LT. GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 11/30/1838 - HFSID 285254
Price: $2,400.00
WINFIELD SCOTT
As war with Britain threatens (1838), he rushes north to command US defenses
on the northern frontier. This revealing ALS shows Scott taking charge of the
situation.
Autograph Letter signed: "Winfield Scott", 1 pages, 8x10, addressed by
Scott and docketed on verso. Steamboat near Cincinnati, Headquarters E.
Division, 1838 November 30. To Brigadier General Hugh Brady, Commander, US
Military Garrison at Detroit. In full: "I am approaching the Canada
frontiers;, but whether I shall pass from Columbus to Cleveland, or by way of
Harrisburg, Albany & Utica, I shall be unable to say up to my arrival at
Columbus. It being important that I should personally confer with the
Governors of Pennsylvania & N. York, I shall take the latter route if
the intelligence I may get at Columbus will permit. The object of this letter is
to request a report from you of the state of the frontier under your
immediate observation. Please give the posts occupied by your troops & a
report of all recent & apprehended events which may be interesting to
the Service. Address me, until further notice, at Buffalo. If I should not be
there, directions will be given for your report to follow me. To gain time, in
important cases, do not hesitate to employ expresses. I remain, Sir, with great
respect, your most obedient servant." Winfield Scott (1786-1866) was one
of the most brilliant military leaders in US history. Rising to Major
General in the War of 1812, he later would lead the successful campaign
from the coast at Veracruz to Mexico City during the Mexican War
(1845-1846), against a foe much more skilled and tenacious than is generally
recognized today. At the beginning of 1838, Scott was (unhappily but under
orders) supervising the removal of the Cherokee Indian nation from the Southeast
US to Oklahoma, along what became known as "the Trail of Tears." In that year,
however, a serious dispute developed over the boundary between Maine and Canada.
War seemed very possible. President Van Buren ordered Scott north to take
command of US forces, but with secret instructions to settle the dispute
peaceably if possible. This letter shows Scott assuming command, receiving
reports on US defensive deployments while conferring with the Governors whose
militia forces would be an essential part of the US Order of Battle if war came.
Scott's diplomacy - he was well acquainted with the opposing British
commander - helped defuse the crisis, leading to the permanent
delineation of the Maine boundary in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842. In
1841, Scott began 20 years of service as US Army Commander, a period which
included not just the war with Mexico, but the early days of the Civil War.
The Anaconda Plan, devised by Scott in 1861, provided the strategic framework
for ultimate Union victory. Scott was less successful in his venture into
politics. The last Presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852, he
lost to Democrat Franklin Pierce. Stained, foxed and creased. Wear tears at
folds. 1½x¼ tear on address page - not affecting content.
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