Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/469

Rh the peaceful removal of the Cherokees from Georgia to their present reservation beyond the Mississippi. The threatened collision with Great Britain, grow- ing out of the disputed boundary-line between Maine and New Brunswick, was averted in 1839, mainly through the pacific efforts of Scott, and the question was finally settled by the Webster- Ashburton treaty of 1842.

By the death of Gen. Maoomb in 1841 Scott be- came commander-in-chiet of the army of the United States. In 1847 he was assigned to the chief com- mand of thearmy in Mexico. Draw- ing a portion of Taylor's troops operating from the Rio Grande, and assembling his force at Lo- bos island, on 9 March he land- ed 12,000 men and invested Vera Cruz. The mortar - battery opened on the 22d, and the siege - guns two days later, and on the 20th the city and the castle" of San Juan d'Ulloa capitulated, after nearly 7,000 missiles had been fired. The garrison of 5,000 men grounded arms outside of the city on the 29th. On 8 April, Scott began his march toward Jalapa, and on the 17th reached the Mexican army under Santa- Anna, which occupied the strong mountain-pass of Cerro Gordo. in a defile formed by the Rio del Plan. On the following morning at sunrise the Americans, 8,500 strong, attacked the Mexican army of more than 12.000, and at 2 p. M. had driven the enemy from every point of his line, capturing 5 generals, 3,000 men, 4,500 stand of arms, and 43 cannon, and killing and wounding more than 1.000, with a loss of less than 500. Paroling his prisoners and destroying most of the stores, Scott advanced on the next day to Jalapa, which he captured on 19 April. Perote was occupied on the 22d, and Puebla on 15 May. Here the army remained, drilling am wait ing for re-enforcements till 7 Aug. Gen. Scott had vainly asked that the new troops should be dis- ciplined and instructed in the Vnitrd States before joining the army in Mexico, and the failure to do this gave Santa-Anna an opportunity to create a new army and fortify the capital. Scott began on 7 Aug. to advance toward the city of Mexico by the National road, and, while diverting the atten- tion of the enemy by a feint, on the strong fortress of El Penon on the northwest, made a detour to San Augustin on the south. He then attacked and carried successively Contreras and Churubusco, and could have taken the capital, but an armistice till 7 Sept. was agreed upon to allow the peace commis- sioner, Nicholas P. Trist, an opportunity to nego- tiate. At its close, operations were resumed on the southwest of the city, defended by 14,000 Mexicans occupying Molino del Rey, and Gen. Worth's loss was in storming Molino del Rey before the attack on the wooded and strongly fortified eminence of Chapultepec. On 8 Sept.. Gen. Worth with 3,500 men attacked Molino del Rey. capturing much ma- teriel and more than 800 prisoners, but losing one fourth of his command, including fifty-eight offi- cers. On the 13th Chapultepec was stormed and carried, and on the morning of the 14th Smtt's army marched into the city and occupied the na- tional palace. There was some streel-fighting and firing upon the troops from the buildings, but this was soon suppressed, order was established, and a contribution levied on the city of $150,000, two thirds of which Gen. Scott remitted to the United States to found military asylums. Taxes were laid for the support of the army, and a civil organiza- tion under the protection of the troops was created. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, negotiated by Mr. Trist and other commissioners, Judge Clifford, afterward of the supreme court, of the number, was signed on 2 Feb., 1848, and soon after Mexico was evacuated by the U. S. troops. A court of inquiry into the conduct of the war only redounded to the fame of Scott. In 1852 he was the candidate of the Whig party for the presidency, and received the electoral votes of Vermont, Massachusetts, Ken- tucky, and Tennessee, all the other states voting for the Democratic candidate, Gen. Pierce. In 1859 Gen. Scott as commissioner successfully settled the difficulty arising from the disputed boundary-line of the United States and British America through the Straits of Fuca. Age and infirmity prevented him from taking an active part in the civil war, and on 31 Oct., 1861, he retired from service, retaining his rank, pay, and allowances. Soon afterward he made a brief visit to Europe, and he passed most of the remainder of his days at West Point, re- marking when he arrived there for the last time :

"I have come here to die." Two weeks he lingered, and then fell for a short time into a stupor, from which he aroused, retaining entire possession of his mental faculties and recognizing his family and attendants to the last. A few minutes aft IT rlrrn on the morning of 29 May he passed away so calm- ly that the exact moment of his death was not known. As Frederick the Great's last completely conscious utterance was in reference to his favorite English greyhound, Scott's was in regard to his magnificent horse, the same noble animal that fol- lowed in his funeral procession a few days later. Turning to his servant, the old veteran's last words were : " James, take good care of the horse." In accordance with his expressed wish, he was buried at West Point on 1 June, and his remains were ac- companied to the grave by many of the most illus- trious men of the land, including Gen. (irant and Admiral Farragut,

Gen. Scott was a man of true courage, personally, morally, and religiously brave. He was in manner, association, and feeling, courtly and chivalrous. He was always equal to the danger great on great occasions. His unswerving loyalty and patriotism were ever conspicuous and of the loftiest character. All who appreciated his military genius regretted, when the war of the rebellion be- gan, that Scott was not as he had been at the period of his Mexican victories. He had not the popularity of several of his successors among the soldiers. He was too stately and too exacting in his discipline that power which Carnot calls the glory of the soldier and the strength of armies."