biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1786–1866)
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| biography:
| US soldier, born near Petersburg, Virginia, USA. A Virginia patrician, he studied law but then joined the US Army. In the War of 1812 he saw considerable action on the Canadian border, was briefly captured, and after being severely wounded in the Battle of Lundy's Lane (near Niagara Falls), he emerged from the war as a national hero. In the peacetime army, he wrote about military tactics and rose in rank, and won a new reputation as a peacemaker for helping to ease the nullification crisis in 1832 and for settling border disputes with Canada. In 1839 he prevented what could have been a bloody conflict by convincing 16 000 Cherokee to accept resettlement beyond the Mississippi. Appointed general-in-chief of the army (1841), he was in command of US forces as they went to war against Mexico (1846) and he took to the field and captured Vera Cruz (Mar 1847). He launched an offensive towards the Mexican capital, and after a series of dramatic victories, he led American forces into Mexico City (Sep 1847). Once more a national hero, affectionately known as ‘Old Fuss and Feathers’ for his weakness for military uniforms and pomp, he ran unsuccessfully for president as a Whig in 1852. When the Civil War broke out, he was still general-in-chief of the US Army, and, although a Virginian, he stayed with the Federal army. Everyone agreed that he was too old and infirm to direct the Union's war, but he formulated what became known as ‘the anaconda plan’ because it called for a snake-like encirclement and strangulation of the Confederacy. He retired (Oct 1861), wrote his memoirs, and travelled to Europe (1864). At his death he was regarded as one of the great men in America's history. |
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