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Winfield Scott Hancock

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   Winfield Scott Hancock
   Portrait of Winfield S. Hancock during the Civil War, by Mathew Brady.
   Born February 14, 1824
   Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania
   Died February 9, 1886
   Governors Island
   Occupation Union general
   Spouse Almira ("Allie") Russell

   Winfield Scott Hancock ( February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a
   career U.S. Army officer who served with distinction as a Union general
   in the American Civil War, noted in particular for his personal
   leadership at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. A military historian
   wrote, "No other Union general at Gettysburg dominated men by the sheer
   force of their presence more completely than Hancock." Hancock ran
   unsuccessfully for President of the United States in 1880. He was known
   to Army colleagues as "Hancock the Superb."

Early life and career

   Winfield Scott Hancock and his twin brother Hilary Baker Hancock were
   born in Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania, sons of Benjamin and Elizabeth
   Hancock. Winfield was named after Winfield Scott, a prominent general
   in the War of 1812 and later the Mexican-American War and the
   commanding general of the United States Army at the start of the Civil
   War. Hancock would serve under Scott and become a general himself. He
   graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, in 1844, and was commissioned
   a brevet second lieutenant in the 6th U.S. Infantry regiment, with
   which he fought in the Mexican-American War under Scott. He was
   brevetted to first lieutenant for gallant and meritorious service at
   Contreras and Churubusco in 1847; he was wounded in the knee at the
   latter battle.

   Hancock served in a number of assignments as an army quartermaster and
   adjutant, mostly in St. Louis, Missouri. It was there that he met
   Almira ("Allie") Russell and they married on January 24, 1850. Ally
   gave birth to two children, Russell in 1850 and Ada in 1857, but both
   children died before their parents. Hancock served in Florida for the
   Third Seminole War, during the partisan warfare of " Bleeding Kansas,"
   and in the Utah Territory, where the 6th U.S. arrived after the
   so-called Mormon War. He was stationed in southern California, from
   1855 until the Civil War broke out in 1861, serving as a captain and
   assistant quartermaster in the command of future Confederate General
   Albert Sidney Johnston. He made friends there with a number of other
   southern officers, most significantly Lewis A. Armistead of Virginia.
   Armistead soon left to join the Confederate States Army.

Civil War

   Postbellum portrait
   Enlarge
   Postbellum portrait

   Hancock returned east to assume quartermaster duties for the rapidly
   growing Union Army, but was quickly promoted to brigadier general on
   September 23, 1861, and given an infantry brigade to command in the
   division of Brig. Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith, Army of the Potomac.
   He earned his "Superb" nickname in the Peninsula Campaign, in 1862, by
   leading a critical attack on Fort Magruder in the Battle of
   Williamsburg; army commander Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan telegraphed
   to Washington that "Hancock was superb today" and the appellation
   stuck. However, McClellan did not follow through on Hancock's
   initiative and Confederate forces were allowed to withdraw unmolested.

   In the Battle of Antietam, Hancock assumed command of the 1st Division,
   II Corps, following the death of Maj. Gen. Israel B. Richardson. He
   plugged holes in the Union line and maintained the integrity of his
   division despite heavy casualties in the horrific fighting at "Bloody
   Lane." He was promoted to major general of volunteers on November 29,
   1862. He led his division in the disastrous attack on Marye's Heights
   in the Battle of Fredericksburg the following month and was wounded in
   the abdomen. At the Battle of Chancellorsville, his division covered
   Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's withdrawal and Hancock was wounded again. His
   corps commander, Maj. Gen. Darius N. Couch, transferred out of the Army
   of the Potomac in protest of actions Hooker took in the battle and
   Hancock assumed command of II Corps, which he would lead until shortly
   before the war's end.

