Generals in Blue: Hancock

Winfield Scott Hancock

when he was sent by Meade to take command of the Federal line, centered at Cemetery Ridge, following the death of Gen. John Reynolds. The next day while his corps was repulsing Pickett's charge, Hancock received a disabling wound to his leg. Upon his recovery and return to command of the 2nd Corps, then the army's elite fighting unit, Hancock and his men fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor. Grant considered Hancock to be the army's best corps commander. He was promoted to major general in the regular army for his bold leadership at Spotsylvania. At Petersburg his wound from Gettysburg re-opened and he was forced to retire from active duty. Returning to service as a desk general at the end of the war, he took over command of Washington, Maryland, West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. In 1877 he assumed command of the Department of the East with headquarters in New York, a post he held until his death. A handsome and dashing war hero, he was the Democratic nominee for the presidency in 1880, narrowly losing to another Civil War veteran, James A. Garfield. He died on February 9, 1886 at the age of 62.
*Winfield Scott served in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War; then at age 74 he was general-in-chief when the Civil War began. He was pushed into retirement in 1861 by "the Young Napoleon" George McClellan. Scott's "anaconda plan" proposed in 1861, though derided at the time, more or less proved to be the winning strategy of the war.

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Winfield Scott Hancock was one of twin brothers born on February 14, 1824, near the town of Norristown, Pennsylvania. (He was named after one of the nation's greatest military heroes of the 19th century.*) Hancock entered West Point in 1840 and graduated four years later at the young age of 20. He served two years in the Indian Territory and then fought in the Mexican War. When the Civil War began, Hancock was a captain and assistant quartermaster in Los Angeles. Upon his arrival in the East, Gen. George B. McClellan had him appointed brigadier general of volunteers. Hancock distinguished himself well in McClellan's dismal Peninsula Campaign, expertly leading an attack at Williamsburg in April 1862. During the battle of Antietam in September he took command of the 2nd Corps when General Israel Richardson was killed. Afterwards Hancock was promoted to major general. In December his division fought at Fredericksburg, bravely assaulting Marye's Heights in one of the Union's worst defeats. At Chancellorsville in May 1863, he skillfully covered the Union withdrawal with a thin skirmish line that came to be regarded as a classic defensive maneuver. Hancock next played a key role at Gettysburg in July 1863,

© 2003 David C. Hanson, HIS 269 - Civil War and Reconstruction, Virginia W. Community College

Winfield Scott Hancock
	when he was sent by Meade to take command of the Federal line, centered at Cemetery Ridge, following the death of Gen. John Reynolds. The next day while his corps was repulsing Pickett's charge, Hancock received a disabling wound to his leg. Upon his recovery and return to command of the 2nd Corps, then the army's elite fighting unit, Hancock and his men fought at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor. Grant considered Hancock to be the army's best corps commander. He was promoted to major general in the regular army for his bold leadership at Spotsylvania. At Petersburg his wound from Gettysburg re-opened and he was forced to retire from active duty. Returning to service as a desk general at the end of the war, he took over command of Washington, Maryland, West Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. In 1877 he assumed command of the Department of the East with headquarters in New York, a post he held until his death. A handsome and dashing war hero, he was the Democratic nominee for the presidency in 1880, narrowly losing to another Civil War veteran, James A. Garfield. He died on February 9, 1886 at the age of 62. *Winfield Scott served in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War; then at age 74 he was general-in-chief when the Civil War began. He was pushed into retirement in 1861 by "the Young Napoleon" George McClellan. Scott's "anaconda plan" proposed in 1861, though derided at the time, more or less proved to be the winning strategy of the war. Generals >
Winfield Scott Hancock was one of twin brothers born on February 14, 1824, near the town of Norristown, Pennsylvania. (He was named after one of the nation's greatest military heroes of the 19th century.*) Hancock entered West Point in 1840 and graduated four years later at the young age of 20. He served two years in the Indian Territory and then fought in the Mexican War. When the Civil War began, Hancock was a captain and assistant quartermaster in Los Angeles. Upon his arrival in the East, Gen. George B. McClellan had him appointed brigadier general of volunteers. Hancock distinguished himself well in McClellan's dismal Peninsula Campaign, expertly leading an attack at Williamsburg in April 1862. During the battle of Antietam in September he took command of the 2nd Corps when General Israel Richardson was killed. Afterwards Hancock was promoted to major general. In December his division fought at Fredericksburg, bravely assaulting Marye's Heights in one of the Union's worst defeats. At Chancellorsville in May 1863, he skillfully covered the Union withdrawal with a thin skirmish line that came to be regarded as a classic defensive maneuver. Hancock next played a key role at Gettysburg in July 1863,
© 2003 David C. Hanson, HIS 269 - Civil War and Reconstruction, Virginia W. Community College