Winfield Scott's Eventful, Influential Career

Winfield Scott was a hero of the Mexican War (1846â??1848), the last Whig Party candidate for U.S. president, and commanding general of the United States Army at the start of the American Civil War (1861â??1865). Known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" for his equal love of discipline and pomp, Scott by 1861 had served in the military for more than fifty years and under fourteen U.S. presidents. He had been severely wounded in battle, avoided several wars with his diplomatic skills, and commanded the army that conquered Mexico City in 1847, all of which made him the most admired and famous soldier in America. Less well known is the fact that Scott was convicted by court-martial for conduct unbecoming an officer, was investigated by a court of inquiry, once was accused of treason, and several times offered his resignation from the army. When the Civil War began, the Dinwiddie County native remained loyal to the Union, and while age had so reduced his once-towering frame that he could no longer even mount a horse, his ego and intellect were still intact. Scott's Anaconda Plan for winning the war proved to be prescient but politically out of step, and he eventually lost control of the army to George B. McClellan. He soon retired, published a two-volume memoir in 1864, and died in 1866.