Winfield Scott Hancock was a career U.S. Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service in the Mexican-American War and as a Union general in the American Civil War.
Known to his Army colleagues as “Hancock the Superb,” he was noted in particular for his personal leadership at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. One military historian wrote, “No other Union general at Gettysburg dominated men by the sheer force of their presence more completely than Hancock.” As another wrote, “… his tactical skill had won him the quick admiration of adversaries who had come to know him as the ‘Thunderbolt of the Army of the Potomac‘.” His military service continued after the Civil War, as Hancock participated in the military Reconstruction of the South and the Army’s presence at the Western frontier.
Hancock was born near Norristown, PA in 1824. His father was a lawyer who fought under General Winfield Scott during the War of 1812. His mother was of Welsh descent and ran a millinery store in Norristown. Her father and grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Hancock graduated in the class of 1844 from West Point. He served in the Mexican War and the Second Seminole Indian War. He became commander of Second Corp’s First Division on November 29, 1862 during the battle of Antietam. Hancock’s division took the brunt of the casualties suffered by the Union at Fredericksburg.
On June 9, 1863, General Hancock succeeded General Couch to the command of the Second Corps after the battle of Chancellorsville. In addition to the II Corps, Hancock was given operational command of the I, III and XI Corps by General Meade during the battle of Gettysburg. He was awarded the “Thanks of Congress” on January 28,1864 for his service at Gettysburg. His II Corps overran the Confederate line at Spotsylvania on May 12, 1864. In 1880, he ran for President as the Democratic nominee but lost to James Garfield by a very slim margin. He died while on active duty in 1886.
John Schlotter
John Schlotter served 21 years in the United States Army and retired as a First Sergeant in the US Army Reserve. He served in Desert Storm with the 344th Military Police Company performing Enemy Prisoner of War escort duties. Mr. Schlotter has always had an interest in the military history of the United States. Mr. Schlotter is retired from the US Postal Service, having served as Postmaster of Gettysburg, Pa. and lives in Gaines, PA.