His motto in life: “If idle, be not solitary; if solitary, be not idle.”
At Queenstown Heights, 1812: “Let us, then, die, arms in hand. Our
country demands the sacrifice. The example will not be lost. The blood
of the slain will make heroes of the living.”
At Chippewa, July 5, 1814: “Let us make a new anniversary for
ourselves.”
To the Eleventh Infantry at Chippewa: “The enemy say that Americans
are good at long shot, but cannot stand the cold iron. I call upon the
Eleventh instantly to give the lie to that slander. Charge!”
From an inscription in a Peace Album, 1844: “If war be the natural
state of savage tribes, peace is the first want of every civilized
community.”
At Vera Cruz, March, 1847, when warned not to expose himself: “Oh,
generals, nowadays, can be made out of anybody; but _men_ cannot be
had.”
At Chapultepec, 1847: “Fellow soldiers! You have this day been baptized
in blood and fire, and you have come out steel!”
To the Virginia commissioners, 1861: “I have served my country under
the flag of the Union for more than fifty years, and, so long as God
permits me to live, I will defend that flag with my sword, even if my
own native State assails it.”