Book Review - Agent of Destiny: The Life and Times of General Winfield Scott

• Author: Major E. A. Harper
• Pages: 07

2000] BOOK REVIEWS 163

AGENT OF DESTINY:

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT1

REVIEWED BY MAJOR E. A. HARPER2

General Winfield Scott is widely remembered as Old Fuss and Feathers, a worn out general who, at the beginning of the Civil War, was so obese and decrepit that he could not even mount his horse.3 John S. D. Eisenhower laments this memory and seeks to change it in Agent of Destiny: The Life and Times of General Winfield Scott. Eisenhower portrays Scott as a gallant, courageous, and vain man; a master of military art and science but a naïve and fumbling politician. The painting that graces the dust jacket of the book is telling in the author's view of his subject. He starts his book with an emphatic sentence: "He was an astonishing man, one of the most astonishing in American history."4 Eisenhower's goal in writing Agent of Destiny is clearly to rehabilitate Scott's reputation in the modern American mind. He meets that goal admirably, though a lack of documentation calls into question the work's scholarly value. A second, though by no means secondary, effect comes from telling Scott's story. Eisenhower also tells the story of the youth of the United States of America. Agent of Destiny is valuable to the military officer as a study in successful military leadership, and in the evolution of the U.S. Armed Forces and the nation itself.

Eisenhower breaks no new ground with this work, but rather retells Scott's story with a fresh, positive spin. Unfortunately, his documentation is scant and inconsistent. He relies heavily on secondary sources, especially two biographies of Scott5 and histories of the army and the nation. He also draws heavily from the general's own memoirs.6 Eisenhower

attributes opinions and judgments to the historical figures that march through the story, usually without the slightest documentation as to authenticity. When he does cite to an authoritative, primary source, it is too often through one of the secondary sources. For instance, notes 3, 6, and 7, in chapter seven cite original letters from participants in the event in question, but only through the secondary sources of Elliot's biography and Henry Adams's history7. Notes 1, 4, 8, and 9, of that same chapter are informational footnotes, rather than source citations, and even these offer unproved facts.

Elsewhere, Eisenhower gives casualty statistics for many battles, but rarely cites their sources.8 In criticizing the conduct of one of Scott's rivals, General Edmund Gaines, during the Second Seminole War, Eisenhower asserts that the garrison Gaines commanded was relieved when the Seminole enemy treated for peace, "despite their later bravado."9 Eisenhower uses this episode to attack his subject's antagonist, yet offers no authority for the assertion. This habit leaves the reader concerned with the authenticity of the facts from which Eisenhower's often insightful conclusions are drawn. Eisenhower's haphazard documentation and heavy reliance on secondary sources call into question the credibility of his work. That said, this review is of the General Scott whom Eisenhower creates, a skilled and popular commander who played a pivotal role in the development of America.

The shortcomings in authority aside, Agent of Destiny is a well-written, enlightening, and entertaining book. Eisenhower tells his story with flair. He is skilled at concisely explaining historical events and succinctly placing them in perspective. Eisenhower relates the battles and campaigns-military, political, and social-with an obvious knowledge of the subject. He translates the action into a clear picture for the reader; there is enough detail for depth, but not so much as to wallow in a quagmire of minutiae. Eisenhower provides useful, often unique, maps and sketches.

The illustration of the growth of America during Scott's military service is particularly creative and insightful.10 However, as with almost any work of history, more maps would have been helpful, especially in the portion regarding the Mexican-American War.

If America was born on 4 July 1776, its infancy lasted until the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Puberty took place from 1803-1865 and the Civil War, adolescence from 1865 until 1914 and World War I, when America came of age as a young adult. The United States reached full maturity in 1945, following World War II, and enjoys its greatest strength at present. More than any single person, Scott was responsible for shepherding the young state through its formative, pubescent years. He served on active duty under fourteen presidents, thirteen as a general officer.11 He was a hero in one war, a conqueror in another, and an elder statesman in his last. The very title of the book illustrates that Scott was instrumental in the growth and maturation of America. Eisenhower equates the presidents, collectively, to the architect of the...