Winfield Scott

It was the worst day America had ever suffered on a battlefield.

And General Winfield Scott rides up to Kavanaugh, who's leading a beleaguered and extremely reduced 69th.

I think they were down to about 1,000 men at the time.

And what does the general ask and what does Captain Kavanaugh answer, Professor?

Sure.

So Winfield Scott was the first commander of the Union Army, but he was old and he retired pretty quickly and ceded command to George McClellan, who would have been in charge during the most like the 18th.

I think he got he took command within towards the end of 1861 and he was command for half of 1862.

And early on, you start to see this big Union army is not winning battles, pretty much.

End of section 0.

read by dr e l martin reminiscences of an army nurse during the civil war by adelaide smith a view of the situation heart strong south would have his way head strong north had said him nay they charged they struck both fell both bled brain rose again ungloved sidney lanier centennial poem it is not my intention to write history but it seems advisable to mention in a few brief notes or extracts for the benefit of the present generation the sentiments held during the civil war when the first confederate shot was fired upon the united states flag then floating over fort sumter in charleston harbor many months of unrest foreboding and apprehension of a coming terror were experienced by the people of the north this fatal shot caused the separation of hitherto devoted families fathers and sons were arrayed against each other some in hate some in sorrow and even mothers wives and sisters shared this unholy animosity all took pronounced sides with north or south except the copperheads whom all loyal northerners despised general winfield scott the hero of many a hard-fought mexican battle though quite superannuated was still in command of the united states armies imperative supercilious and austere disciplinarian usually adorned with all the ornamentation of his rank with chapeau and white plumes he was especially when well mounted a conspicuous figure quite justifying his sobriquet of fuss and feathers in consequence of the secession of south carolina on december twentieth eighteen sixty general anderson commander of the forts of the harbor of charleston bay evacuated fort moultrie six days later the star of the west bringing reinforcements was fired upon by the confederates thus preventing the landing of united states troops on april eleventh eighteen sixty one general anderson refused an order to surrender to general beauregard who during the twelfth and thirteenth ordered a furious bombardment from the surrounding forts upon fort sumter being unprepared for the attack general anderson was compelled to capitulate and to take refuge with his garrison on ships outside the harbor on april fourteenth eighteen sixty one however he saved the national flag which is now carefully preserved in the museum of the war department at washington no casualties having occurred the fort was held by the confederates till the evacuation of charleston february seventeenth eighteen sixty five on april fourteenth eighteen sixty five general anderson had the happiness to raise the old flag once more with his own hands over the demolished fort the following extracts from an unpublished letter of john white chadwick were selected and kindly given me by mrs chadwick some extracts from an account of a trip to charleston and back on the occasion of the raising of the flag on fort sumter after the civil war land ho when at last it was permitted us to raise this cry we were indeed a happy company we entered into the experience of columbus and cabot and balboa the pilot came on board he told us as the pilots always did to come to anchor and we obeyed him and lying there on the still water in the perfect air there came another feeling than that of joy the atmosphere grew heavy with deep thoughts and wonderful associations our hearts were softened and our eyes were dashed with sudden tears in dark and lurid splendour all the great events of four long painful years rose up before us and then again we hoisted anchor and steamed slowly up toward the city in the deepening twilight the warships lying there like terrible grim monsters manned their rigging as we passed and cheered us lustily but there was something in our throats forbidding us to answer them with equal heartiness passing under the battered walls of sumter we sang with trembling voices praise god from whom all blessings flow and to the left was wagner and the ditch where colonel shaw was buried with his dark but trusty men it happened so that god in his great mercy permitted us to be bearers of great tidings to the city news of the rebellion's virtual end to this community which saw its mad beginning once shouted from our deck it flew from wharf to wharf from ship to ship and was received with shouts of thankful joy the night shut in over the accursed city as a band upon the wharf played the dear strain america it was a time never to be forgotten pregnant with thoughts that must remain unspoken before i tried to sleep i stepped ashore and just for a moment standing there under the silent stars thanked god that he had punished awful sin with awful retribution on friday just after ten o'clock we started for the fort in the steamer golden gate which the government officials kindly placed at our disposal about the fort the scene was at once beautiful and exciting there were thirty ships and steamers in its immediate vicinity and they blossomed all over with flags and the little boats belonging to the warships were shooting here and there and everywhere obedient to the lusty strokes of their stout oarsmen dressed for the occasion in their very best we were on shore by half-past twelve o'clock and wandering at will about the tattered mound that had once been fort sumter indeed they had made ossa like a wart it had no form or comeliness it was a perfect heap anon came general anderson and mr beecher and the rest the general's speech was for so great an hour the very smallest possible affair but when it came to raising the old flag he did hoist away like a good fellow and it went up right handsomely the people rose up as one man and shouted their hurrahs as if they thought to wake the echoes from the st lawrence to the gulf and the band played the star-spangled banner just as if they meant it as they did of course and then from ship and fort the cannon thundered away like mad and when they ceased