Gettysburg

   Monument to General Hancock on Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg
   Enlarge
   Monument to General Hancock on Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg

   Hancock's most famous service was as a new corps commander at the
   Battle of Gettysburg, July 1 to July 3, 1863. After Maj. Gen. John F.
   Reynolds was killed early on July 1, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, the new
   commander of the Army of the Potomac, sent Hancock ahead to take
   command of the units on the field and assess the situation. Hancock
   thus was in temporary command of the "left wing" of the army,
   consisting of the I, II, III, and XI Corps, which demonstrated Meade's
   high confidence in him, because Hancock was not the most senior Union
   officer at Gettysburg at the time. Hancock and the more senior XI Corps
   commander. Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, argued briefly about this
   command arrangement, but Hancock prevailed and he organized the Union
   defenses on Cemetery Hill as superior Confederate forces drove the I
   and XI Corps back through the town. He had the authority from Meade to
   withdraw the forces, so he was responsible for the decision to stand
   and fight at Gettysburg. Meade arrived after midnight and overall
   command reverted to him.

   On July 2, Hancock's II Corps was positioned on Cemetery Ridge, roughly
   in the centre of the Union line, while Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee
   launched assaults on both ends of the line. On the Union left, Lt. Gen.
   James Longstreet's assault smashed the III Corps and Hancock sent in
   his 1st Division, under Brig. Gen. John C. Caldwell, to reinforce the
   Union in the Wheatfield. As Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's corps continued the
   attack toward the Union centre, Hancock rallied the defenses and rushed
   units to the critical spots. In one famous incident, he sacrificed a
   regiment, the 1st Minnesota, by ordering it to advance and attack a
   Confederate brigade four times its size, causing it to suffer 87%
   casualties. But this heroic sacrifice bought time to organize the
   defensive line and saved the day for the Union army.

   On July 3, Hancock continued in his position on Cemetery Ridge and thus
   bore the brunt of Pickett's Charge. During the massive Confederate
   artillery bombardment that preceded the infantry assault, Hancock was
   prominent on horseback in reviewing and encouraging his troops. When
   one of his subordinates protested, "General, the corps commander ought
   not to risk his life that way," Hancock is said to have replied, "There
   are times when a corps commander's life does not count." During the
   infantry assault, his old friend, now Brig. Gen. Armistead, leading a
   brigade in Maj. Gen. George Pickett's division, was wounded and died
   two days later. Hancock could not meet with his friend because he had
   just been wounded himself, a severe injury caused by a bullet striking
   the pommel of his saddle, entering his inner right thigh along with
   wood fragments and a large bent nail. Helped from his horse by aides,
   and with a tourniquet applied to stanch the bleeding, he removed the
   saddle nail himself and, mistaking its source, remarked wryly, "They
   must be hard up for ammunition when they throw such shot as that." News
   of Armistead's mortal wounding was brought to Hancock by a member of
   his staff, Captain Henry H. Bingham. Despite his pain, Hancock refused
   evacuation to the rear until the battle was resolved. He had been an
   inspiration for his troops throughout the three-day battle. Hancock
   later received the Thanks of the U.S. Congress for "... his gallant,
   meritorious and conspicuous share in that great and decisive victory."

Virginia and the end of the war

   Hancock suffered from the effects of his Gettysburg wound for the rest
   of the war. He did recruiting over the winter and returned in the
   spring to field command of the II Corps for Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's
   1864 Overland Campaign, but he never regained full mobility and his
   former youthful energy. Nevertheless, he performed well at the Battle
   of the Wilderness and commanded a critical breakthrough assault of the
   Mule Shoe at the "Bloody Angle" in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court
   House. His corps suffered enormous losses during a futile assault
   ordered by Grant at Cold Harbour.

   After Grant's army slipped past Lee's army to cross the James River,
   Hancock found himself in a position in which he might have ended the
   war. His corps arrived to support Baldy Smith's assaults on the lightly
   held Petersburg defensive lines, but he deferred to Smith's advice and
   no significant assaults were made before the Confederate lines were
   reinforced. One of the great opportunities of the war was lost. After
   his corps participated in the assaults at Deep Bottom, he was promoted
   to brigadier general in the Regular Army, effective August 12, 1864.

