Winfield Scott (1786-1866) Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786 - May
29, 1866) was a United States lieutenant general, diplomat, and
presidential candidatean army officer who held the rank of
general in three wars, the unsuccessful Whig candidate for
president in 1852, and the foremost American military figure
between the Revolution and the Civil War. He served on active
duty as a general longer than any other man in American history
and most historians rate him the ablest American general of his
time. Scott was born on his family's farm near Petersburg,
Virginia. He attended the College of William & Mary and was a
lawyer and a Virginia militia cavalry corporal before being
directly commissioned as captain in the artillery in 1808.
Scott's early years in the Army were tumultuous. His commission
as a colonel was suspended for one year following a court-
martial for insubordination in criticizing his commanding
general. He fought on the Niagara frontier in the War of 1812,
was captured by the British in that campaign