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Old Fort Meade Museum

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Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Old Fort Meade Museum
Phone:
+1 605-347-9822

Address:
50 Sheridan St, Fort meade, SD 57741, USA

Winfield Scott served as a general in the U.S. Army longer than any other person in American history. He is rated as one of the Army's most senior commissioned officers, and is ranked by many historians as the best American commander of his time. Scott was also a candidate for the Whig Party presidential nomination three times; selected in 1852, he lost the general election to Franklin Pierce. Over the course of his 53-year career, he commanded forces in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, the Mexican–American War, and the Second Seminole War. He was the army's senior officer at the start of the American Civil War, and conceived the Union strategy known as the Anaconda Plan, which was used to defeat the Confederacy. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army for twenty years, longer than any other holder of the office. Scott was born and educated in Virginia; after brief attendance at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and study in a law office, he attained admission to the bar. Scott practiced law briefly, and served in the Virginia Militia during the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair of 1807. In 1808, Scott was commissioned as a captain in the Light Artillery of the United States Army. He rose to prominence during the War of 1812, and attained promotion to brigadier general. Scott remained in the Army after the war, served in several command positions, and carried out high level staff tasks, including frequent updates to the Army's field regulations. After missing out on appointment as the Army's commanding general in 1828, he received it in 1841; he served in this post until his retirement in 1861, shortly after the start of the American Civil War. Known as Old Fuss and Feathers and the Grand Old Man of the Army, Scott was a national hero after the Mexican–American War, where he led one of the two invading armies; he later served as occupying military governor of Mexico City. His stature was so high that in 1852, the Whig Party passed over its own incumbent President, Millard Fillmore to nominate Scott as their candidate in that year's presidential election. Scott lost to Democratic Party nominee Franklin Pierce in the general election, but remained a popular national figure, receiving a brevet promotion to lieutenant general in 1855, becoming the first American since George Washington to hold that higher rank.At the start of the Civil War, Scott took steps to defend the national capital city of Washington, D.C. and ensure the successful inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th president in March 1861. Though too old and infirm to take the field, Scott served as Lincoln's principal military adviser at the start of the war, and conceived of the Anaconda Plan; though dismissed by critics who regarded the plan's extended and prolonged blockade of southern ports as too passive, Scott's idea was incorporated into the overall Union strategy which brought about the eventual defeat of the Confederacy. During his years as commanding general, Scott took great interest in the development of the United States Military Academy. Following friction with Federal senior field commander of the Army of the Potomac, George B. McClellan, Scott retired to West Point, New York. He died at West Point on May 29, 1866 and was buried at West Point Cemetery.
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