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Winfield Scott Hancock,
along with his twin brother, Hilary were born on February
14, 1824 at Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania to Benjamin
and Elisabeth Hancock. When Winfield was six years old,
his father moved the family to Norristown, Pennsylvania
where he began a law practice. At age sixteen, Winfield
entered the Military Academy at West Point on July 1,
1840 and on July 1, 1844 he graduated 25 in his class.
When the War with Mexico began, Hancock
was assigned to the quartermaster department but did
not go to Mexico until 1847.
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Upon the end of the war in 1848, Hancock and his
regiment, the 6th United States Infantry, remained for sometime
in Mexico City where he met a young Virginian by the name of Henry
Heth. Hancock and Heth became close friends and when the 6th U.S.
Infantry was transferred to Jefferson Barracks, in St. Louis Missouri,
Heth was instrumental in introducing Hancock to Almira Russell,
who Winfield married on January 24, 1850.
At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Hancock
was stationed in Los Angeles, California. Obtaining permission to
leave his quartermaster duties, Hancock headed East to offer his
services in the defense of the Union. Arriving in the City of Washington
in September, Hancock was summoned to the Headquarters of Major
General George B. McClellan. McClellan appointed Hancock, Brigadier
General Of Volunteers on September 23, 1861. Hancocks
first action was during McClellans Peninsula Campaign, where
he commanded a brigade at the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5, 1862.
McClellan, in a letter to his wife after the battle, stated that
"Hancock was superb yesterday." From that letter
the sobriquet of "Hancock the Superb" was born.
Hancocks military career was on the rise and
he would be called upon to command some of the most difficult tasks
that the Army of the Potomac would offer. At the Battle of Antietam,
September 17, 1862, Hancock would assume command of the 1st Division
of the II Corps at the Sunken Road (Bloody Lane). Promoted to Major
General on November 29, 1862, Hancock led his division during the
Battle of Fredericksburg and attacked the Confederate position along
the Stone Wall at the foot of Maryes Heights. May 3, 1863,
Hancock and his Division served as the armys rearguard as
it crossed back over the Rappahannock River at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
After the resignation of Darius N. Couch, May 22, 1863, Hancock
assumes command of the II Corps and had little time to acquaint
himself with his new command when orders came for the Army of the
Potomac to proceed North, in pursuit of the Confederate Army of
Northern Virginia. By July 1, 1863, Hancock and his II Corps
were in Maryland when Major General George Gordon Meade, now commanding
the Army of the Potomac, came to Hancock requesting him to go to
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and "take command of the Corps
there."
At 3:30 PM, on July 1, 1863, Hancock arrived at
East Cemetery Hill, just outside of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and
found the commander of the Union XI Corps, Major General Oliver
Otis Howard, attempting to establish a defensive position. Hancock
offered to show Howard the orders from Meade giving him command
of the field but Howard did not wish to see them and told Hancock
to "go ahead." Hancock then went to work establishing
the Union battle line that would be known as the "Fish Hook.".
For the next two days, Winfield Scott Hancock would play a significant
role in the fighting at Gettysburg. On the second day of battle,
Hancock sent the 1st Division of his II Corps to repair the damage
to the Union left, caused when Major General Dan Sickles attempted
to moved his III Corps forward into the Peach Orchard. Sickles
action exposed the left flank of the army just as Confederate General
Longstreet launched his attack towards the Round Tops. On the third
day, General Meade had placed Hancock in command of the I and III
Corps along with his own II Corps. Hancock was now commanding three
fifths of the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg when "Picketts
Charge" took place on July 3, 1863. During the Confederate
artillery bombardment, that preceded "Picketts Charge,"
Hancock rode along his line encouraging his men to hold their ground.
A soldier who witnessed Hancock that day stated "his daring
heroism and splendid presence gave the men new courage."
Upon conclusion of the bombardment, the Confederate infantry assault
began. Hancock was not idle during the attack and seemed to be everywhere
on the battlefield directing regiments and brigades into the fight.
As Hancock was approaching the Vermont Brigade commanded by Brigadier
General George J. Stannard, he suddenly reeled in his saddle and
began to fall to the ground. Two of Stannards officers sprang
forward and caught Hancock as he fell, a bullet had torn through
Hancocks saddle and penetrated eight inches into his right
groin. Refusing to be moved from the field, though in much pain,
Hancock continued to direct and encourage his men. Upon the repulse
of the Confederate attack, Hancock was removed from the field and
taken to a field hospital. Eventually he would be taken to his fathers
home in Norristown, Pennsylvania to recover. The Battle of Gettysburg
was over and the Union victory would prove to be the result of the
leadership of Major General Winfield Scott Hancock. On April 21,
1866, Hancock would receive the thanks of Congress for his "skill
and heroic valor" during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Hancock returned to the Army of the Potomac in time
for the 1864 campaign that would culminate in the ten month siege
of Petersburg, Virginia. During that campaign, He would command
his II Corps at the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court
House, North Anna River, Cold Harbor,Deep Bottom, Reams Station
and the Boydton Plank Road. However, as a result of his Gettysburg
wound, that continued to plague him, he would relinquish command
of the II Corps on November 26, 1864. In April 1865, Hancock was
summonsed to Washington to take charge of carrying out the orders
of execution on the "Lincoln Conspirators." In 1867, Hancock
would create controversy as commander of the 5th Military District
of Louisiana and Texas when he issued General Order No. 40, returning
civil law back to the people of those southern states.
By 1880, Hancock was the military commander of the
Department of the Atlantic with his headquarters at Governors
Island, located in New York Harbor. On June 24, 1880, Winfield
Scott Hancock received the Democratic nomination for President of
the United States but lost the election to James Garfield by only
a small margin. During the election, Hancock was the first Northerner,
since the war, to carry the Southern states in a Presidential election.
Upon the death of Ulysses S. Grant, Hancock was
ordered by President Grover Cleveland, on August 8, 1885, to supervise
and direct the funeral of the former President and General of the
United States Army in New York City. This would be Winfield Scott
Hancocks last public appearance.
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock would end his
life still on active duty at Governors Island, New York. He
died on February 9, 1886 at 2:35 PM as a result of advanced diabetes,
which was also the cause of his fathers death in 1867. After
a brief funeral service at Trinity Church, in New York City, General
Hancocks remains were taken to his boyhood home of Norristown,
Pennsylvania, where he was placed, alongside his daughter, Ada,
in a mausoleum that he had designed in Montgomery Cemetery.
The history of Major General Winfield Scott Hancock
is a story of an American hero who was dedicated to the Union and
the United States. "Hancock the Superb, Thunderbolt of the
Army of the Potomac," all are names that described his
skill and valor during the Civil War but, perhaps the phrase used
by former President Rutherford B. Hayes, upon Hancocks death,
sums up the life of the "Hero of Gettysburg," best
when he said of him that " he was through and through
pure gold."
§ THE
W.S. HANCOCK SOCIETY
1939 West Marshall St.
NORRISTOWN, PA 19403
www.wshancocksociety.org
e-mail:
WSHancockSoc@msn.com
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