ived. He says:
"Perhaps he will say in respect to the latter that it has been
difficult for him to procure the exact returns of divisions and
brigades. But why not have given me the proximate returns, such as he
so eagerly furnished the President and certain secretaries? Has, then,
a senior no corrective power over a junior officer in case of such
persistent neglect and disobedience?" He remarks that arrest and trial
by court-martial would soon cure the evil, but feared a conflict of
authority over the head of the army would be highly encouraging to the
enemies and depressing to the friends of the Union, and concludes:
"Hence my long forbearance; and continuing, though but nominally, on
duty, I shall try to hold out till the arrival of Major-General
Halleck, when, as his presence will give me increased confidence in
the safety of the Union, and being, as I am, unable to ride in the
saddle, or to walk, by reason of dropsy in my feet and legs and
paralysis in the small of my back, I shall definitely retire from the
command of the army." Thus the crippled, illustrious old hero asserted
his power and authority to command the respect of his subordinates to
the last. Owing, as has been seen, to his physical condition, it was
not possible for General Scott to take active command of the army. In
fact, but comparatively few of the army assembled here had ever seen
him, and they only when they were passing in review.

The defense of Washington and the organization of the army for that
purpose and aggressive movements from that point did not alone command
the attention of General Scott. He was solicitous about the free and
uninterrupted navigation of the Mississippi River, and to prevent
obstructions by the Confederates, or to remove any that might have
been placed on shore or in the water, he addressed a confidential
letter to General McClellan, then commanding in the West, dated May 3,
1861, in which he informed that general that the Government was to
call for twenty-five thousand additional regulars, and sixty thousand
volunteers to serve for two years.

An act of Congress approved March 3, 1861, provided:

SECTION 15. "That any commissioned officer of the army, or of
the marine corps, who shall have served as such for forty consecutive
years, may, upon his own application to the President of the United
States, be placed upon the list of retired officers, with the pay and
allowances allowed by this act.

SECTION 16.... "_P