System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Winfield Scott Hancock
1824 - 1886
Winfield Scott Hancock, Union Civil War general with whom subordinates said you felt safe, died February 9, 1886. He was five days short of his 62nd birthday.
Hancock, named after legendary general Winfield Scott, was born on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1824 in Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania. He received an appointment to West Point when he was 16. He graduated in 1844, and saw service in the Mexican War in the quartermaster corps of the 6th Infantry.
Hancock became good friends with fellow West Point graduate Henry Heth from Virginia. Heth introduced him to his future wife, Almira Russell. Heth went on to become a general in the Confederate army.
When the Civil War started, Hancock was stationed in Los Angeles. He transferred to Washington, D.C. where General George McClellan appointed him brigadier general of volunteers.
In Hancock's first action in the Peninsular Campaign, McClellan was impressed, calling his command style superb. 'Hancock the Superb' became his nickname thereafter.
Hancock continued to distinguish himself. After Antietam in September 1862, Hancock was promoted to major general and given command of II Corps which he led at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.
Gettysburg would be Hancock's shining moment. Arriving on the first day of the battle, July 1, 1863, Hancock was able to shore up the Union defensive position on East Cemetery Hill. On the third day when Confederate General George Pickett made his famous charge on Cemetery Hill, Hancock encouraged his troops to stand fast. Many of the soldiers later said his heroism at the front line gave them confidence.
Hancock himself was severely wounded during the charge, but refused to leave the battlefield until the day was over and the Union forces had secured the Hill.
For his actions at Gettysburg, Hancock became only one of 14 Union offices who received the Thanks of Congress for significant actions which helped secure a Union battlefield victory.
Hancock was eventually relieved of his command due to the injury he suffered at Gettysburg.
After the war, he was put in charge of the execution of the Lincoln conspirators who had taken part or helped plan the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
In 1867 as commander of the 5th Military District of Louisiana and Texas, he created controversy by ordering that the civilian population could govern itself.
In 1880, Hancock was the Democratic candidate for President, opposing Republican James Garfield. In a very close election, Garfield won a razor thin popular vote over Hancock.
One of Hancock's last duties was the supervision of President Ulysses Grant's funeral in 1885.
Still on active duty, Hancock died of complications of diabetes in New York City on February 9, 1886. He was buried in his boyhood home of Norristown, Pennsylvania.
