Daily American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1852, 1852-10-12
AMERICAN TELEGRAPH.
+ ANECDOTES ESOF
WINFIELD SCOTT,
ny Edward william johnson.

IL
AS SSOLDIER AND AS CITIZEN
ny Edward William johnson.
r PART FIVE. H.
Foragsng, Capture Of Toronto, Expedition
against Montreal.
!, During the next three months the army, sue.
cessiyely under the command Of Dearborn, Lew
Is, Boyd, and Wilkinson, lay entrenched at Fort
George, and nothing Of note was attempted II
became little, but small semi-Weekly war Of for
Scott in addition to his duties as Adjutant Cen
eral, He soon showed himself thorough parti-
san officer, equally bold and prudent Every
blade Of forage had to be manHuVred or fought
for and combats on small scale were continual /,
but Scott never lost one, nor missed his object
when he struck at II. In consequence, he re-
csivsd, In July, the honor Of being placed in CON-
mand Of q double regiment; and thereupon laid
down his staff appointment. Then ensued his
successful expedition against Toronto and after
wards, near the close Of the year, his descent Of
the st. Lawrence against Montreal, under his old
friend, Wilkinson In this expedition, made
abortive In the end only through that command
ers irresolution, Scott was selected to conduct
the leading division Of the feet Of boats. Here,
fortified point, at some narrow of the river was
to be passed, or perhaps taken, In order that the
army In his resr might be able to 20 by in safety
or. perhaps, 1t was necessary he should land and
sweep away some force Of the enemy which beset
the way. These--the leading services Of the
expedition-he performed, and did his part as
well as Wilkinson's was done i'll. Had Scott,
young as he was, commanded 1t is haZarding no.
thing to say that he would never have turned
back from an attempt that was obviously within
reach of glorious success. The capture of Mon
trsal--whieh really lay at our mercy, and with
- Il H. ~ IL - - L.. 81
needed, at that moment, nothing but the boldness
to 20 on and he whose mature genius devised
and executed, with continual daring, the con-
quest of Mexico, would surely have had, In the
fiery youth Of his arms, no lack OF bodness for an
enterprise that now needed little else.
Scott makes ANIL fights nsv .Army uader
BToaOa.
The campaigns Of 1879 and 1Sl3 had now nn-
deceived the country Of those imaginary Generals
to whom command had been successfully entrust-
ed One after another they had proved them
selves incompetent. Something far better must
be found, or peace anything but honorable
would have to be concluded with the haughtiest
Of nations In the younger soldiers whom prac-
tice was gradually forming amidst the subordi-
nate grades, valor and conduct were showing
themselves but in none yet, except Scott, the
marks of a high military capacity. The rest
wanted that knowledge which he had 80 rapidly
made to himself or which seemed to come by iu-
stinst Indeed, our want was not that Of skilfnl
commanders alone; where the troops are good,
sufficient generals are seldom missing But It is
these that make those. We had, In reality, mo-
where tolerable army In the field and we could
have none until commander had been found
capable of disciplining force first and Of man
oeavring 1t afterwards. In such views as these,
the government had now fixed its eyes on the
Young Scott Operations In the field having
ceased for the winter, he wss ordered down to
Albany, there to prepare all the materials ofwar
for the coming campaign Of 1914 and to settle,
under instructions from the President, certain
important matters, half military and half politi.
cal with the State Governor. These duties sat
isfactorily performed, he was on the 9th March,
1914, raised to the rank of Brigadier General and
sent to Gen. Brown, then marching from French
Mills to Buffalo, where the new army was 10 be
collected and disciplined for him. Arrived there,
Brown apparently under instructions from Wash
ineton) withdrew to Sacketts Harbor, and COM
mitted to Scott for three months, the forming,
instructing and discpliniug Of an army ct for
victory.
Others have told, and have myself related, the
methods on which the young conqueror went
about this task. Adopting at once all those de-
tailed improvements in the art Of war which mo-
vet strangers, he went to work with an incessant
personal activity, and taught them to his officers
and his men, until he had made, Of those, tacti-
clans and, Of these, soldiers, ft TO cope with the
best veterans Of any army; as, led by him, they
soon proved, in very amazing manner, In fights
the toughest. s.
i have already said something Of the extreme
destitution Of military knowledge which then pre-
vailed, among even our regular troops perhaps
- n a 1toftn
idea of It's causes
We had, ever since the revolutionary war, been
at peaee--an interval Of thirty years. The little
of qeneralshp in commanders, Of discipline among
those In the ranks had passed away the mere
personal possession Of that generation. For we
at once relapsed Into people who had on land
no adyersaries except Indians, against whom the
mere superiority Of white mems arms and num-
bers were tactics enough Thus, naturally, We
had fallen back in military knowledge. To have
prevented this, the maintenance Of standing
army could alone have served But TO that o
strong and unreasoning popular aversion had been
bred and transmitted among MS IL was against
the standing army of Great Britain that we had
fought and though we ourselves could never
have achieved our freedom by mere militia, yet
II had passed into grand political MAXIM with
us that standing armies are dangerous 20 the pub
lie liberty and that militia is its only sare de-
fence. Certainly, the idea 10 thus far just that
mere militia is little dangerous to freedom but
unhappily, It is as little dangerous to anything
else To have nothing else 10 to be disarned
nation, which is soon TO be no nation at all, 10
short, disciplined force must be kept up IN
peace, that your unwarlike state may not invite
attack, OF at least encourage insult IL seheaper
to keep it constantly, and thus to have wars sell
dom than to have armies to form snd ohcers 10
teach nj enormous cost OF life and treasure,
through several years Of humiiating tuition in
actual combat Such was the view Of our two
earliest Presidents; they meant to maintain .
regular force; but the feeble state Of the public
finances limited them TO an establishment Of only