page_title: Winfield Scott
section_title: Pierce and Buchanan administrations
hierarchical_section_title: Winfield Scott / Commanding General, 1841–1861 / Pierce and Buchanan administrations
caption_attribution_description: English: Cropped image of a portrait of Winfield Scott located in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C..
context_page_description: Winfield Scott was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early stages of the American Civil War, and various conflicts with Native Americans. Scott was the Whig Party's presidential nominee in the 1852 presidential election, but was defeated by Democrat Franklin Pierce. He was known as Old Fuss and Feathers for his insistence on proper military etiquette, and as the Grand Old Man of the Army for his many years of service.
  Scott was born near Petersburg, Virginia, in 1786. After training as a lawyer and brief militia service, he joined the army in 1808 as a captain of the light artillery. In the War of 1812, Scott served on the Canadian front, taking part in the Battle of Queenston Heights and the Battle of Fort George, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in early 1814. He served with distinction in the Battle of Chippawa, but was badly wounded in the subsequent Battle of Lundy's Lane.
context_section_description: After the 1852 election, Scott continued his duties as the senior officer of the army. He maintained cordial relations with President Pierce but frequently clashed with Pierce's Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, over issues like travel expenses. Despite his defeat in the 1852 presidential election, Scott remained broadly popular, and on Pierce's recommendation, in 1855 Congress passed a resolution promoting Scott to brevet lieutenant general. Scott was the first U.S. Army officer since George Washington to hold the rank of lieutenant general. He also earned the appellation of the "Grand Old Man of the Army" for his long career. 
  The passage of the 1854 Kansas–Nebraska Act and the outbreak of violent confrontations between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in Kansas exacerbated sectional tensions and split both major parties. Pierce was denied re-nomination in favor of James Buchanan, while the Whig Party collapsed. In the 1856 presidential election, Buchanan defeated John C. Frémont of the anti-slavery Republican Party and former President Fillmore, the candidate of the nativist American Party. Sectional tensions continued to escalate after the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford. Buchanan proved incapable of healing sectional divides, and some leading Southerners became increasingly vocal in their desire to secede from the union. In 1859, Buchanan assigned Scott to lead a mission to settle a dispute with Britain over the ownership of the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest. Scott reached an agreement with British official James Douglas to reduce military forces on the islands, thereby resolving the so-called "Pig War". 
  In the 1860 presidential election, the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln, while the Democrats split along sectional lines, with Northern Democrats supporting Senator Stephen A. Douglas and Southern Democrats supporting Vice President John C. Breckinridge. Lincoln won the election, taking just 44 percent of the popular vote but winning a majority of the electoral vote due to his support in the North. Fearing the possibility of imminent secession, Scott advised Buchanan and Secretary of War John B. Floyd to reinforce federal forts in the South. He was initially ignored, but Scott gained new influence within the administration after Floyd was replaced by Joseph Holt in mid-December. With assistance from Holt and newly-appointed Secretary of State Jeremiah S. Black, Scott convinced Buchanan to reinforce or resupply Washington, D.C., Fort Sumter (near Charleston, South Carolina), and Fort Pickens (near Pensacola, Florida). Meanwhile, several Southern states seceded, formed the Confederate States of America, and chose Jefferson Davis as president. 
  Because Scott was from Virginia, Lincoln sent an envoy, Thomas S. Mather, to ask whether Scott would remain loyal to the United States and keep order during Lincoln's inauguration. Scott responded to Mather, "I shall consider myself responsible for [Lincoln's] safety. If necessary, I shall plant cannon at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and if any of the Maryland or Virginia gentlemen who have become so threatening and troublesome show their heads or even venture to raise a finger, I shall blow them to hell." Scott helped ensure that Lincoln arrived in Washington safely, and ensured the security of Lincoln's inauguration, which ultimately was conducted without a major incident.
caption: Scott in 1855, painted by Robert Walter Weir
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.8.10", "Image DateTime": "2014:12:15 19:58:11", "Image ExifOffset": "146", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "306", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5466", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4069", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4828"}