 In 1854, he founded the law firm of Scudder & Carter, which is now known as Carter Ledyard & Milburn.He was commissioned captain in the Thirty-seventh Regiment of the New York National Guard in 1862 and served throughout the Civil War.Scudder was elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress, holding office from March 4, 1873 to March 3, 1875.