive battles of Cerro 
 Gordo, April eighteenth ; Contreras, San Antonio, and Churubusco, 
 August nineteenth and twentieth ; and for the victories achieved in 
 front of the City of Mexico, September eighth, eleventh, twelfth, 
 and thirteenth, and the capture of the metropolis, September, four- 
 teenth, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, in which the Mexican 
 troops, greatly superior in numbers, and with every advantage of 
 position, were in every conflict, signally defeated by the American 
 arms. 
 
 Sec. 2. Resolved, That the President of the United States be^ 
 and he is hereby, requested to cause to be struck a gold medal, 
 with devices emblematical of the series of brilliant victories achieved 
 by the army, and presented to Major-General Winfield Scott, as a 
 testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of his valor, 
 skill, and judicious conduct in the memorable campaign of eighteen 
 hundred and forty-seven. 
 
 Sec. 3. Resolved, That the President of the United States be re- 
 quested to cause the foregoing resolutions to be communicated to 
 Major-General Scott, in such terms as he may deem best calculated 
 to give effect to the objects thereof. 
 
 Approved, March 9, 1848. 
 
 Mayoralty of New Orleans. 
 
 April 20th, 1848. 
 Gehekal : 
 
 The agreeable duty has devolved on me, in compliance with 
 resolutions of the Municipal Councils, to tender to you, on behalf 
 of your fellow-citizens, the people of New Orleons, the hospitalities 
 
APPENDIX. 547 
 
 of the city, and to invite you, during your sojourn with us, to be- 
 come the City's Guest. 
 
 In communicating to you this evidence of the high regard and 
 affection Vith which you are held by the people of this city, I shall 
 forbear to dilate on the great and brilliant services rendered by you 
 in the campaign of Mexico, by which you have added so much to 
 the glory and renown of our country. They are indelibly impressed 
 on the heai-ts of your countrymen. 
 
 Permit me to add, that I entertain in common v?ith my fellow- 
 citizens, those sentiments of admiration and regard which hav<» 
 prompted this welcome on your return to your country. 
 I have the honor to be, with 
 
 Distinguished consideration, 
 
 Your friend and fellow-citizen, 
 (Signed,) A. D. Grossman, Mayor. 
 
 To Major-Gekeeal Winfield Scott. 
 
 In the presence of a few friends of the parties, the presen- 
 tation of the sword to General Scott, voted by the State of 
 Louisiana, took place last Saturday, when Col. Stewart spoke 
 as follows : 
 
 General Scott : My colleague. Colonel Winthrop, and myselfy 
 have been charged by the Governor of Louisiana, to deliver to you 
 this sword and this letter. 
 
 The sword is " Presented by the people of the State of Loui- 
 siana, to Gen. Winfield Scott, for his gallantry and generalship 
 exhibited at the siege of Vera Cruz, in the battles of Cerro Gordo, 
 Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and to his 
 final entry into the City of Mexico." 
 
 The letter of the Governor of Louisiana is as follows : 
 
 Executive Office, 
 NeiB Orleans, Jvme 28, 1848. 
 Sir: 
 
 In accordance with your request, the sword voted to you by 
 the Legislature of the State of Louisiana, will be presented at 
 Washington. On this agreeable duty, I have designated from my 
 staff, my friends Colonels Winthrop and Stewart, who in a lauda- 
 ble spuit have kindly consented to represent niy wishes on the 
 occasion. 
 
54:8 APPENDIX. 
 
 In addition to this proof of grateful appreciation for distinguished 
 services rendered by you at the siege of Vera Cruz, and the battle 
 of Cerro Gordo, the people of this State anticipated, with no ordi- 
 nary emotion, the proud privilege of testifying to you in person, 
 the high sense they entertain of the consummate skill and masterly 
 conduct which, covering our arms with undying glory, have identi- 
 fied forever with the brightest page of American history the fame of 
 the brilliant conquests achieved under your eye and command in the 
 valley of Mexico. But disappointed by circumstances, the force of 
 which is admitted, they still cherish a lively hope, that at no distant 
 future, they will be aiforded an opportunity of cancelling, in some 
 degree, this reserved debt of gratitude, which I, in their behalf, am, 
 at this time, only permitted to acknowledge. 
 
