A Virginian, born in 1786, Scott entered the army at an early age, and had reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel at the opening of the second war with England.  Two years later, he was made a brigadier-general, and commanded at the fierce and successful battles of Chippewa and Lundy’s Lane.  At the close of the war, he was made a major-general, and received the thanks of Congress for his services.  In 1841, he became commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States; but, at the opening of the war with Mexico, President Polk, actuated by partisan jealousy, kept Scott in Washington and assigned Zachary Taylor to the command of the armies in the field.  Scott had already an enviable reputation, and had been an aspirant for the presidency, and Polk feared that a few victories would make him an invincible candidate.  Perhaps he was afraid that Scott would develop into another Andrew Jackson.

However, it was impossible to keep the commander-in-chief of the army inactive while a great war was in progress, and early in 1847, he was sent to the front, and on March 9 began one of the most successful and brilliant military campaigns in history.  Landing before Vera Cruz, he captured that city after a bombardment of twenty days, and, gathering his army together, started on an overland march for the capital of Mexico.  Santa Anna, with a great force, awaited him in a strong position at Cerro Gordo, but Scott seized the key of it in a lofty height commanding the Mexican position, and soon won a decisive victory.  The American army swept on like a tidal wave, and city after city fell before it, until, on the twentieth of August, it reached the city of the Montezumas.  An armistice delayed the advance until September 7, but on that day offensive operations were begun.  Great fortifications strongly manned guarded the town, but they were carried one after another by assault, and on September 14, General Scott marched at the head of his army through the city gates.  The war was ended—­a war in which the Americans had not lost a single battle, and had gained a vast empire.

General Scott came out of the war with a tremendous reputation; but he lacked personal magnetism.  A certain stateliness and dignity kept people at a distance, and, together with an exacting discipline, won him the sobriquet of “Old Fuss and Feathers.”  In 1852, he was the candidate of the Whig party for President; but the party was falling to pieces, he himself had no great personal following, and he was defeated by the Democratic candidate, one of his own generals, Franklin Pierce.  He remained in command of the army until the outbreak of the Civil War.  Age and infirmities prevented his taking the field, and after the disastrous defeat at Bull Run, he resigned the command.  General Scott was renowned for his striking physique, more majestic, perhaps, even than that of Washington.  He has, indeed, been called the most imposing general in history.

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