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 retreats of the savages and fugitive slaves who had joined them, and set fire to their villages. He likewise took possession, without hesitation, of several of the Spanish posts in that region, whence the Indians had been supplied with arms and ammunition, and executed two Englishmen who had been actively engaged in this trade. The posts were restored by the orders of the government; but an attempt in the House of Representatives in Congress to inflict a censure upon General Jackson, for the irregularity of his proceedings, was defeated, after very protracted debates, by a considerable majority. When Florida was transferred by Spain to the United States, he was appointed the first governor of the new territory (in 1821). He resigned this office, and returned to his farm near Nashville, in the following year. In 1823, he was once more chosen to represent the State of Tennessee in the Senate of the United States, but resigned his seat in that body on becoming a prominent candidate for the presidency. Of the electoral votes which were given in the end of the year 1824, he received 99, Mr. Adams 84, Mr. Crawford 41, and Mr. Clay 37. The election devolved, by the provisions of the constitution, on the members of the House of Representatives in Congress, voting by states, and Mr. Adams was selected to be the president. In 1828, and again in 1832, General Jackson was chosen to fill that high office; in the former instance, by 178 of the electoral votes to 83 given in favor of Mr. Adams; and, in the latter, by a majority of 170 electoral votes above his opponent, Mr. Clay. He survived his presidency somewhat more than 8 years, dying at his residence, the 'Hermitage,' near Nashville, on the 8th of June, 1845. Though enfeebled in body, he retained his mental faculties, apparently undiminished, till the day of his death. 'The violence of political strife,' as is remarked by a writer in the American Almanac for 1846, 'will long confuse men's judgment of his character and abilities as a whole; but will accord to him the praise of great firmness, energy, decision, and disinterestedness,—of remarkable military skill, and ardent patriotism.'

WINFIELD SCOTT

Winfield Scott, commander-in-chief of the American army, was born June 13, 1786, near Petersburg, Virginia. He is descended from a Scotch family, who were obliged to take refuge in America after the rebellion of 1745. After completing his preparatory education, he spent a year or two at William and Mary college, and afterward studied the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1806. In the autumn of 1807, he emigrated to South Carolina, intending to practice his profession at Charleston, but meeting with difficulties in the attainment of his object, he returned to the north. The political events of the country were then rapidly approaching the crisis of 1812; a bill had passed through Congress to enlarge the army, and Scott having applied for a commission, was appointed, in 1808, captain in a regiment of light artillery, and was ordered the following year to join the army in Louisiana, under the command of General Wilkinson. For some act of insubordination toward his commander he was suspended for a year, but he again joined the army before the commencement of the war. Shortly after that event, he received a lieutenant-colonel's commission, and was posted at Black Rock, on the Niagara frontier. His first active service