Gazette and sentinel., 1861-06-29
gga3sM &2l5entimer,



whom no one could know without perceiving
in his nature Characteristic of a lofty and
daring characterize already made his name
famous in this war. Without any other evil
dence, the following description of Mr.. ScoTr,
personally and characteristicaiiy, would alone
point to him as the person here alluded to.
He is notquite so tall as stated below, but in
every other respect, it is John Scott all over.
Conjunctively with his friends in this town
and parish, we congratulate him that be has
at last found the true field of success for his
genius and talents. Knowing him as we'll as
we do, we do not wonder that be is as popular
with the ladies as those of his own Sex. Fa
nous overwhelmingly having written a page
in history through his actions, and created
the element for q bronze or marble memento
of his person and services-to what apex Of
celebrity and glory may We not expect he
will attain, shonld the war continue for any
length Of tin Through good and evil, here's
our hand, John Scott!
The following we extract from a letter to
the Delta, dated at Great Bethel, York co.,
June II, 1861:
But Mr.. Scott, l take it, you don't
know and perhaps few of your readers.
Yeti wish you and them to know him,
for he is worth knowing. He is one of
those peculiar men to whose complete
developement peculiar circumstances
.ra If Dr. Ill II
armies and no war, Caesar might have
shone as an o%ratoroqual to Cicero or q
philosopher as famous as Aristotle for
Caesar was too ambitious to rest in
peace or war. But, without the border
campaign in Virginia, it is quite posi-
bic that MIR. Sc"tt's ~neighbors and
friends in West Feliciana and Pointe
Coupee parishes, (he has a plantation
in the last and resides in the tirst) would
have known him only as a genial com
panion and intelligent gentleman, dis
tinguished especially as a good judge
of horse flesh, a bold rider, and a bril-.
liant shot. Here, amid the stirring and
eventful scenes of this peninsula, he is
all this indeed, but he is greatly and
notably more. As a select volunteer
scout in the service of Col. Magruder's
command, it would be hard to point to
any single man who has assisted to more
advantage than he to organize the sue
cess of the Confedel ate arms along this
line Of operations. Leather Stockings
was scarcely a more skillful woodsman,
Marion was not a more daring cavalier.
Though the peninsula was but a short
time ago entirely new to him, lac is 10Y
familiar with every nook and corner of
it-with every high road and by-patll,
inlet, river, creek, morasS, forest, mea-
dow of it, from Hampton and Newport
News to Yorktown and Williamsburg.
NJ one of its inhabitants is so thorough
a master Of its military topography.
He can tell you without chart or field
book, all the ways by which cavalry,
infantry, or artillery could be moved
where the enemy would be at a disad.
vantage-where our troops would hold
a commanding position. A brief con-
versation with him on these topics, is
worth more than the diagram of an en-
gineer. In this respect he is an uncon-
scious genius. The engineer only gives
you lines, and points, and angles ; he
paints. Were you to hear a recital of
his adventures, his conflicts, his perils,
his almost miraculous escapes, you
would be inclined to ask, as this the
story Of Roland or of Amadis, repeated
with a modern variation p We can
not refuse. to believe in the substantial
existence of the Knight errantry of the
medieval romaunts, when we behold
such an instance of the same spirit of
''chivalrous emprise' in our own days.
From Hampton to Yorktown, in every
family OF loyal citizens, the name Of
Mr.. Scott is already an affectionate
household word. He knows them all
He has the friendship and confidence of
the men. The women almost idolizc
him t' "a
Dir. Scott was the first Southerner on
this peninsula, to make a Yankee inva-
der bite the dust he was the first to
bring q live Yankee a prisoner to the
Confederate camp. Several of his des-
perate encounters with the enemys
scouts, pickets, and videttes have been
! attributed to another. / say "desper-
ate encounters" but it is difficult to
conceive what encounter is desperate
for n who combines such consummate
daring, such GOODNESS and presence of
mind, and such ready knowledge of the
situation, however perilous. In one in
stance, near Hampton, in company with
two citizens ON horseback, he was at
tackled by nine Of the enemy who en- |