# Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786 – May 29, 1866) was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852. Known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" and the "Grand Old Man of the Army," he served on active duty as a general longer than any other man in American history and many historians rate him the ablest American commander of his time.

## Quotes

* Men of the eleventh! the enemy say we are good at a long shot, but cannot stand the cold iron. I call on you to give the lie to that slander. Charge!
** Address to the 11th Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Chippawa (14 June 1814) in the War of 1812, as quoted in The Military Heroes of the War of 1812 (1849) by Charles Jacobs Peterson, p. 152
** Variants:
** The enemy say that the Americans are good at a long shot, but cannot stand the cold iron. I call upon the Eleventh to give the lie to the slander. Charge!
*** As quoted in Primary History of the United States (1913) by Waddy Thompson, p. 282
** The enemy say that Americans are good at a long shot but cannot stand the cold iron. I call upon you to give a lie to the slander. Charge!
*** As quoted in Dictionary of Military and Naval Quotations (1966) by Robert Debs Heinl, p. 48
** The enemy say that Americans are good at a long shot, but cannot stand the cold iron. I call upon you instantly to give a lie to this slander. Charge!
*** As quoted in From the Ashes : America Reborn (1998) by William W. Johnstone, p. 54
** The enemy says that Americans are good at a long shot but cannot stand the cold iron. I call upon you instantly to give a lie to the slander. Charge!
*** As quoted in Quotes for the Air Force Logistician (2001) by United States. Air Force Logistics Management Agency, p. 73.
* Brave rifles! Veterans! You have been baptized in fire and blood and have come out steel!
** Address to US forces after the of Battle of Chapultepec in the Mexican-American War (September 1847) as quoted in The Life and Military and Civic Services of Lieut-Gen. Winfield Scott (1861) by Orville James Victor, p. 106.
* Say to the seceded States, "Wayward sisters, depart in peace."
** Letter to William H. Seward (3 March 1861); though the only suggestion from this letter commonly quoted, this was actually the last and final alternative of what he considered to be 4 options available to President Abraham Lincoln in dealing with the secessionist states.
* Major-General McClellan has propagated in high quarters the idea expressed in the letter before me, that Washington was not only "insecure," but in "imminent danger." Relying on our numbers, our forts, and the Potomac River, I am confident in the opposite opinion; and considering the stream of new regiments that is pouring in upon us (before this alarm could have reached their homes), I have not the slightest apprehension for the safety of the Government here. … I must beg the President, at the earliest moment, to allow me to be placed on the officers' retired list, and then quietly to lay myself up — probably forever — somewhere in or about New York. But, wherever I may spend my little remainder of life, my frequent and latest prayer will be, "God save the Union!"
** Letter to Secretary of War Simon Cameron, detailing some disagreements with the actions and policies of General McCellan, and requesting to be granted a retirement (9 August 1861).
* Lee is the greatest military genius in America, myself not excepted.
** As quoted in Life of General Robert Edmund Lee (1870) by C. Stoctly Errickson, p. 35.
* Peace won by compromise is usually a short lived achievement.
** As quoted in The Iron Man of India (1951) by S. Jaysbee, p. 57

## Quotes about Scott

* The American advance was rapidly gathering momentum. The Mexican army of the North was twice beaten by General Zachary Taylor, a future President. A force under General Winfield Scott was landed at Vera Cruz and marched on Mexico City. The capital fell to the Americans after a month of street fighting in September 1847. On this expedition a number of young officers distinguished themselves. They included Captain Robert E. Lee, Captain George B. McClellan, Lieutenant Ulysses S. Grant, and Colonel Jefferson Davis. Mexico sued for peace, and by the treaty which followed she was obliged not only to recognise the annexation of Texas, but also to cede California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
** Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Volume IV: The Great Democracies (1958), p. 112
* ...five thousand finally consented to be marched westward, but another fifteen thousand clung to their neat farms, schools, and libraries "of good books." So General Winfield Scott set about systematically extirpating the rebellious ones. Squads of soldiers descended upon isolated Cherokee farms and at bayonet point marched the families off to what today would be known as concentration camps. ...they were set off on a thousand mile march—called to this day "the trail of tears"...
** Peter Farb, Man's Rise to Civilization (1968)

## External links

* Biography of General Winfield Scott
* Origin of the phrase Great Scott!
* Gen. Winfield Scott’s address to the Cherokee Nation (10 May 1838)
* Winfield Scott letters
* Burial site of General Winfield Scott at Find A Grave
* General Scott by Marcus J. Wright
* Memoirs of Lieut.-General Scott, LL.D. by Winfield Scott, Vol.1 - Vol. 2