 With sincere wishes for your health and happiness, I am, General, 
 with profound respect. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 (Signed,) Isaac Johnson. 
 
 Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott, 
 
 Washington. 
 
 Permit us to add. General, that the people of Louisiana have not 
 been insensible, could not be insensible, to the great services you 
 have rendered our common country. A public vote of thanks on 
 the part of the Legislature of the State, expressive of the universal 
 feeling of the people, has already been communicated to you. This 
 sword, on which are inscribed the words — glorious, as well as mem- 
 orable from association and in sentiment— Mexico Capta, and this 
 letter which we now deliver, ai-e additional, though sligfht testimonials 
 on the part of the people and authorities of the State, of their 
 admiration for one who has planned and conducted that splendid 
 series of occun-ences in the march to Mexico, the mere reference to 
 which excites, and must forever excite, a deep and thrilling sensation 
 of exultation and gi-atitude in every American heart. 
 
 This agreeable mission is performed by my colleague and myself 
 through circumstances alone. The duty would have been more 
 appropriately, as well as more satisfactorily accomplished by our 
 eloquent and patriotic Governor, if, when returning. General, to 
 your native land, from the scenes of your glory, you had.stood upon 
 the soil of Louisiana, in the midst of a people who have always 
 felt the keenest sympathy for those who have gone forth to fight 
 the battles of their country on foreign ground, in vindication of its 
 honor and its interests — a. people who would have extended to you 
 an enthusiastic welcome, and with whom you would have been an 
 honored public guest. 
 
APPENDIX. 549 
 
 To this address Gen. Scott made the subjoined brief and 
 appropriate reply : 
 
 ■ Colonel: In accepting from your hands this heautiful sword, 
 tendered me hy the people of Louisiana, I cannot fail to express 
 my sensibility of the kind terms in which you have prefeced the 
 presentation of the letter of the Governor of Louisiana, which you 
 have had the goodness to bear to me. I would not fail to express 
 to you my thank's for the trouble you have taken in seeking me, 
 even in my sick-room, to present a testimonial from the people of 
 Louisiana, which could not fail to bring joy to the heart of a 
 soldier. 
 
 Sir, I yet hope to visit Louisiana and bear with me this sword, 
 which her patriotic citizens may be assured, vdll never be drawn but 
 in defence of my country. 
 
 Nothing could have afforded me more pleasure than to havei 
 landed from Mexico on the soil of Louisiana. There I can number 
 many personal acquaintances, and even friends: among whom I 
 count with pleasure the Governor of your State. 
 
 But my principal regret that circumstances did not allow me, upon 
 leaving Mexico, to visit Louisiana and its capital, arises from the 
 glorious feeling displayed by that patriotic people, in every stage of 
 the war, towards my comrades in arms. 
 
 If the United States had deputed Louisiana to discharge the 
 hospitalities of the whole nation, the warm-hearted and generous 
 conduct which she has already displayed, could not have been sur- 
 passed. She has relieved our sick, comforted our wounded, ex- 
 tended the right hand of fellowship to all ; and, when the part of 
 the good Samaritan was not needed, showered down honors and 
 distinctions wiiich will always endear her to the soldiers of Mexico. 
 
 I again thank you. Colonel, for the trouble you have taken in my 
 behalf, and feel honored by the zeal and kindness you have displayed 
 in the discharge of your mission, and am particularly gratified to 
 receive through your hands, so honored a testimonial from the peo- 
 ple of Louisiana. 
 
 [Doc. No. 62.] 
 
 Mayor's Office, 
 New Tarlc, May Ufh, 1848. 
 To the Hmwrable the Common Council : 
 
 Gentlemen : Information has been communicated to me that 
 Major-General Winfield Scott embarked on the 30th ult. for this 
 port, and he may, therefore, be daily expected. 
 
 In view of the great and important services rendered to our 
 
550 APPENDIX. 
 
 country by -this distinguished cotnmander, during the recent cam- 
 paign in Mexico, I deem it my duty to make this communication, 
 and to submit the propriety of receiving him in a manner commen- 
 surate with a proper appreciation of his gallant achievements, and 
 those of his companions in arms. 
 
 (Signed,) W. F. HAVEMfiTEK, Mayor. 
 
