Quote of the Day May 12, 2012

Edwin V. Sumner

“much safer and more efficient commander.” Winfield Scott explaining his selection of Edwin Sumner over William S. Harney to command his regular cavalry in the Mexico City campaign.  From Unfurl Those Colors! McClellan, Sumner, & The Second Army Corps in the Antietam Campaign by Marion Armstrong. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2008 page 57.  Originally from House, Correspondence the Secretary of War and Generals Scott and Taylor, and between General Scott and Mr. Trist, 30th Cong., 1st sess., 1848, Executive Document No. 56, Serial No. 518,44,56.