Daily American telegraph., 1852-10-11
AMERICAN TELEGRAPH.
ANECDOTES ESOF
WINFIELD SCOTT.
BY Edward William johnson.
.s SOLDIER AND As GITIzE

AS SOLDIER AND As CITIZEN
BY Edward William johnson.
[PART FoULTHl
Queenstown Heights.
Decatur, that bravest Of the brave at sea, said
we'll when, after the example Of valor by land set
at Queenstown, and till then wanting--meeting
Scott, he said to him, aSir, you have shown the
way to victory The words were prophetic
There were failures afterwards, through the In
competency Of generals; but none where Scott was
the leader and defeats, from that moment ceased !;
while brilliant triumphs followed, as soon as the
young commander rose to o rank which permitted
him to add to the example Of valor which he had
set the effects Of discipline and Of generalship.
Nothing could we'll have been worse conceived
or more ill-sustained than was the attack upon
Queenstown It was certain to end In repulse;
1t was likely to end In the capture Of all the troops
thrown across. indeed, It was an expedition de-
vised, not by the prudence Of Gen. Van Rense-
lasr, but by the insubordination Of his militia,
who, oddly enough, had no sooner compelled their
good old commander to send over the attacking
force, which they were to follow, than they fell
into scruples about the constitutionality of march
ing State troops beyond their own borders, under
the orders Of the President of the United States,
and actually, after thrusting their comrades into
a fight whether or no. stood debating Of State
rights and the qualities Of strict construction,
until British reinforcement after reinforcement
was pressed upon our repeatedly troops
and they were forced to lay down their arms!
Nota party to either the planning or the con.
Quoting Of so bootless an enterprise, Scott yet
FASTENED to join 1t first because they were very
certain to need him. If they crossed and secondly,
because ID is out of desperate undertakings that
good conduct can pluck the most honor. Per-
mitted at first, only to cover with his artillery
from our shore, the landing, he witnessed the
gallantry with which the heights were carried !;
the preparations Of that most soldiery adversary,
Brock, to retake them; the shrinking OF most,
the confusion Of all, on our side and he deter
mined that he at lest, would fling himself across.
Others might, upon the perilous edge of battle,
| forget the national honor at stake, and abandon
brave comrades to their fate out of constitutional
| scruples at such moments, true men know none
The capable the good, the brave, never stand re-
fning In the face Of duty and of danger. He
wrung from Gen. Van Rensselaer, permission to pass
over and assume the command on the Heights and
taking with him no reinforcement but his adju-
tant, Mr.. Roach, hastened across, resolved either
to hold good the advantage already won, until our
people recovered from their panic or their ab
straotions and brought him succors, or else to
make with the small force there such stand for
honor and for examples sake, as friends needed
and foes should not forget. All this, need hardly
say, he perfectly performed. If they on this side
did not accept the former alternative, he at least,
accomplished the latter A more brilliant defence,
fought almost invincbly against all the odds that
could be poured upon him again and again, was
never seen and when at last, anything else grown
impossible, he made the only surrender he was
destined ever to make, it was such surrender as
left to the vanquished all the glory of the day.
| shall not repeat the stories abundantly well
| known, of Scotts coolness and of his headlong
bravery, by turns displayed in that unequal yet
| long protracted fight. There are, however, par
ticular traits that must not be entirely passed
and some incidents not yet introduced into books,
though of known truth, which / must touch upon.
The frst of these is the conduct of Gen. Wads-
worth who, on his arrival, as outranking Scott
for the command Of the militia, would have at
least divided the lead with him; but who at once
waived his rights, and even--charmed with the
heroism of the yonng conqaeror--repeatedly
threw himself before him to shield him from the
Indian rifles of which his conspicuous person
and acts made him the mark The fact does great
honor to the generous spirit Of Wadsworth; but
Il plainly bespeaks also, the brilliant and impo-
sing qualities in battle Of him who could at once
excite such personal devotion In an older officer.
A like thing Is betokened in the common soldiers,
by the enthusiasm with which, as soon as they
saw what q true warrior was at their head, they
fought under him. His persisting to expose him
self In the full glitter of his parade dress, when
he already drew all eyes without 1t, has been, by
some shallow folks, whom probably not even
vanity itself could make quite so bold charged
with ostentation. But that was his very errand !;
he went to set an example; 1t was his business,
therefore In every way TO render 1t as striking
he could. His little military harangue from the
fallen tree-trunk, to fire his surviving band
(scsrcey more eutnumbered than spent with
wounds and fatigue) to one last stand, that might
forever cancel the shame of Hulls surrender Is
fine soldiers speech, plain, short pthy, stirring
none Of your hall oratory, your indoor eloquence,
In which men die In metaphor for their country,
who never have grasped weapon; but words that
do little more than to show the foe and the flag,
and to tell you In few warlike sentences, such as
the time alone can afford, that these are to be
struck and that this Is not sentences just long
enough to tighten mems sinews upon swords and
frelooks. Measured by that hne talk which
leisure and safety can compose, SCOTS was, no
doubt quite poor performance; but many an orator
would have been mute enough there, and If men
have out-spoken him, none have out-fought him.
The ready sef-devotion In q commander, with
which to save the lives of his dear comrades he
made bis sword and pocket handkerchief into flag
of truce and set forward to seek Gen Sheaffe with
H. although several previous bearers of flags had
been shot down by the Indians, las indeed, he
came near beingJ or made prisoners, is fine
proof Of that affection for his men which he has
always shown In field, in camp, IN cholera, every
where so, again, afterwards, the frmness with
which, while in the enemy's hands, he interfered
to prevent hs Irish soldiers from being treated
as traitors to England, and never forgetting them,
persevered, until, by retaliation, he forced the
enemy to send them back to their adopted country,
is sure pledge Of the warmth and falthfulness Of
his heart And, finally--passing over the story
of the reyengeful attempt of the Indian chiefs,
Jacobs and young Brandt, the son Of the bloody
Brandt who committed the celebrated butchcry of
Wyomipg) to asssssinate, in his quarters as a
prisoner the tall officer" who had been 80 vainly
the mark of their rifles, while heading the dee