General Scott soon determined that the only mode of settlement was to prohibit or have an agreement on both sides to leave the territory unoccupied by either party until the matters in dispute could be arranged between the governments of the United States and Great Britain, taking the matter out of the jurisdiction of the State of Maine and the province of New Brunswick.  Previous to Scott’s arrival in Maine the Legislature of that State had passed an act placing eight hundred thousand dollars at the disposal of the Governor and authorizing the calling out of eight thousand troops.  Some of these troops had been organized and moved near the disputed territory, and others were held ready to move when ordered.  British troops, both regulars and militia, had also been moved forward.  Everything indicated a war.  On February 27, 1839, President Van Buren had sent a message to Congress transmitting various documents received from the Governor of Maine, and a copy of a memorandum signed by the Secretary of State of the United States and the British Minister to the United States, which, it was hoped, would prevent a collision of arms.  Mr. H.B.  Fox, the British Minister, had acted without specific authority from his Government, and the memorandum therefore had only the force of a recommendation.  All correspondence had for some time ceased between the governors of Maine and New Brunswick.

The Governor of New Brunswick, John Harvey, had been an adjutant general of one of the armies of Canada in the campaign of 1813, and was well known to General Scott.  Scott, it will be remembered, was an adjutant general in this campaign, and he and Colonel Harvey had frequent correspondence, and it was so conducted as to create a feeling of respect on both sides.  At one time in the campaign mentioned, when Scott was on a reconnoitering expedition, his party came upon Harvey, and a gun in the hands of a soldier near Scott was leveled on him.  Scott caught the gun, and said, “Hold! he is our prisoner,” but Colonel Harvey made a rapid turn and escaped.

On General Scott’s arrival in Maine he had with him a private letter from Sir John Harvey, the Colonel Harvey just mentioned, then Governor General of New Brunswick.  It is proper to mention here, as additional reason for good feeling between General Scott and Sir John Harvey, that at one time in the War of 1813 an American soldier under Scott’s command had come into possession of the uniform coat of a British staff officer, and in one of the pockets was found the miniature of a young lady.  The portmanteau from which the coat and miniature were taken was marked “Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey.”  Scott purchased these articles from the soldier and sent them to Colonel Harvey.  The picture was that of his young bride, then in England.