| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.4

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Winfield Scott and the Profession of Arms. By Allan Peskin. (Kent: Kent State University Press, 2004. xii, 328 pp. $49.00, ISBN 0-87338-774-0.)
Prior to 1997, there had not been a full-scale biography of Winfield Scott in sixty years. Now, in the last six years, there have been three more. Allan Peskin's Winfield Scott and the Profession of Arms is the latest.	1
Winfield Scott began his career in the United States Army as a captain in 1808 and retired fifty-three years later as the army's commanding general. During most of his career he was one of the most well-known military figures in the country. The Duke of Wellington thought Winfield Scott was the greatest soldier of his time, but, after reading Peskin's biography, several other adjectives suggest themselves with regard to Scott. Arrogant. Contentious. Lucky.	2
With no applicable military experience, but with political connections, Scott won a commission. He almost resigned when his first assignment and his first commanding officer were not to his liking. His unofficerlike conduct in this instance earned him a court-martial and a one-year suspension from the service. In fact, throughout the remainder of his long career he enmeshed himself in personality conflicts with several of his contemporaries. As commanding general of the army, later in his career, Scott petulantly removed his headquarters to New York City whenever he got crosswise with the administration in Washington.	. . .

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