William Scott ( The Sleeping Sentinel ) William Scott ( c . 1839 or 1840 - April 17 , 1862 ) was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War . He was the " Sleeping Sentinel " who was pardoned by Abraham Lincoln and memorialized by a poem and then a 1914 silent film . Biography . Scott was born in Groton , Vermont , in either 1839 or 1840 . He joined Company K , 3rd Vermont Infantry . This was a company of militia from St . Johnsbury , a nearby town . When his unit was encamped at the Chain Bridge near Washington , D . C . , Scott was found asleep at his post on August 31 , 1861 . He was subsequently court - martial ed , and sentenced to be executed . In Scott ' s defense , he had volunteered to take the place of a comrade the night before and was himself exhausted . These facts were known to the court at the time and figured prominently in newspaper reports , appeals by his superiors for clemency , and his subsequent reprieve . On September 9 , Scott was scheduled to be executed . During the proceedings , after the death sentence had been read , a pardon from President Lincoln was read , sparing his life . Scott served faithfully with his regiment until the Battle at Lee ' s Mills where he was mortally wounded charging the " rifle pits " there . He was eventually interred in the national cemetery at Yorktown , Virginia . The pardon . The actual pardon was issued by McClellan , not Lincoln . HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC Washington , September 8 . Private William Scott , of Company K . of the Third regiment of Vermont volunteers , having been found guilty by court martial of sleeping on his post while a sentinel on picket guard , has been sentenced to be shot , and the sentence has been approved and ordered to be executed . The commanding officers of the brigade , the regiment and the company , of the command , together with many other privates and officers of his regiment , have earnestly appealed to the Major - General commanding , to spare the life of the offender , and the President of the United States has expressed a wish that as this is the first condemnation to death in this army for this crime , mercy may be extended to the criminal . This fact , viewed in connection with the inexperience of the condemned as a soldier , his previous good conduct and general good character , and the urgent entreaties made in his behalf , have determined the Major - General commanding to grant the pardon so earnestly prayed for . This act of clemency must not be understood as affording a precedent for any future case . The duty of a sentinel is of such a nature , that its neglect by sleeping upon or deserting his post may endanger the safety of a command , or even of the whole army , and all nations affix to the offence the penalty of death . Private William Scott of Co . K . of the Third regiment of Vermont volunteers , will be released from confinement and returned to duty . By command of Maj . - General McClellan , S . WILLIAMS , Asst . Adjt . - General . Investigating his life and death . Several historians have reported the drama of his conviction , pardon and subsequent death during battle . Carl Sandburg has performed the most exhaustive research into Scott ' s life and death . He had debunked the report of Scott ' s last dramatic words as improbable due to records which implied that Scott , mortally wounded by as many as five or six bullets , was in a coma before his death , and could not have uttered anything coherent . Nor did Lincoln ride to the camp to ensure his pardon was received in time . However , recent research has indicated , contrary to Sandburg ' s findings , that Lincoln was indeed personally aware of the situation and did personally intervene on Scott ' s behalf .