Scott, Winfield

Winfield Scott was born on June 13, 1786, near Petersburg, Virginia. He took part in every US war from 1812 to 1866, and had been a major American hero of the Mexican war. Scott was nicknamed "old Fuss and Feathers" because he dressed so meticulously and was a stickler for military protocol. He declined a commission in the Confederate army, and directed the defenses of Washington, D.C. in October of 1861. While he had performed well in small-army conflicts, the demands of the Civil War seemed to be too much for him. The defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run led many to dismiss his counsel. The rout at Ball's Bluff led to his resignation on November 1, 1861. Before his resignation, however, he developed the Anaconda Plan, a strategy which eventually led to the victory of the Union. Scott predicted that the war would be long and costly, and survived long enough to see the defeat of the Confederacy. Scott died in West Point, New York, on May 29, 1866.