Kammala wannan magana: Watanni biyu kafin ranar haihuwarsa ta 29, J. Wallace Scott ya zama daya daga cikin masu amsawa na Pennsylvania na farko ga kiran Shugaba Abraham Lincoln don masu sa kai don kare Washington, DC bayan da aka fada Fort Sumter zuwa rundunar sojojin Amurka a watan Afrilu 1861. Bayan ya shiga aikin soja a West Chester a ranar 4 ga Yuni, 1861, ya shiga matsayin mai zaman kansa tare da Kamfanin A na 1st Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment (wanda aka fi sani da 30th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry). An gabatar da shi zuwa matsayi na dan jarida a farkon lokacin da yake aiki, shi da mutanensa sun kama motoci guda biyu na abokan gaba yayin da aka sanya su zuwa ayyukan aiki tare da hanyar Annapolis Railroad a Virginia a watan Agustan 1861. Kowane doki biyu ne suka ja karusan, an ɗora wa karusan zinare da siliki na dala $ 5,000 wanda aka tsara don amfani da shi a cikin rigunan soja na CSA da tutoci, da kuma kayan aikin quinine da aka yi niyya ga likitocin CSA. Ya shiga tare da rundunarsa a cikin Yakin Kwanaki Bakwai kusa da Richmond, Virginia daga 25 ga Yuni zuwa 1 ga Yuli, 1862, gami da yaƙe-yaƙe na Beaver Dam Creek (Yuni 26), Gaines's Mill (Yuni 27),
Savage's Station (Yuni 29), Glendale (Yuni 30), da Malvern Hill (Yuli 1), sai ya yi yaƙi a Yaƙin Bull Run na biyu (Agusta 28<unk>30), da yaƙe-yaƙe na Kudancin Mountain (Satumba 14) da Antietam (Satumba 17). Ya ci gaba da matsayi na Sergeant, an sake shi da girmamawa a ranar 23 ga Oktoba don ya dauki sabon matsayi tare da wani rukuni daban.