with their roar mr beecher took it up and thundered to good purpose for an hour or more saturday saw william lloyd garrison preside over an assembly of two thousand colored people if not more in zion church and noble words were spoken which these people did not fail to understand from charleston wharf to hampton roads our voyage was pleasant and the weather very fine going into hampton roads on tuesday swiftly and silently over the still water we saw a vessel with her colours at half-mast not long after a pilot shouted to us across the waves from a great distance that the president was dead either we could not or would not believe it another vessel sailed along with drooping colours and told us how he died and then the shadow of his death swept down and folded from our sight all of those great and rare experiences which we had been enjoying it seemed to us that we should never be able to recollect them from that shadow we went ashore at the great fortress where his dear feet had been scarcely a week before but we had no eyes to see anything it had been proposed to go to portsmouth norfolk and to city point but we had no heart for it and so we came together in the cabin and voted that we would go home john white chadwick the government called for seventy five thousand troops on april fifteenth to put down the rebellion in ninety days according to secretary seward's confident announcement on april nineteenth the sixth regiment of the massachusetts brigade first to respond to the call was fired upon by a mob while passing through baltimore and a number were wounded and some killed the ellsworth zouaves were enlisted chiefly through the enthusiastic patriotism of young colonel ellsworth who on arriving at alexandria with his regiment saw a confederate flag flying above a small hotel and at once ordered the flag hauled down this was refused and the indignant boy rashly rushed to the roof and dared to pull it down himself when he was shot dead by the rebel owner colonel ellsworth was killed may twenty fourth eighteen sixty one lincoln's grief at the death of this daring boy was overwhelming ellsworth had studied law with him for a time in his office and he loved him as a son and as a son and early martyr of the war he was laid in state at the white house for funeral services war with its untold horrors had begun meanwhile it was becoming evident that president buchanan had permitted or had at least become strangely blind to the introduction of foreign ammunition into southern ports while the traitor secretary floyd still under oath to the union held his office until the last possible moment encouraging and assisting the salle in building forts and in many ways accumulating almost openly materials of war at last the people awoke to the fact that many southern regiments and garrisons were well equipped for the conflict while the unsuspecting north was almost wholly unprepared people had become so accustomed to fire-eaters bluster and their threats and boastings of the superior prowess of the south that if they listened at all it was considered mere political bombast which passed unheeded until war was actually begun in november eighteen sixty one general mcclellan superseded general scott who then retired from active duty at the age of seventy-five and died later at the good old age of eighty general mcclellan began a slow thorough system of discipline which was very trying to the enthusiasm of volunteer recruits who soon discovered that to use the pick and shovel were as essential duties as carrying a musket and were now compelled to work in swamps and trenches throwing up earthworks and intrenchments for many long months the impatient public claimed that egotism and ambition prevented general mcclellan from moving on to richmond thus prolonging the war and his army settled down before the enemy in masterly inactivity during this time many disgruntled soldiers climbed hills and trees and saw the city of richmond practically defenseless for three days still he did not move this large army had lived and worked in earthworks for many weary months until malaria and dysentery had sent hundreds of incapacitated soldiers north to be cared for they were among the first bitter fruits of the terrible struggles scarcely yet begun not long after the defeat at bull run manassas both sides claimed the victory did we for a moment believe that southern courage was equal to northern valor in an open conflict or that the rebellion could not be put down within a few months and so we stood aghast when the attack under general mcdowell failed to put down the rebellion in a single battle general horatio c king in his address before the thirty-seventh reunion of the army of the potomac repeated these potent words of general grant as i recall the interview general grant spoke in substance as follows i cannot imagine why any one should conceive for a moment that i would not be glad to work in any capacity with general mcclellan i have known him but little personally since we served together in mexico but i have always admired him both as a man and as a soldier and i am probably under greater obligations to general mcclellan than to any one man now living general mcclellan was called to a great command unfortunately for him too early in the history of the war when many difficult military and political questions remained unsettled he and his acts were the subject of wide discussion and unjust criticism but general mcclellan was the man who created the great instrumentality with which i had the honor of closing out the rebellion General McClellan organized, trained, disciplined, led, and inspired the army of the Potomac.

General McClellan made that army the finest fighting machine of our day, if not of any time.

It was his good work in creating that army which enabled me in my turn to accomplish the things for which I received the glory, and for all of which I am grateful to General McClellan.

Killing 11 Americans and capturing dozens of others.

Polk then asked Congress for a declaration of war, and Taylor and General Winfield Scott led the nation to an overwhelming and swift victory, eventually occupying Mexico City, which inspired the opening lines of the Marine hymn, From the Halls of Montezuma.

The Mexican War was not without its detractors, as young Whig Congressman Abraham Lincoln repeatedly denounced it on the floor of the House of Representatives, claiming the ambush had been manufactured.

He called it immoral, pro-slavery, and a threat to the nation's values.