 Whereupcin the following preamble and resolution were sub- 
 mitted by Alderman Crolius, in relation thereto : 
 
 Whereas, Informatito has been received that Majbr-Gfeiieral Win- 
 field Scott, of the United States Army, has taken passage froih Vera 
 Cruz to this port ; and 
 
 Whereas, The citizens of New York would gladly welcome the 
 hero who, from Lundy's Lane to the City of the Montezumas, has 
 covered the flag of his country with imperisbable honoi-, winning for 
 himself a fame vyhich will perish only when a grateful country shall 
 cease to exist ; arid 
 
 Whereas, It is proper that the gallant soldier should be received 
 in a manner commensurate with his own merits, and the estimation 
 in which we, as American citizens, hold his faithful, arduous, and 
 valuable services in the late campaign in Mexico, through which he 
 has passed so gloriously ; therefore. 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to make suitable arrange- 
 ments for the reception of General Scott, and to tender to him, oil 
 his arrival, the hospitalities of the City. 
 
 The same were unanimously adopted by the Board of Aldermen. 
 
 And Aldermen Crolius, Maynard, Hatfield, Smith, and Gray were 
 appointed such Committee on the part thereof. 
 
 THE DAY 
 
 Was a most auspicious one. The sun shone from a sky tinob- 
 soured vrith a single cloud, and long before the hour fixed for the 
 arrival, the several streets through which the procession was to 
 pass, were filled with a dense crowd of citizens and strangers, 
 eager to behold, and to receive with shouts of welcome, the gallant 
 Hero on his return from the scenes of his brilliant triumphs in 
 Mexico. 
 
 During the day cannon were fired from the Battery and other 
 places, the national flag floated from the City Hall, and from the 
 several public buildings in the City,, while colors and streamers 
 waved from the numerous shipping in the port. 
 
 The steamboat " St. Nicholas," which was generously tendered 
 for the occasion by Isaac Newton, Esq., was at Castle Garden pier 
 at the appointed hoUr, gayly decked With flags, and the Common 
 Council, with their invited guests, among whom were the Governor 
 
APPENDIX. 551 
 
 of the State, Senators and Representatives in Congress, Officers of 
 the Army and Navy, Foreign Consuls, ex-Mayors of the City, mem- 
 bers of the gtate Senate and Assembly, Heads of Departments of 
 the City Government, principal officers of the General Government 
 in the City, and a number of other distinguished citizens and stran- 
 gers, having proceeded on board, she shoved off, and was soon on 
 her way for Elizabethport. 
 
 Passing down the harbor, to and through the Kills, the boat 
 reached Elizabethport at about 1 2 o'clock, M., and came to the wharf 
 under a salute fired from a field-piece on board, furnished by Com- 
 missary-General Stewart, of the City Arsenal. 
 
 Immediately after arriving, the General was seen approaching 
 towards the wharf, escorted by the Mayor and Corporation of Eliza- 
 bethtown, together with a large concourse of the citizens of the 
 place. 
 
 Arriving at the wharf, he was received by the Committee of 
 Arrangements, to whom he Was presented by Mayor Sanderson, of 
 Elizabethtown, who delivered on the occasion the following 
 
 ADDRESS: 
 
 Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Common Council oir New 
 York : On behalf of the corporate authorities and people of the 
 Borough of Elizabeth, I have the pleasure of committing to your 
 charge our most eminent and distinguished citizen. General Win- 
 field Scott. 
 
 We rejoice with the joy of friends in every manifestation of re- 
 spect and gratitude towards one for whom, over and above the 
 estimate which, in common with the whole nation, we put upon 
 the unsurpassed brilliancy of his public services, we, as neighbors, 
 townsmen, and friends, entertain the warmest feelings of personal 
 attachment. 
 
 Take him with you, gentlemen, to your metropolis, present him 
 to your fellow-citizens, honor him as you know how to honor a 
 Well-deserving patriot and soldier, well assured that every cheer 
 which within your confines shall greet our townsman, and your 
 honored guest, will find an echo in the hearts of Americans every- 
 where, and tend more and more to cement a feeling of common 
 pride in, and attachment to our common country, and its great and 
 heroic names— a feeling which is at once the bond and strength of 
 the glorious union that makes us one people. 
 
 Mr. President and gentlemen, I present to you General Winfield 
 Scott. 
 
