Portrait of Winfield S. Hancock during the Civil War

Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 - February 9, 1886) was born in Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania and named after the famous general Winfield Scott. Hancock would become a general himself, graduating West Point in 1844, and rising to the rank of major general by the end of his military career.

Hancock was serving as an army quartermaster in southern California at the time the American Civil War broke out in 1861. Serving nearby was his close friend Lewis Addison Armistead, of Virginia. Armistead soon left to join the Confederate army. Hancock returned east also to fight for the Union and was quickly promoted to Brigadier General. By the time he commanded the 2nd Corps at the battle of Gettysburg on July 1-3, 1863, he had risen to Major General. At Gettysburg he was given command of the Union forces after General John Fulton Reynolds was killed early on the 1st, until George Meade, the commander of the Army of the Potomac, arrived late that night--a great honor, as Hancock was not the most senior Union officer at Gettysburg at the time. During the battle his friend, Brigadier General Armistead, was wounded during Pickett's Charge, and died two days later. Hancock himself was also wounded at Gettysburg, which later caused him to spend less time as a field commander late in the Civil War, and his growing dissatisfaction with Grant's casualty-intensive tactics lessened his enthusiasm for command during those months when his health returned. After the war, Hancock served as the major general in command of the Department of the East, headquartered at Governors Island, New York. Immediately following the Civil War, Hancock drew much criticism for his inclination to be lenient to the defeated Confederates.

Hancock was considered but passed over for the Democratic nomination for U.S. President during the 1870s. He was eventually chosen as the Democratic opponent to James Garfield in the U.S. election of 1880, but was narrowly defeated in his attempt.

He died on February 9, 1886, at Governor's Island, still in command of the Department of the East. He is buried in Mongomery Cemetery in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

External link

• Pennsylvania in the Civil War: Winfield Scott Hancock (http://www.pa-roots.com/~pacw/officers/hancock/hancock.html)