Hancock, Winfield Scott, 1824–86, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Montgomery Square, near Norristown, Pa. He served with distinction in the Mexican War and was chief quartermaster on the Pacific coast when the Civil War broke out. Made a brigadier general of volunteers in Sept., 1861, Hancock fought in the Peninsular campaign (1862); in the Antietam campaign he succeeded to the command of a division. His command was heavily engaged in the battles of Fredericksburg (1862) and Chancellorsville (1863). Hancock, commanding the 2d Corps, played a conspicuous role in the Gettysburg campaign Gettysburg campaign, June–July, 1863, series of decisive battles of the U.S. Civil War.

The Road to Gettysburg

After his victory in the battle of Chancellorsville , Confederate general Robert E. Lee undertook a second invasion of the North.
..... Click the link for more information. . Gen. George G. Meade chose to fight at Gettysburg on Hancock's recommendation, and in the last two days of the battle Hancock was foremost in repulsing the Confederate attacks, particularly General Pickett's charge on July 3, 1863. He was severely wounded. Hancock led the 2d Corps in the Wilderness campaign and in the operations around Petersburg until Nov., 1864, when he left to recruit a new corps. His course as chief of the military department of Louisiana and Texas after the war was characterized by a wise moderation, which was not approved by the radicals in Congress. He was transferred to another command at his own request. The Democratic party nominated him for President in 1880, on his military record. James Garfield defeated him, but with only a slight popular plurality.

Bibliography

See A. Hancock, Reminiscences of Winfield Scott Hancock (1887); biography by G. Tucker (1960).

Hancock, Winfield Scott

(born Feb. 14, 1824, Montgomery county, Pa., U.S.—died Feb. 9, 1886, Governor's Island, N.Y.) U.S. general and politician. He graduated from West Point and served in the Mexican War. Appointed a brigadier general of volunteers at the start of the American Civil War, he became a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac (1863–65) and served with distinction at the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war he commanded the military division of Louisiana and Texas. For his insistence that the region's civil authorities be maintained in their “natural and rightful dominion,” he won the support of Democrats, who nominated him for president in 1880. He lost the election to James Garfield.

Hancock, Winfield Scott (1824–86) soldier; born in Montgomery Square, Pa. A West Point graduate (1844), he served in the Mexican War, Seminole War, and on the western frontier. Commissioned a brigadier general in 1861, he helped General George McClellan organize the Army of the Potomac, and then fought at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. It was at this last battle that he achieved his greatest fame for reforming the shattered federal forces and repulsing two crucial Confederate attacks. Tall, handsome, and dignified, he fit the 19th-century image of a soldier nearly to perfection; McClellan called him "Hancock the Superb." After the war he held various army commands and then ran as the Democratic candidate for president in 1880, losing by the narrowest of margins to James A. Garfield.