 The cheering which succeeded this address having subsided, 
 the General was escorted to the forward deck of the boat by 
 
552 APPENDIX. 
 
 Alderman Crolius, Schultz, and Smith, where he *ras presented 
 to Morris Franklin, Esq., President of the Board of Aldefmeii, 
 amid the continued hnzZas of those assembled on board'. 
 
 Mr. Franklin addressed the General in behalf of the Common 
 Council, as follows : 
 
 General ScotT : Among the many duties Which devolve upon 
 the Common Council of our City, there are none which commend 
 themselves more strongly to our feelings than that of extending the 
 rights of hospitality to distinguished strangers, and assuring them of 
 a sincere and cordial welcome. Under the influence of such ftel- 
 ings, and animated by the approving voice of our united population, 
 we tender to you a cordial invitation to become the guest of our 
 City, and assure you of our hearty congratulations, that, after the 
 perils, and dangers to which you have been exposed, you are per- 
 mitted again to mingle with your fellow-citizens in the enjoyment 
 of that social intercourse which the life of a soldier so peculiarly 
 qualifies him to appreciate and enjoy. 
 
 In contemplating the thrilling events which have characterized 
 your history, we find so much to excite our admiration, and to call 
 into action the patriotic emotions of the heart, that we feel proud, 
 as American citizens, that among the many illustrious names which 
 now are, or may hereafter be emblazoned upon the escutcheons of 
 our country, yours will appear in bold relief, as among her noblest 
 and most honored sons; for whether upon the plains of Chippewa, 
 Or Luhdy's Lane — whether at the sortie of Fort Erie, or on the 
 heights of Queenstown — whether the landing on the shores of Vera 
 Cruz, or bravely contending at the pass of Cerro Gordo — ^whether 
 entering in triumph the capital of Mexico, and there planting the 
 Artierican standard upon its battlements — whether in the warrior's 
 tent, at the solemn hour of midnight, arranging the operations of 
 the coming day, while your faithful soldiers were slumbering around 
 you, dreaniing of their friends and their homes — or whether attend- 
 mg upon the woUnded, the dying, and the dead, regardless of your- 
 self in your anxiety for others — we find all those characteristics 
 which mark the true dignity of man, and bespeak the accomplished 
 ind victorious chieftain. 
 
 Under circumstances such as these, and fresh from the well-fought 
 oattle-fields of our country, we now welcome you within our midst, 
 ts one worthy to receive and forever wear that victorious wreath 
 which the American people have entwined to decorate and adorn 
 four brow ; and we cannot omit upon this occasion to bear our tes- 
 iimony to the valor, bravery, and skill displayed by that noble band 
 of our adopted fellow-citizens, who, side by side with the natives of 
 our soil, stood bravely by the common standard of our country, or 
 fell nobly struggling in its defence. Peace to the ashes of those 
 
APPENDIX. 553 
 
 Who thus sawificed theif lives, for they died as brave men love to 
 die, fighting the battles of their country, and expiring in the very 
 arms of victory. 
 
 To you, sir, who have been so long familiar with the exciting 
 scenes of a military life, tame indeed will be the reception which we 
 can offer upon your visit to our commercial City, for there no for- 
 eign army awaits your coming — no hostile flag waves upon the 
 breeze ; but the citizen soldier, and the martial strains of our native 
 music, mingled with the shouts of an assembled multitude, will pre- 
 sent to you a welcome as sincere and cordial as the minds of free- 
 men can conceive, or the overflowing of their hearts express ; for, 
 although we are a stirring, active people, eager in the pursuit of 
 business and of wealth, yet we can turn aside from the dull routine 
 of daily avocations, to welcome a distinguished stranger, and testify 
 by our actions, that, although republics are said to be ungrateful, in 
 the present day there remains that natural pride and devoted patri- 
 otism, which would shrink from withholding the right hand of fel- 
 lowship from one so intimately identified with our country's glory,' 
 and whose life has been devoted to the protection of its "honor and 
 its fame. v 
 
