Julian Scott was the fourth child, of eight, born to Charles Scott, a clockmaker, and his wife Lucy Kellum. Lucy Scott died in childbirth and Charles Scott remarried, in 1860, to Susan Pollard.
During the American Civil War, Julian's elder brother, Lucian, served with the 4th Regiment of the U.S. Artillery, was wounded at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, was taken prisoner in December 1864, and almost died at Libby Prison of starvation. Julian's younger brother, Charlie, enlisted at age 13 and became a bugler. After the war, Charlie moved to Missouri, then to Boston, where he became a physician. His brother, Percy, became an attorney in Illinois.
Scott married and had one daughter but, later, he and his wife separated.
When the war was over, he traveled to Paris and Stuttgart to continue his education. Scott's 1872 masterwork, the Battle of Cedar Creek, is located at the Vermont State House. The painting illustrates the contributions of his home state of Vermont in the American Civil War and is significant for its absence of glorification of war and instead shows the suffering and human sacrifice associated with war. Scott traveled west as part of a census party, painting Native Americans in New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma. Many of his works from this expedition now hang in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Art.
Drummer, Company E, 3d Vermont Infantry. Place and date. At Lees Mills, Va., April 16, 1862. Entered service at. Johnson, Vt. Birth: Johnson, Vt. Date of issue: February 1865.
Citation:
Crossed the creek under a terrific fire of musketry several times to assist in bringing off the wounded.[1][2]
