Winfield Scott was, indeed, a Civil War general, the chief of staff and architect of the Union Army’s Anaconda strategy of a naval blockade and control of the Mississippi River that eventually wore down the Confederacy. However, the Civil War began in 1861, well past the sinking of his namesake ship in 1853. Scott was honored for his generalship in the Mexican War 1846-48, notably his amphibious landing at Vera Cruz and his march inland through hostile territory to take Mexico City — a feat the British hero of Waterloo, Grand Duke Wellington, described as one of most striking in military history.
