The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-16 00:00:00

D I"4TE
, 47. (I,lrl • Aid , •
414- - •
et 4 - •
.„067c-,-,09,11 • , t .
6:„ .
fir. l,
%. • •-1
'
•
r
( 7 1
1
•
). ict
• $ -
\ • •
,
' •
g0."7-1;"- stos.'eaLt*,z/J,." 'onorr. -
\3' lye'

//
~_ - vs~ ~~ ~ ~cC G ~

7
-

PRICE.... 4d.
.STA3IPED sd.

The Late G_lneral Scott.

Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott died at Roe's
Hotel, West Point. For many years he has spent the
summer there. On his arrival on the 10th ult. he
remarked to a friend, as he came from the boat,
that be had come to the old academy to die. He
stepl,as at than
the r e reyn
tfreaenbnl en,
n f andt
he dh
hotel.
toe
Ip. a usßen
But upon phoen
aefvteerry_
wards rallied considerably,
a
i in the village and at the librnadryl%.-asloinutontlie appeared 26ttoh
have no specific ailment, onl a genera decline f strength.
He retained his yconsgciontetrasnesstothoe
last, and repeatedly his
his head and pressed
the hand of the episcopal chaplain
deathwas upon
the latter re-
cited a prayer when
great
soldier. His body, dressed i
black, was placed in
partially filled with ice ;
a shell lined civilian'snthesuit of
anedl
lltgunedardwintfh
hzninn
full dress was posted round thehonour in
_ corpse. He was a
native of Virginia, born • m Petersham., on the 13th
June, 1786, and of Scottish descent.•
Ills ances-
tors were ardent supporters of
the Stuart; and took
refuge in Virginia after the battle of Culloden. He
was called to the bar at the age of 20, and com-
menced practice in Charleston in 1807 ; but he was
not so successful as he desired, and L' • Lis mind was
naturally adapted to a different life. A • ccordingly
he entered the army. His first ex •
perience of mili-
tary life was rather discouraging. It appears that
in 1809 the conduct of his superior officer, General
Wilkinson, led him to indulge in some expression
which, though just, betrayed a want of discretion,
and, after a trial by court-martial, sentence of sus-
pension from pay and service for 12 months was
pronounced upon the Offender. The 12 months
was devoted to unremittingstudy of military science,
so that on the proclamation of war in 1812 between
the United States and Great Britain there was none
better qualified to lead his countrymen against the
enemy. He was at that time promoted to the
position of lieutenant-colonel of artillery, and he
acquired the reputation of being one of the best
officers in that important department of the army.
At the battle of Queenstown Heights his intre-
pidity and skill as a commanding officer were for
the first time brought out in a most uous
conspic
and creditable manner. The engagement was one
of the most desperate recorded in the annals of
American warfare, and although it ended in the
defeat of the American forces, the
victory of the
enemy was dearly purchased. Scott, with his sur-
viving comrades was captured and sent to
Quebec ;
but lie was soon afterwards liberated by an exchange
of prisoners. In this battle his personal daring
and lofty stature rendered him a prominent mark
for the Indian sharpshooters, who, as in the in-
stance recorded in the life of Washington, exerted
their skill to the utmost, but without success, to
bring him down. :Failing in open, manly conflict
to destroy their fearless and intrepid foe, they had
recourse to their Indian cunning and treachery to
carry out their foul design. Gaining access to his
prison, two of them rushed upon him, but were
foiled by the superior agility and strength of Scott,
as well as by the fortunate interposition of Captain
Coffin, of the British army, to whose timely pre-
sence in the hour of danger his escape from his
savage enemies was partly attributable. The bravery
of Scott wes recognised in a substantial manner
after his release by his promotion to the position
of Adjutant-General and Chief of the Staff under
General Dearborn, who at that time was command-
ing on the northern frontier. The justice of this
promotion was made manifest by his conduct on the
capture of Fort George, and at the battle of
Chippewa. At this last, as the two armies ap-
proached to close quarters, Scott called out to
M'lSTeill's battalion, " The enemy say that we are
good at long shot, but cannot stand the cold iron.
I call upon the 11th instantly to give the lie to that
slander. Charge! " Sweeping upon the enemy
with the force of a mountain torrent swollen by
autumn floods they drove them from the field, and
that, too, with their own favourite weapon, before
which it had been the boast of the British no foe
was ever able to stand. At Niagara, sometimes
called Lundy's Lane, where he was twice wounded,
he even surpassed himself. He was the first man

to enter the fort. When peace came he continued
to serve his country, and was successful on various
important missions of a diplomatic character. But
his crowning distinction was the brilliant campaign
in Mexico in 1817, where he reduced Vera Cruz,

stormed the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa in four
days, and after several victories marched his army
of scarcely 6,009 men into the halls of the Monte-
zumas, and broke the Spanish dominion in America.
In 1852 he was nominated by the Whigs for the
Presidency, but beaten by Franklin Pierce. On
the 28th of February, 1855, the brevet rank of
lieutenant-general was revived in order that it might
be conferred on the hero of Mexico. George
Washington, Winfield Scott, and Ulysses S. Grant
I have been the only recipients of this great military
honour since the foundation of our Government.
In 1859 serious differences as to the boundary line
of the United States and British North America
through the Straits of Fuca having arisen, and a
disputed military possession occurring, General
Scott was ordered to that distant locality, where he
happily established a satisfactory state of affairs and
settled the difficulty. The commencement of the
rebellion found General Scott still in command of
the army, and every inducement was offered him

by the rebels to join their cause, but his firm lOyalty

and love for his country's flag were proof against
them, and he unhesitatingly threw the weight of
his great and solid reputation on the side of the

Union and the Government. In reply to a commis-

sioner from Virginia, who tendered him, in behalf
of that commonwealth, command of her forces in
the coming struggle, he said:—•" I have served
my country under the flag of the Union for more
than 50 years, and so long as God permits 111 A
to live I will defend that flag with my sword,
even if my own native state assails it." While Pre-
sident Buchanan remained in office the command-
ing general urged the wisest precautions to prevent
the armed withdrawal of the 11 seceded States
from the Union ; but his counsels were either un-
heeded or disregarded by the Cabinet at that time.
After the capture of Fort Sumter he silently, but
swiftly, strengthened Washington city and Fort
Pickens, he secured the safe inauguration of Pre-
sident Lincoln, strengthening the Potomac line of
defence, and organised our rapidly increasing army.
But the work was too great for his physical strength,
and at the end of October, 1861, he felt obliged
to relinquish his post. The resignation could not
be declined. President Lincoln and Cabinet waited
on the General at his residence, when the President.
the
read the order relieving him, conveying to
h
expressions of sadness and deep emotiohn. Ion; the
President and a unanimous Cabinet at
with-
drawal from the active control
nation's sympathy in his
physical of
itnhaermaritmieys,,
and
e
the profound sense of the important public
übnlichsiesrvloicn
and brilliant services
rendered by him to his country
career. During the years of war which
followed the General was a close observer of the
nation's for life, and no one viewed it
than he. His advice and
withmore
lor struggle
counsel were frequently sought by those at the
m e in
Washington, and Mr Lincoln once went
n sesogigicle solicitude
Duringo West Point to consult with him. During
his
his retirement he prepared and published a portion
of his autobiography, but aside from this commu-
nion with the public he has kept very secluded,
either at West Point, his summer home, or in this
city. Another volume of the autobiography will
shortly be forthcoming, it is understood, which
will contain much of interest which could not ap-
propriately be published during his life.--New York
Herald.

(Prom the Anglo-American Times.)
Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, the hero
.Lundy's Lane, and the man who first planted