MEXICAN WAR. Winfield Scott (1786-1866), grandson of a Scot who fought at Culloden, was born in Virginia, and entered the army in 1808. He served with great ability in the War of 1812, later became Major-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Army in 1841. During the war with Mexico he held chief command of the Army, and became Lieutenant-General in 1847. John Munroe (c. 1796-1861), born in Ross-shire, entered the United States Army, saw service against the Florida Indians, became Chief of Artillery under General Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War, and was subsequently Military and Civil Governor of New Mexico (1849-50). James Bowie (1795-1836), of Scottish descent and of “Bowie-knife” celebrity, took part in the Texan Revolution and was killed at the Alamo in 1836. Bowie county and the town of Bowie in Montague county, Texas, perpetuate his name. The Bowies were a prominent family in Maryland, occupying high positions in politics, jurisprudence, and society.
CIVIL WAR. General David Bell Birney (1825-64), son of James Gillespie Birney, served with distinction in the Army of the Potomac. General Ambrose Everett Burnside (1824-81), later Governor of Rhode Island (1867-69), and United States Senator (1875-81), was grandson of a Scot who emigrated to South Carolina at end of the eighteenth century. Samuel Wylie Crawford (1829-92), of Scottish ancestry, was brevetted Major-General of Volunteers for conspicuous gallantry, and wrote “Genesis of the Civil War” (1887). Major-General Thomas Ewing (1829-96), was descendant of Thomas Ewing who emigrated to New Jersey in 1715. James Lorraine Geddes (1829-87), born in Edinburgh, brevetted Brigadier-General for his services, was also a poet, and wrote “The Soldier’s Battle Prayer,” “The Stars and Stripes,” etc. John Brown Gordon (1832-1904), Lieutenant-General in the Confederate Army and later Governor of Georgia, was descendant of John George Gordon and his wife