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Preferred Citation:

Winfield Scott Letter to W.C. Preston, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Acquisition Information:

Acc. 2015.001 was received by Special Collections in January of 2015. The addition of Mss. Acc. 2015.001 to the collections was made possible by the Johns-Pollard Fund.

Processing Information:

Accessioned and minimally described by Tim Eklund, SCRC staff, in February 2015.

Biographical / Historical

Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786 - May 29, 1866) was a United States Army general, diplomat, and presidential candidate. Known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" and the "Grand Old Man of the Army", he served on active duty as a general longer than any other man in American history and most historians rate him the ablest American commander of his time. Over the course of his fifty-year career, he commanded forces in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole War, and, briefly, the American Civil War, conceiving the Union strategy known as the Anaconda Plan that would be used to defeat the Confederacy. A national hero after the Mexican War, he served as military governor of Mexico City. Such was his stature that, in 1852, the United States Whig Party passed over its own incumbent President of the United States, Millard Fillmore, to nominate Scott in the U.S. presidential election. Scott lost to Democrat Franklin Pierce in the general election, but remained a popular national figure, receiving a brevet promotion in 1856 to the rank of lieutenant general, becoming the first American since George Washington to hold that rank.

Administrative History:

Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786 - May 29, 1866) was a United States Army general, diplomat, and presidential candidate. Known as "Old Fuss and Feathers" and the "Grand Old Man of the Army", he served on active duty as a general longer than any other man in American history and most historians rate him the ablest American commander of his time. Over the course of his fifty-year career, he commanded forces in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole War, and, briefly, the American Civil War, conceiving the Union strategy known as the Anaconda Plan that would be used to defeat the Confederacy. A national hero after the Mexican War, he served as military governor of Mexico City. Such was his stature that, in 1852, the United States Whig Party passed over its own incumbent President of the United States, Millard Fillmore, to nominate Scott in the U.S. presidential election. Scott lost to Democrat Franklin Pierce in the general election, but remained a popular national figure, receiving a brevet promotion in 1856 to the rank of lieutenant general, becoming the first American since George Washington to hold that rank.

Scope and Contents

Letter, 1842 November 7, written by General Winfield Scott to W. C. Preston, a politician. In the letter, Scott recounts recommending Preston to the president for a position in Paris, and goes on to discuss the presidential nomination of the Whig party, for which he was a possible candidate. Scott expressed a desire to be nominated only if the Whigs stood a small chance of winning. The letter was written in Washington, D.C.. A transcript of the letter is included with some annotations.

Related Material

Winfield Scott Papers (Mss. 82s Sco3), Robert E. Lee to Winfield Scott Letter (Mss. Sm Coll Lee, Robert E.), John Buchanan Floyd Papers (Mss. 65 F59), Mexican-American War Collection (Mss. Acc. 2008.199).

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Letters (correspondence)
• United States--Politics and government--1841-1845
• Whig Party (U.S.)