by Rev. Canon Dr. Robert Girard Carroon, PCinC
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock was the second Commander-in-Chief of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the Untied States and served from 1879 through 1886. A native of Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania (just north of Norristown), Winfield Scott Hancock was the son of Benjamin Franklin Hancock and Elizabeth Hoxworth. Winfield Scott Hancock (named for the hero of the War of 1812) was born on February 14, 1824. He attended the Norristown Academy and entered West Point on July 1, 1840, at the age of 16. Among his contemporaries at the United States Military Academy were a number who later became Generals in the Civil War, including Grant, McClellan, Franklin, Armisted, W.F. Smith, Reynolds, Rosecrans, Longstreet, Pickett, and “Stonewall” Jackson. Ulysses S. Grant described him as “tall, well-formed…young and fresh looking – he presented an appearance that would attract attention of an army as he passed.”
Upon his graduation from West Point, Hancock was breveted a Second Lieutenant in the 6th United States Infantry. In the Mexican-American War, he was breveted First Lieutenant for “gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, Mexico.” Hancock also took part in the assaults upon Molino Del Rey, and Chapultepec. Following the war, he took part in operations against the Seminoles in the Kansas War and in the Utah Expedition against the Mormons. He was then assigned to duty in Los Angeles, California and was promoted to the rank of Captain on November 7, 1855. In 1850, he married Almira Russell of St. Louis, Missouri. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Hancock was still stationed in California but immediately left for Washington D.C. where he was made a Brigadier General of Volunteers on November 29, 1861.
Hancock was given command of a brigade in the II Army Corps consisting of the 49th Pennsylvania, 43rd New York, 5th Wisconsin, and 9th Maine Regiments. He served with his brigade in the Peninsular Campaign (where he was termed “the Superb”), at Crampton’s Pass, South Mountain, and Antietam. At Antietam, he succeeded to the command of the 1st Division of the II Corps and was promoted to Major General on November 29, 1862. His leadership at the Battle of Chancellorsville, from May 1-4 1863, was so outstanding that he was promoted to the then vacant command of the II Corps, with whom he was forever after associated in Civil War history.
At Gettysburg, June 30-July 4, 1863, Hancock showed the qualities which made him the hero of that great battle and established his reputation as the finest corps commander in the Civil War. On July 1, he selected, in concert with General Oliver Otis Howard, the position on Cemetery Hill which consolidated the Union position. On the second day of the battle, he commanded the left wing and frustrated the Confederate attempt to turn the flank of the Army of the Potomac. On July 3, it was Hancock, despite his being wounded, who, with the II Corps repulsed the charge of Pickett and Pettigrew in Lee’s attempt to break the center of the Union line. After partially recovering from his wound, he again assumed command of the II Corps and led it in action at Wilderness and Spotsylvania. His wound continued to trouble him, and he was assigned to staff duty in Washington, DC on November 26, 1864.
On July 26, 1866, he was appointed a Major General in the Regular Army. The following year, while serving as commander of the Central Military Department, he led an expedition against the Indians. In 1867, he was made Commander of the Department of Louisiana and Texas. From 1870 to 1872, Hancock commanded the Department of Dakota and from 1872 to 1886 the Department of the Atlantic. His final assignment was the command of the Department of the East, with headquarters at Governor’s Island, New York. A member of the “War Democrat” wing of the Democratic Party during the Civil War, General Hancock was nominated for the Presidency of the United States in 1880 as the Democratic standard bearer. He lost the election to James A. Garfield by a small plurality of the popular vote and 59 votes in the Electoral College.
On February 4, 1866, Winfield Scott Hancock wrote to S.B. Wylie Mitchell, Recorder of the Pennsylvania Commandery applying for membership in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Recorder Wylie replied at once that he would be happy to present the General’s name for consideration and Hancock was elected a Companion of the First Class on February 12, 1866. He was assigned National Insignia #161. He was elected to the Council of the Pennsylvania Commandery on May 2, 1866, and he served for three years. On June 5, 1879, Winfield Scott Hancock was elected Commander of the Pennsylvania Commandery and also Commander-in-Chief of the Order to succeed Major General George Cadwallader. General Hancock remained as Commander-in-Chief until his death at Governors Island, New York on February 9, 1886. Funeral services took place at Trinity Church, New York City on February 13, 1886, with internment was in Montgomery Cemetery in West Norriton Township, Pennsylvania on the same day. Winfield Scott Hancock was succeeded by Rutherford Birchard Hayes as Commander-in-Chief of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.