 Far distant be the day when the people of our City shall so far 
 forget their own honor and true dignity Of character, as to turn their 
 backs upon the acknowledged bravery of one, the record of whose ' 
 life will cast a halo of glory around the history of our country, upon 
 which, in future ages, generations yet unborn will love to linger ; 
 and as the hoary head of age recounts the battles you have fought, 
 the dangers you have passed, and the victories you have won, the 
 sparkling tear of gratitude will kindle in the youthful eye, and ani- . 
 mate his soul to deeds of daring and of valor — for your life, sir, will 
 present to the ambitious soldier an example worthy of imitation, 
 and fresh indeed will be his laurels, if, in the evening of his days, he 
 can look back upon a career as brilliant as that of the conqueror of 
 the capital of Mexico, whose presencfe we this day hail with accla- 
 mations of gratitude, and welcome again with renewed evidences Of 
 our confidence, that with such a commander, and With a bold'a,nd 
 courageous soldiery, such as those who wept over your departure 
 at Vera Cruz, we may confidently hope that the flag of our country 
 will remain untarnished, and whether upon the ocean or the land, at 
 home or abroad, the stars of that flag will illuiiiine the path of fi'ee- 
 dom throughout the world, and the terror of its stripes drive op- 
 pression from its standajd. a » r 
 We hail you, then, most gallant General, as the honored guest ot 
 our City, and desire that you may feel and realize that yoU ar6 sur- 
 rounded by a grateful and confiding people, and who are as anxious 
 to render this visit as pleasant and agreeable to yourself, as it will 
 be grati^ng to those by whose authority the invitation has been 
 extended. 
 
 34 
 
554 APPENDIX. 
 
 This address was received with the most enthusiastic huzzas, 
 portraying the depth of feeling which animated those present 
 for the brave and gallant hero. 
 
 General Scott made the following reply : 
 
 Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Common Council of New 
 York, and fellow-citizens generally : Designing to spend quiet- 
 ly a few days in this neighborhood, I have, on your kind demand, 
 come forth from retirement, to surrender myself a prisoner into the 
 hands of my friends. The grand City of New York, already the 
 emporium of our hemisphere, and destined to become the emporiom 
 of both — having determined, through her authorities, to do honor 
 to a public servant of our country — true to her own greatness, 
 without measuring his little merit, performs that generous offico 
 in a manner worthy of herself and the United States. 
 
 If I had looked to considerations merely personal, I should have 
 declined the high distinction tendered me ; but I knew I was to be 
 received by you as the representative of that victorious army it was 
 BO lately my gpod fortune to command — an army that has carried 
 the glory of American arms to a height that has won universal ad- 
 miration, and the gratitude of all hearts at home. 
 
 A very large portion of the rank and file of that army, regulars 
 and volunteers, went forth from the City of New York, to conquer 
 or to die. It was my happy lot to witness their invincible valor and 
 prowess. All dangers, diffloulties, and hardships, were met and 
 conquered. 
 
 You have been pleased, sir, to allude to our adopted citizens. I 
 can say that the Irish, the Germans, the Swiss, the French, the Brit- 
 ons, and other adopted citizens, fought in the same ranks, under the 
 same colors, side by side with native-born Americans — exhibiting 
 like courage and efficiency, and uniting at every victory in the same 
 enthusiastic shouts in honor of our flag and country. From Vera 
 Cruz to the capital of Mexico, there was on'e generous rivalry in he- 
 roic daring and brilliant achievement. Let those who witnessed that 
 career of valor and patriotism, say, if they can, what racej according 
 to numbers, contributed most to the general success and glory of 
 the campaign. On the many hard-fought battle-fields there was no 
 room for invidious distinction — all proved themselves the faithful 
 sons of our beloved country, and no spectator could fail to dismiss 
 any lingering prejudice he might have entertained as to the com- 
 parative merits of Americans by birth and Americans by adoption. 
 As the honored representative of all, I return among you, to bear 
 testimony in favor of my fellow-soldiers in the field — ^the army of 
 Mexico — and I congratulate you and them, that the common object 
 of their efforts, and of your hopes, the restoration of peace, is in all 
 probability now attained. 
 
APPENDIX. 555 
 
 A Medal to General Scott. 
 