   Hancock's only significant military defeat occurred during the Siege of
   Petersburg. His II Corps moved south of the city, along the Weldon
   Railroad, tearing up track. On August 25, Confederate Maj. Gen. Henry
   Heth attacked and overran the faulty Union position at Reams's Station,
   shattering the II Corps, capturing many prisoners. Despite a later
   victory at Hatcher's Run, the humiliation of Reams's Station
   contributed to his decision to give up field command in November, but
   his old wound from Gettysburg was also causing him distress. He left
   the II Corps after a year in which it had suffered over 40,000
   casualties, but had achieved significant military victories. His first
   assignment was to command the ceremonial First Veterans Corps. He
   performed more recruiting, commanded the Middle Department, and
   relieved Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan in command of forces in the
   now-quiet Shenandoah Valley. He was promoted to brevet major general in
   the Regular Army for his service at Spotsylvania, effective March 13,
   1865.

   After the war, Hancock continued to participate in significant events.
   He supervised the execution of the Lincoln assassination conspirators.
   He commanded the Department of the East, headquartered at Governors
   Island, New York. During Reconstruction, as commander of the Fifth
   Military District, encompassing Texas and Louisiana, Hancock drew much
   criticism from Grant and others for his inclination to be lenient to
   the defeated Confederates. His General Order number 40 of November 29,
   1867, expressed sentiments in support of President Andrew Johnson's
   policies—if the residents of the district conducted themselves
   peacefully and the civilian officials perform their duties, then "the
   military power should cease to lead, and the civil administration
   resume its natural and rightful dominion." The order was published
   widely and was received with great appreciation in the South. In 1866,
   he also briefly led an unsuccessful expedition against Red Cloud in
   Colorado and Wyoming.

Politics and later life

   Hancock received the votes of some convention delegates for the
   Democratic nomination for U.S. President in 1868. He was eventually
   chosen as the Democratic opponent to James Garfield in the U.S.
   election of 1880. Although he received significant majorities in the
   Solid South (due in no small part to his General Order number 40) he
   was narrowly defeated in his attempt, by about 7,000 votes of 9 million
   cast.

   Hancock was elected president of the National Rifle Association in
   1881, explaining that "The object of the NRA is to increase the
   military strength of the country by making skill in the use of arms as
   prevalent as it was in the days of the Revolution." He was
   commander-in-chief of the MOLLUS veterans organization from 1879 until
   his death in 1886. He was the author of Reports of Major General W. S.
   Hancock upon Indian Affairs, published in 1867. His wife, Almira,
   published Reminiscences of Winfield Scott Hancock in 1887.

   Hancock the Superb died at Governors Island while commanding the
   Military Division of the Atlantic, the victim of an infected carbuncle,
   complicated by diabetes. He is buried in Montgomery Cemetery in
   Norristown, Pennsylvania. Ulysses S. Grant's assessment of Hancock in
   his memoirs sums up the man:

     Hancock stands the most conspicuous figure of all the general
     officers who did not exercise a separate command. He commanded a
     corps longer than any other one, and his name was never mentioned as
     having committed in battle a blunder for which he was responsible.
     He was a man of very conspicuous personal appearance. Tall,
     well-formed and, at the time of which I now write, young and
     fresh-looking, he presented an appearance that would attract the
     attention of an army as he passed. His genial disposition made him
     friends, and his personal courage and his presence with his command
     in the thickest of the fight won for him the confidence of troops
     serving under him. No matter how hard the fight, the 2d corps always
     felt that their commander was looking after them.

     —Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs

In memoriam

   Winfield Scott Hancock is memorialized in a number of statues:
     * An equestrian statue on East Cemetery Hill on the Gettysburg
       Battlefield.
     * A portrait statue as part of the Pennsylvania Memorial at
       Gettysburg.
     * An alto-relievo representing Hancock's wounding during Pickett's
       Charge, on the New York State Monument at Gettysburg.
     * An equestrian statue in Market Square (Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th
       Street) in Washington, D.C.
     * An equestrian statue atop the Smith Civil War Memorial in Fairmount
       Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
     * A monumental bronze bust in Hancock Square, New York City, by
       sculptor James Wilson Alexander MacDonald.

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