WINFIELD SCOTT
Winfield Scott, commander-in-chief of the American army, was born June 13, 1786, near Petersburg, Virginia. He is descended from a Scotch family, who were obliged to take refuge in America after the rebellion of 1745. After completing his preparatory education, he spent a year or two at William and Mary college, and afterward studied the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1806. In the autumn of 1807, he emigrated to South Carolina, intending to practice his profession at Charleston, but meeting with difficulties in the attainment of his object, he returned to the north. The political events of the country were then rapidly approaching the crisis of 1812; a bill had passed through Congress to enlarge the army, and Scott having applied for a commission, was appointed, in 1808, captain in a regiment of light artillery, and was ordered the following year to join the army in Louisiana, under the command of General Wilkinson. For some act of insubordination toward his commander he was suspended for a year, but he again joined the army before the commencement of the war. Shortly after that event, he received a lieutenant-colonel’s commission, and was posted at Black Rock, on the Niagara frontier. His first active service was at the attack of Qeenstown heights, where he took command of the American force after all the superior officers were killed or wounded. This affair, as is well known, ended disastrously, and Scott, with the survivors of his men, became prisoners-of-war. From Queenstown he was sent to Quebec, and shortly after exchanged. In the following year he distinguished himself at the attack on Fort George, in the descent upon York, and the capture of Fort Matilda, on the St. Lawrence. In March, 1814, he was made brigadier-general; July 3, in the same year, he captured Fort Erie, and on the fifth he fought the bloody battle of Chippewa, in which both sides claimed the victory. On the 25th of the same month was fought the still more sanguinary battle of Niagara or Lundy’s Lane. In this well-fought contest, General Scott was badly wounded, and his life is said to have been despaired of for some weeks. Philadelphia and Baltimore having been threatened with an attack, Scott was requested to take command of the forces in that vicinity. On his way to the scene of his duties, he passed through Princeton, and the learned dignitaries of the college in that town conferred upon the general the honorary degree of master of arts, a curious compliment, probably having some reference to the art of war. About the same time he was promoted to the rank of major-general, the highest grade in the army, he being at that time but twenty-eight years of age. On the conclusion of the peace, in 1815, he was tendered the post of secretary of war, but declined to accept it; and the same year he paid a visit to Europe, principally for the purpose of improving himself in his profession. About 1833 he brought the Black-Hawk war, in the north-western frontier, to a successful termination, and he was shortly after in command at the commencement of the Seminole war in Florida; but this not being so successful as was anticipated, he was ordered home and deprived of his command. In 1837-’38 he was stationed on the Niagara frontier to enforce the neutrality of the United States during the ‘patriot war’ in Canada; and soon afterward he superintended the removal of the Cherokee Indians beyond the Mississippi. By the death of General Macomb, in 1841, General Scott became commander-in-chief of the army. The scene of his next exploits was Mexico. After some difficulty with the president and secretary of war, General Scott was permitted to lead a force to Vera Cruz. The events of that campaign are recent and well known. San Juan de Ulloa was captured March 27, 1847; the battle of Cerro Gordo was fought on the 18th of April; the battle of Contreras on the 19th of August; and the battle of Churubusco on the following day; and after the storming of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec, the city of Mexico was captured September 14, 1847.
ZACHARY TAYLOR.
Zachary Taylor was born in Orange County, Virginia, in November, 1784. He was the second son of Col. Richard Taylor, whose ancestors emigrated from England about two centuries ago, and settled in Eastern Virginia. The father, distinguished alike for patriotism and valor, served as colonel in the revolutionary war, and took part in many important engagements. About 1790 he left his Virginian farm, and emigrated with his family to Kentucky. He settled in the ‘dark and bloody ground,’ and for years encountered all the trials then incident to border life. The earliest impressions of young Zachary were the sudden foray of the savage foe, the piercing warwhoop, the answering cry of defiance, the gleam of the tomahawk, the crack of the rifle, the homestead saved by his father’s daring, the neighboring cottage wrapped in flames, or its hearth-stone red with blood. Such scenes bound his young nerves with iron, and fired his fresh soul with martial ardor; working upon his superior nature they made arms his delight, and heroism his destiny. Zachary was placed in school at an early age, and his teacher, who now resides in Preston, Connecticut, still loves to dwell on the studiousness of his habits, the quickness of his apprehension, the modesty of his demeanor, the firmness and decision of his character, and a general thoughtfulness, sagacity, and stability, that made him a leader to his mates and a pride to his master.
After leaving school, the military spirit of young Taylor was constantly fanned by the popular excitement against the continual encroachments of England; and soon after the murderous attack of the British ship Leopard upon the Chesapeake, in 1808, he entered the army as first lieutenant in the 7th regiment of infantry. He soon gained distinction in border skirmishes with the Indians, and the declaration of war with England found him promoted to the rank of captain. Within sixty days after the commencement of hostilities in 1812, the imbecility of Hull lost to the country its Michigan territory, and fearfully jeoparded the whole northwestern region. It was of the utmost importance to entrust the few and feeble forts of that great dominion to men of established valor and discretion. Captain Taylor was at once invested with the command of Fort Harrison, situated on the Wabash, in the very heart of the Indian country. The defenses of this post were in a miserable condition, and its garrison consisted of only fifty men, of whom thirty were disabled by sickness. With this little handful of soldiers, the young commander immediately set about repairing the fortifications. He had hardly completed his work, when, on the night of the 4th of September, an alarm shot from one of his sentinels aroused him from a bed of fever, to meet the attack of a large force of Miami Indians. Every man was at once ordered to his post. A contiguous block house was fired by the enemy, and a thick discharge of bullets and arrows was opened upon the fort. The darkness of the night, the howlings of the savages, the shrieks of the women and children, the fast approaching flames, and the panic of the debilitated soldiers, made up a scene of terror, but could not shake the determination nor the judgment of the young chieftain. He inspired his men with his own courage and energy. The flames were extinguished, the consumed breastworks were renewed, and volley answered volley for six long hours till day break enabled the Americans to aim with a deadly precision that soon dispersed their foes. This gallant repulse, at odds so unfavorable, prompted a report from Major General Hopkins to Governor Shelby that ‘the firm and almost unparalleled defense of Fort Harrison had raised for Captain Zachary Taylor a fabric of character not to be affected by eulogy;’ and forthwith procured from President Madison a preferment to the rank of brevet major, the first brevet, it is said, ever conferred in the American army.
VIEW NEAR FORT ANCIENT, OHIO.