 The State of Virginia has recently voted a medal to General 
 Scott, of which we find the following description in the Richmond 
 Enquirer : 
 
 " This beautiful memorial of Virginia's munificent gratitude, is at 
 the same time one of the most exquisite specimens of American art 
 that we have ever seen. The medal is three and a half inches in 
 diameter, five-sbcteenths of an inch Ihick, and is of course very mas- 
 sive and rich. On one side is an admirable, life-like bust of the 
 General, with the words ' Winfield Scott ' in capitals above.- The 
 bust stands upon an oblong pedestal — flanked by two noble eagles, 
 sprigs of laurel and oak touching their wings ; a. number of flags 
 (two Mexican banners among them), guns, pikes, mortars, and field 
 pieces forming an appropriate background. On the pedestal is the 
 following inscription: 'The Commonwealth of Virginia presents 
 this medal to Major-General Winfield Scott, as a memorial of her 
 admiration for the great and distinguished services of her son, 
 whilst commander-in-chief of the American armies in the war with 
 Mexico, 1847.' 
 
 " On the reverse side, in the centre, stands a beautiful fluted eolr 
 nmn, with ' 1812 ' on the base, and ' 1848' on the capital. A spread 
 eagle, holding an olivelranch in its mouth, is on its top — and the 
 column is entwined with leaves of laurel, inscribed with the words 
 ' Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Cherubusco, Del Rey, Chepul- 
 tepec, Mexico.' Above the column are the words ' Fecit Quod 
 Cogitavit ;' below, ' From Virginia,' and an escutcheon with the coat 
 of arms of the State^ In the background are the principal buildings 
 in or near the city of Mexico, the Castle of San Juan (as we take 
 it), with the peculiar and strikingly peaked mountains, batteries^at 
 work, &c. — the whole encircled by a very rich wreath of laurel and 
 oak intertwined. The medal is one of great beauty and magnifi- 
 cence, and does great credit to the exquisite skill and taste of Mr. 
 C. C. Wright, an old soldier under General Scott, and now of New 
 York." 
 
 We learn that a committee of presentation, appointed by the Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia, consisting of Messrs. Burwell, -Aylett, Beirne, 
 Carrington, and Barbour, have arrived in this city, and that the 
 medal will be presented on Saturday next, at eleven o'clock- i,. H. 
 Notice of the place of presentation will hereafter be given. 
 
 (The above Is token from the Washington Bepubltc, of Jan. 24, 1861.] 
 
556 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Presentation of the Medal to General Scott. 
 
 On Saturday last, Jan. 25, 1851, at the City Hall, in the presence 
 of a large assemblage of persons, among wjipra we recognize4 the 
 Hon. C. M. CoNKAD, Secretary of War, the Hon. Lewis Cass, an4 
 other distinguished citizens, and several officers of the army, the 
 medal of Virginia was presented to JVlajor-General Winfield Scott, 
 by the hand of W. M. Bijrwell, EH'i Chairm&n pf thg Committee 
 of the Virginia Legislature. 
 
 Mr. BcRWELL addressed the General in the following words : 
 
 General : The distinguished services which you haVe render^4 
 the Republic have received the gratitude of your countrymen and 
 the admiration of the world. 
 
 Intrusted with the organization and command of .an array of in.- 
 vasipn, we have seen the debarkation of your troops — the investment 
 pf ?, fortified city— the approaches — the sjege — the capitulation and 
 surrender snooeed e?.ch other wi;th the regulafity a^d precision of a 
 programme of conquest. On the march of invasion, you have de- 
 pipnstrated unbounded resource and consummate military skill ; 
 whilst the enthusiastic obedience of your soldiers has evinced an 
 implicit confidence in their commander^ With an army numerically 
 unequal to that which opposed it, you have penetrated a country in 
 which every mountain w*s a rampart, and every defile a djtch forti- 
 fied by military sldil, apd defended wifh patriotic desperation. The 
 progress of your arms was tra,ced ijft toil and blpod ; ^nd, emerging 
 from a iterrible and prptraoted struggle, araid deeds of exalted hero- 
 ism, you have planted the banner of your country upon the oitadej 
 flf her foe. 
 
 You rested from the conflict to achieve the jhigher glory of modern 
 Btion in the hour of ponqnest, ypu granted tp a prostrate pation 
 terms in which triumph was tpnjpered with mercy, and the iijterests 
 of your country m^de to accord w;ith ,the dict3,tes of your heart. 
 Yon have subjected by your v?,lm t^e proudest and most ancient 
 city of the continent— a pity fi,rS|t conquered by a race long pv,^l Jp 
 your own ; but the scroll of your renown will be unstained by tfie 
 blood of a people tortured for gain, or scourged at the command of a 
 merciless superstition. 
 
