General Scott's health continuing bad, he was conveyed in a quartermaster's boat from New York to West Point by General Stewart Van Vliet, accompanied by several personal friends. He died at the West Point Hotel a few minutes after eleven o'clock, May 29, 1866. The last words which he spoke were to his coachman: "Peter, take good care of my horse." He was buried, in accordance with his oft-expressed wish, in the West Point Cemetery; on June 1st, his remains being accompanied to the grave by some of the most illustrious men of the country, including General Grant and Admiral Farragut. The horse mentioned above was a splendid animal, seventeen hands high and finely formed. The last time that General Scott mounted him was in the latter part of 1859, which he did with the aid of a stepladder, for the purpose of having an equestrian portrait painted for the State of Virginia. The war coming on, the picture passed into possession of the Mercantile Library of New York.

The author received a letter from the late Rutherford B. Hayes in January, 1892, in which he said: "On my Southern tour in 1877 I repeated two or three times something like this, purporting to be quoted from General Scott: 'When the war is over and peace restored, there will be no difficulty in restoring harmonious and friendly relations between the soldiers of the sections. The great trouble will be to restore and keep the peace between the non-belligerent combatants of the war.' I did not hear the remark of General Scott. My recollection is that I heard it from General Rosecrans." ...

On submitting President Hayes's letter to General Rosecrans, he made the following statement: "I heard that story about General Scott from General Charles P. Stone. General Stone was on the staff of General Scott. At the beginning of the war, in the spring of 1861, he was directed to organize the militia of the District of Columbia, and was present when the following occurred, as he told me personally. Shortly after the fall of Sumter and the President's call for troops, Secretaries Seward, Chase, and Cameron came to General Scott's residence in Washington one evening and found him at the dinner table. One of them said: 'General, our duties as members of the Cabinet make it very desirable for us to have some idea of what the probable range and course of the war will be, that we may guide ourselves accordingly. We have therefore come to you to get your judgment on the situation.' On the general's invitation, they sat down at his dinner table, and he went on to explain his idea of how the war would progress from year to year. While he was talking, Mr. Seward seemed to be somewhat impatient, and put in several little interruptions, but finally subsided and allowed General Scott to proceed. The general gave an outline of a war probably lasting from three and one half to four years, but resulting in favor of the Union.

"On the general's announcement of his opinion that the Union would triumph, Mr. Seward, rubbing his hands, inquired, 'Well, general, then the troubles of the Federal Government will be at an end.' To which General Scott replied, 'No, gentlemen, for a long time thereafter it will require the exercise of the full powers of the Federal Government to restrain the fury of the noncombatants.'"

To a young army officer he gave the following advice: "You are now beginning life; you are ignorant of society and of yourself. You appear to be industrious and studious enough to fit yourself for high exploits in your profession, and your next object should be to make yourself a perfect man of the world. To do that you must carefully observe well-bred men. You must also learn to converse and to express your thoughts in proper language. You must make acquaintances among the best people, and take care always to be respectful to old persons and to ladies." General Scott was always extremely gallant and courteous to ladies and greatly enjoyed the society of intelligent and refined women. As stated in the early part of this work, General Scott had been an industrious student of the law, and the knowledge thus acquired was of great service to him throughout his eventful career. He was well read in the standard English authors—Shakespeare, Milton, Addison, Pope, Johnson, Goldsmith, Dryden, Hume, Gibbon, and the early English novelists. He was a constant reader of the best foreign and American periodicals and the leading newspapers of the day. He was of the opinion that wars would never cease, and therefore took little interest in peace societies.

He held the opinion that the study of the higher mathematics had a tendency to lessen the ability to move armies in the field, yet expressed regret that he had not in his youth given more study to the subject. He was very fond of whist, but was quite irritated when he was beaten and generally had a ready excuse for his defeat. On one occasion he was playing a very close game, in the midst of which he left the table to expectorate in the fireplace. He lost the game and said to one of the party, "Young gentleman, do you know why I lost that game?" "No, sir," was the response. "It was because I got up to spit." Scott was also a good chess player.

He used tobacco somewhat excessively until the close of the Mexican War, after which time he renounced its use entirely. He was exceedingly vain of his accomplishments as a cook and specially prided himself on the knowledge of how to make good bread. He spent several days in instructing the cook at Cozzens' Hotel, West Point, in this art, and did not desist until the bread was made according to his standard. He had a great aversion to dining alone, and rather than do so would cheerfully pay for the meal of any pleasant friend whom he would invite to dine with him. General Scott openly professed himself a Christian and was a regular attendant at the services of the Episcopal Church. He was broad and liberal in his views and condemned no man who differed with him in religious opinion. He usually carried a large, stout, gold-headed cane, and after entering his pew would rest both hands on its head and bow his head, praying in silence. It was difficult for him to kneel on account of his size. He scrupulously joined with the greatest decorum and seriousness in all the services of the church, responding in a distinct, loud voice.

He was impatient with persons who could not recollect or did not know of dates and events which were conspicuous in his life. He was asked at one time the date of the battle of Chippewa. He answered blandly, "July 5, 1814." Turning to a friend, he remarked, "There is fame for you." The same party inquired in what State he was born. He answered, "Virginia." "Ah," said the questioner, "I thought you were a native of Connecticut." This left him in a bad humor for the remainder of the evening. The editor of this series has said of him: "General Scott was a man of true courage—personally, morally, and religiously brave. He was in manner, association, and feeling courtly and chivalrous. He was always equal to the danger—great on great occasions. His unswerving loyalty and patriotism were always conspicuous, and of such a lofty character that had circumstances rendered the sacrifice necessary he would have unhesitatingly followed the glorious example of the Swiss hero of Sempach, who gave his life to his country six hundred years ago.... He was too stately in his manners and too exacting in his discipline—that power which Carnot calls 'the glory of the soldier and the strength of armies.' A brief anecdote will illustrate the strictness of his discipline. While on duty he always required officers to be dressed according to their rank in the minutest particular. The general's headquarters in Mexico comprised two rooms, one opening into the other. In the rear room General Scott slept. One night after the general had retired a member of his staff wanted some water. The evening was warm and the hour late, being past midnight. The officer rose to go in his shirt sleeves. He was cautioned against the experiment as a dangerous one, for if Scott caught him in his quarters with his coat off he would punish him. The officer said he would risk it—that the general was asleep, and he would make no noise. He opened the door softly and went on tiptoe to the water pitcher. He had no time to drink before he heard the tinkle of the bell, and the sentinel outside the door entered. 'Take this man to the guardhouse,' was the brief order, and the coatless captain spent the night on a hard plank under guard."[E] He did not conceal his opinions of men or measures, and hence he very often gave offense. It should be borne in mind that the public men of the age when General Scott came on the stage, both military and civil, were as a rule dignified, formal, and to some extent dogmatic. They held themselves with great dignity, and their magnetism was the result of their commanding abilities and high character, and they did not rely for popularity upon the methods of modern times.

[E]

Wilson's Sketches of Illustrious Soldiers: New York, 1874.