Editing Winfield Scott (section)

===Lincoln administration===
{{Further|Presidency of Abraham Lincoln}}
[[File:Currier & Ives - The champions of the Union 1861.jpg|thumb|left|1861 Currier & Ives engraving of Winfield Scott and other Union generals, indicative of the Northern sentiment toward him and others in 1861]]

By the time Lincoln assumed office, seven states had declared their secession and had seized federal property within their bounds. Still, the United States retained control of the military installations at Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens.{{sfn|McPherson|2008|p=13}} Scott advised evacuating the forts because an attempted re-supply would inflame tensions with the South, and Confederate shore batteries made re-supply impossible.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=358–361}} Lincoln rejected the advice and chose to re-supply the forts; although Scott accepted the orders, his resistance to the re-supply mission, along with poor health, undermined his status within the administration. Nonetheless, he remained a critical military adviser and administrator.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=360–363, 381}} On April 12, Confederate forces began an [[Battle of Fort Sumter|attack]] on Fort Sumter, forcing its surrender the following day.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=366–367}} On April 15, Lincoln declared that a state of rebellion existed and [[Proclamation 80|called up 75,000 militiamen]]. On the advice of Scott, Lincoln offered Robert E. Lee command of the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] forces, but Lee ultimately chose to serve the Confederacy.{{sfn|White|2009|pp=408–417}}

[[File:Scott-anaconda.jpg|thumb|upright=1|1861 characterized map of Scott's "Anaconda Plan" to squeeze the South]]

Scott took charge of molding Union military personnel into a cohesive fighting force.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=379, 384}} Lincoln rejected Scott's proposal to build up the regular army,{{efn|The regular army consisted of just 17,000 men at the start of the Civil War.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|p=381}}}} and the administration would largely [[United States Volunteers#American Civil War|rely on volunteers]] to fight the war.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=382–383}} Scott developed a strategy, later known as the [[Anaconda Plan]], that called for the capture of the Mississippi River and a blockade of Southern ports. By cutting off the eastern states of the Confederacy, Scott hoped to force the surrender of Confederate forces with a minimal loss of life on both sides. Scott's plan was leaked to the public and was derided by most Northern newspapers, which tended to favor an immediate assault on the Confederacy.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=385–387}} As Scott was too old for battlefield command, Lincoln selected General [[Irvin McDowell]], an officer whom Scott saw as unimaginative and inexperienced, to lead the main Union army in the [[Eastern Theater of the American Civil War|eastern theater]] of the war.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=387–388}} Though Scott counseled that the army needed more time to train, Lincoln ordered an offensive against the Confederate capital of Richmond. Irvin McDowell led a force of 30,000 men south, where he met the Confederate Army at the [[First Battle of Bull Run]]. The Confederate army dealt the Union a major defeat, ending any hope of a quick end to the war.{{sfn|White|2009|pp=429–435}}

McDowell took the brunt of public vituperation for the defeat at Bull Run, but Scott, who had helped plan the battle, also received criticism.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=388–392}} Lincoln replaced McDowell with McClellan, and the president began meeting with McClellan without Scott in attendance.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=393–394}} Frustrated with his diminished standing, Scott submitted his resignation in October 1861. Though Scott favored General [[Henry Halleck]] as his successor, Lincoln made McClellan the army's senior officer instead.{{sfn|Eisenhower|1999|pp=393–398}}