 The story pf your conquest will revive with its brilliant successes 
 the mppipries of the past; the lover of chivalrous adventure wiM 
 read with enthusiasm the prodigies of American valor which it rer- 
 cords, whilst the plan, progress, and consummation of your campaign, 
 detailed in yottr dispiutehes, will be stvidipd with instruetipji by the 
 strategist and the statesman. 
 
 Gei^ral, your fame ■will be eternal, jfqr it is entiyijjed W^i^^ tlie 
 honor of your country; it is universal, for it has received the ap- 
 plause of the civilized world 
 
APPENDIX. 5^517 
 
 Yet, to those who know your heart, that fame would be jneora- 
 plete without the approbation of the State that gave you birth- 
 The maternal approval of Virginia will commend to your heart the 
 Acquisitions of your genius. You will appreciate her sincerity, tor 
 she has never spoken the language of adulation; and treasure her 
 affection, for she has never forgotten her sons. 
 
 We are here in the name and with the voice of Virginia, to con- 
 firm the honors which others have bestowed. Shp does not, like 
 tlie republics of the past, welcome you with a triumphant train. 
 Bound captives weep not at your prowess — nor does the tribute 
 gold of ravaged cities insujt your countrymen by appealing to their 
 cupidity — no votive yictims heap the altar to ask of the gods their 
 approval of your actions — ^nor does the gilded arch or the imperial titja 
 lure you to forfeit, for an empty fame, the solid honors which you 
 have won so well, and worn so nobly. 
 
 But recognizing in your-matured renown the confirmation of your 
 earlier promise, yirginia regards with pride the added evidences of 
 her capacity to contribute to the Republic the services of the hero 
 and the sa,ge, nor deems it evidence that this capacity is exhausted 
 because she has in your person united the attributes of both.-- 
 
 General ! Virginia bids us offer you this gift. Its sculptured sur- 
 face bears faint impress of the scenes of your glory. Its motto is 
 significant of your sagacity and of your success. It is a gift inade- 
 quate to express your worth or her affection. But the gift embodies 
 and embalms the emotion^ with :^hich she regards your virtues and 
 your deeds. Receive tfiis medal, and preserve it, as the gift of a 
 ^VQlied mother to a cherished and illustrious soil. 
 
 During the delivery of this address, Gener^ Scott repeatedly 
 bowed in acknowledgment of the encomiums conferred upon him, 
 and at its conclusion replied : 
 
 ■Gbntlemen of the CoBlMliTFE : IJ; -yyas an a,pothegn? pf P^r^cles, 
 that wkere the highest rewards are given to public virtue, there the 
 best of patriots will ever he found. 
 
 This maxim of more than one ancient republic may also be 
 claimed by' iny native State, the honored Commonwealth of Vir- 
 ginia. Indeed, her loyalty to our glorious Union has, from .the 
 first, ieen rnoat conspicuous in the honors ^he h?^ ever been prpmpt 
 to bestow upon all her sons yh? }iave deyoted themselves to' t^e 
 service pf our common cpuntry^-tbe Uxtited Stafes p|' .^raeric|l.. 
 I one of those soiM, and who neyer directly held trust or commi^- 
 slpji from her, have, in pursuance of her generous policy, to stirmi- 
 late by rewcirds, a second time, vnth a third of a centiiry lietWeen, 
 been imaAe the dbjesbt of her distinguished partiality. At the end of 
 the second war with Great Britain, Virginia, besides giving my name 
 
558 APPENDIX. 
 
 to a oounty, presented me with a splendid sword of honor, which I 
 often wear with pride, and shall transmit with my affections. 
 
