W. L. Ormsby, sc.
GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT.
Winfield Scott was born on the 13th of June, 1785, in the county of Dinwiddie, near Petersburg, Virginia. Designed for the profession of the law, he received a liberal education, and graduated at William and Mary College in that state. In 1806, having completed his studies, he commenced practice at the bar, with talents and acquirements which bade fair to introduce him to a very lucrative business. In 1807, the aggressions upon our defenceless commerce, by European powers, and the outrage upon the frigate Chesapeake, roused the indignant feelings of the nation. Redress was promptly called for, and the more ardent of our countrymen prepared for an immediate war. One of the first measures, at the next session of Congress, was to pass a bill for the increase of the army, and young Scott forsook the law, and was appointed a captain in a regiment of light artillery; in which capacity he remained prosecuting, with his usual zeal, his military studies, until the declaration of war in 1812, which opened a more arduous field for the exercise of his brilliant talents.
On the 6th of July, 1812, Scott was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the second regiment of artillery; and arrived on the Niagara frontier, with the companies of Towson and Barker, and was posted at Black Rock, to protect the navy yard at that place.
On the 13th of October, the attack upon Queenstown, under Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, took place.
On the day previous, Lieutenant-Colonel Scott had arrived with his regiment at Schlosser, twelve miles from Lewiston. The object of this movement was to dispossess the enemy from the fort and village of Queenstown Heights, and thus to make a lodgment for the American troops on the Canada shore, the invasion of Canada being then the leading object of the northern campaign. Anxious to be near the scene of action, Scott obtained permission to march his regiment to Lewiston, and to use his artillery as circumstances might direct. In the early part of the action which followed he bore no part; but Colonels Van Rensselaer and Fenwick having fallen severely wounded, Colonel Scott’s request to cross the river was finally acceded to. The enemy was driven from the heights, which were now in the possession of the Americans, who gallantly repulsed an attack under General Brock, who had come up with reinforcements, but was himself killed in the engagement.
On his arrival, Colonel Scott found the troops in great disorder. Announcing his name and rank, he immediately formed them into line. Colonel Scott’s attention was first directed to an eighteen pounder, which the enemy, in his retreat, had left in the hands of the Americans, after having hastily spiked it; and he proceeded in person to direct the measures for rendering the piece again useful. Returning in a short time, he was surprised to find a large body of Indians preparing to attack the American lines, while the troops, already in some confusion, were on the point of giving way. His presence soon changed the state of affairs, and the savages were compelled to make a hasty retreat. With an unanimous burst of enthusiasm, the line suddenly rallied from right to left, threw itself forward upon the enemy, putting him to precipitate flight, and leaving the ground strewed with the dead and wounded. In this manner successive conflicts were kept up, till a reinforcement of British arrived, under the command of Major General Sheaffe.
Colonel Scott now perceiving that a crisis must be near at hand, every effort was made by the commanding officers to induce the American militia, on the opposite side of the river, to cross over to the assistance of their countrymen, but in vain. Entreaty was wasted upon them, and as all the boats were upon the American side, the little band under Scott was left to await a fate from which there was no retreat. All had now been done that was required by honor, and longer resistance would only have sacrificed in vain the lives of brave men. Terms of capitulation being agreed upon, Colonel Scott surrendered into the hands of the enemy his whole force, now reduced to one hundred and thirty-nine regulars, and one hundred and fifty-four militia; in all two hundred and ninety-three men. Thus ended the battle of Queenstown Heights; an engagement desultory in its movements, but unfortunate in its results. From Queenstown, Scott was sent to Quebec; whence, upon being exchanged, he soon after embarked for Boston. Previous to this, however, one of those scenes occurred in which the decision of character of Colonel Scott was most strikingly displayed.