Brevet Lt. General Winfield Scott, (sculpture).

Brevet Lt. General Winfield Scott, (sculpture).

Brown, Henry Kirke, 1814-1886, sculptor.

Babcock, O. E., architect.

Harney, George E., architect.

Robert Wood & Company, founder.

Cape Ann Granite Company, fabricator.

Brevet Lt. General Winfield Scott, (sculpture).

Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, (sculpture).

General Winfield Brevet Scott, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite.

Sculpture: approx. 15 x 10 x 10 ft.; Base: approx. 2 x 24 x 30 ft.

(Base, south side:) SCOTT

General Scott is depicted astride his horse holding the reins in his proper left hand. His proper right hand, holding a pair of field glasses, rests on his proper right hip. He is dressed in his military uniform consisting of a long jacket with fringed epaulets and decorative sash, and his hat. His sword is on his proper left side. His horse is walking, head raised. The sculpture rests on a tiered base adorned with architectural decoration. The work is installed in the middle of a traffic circle.

Portrait male -- Scott, Winfield -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- Lieutenant General

Dress -- Accessory -- Eye wear

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Outdoor Sculpture -- District of Columbia -- Washington

Administered by United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, District of Columbia

Located Scott Circle, Massachusetts Avenue & 16th Street, N.W., Washington, District of Columbia

Winfield Scott served in the military through three wars and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general brevet by President Franklin Pierce. He was appointed by President Andrew Jackson to assist in negotiations with the Cherokee tribes and the settlement of the dispute with Great Britain over the boundary of Maine. He served as commander of the American army during the Mexican War and he ran for president in 1852 under the Whig party, but was defeated by Franklin Pierce.

The memorial was authorized by Congress on March 2, 1867 and again on July 15, 1870 and June 10, 1872. The Scott Memorial Commission appointed Henry Kirke Brown, perhaps before the memorial project was officially organized, as the artist's papers indicate that he made a portrait of Winfield Scott from life in 1858. According to Goode, the horse in this memorial is a stallion with a mare's body because, although Scott preferred to ride mares, his family objected to an image of the General on a mare, and the artist accommodated the family by changing the horse slightly. Sculpture was cast in bronze from a Mexican War cannon captured by Scott.

IAS files contain an excerpt from Jannelle Warren-Findley's Aug. 1, 1985 report for the National Park Service entitled, "A Guide to Selected Statues, Monuments and Memorials," National Capital Parks - Central, National Park Service, Washington, D.C. (RFQ 3-4-1919) which includes a brief maintenance history, a list of bibliographic sources, and notes to additional information found in National Park Service files. The report notes that National Park Service files indicate George E. Harney was the architect of the base, but that Goode's publication indicates General O. E. Babcock of the Army Corps of Engineers was the architect. Jonas French of the Cape Ann Granite Company was in charge of the stonework which was carved from a single block of granite. The sculpture was removed in the spring of 1941 during construction of the underpass at Scott Circle. When the sculpture was reinstalled, the base was raised six inches so that it could be secured into additional soil. IAS files contain a newspaper article from the Washington Post (Sept. 29, 2009) showing a National Park Service employee applying wax to the surface of the sculpture, and an arcile from the Washington Post (April 29, 2019), pg. B4, discussing the controversy over Scott's horse.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, DC0055, 1989.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. 287.

Monumental News, Dec. 1905, pg. 814.

Smithsonian Institution Research Expeditions Volunteer Project, 1991.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, District of Columbia survey, 1993.

Michael Richman, SAAM curatorial assistant, 1967-1969.

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, H-13.

Washington Post, Sept. 29, 2009.

Washington Post, April 29, 2019, pg. B4.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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