 If " sweet are the uses of adversity " — and I have experienced 
 those trials and persecutions to which all public men are subject — 
 so may prosperity, even the glory of this moment, teach a lesson of 
 humility. This beautiful object of art, with its most complimentary 
 device and inscription-— the audience that honors the occasion, and 
 the eloquent but flattering address delivered in the name and in 
 behalf of a great Commonwealth, certainly look like fame, and 
 make it impossible for me to say that, in respect to distinction, I 
 have wholly lived in vaiuj but when I contrast my career with 
 the fond aspirations of youth — springing from the study of the great 
 examples of virtue and usefulness in ancient and modern history, 
 including the history of America, I am made humble by the sense 
 of my own mediocrity. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Committee, I most gratefully accept this medal 
 as a mark of the continued approbation of my native State. It will 
 serve daily to remind me and my posterity that, with a God to wor- 
 ship, each has also a country to love, to honor, and to obey. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 We append the following correspondence, as forming a part of 
 the record of what transpired immediately on the return of 
 General Scott from Mexico. 
 
 Washikoion, May Wt, 1S48. 
 Mt Dsab Geioeiui. : 
 
 Your distinguished services in two wars, and your no less distin- 
 guished services during the long intervening period of prosperous peace, 
 have deservedly won for you the love and admiration of your countrymen. 
 A large portion of your fellow-citizens, who yield to none in their admira^ 
 tion of your bravery and humanity in war, as well as of your patriotism 
 and prudence in peace, have been told that you favor the principles of 
 the so-called " Native " party. From an extensive correspondence and 
 acquaintance with citizens of this class, I learn that many feel grieved 
 that such pdnciples should be attributed to you. 
 
 Did they know you, as I do, they would see that great injustice is done 
 you. I know your kind and liberal views towards the naturalized citizens. 
 I remember the grateful emotions of my heart when I first read tbo 
 
APPENDIX. 559 
 
 account of your rescuing from British power and British, prisons twenty. 
 two of my countrymen, made prisoners of war while figllting under the 
 American flag. Tou, sir, was the first to assert and maintain the perfect 
 equality of adopted and native citizens. In your recent campaign in 
 Uexicb, I hope you have found additional motives for recognizing that 
 equality, and that all the adopted citizens vied with each other in braving 
 danger wherever you commanded. 
 
 Not for myself, therefore, but for the satisfaction of others, do I 
 respectfully ask you to say whether, after witnessing such fidelity to 
 the flag of their adopted country, by soldiers of foreign birth, you are 
 for adding new restrictions to the present system of naturalization ; or 
 whether you are in favor of having the privileges, now enjoyed under the 
 Constitution and laws of the country, fairly expounded and fsuthfully 
 executed, secured to such persons of foreign birth as may wish to become 
 citizens of the United States ? 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 W. E. ROBIHBOIC. 
 
 Hajor-General Winfield Scott. 
 
 REPLY. 
 
 WABHniOTOir, Miltl Wh, 1848, 
 DsAS, Sis : 
 
 In reply to your land letter of the 8th instant, I take pleasure in 
 saying that, grateful for the too partial estimate you place on my public 
 Bervices, you do me no more than justice in assuming that I entertain 
 " kind and liberal ^ews towards our naturalized citizens." Certainly 
 it would be impossible for me to recommend or support any measure 
 intended to exclude them from a just and full participation in all 
 civil and political rights now secured to them by our republican laws 
 and institutions. 
 
 It is true, that in a season of unusual excitement, some years ago, 
 when both parties complied of fraudulent practices in the naturalization 
 of foreigners, and when there seemed to be danger that native and 
 adopted citizens would be permanently arrayed against each other in 
 hostile factions, I was inclined to concur in the opinion, then avowed by 
 many leading statesmen, that some modification of the naturalization 
 laws might be necessary, in order to prevent abuses, allay strife, and- 
 -estore harmony between the difflferent classes of our people. But latei 
 
560 JlPPEHDIX. 
 
 experience and* reflection have entirely removed tiiia impression, lOad 
 ^sipatedmy apprehensions. 
 
 In mj recent campaign In iUexIco, « -T«ry 'large proportion of the men 
 under my command were your countrymen {Iiisfa), Grermans, &c.,.&c. I 
 witnessed with admiration their zeal, fidelity, and yalorin maintaining our 
 flag in the face of eveiy danger. Yieing with each other and our native- 
 born soldiers in the same ranks with patriotism, constancy, and heroic 
 daring, I was happy to call them brothers in the field, as I. ^all always be 
 to salute them as countrymen at home. 
 
 I remain, dear sir, with great esteem, 
 Touts, truly, 
 
 Wmiisu) Scorn. 
 Wm. E. Robinson, Esq. 
 
4^-