Evening star., 1951-04-04
You Think We've Got Feuds TODAY?
By Edword Boykin

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TT WAS 5000 miles from Washington
J. to Jalapa, Mexico-less than one
third the distance to Tokyo-and Presi-
dent James K. Polk was hopping mad.
The object of his ire was Maj. Gen.
Winfield Scott. commanding an Amer
lean army advancing into the heart of
Mexico
Just as nowwith Gen. Macarthur
and the administration tiffing over the
question Of who Is to carry the ball-so
1t was in 1847. Only more 80. Much
more.
= The rift between Scott and the ad-
ministration began with the American
declaration of war on May Is. l846.
Reluctantly, Polk had given Scott the
supreme command, though" he con-
fided to his diary and to Secretary of
War Marcy. II did not consider him
suited to such an important command"
Scott. however. was clearly the rank
ing American general. He was so years
old. veteran OF the War of 1912, a
picturesque public figure for 40 years
and something Of politician on the
Wing side.
On May 10. without consulting his
General in Chief. Polk asked Congress
to create two new major generals and
several brigadiers. On the surface he
was dissatisfied because Scott had not
dashed. of to the scene of war on the
Rio Grande. He wanted a major gen.
eral on tap to supersede Scott, if the
latter delayed too long in getting him
self into action. A deeper consideration
was Scott's Wing affiliation. The same
applied to Zachary Taylor who, pending
SCOTS arrival. commanded the army of
occupation on the Rio Grande There
must be few Democrat generals put
In position to gather war laurels
When Scott heard what Polk had done,
he boiled over. To Secretary of War
Marcy he wrote sizzling letter, which
was rushed to the President. If that was
the way they wanted to run the war,
Scott said, he would prefer to have some
one else command the army against
Mexico. II do not desire to place myself
in the most perilous of all positions
a fire upon my rear from Washington
and the fire. in front, from the Mexi-
cans" he said.
The President fired back by taking
Scott at his word and ordering him to
prosecute the war from desk in Wash
ington. Thoroughly rebuffed, Scott sent
an apology and accepted the Presidents
mandate He began this historic epistle
with this sentence: "Your letter of this
date. received as sat down to take a
hasty plate of soup, demands a prompt
reply" Washington diplomat promptly
dubbed Scott Marshal Tureen" This
letter was to dog Scott for the rest of
his days.
The war dragged on through the sum-
mer, and by September President Polk
and his cabinet became convinced that
victory could not be won in Northern
Mexico. The capture of Vera Cruz was
decided on as the next move. Picking
general to command this new expedi-
tion was a problem: Polk promptly
passed up Taylor. who was already eye
ing the presidency in l848. The grudg-
ing choice fell on Scott.
The President and his general parted
on the best of terms, but hardly was
Scott out OF Washington before Polk
asked Congress to appoint lieutenant
general to be superior to both Scott
and Taylor. The new appointee was to
take over after Scott captured Vera
Cruz. When Scott heard of the plan to
outrank him. he characterized Polk as
"an enemy more to be dreaded than
Santa Anna, the Mexican commander
and all his hosts" But the Senate
came to Scott's rescue by blocking Polk's
request.
At New Orleans, as Scott passed
through, somebody blabbed the top
secret invasion plan to a newspaper,
thus tipping Mexico off to what was
coming. When the President heard about
it he charged that Scott's "inordinate
vanity" had led him to babble. Scott
replied to Polk's jab by telling a group
OF his officers. II am entering upon this
campaign with a halter around my
neck. The end Of it is at Washington,
and they are ruthless executioners.'
On April 10, 1847, SCOTS dispatch
announcing the capture of Vera Cruz
reached the President, who determined
to bring the war to quick end. He i'm
mediately dispatched to Mexico, armed
with plenipotentiary power, one Nicholas
P. Trist, chief clerk of the State Depart
ment. Never in American history was a
clerk invested with such authority. He
lacked only one power: He must not
sign treaty. But he was to do all the
negotiating and make q deal with
Mexico involving the transfer of an
empire to the United States
Travelling incognito, much inflated
by his commission, Trist set out for
SCOTS headquarters at Jalapa. His trip
was deep secret for five days-until
the New York Herald published the
whole story. BY the time he reached
Vera Cruz, Trist's self Importance knew
no bounds. He was "the government in
Mexico" He sent a letter to Scott in
forming the general that he, Trist, had
arrived, to arrange for a truce and
negotiate peace with Mexico It was
Scott's first inkling of Trist's existence.
He exploded in all directions He told
Trist that he would not permit the ad-
ministration to degrade him, the COM
mander of the army, by requiring him
to defer to clerk. He also dashed off
hot letter to the Secretary of War
expressing his opinion Of the administra-
ton. When Scott's defiant blast reached