St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1880-08-21

| wounded Say to Gen. Eancoch,' said Gen.
| Meade, that am sorry heis wounded, and that
thank him for the country ;tnd for myself, for
| the service he has rendered to-day" By Il joint
| resolution of Congress, Gen. Hancock received
| the unanimous thanks of that body for his gal
liant, lncrtoIious and conspicuous share i'll that
! great and decisive victory at Gettysburg. The
| resolution passed by Congress was ;,S follows:
For the skill and loroi" vaiof which, at Get
| tyshnrg, repulscd, defeated and drove back.
" broken and dispirited, the veteran army Of the
| - rebellion, the gratitude of the American peo-
| pie and the thanks of their representatives i'll
" Congress are likewise due, and are hereby
| =" rendered, to Maj Gen. Winfield S. Hancock
! " for his gallant, meritoriouS and conspicuous
=" share i'll that great and decisive victory
| After the battle he was borne to the field hos
| pital and thence to his fathers home in Norris
| town, Pa, where he lay for many weeks and
suffered great agony from his wound The bull
| let was finally extracted, but he was unfit for
| duty until the following December. In Deccin-
ber, although his wound was still unhealc't, he
| reported again at Washington for active duty
| i'll the field. At this time, after the battle Of
| Mine Run, he was prominently talked of i'll cab
| met councils Ior the command Of the Army of
| the Potomac, and was retained III Washington
with that view, but with CHARACTERISTIC nobility
| and magnanimity he dsclalmed all desire for
| the position and urged the retention of General
Meade. ReSuming command OF the Second
Corps, Which was i'll winter quarters, he was or
| dercd by the authorities at Washington to pro-
cced North to recruit the dccmated ranks of
that celebrated corps preparatory to the enslt-
| ing operations. Accordingly he established his
| headquarters at Harrisburg, and visited other
States i'll enlstins volunteers. His high reputa-
| ton and great popularity made him cnincntly
successful in this service. While discharginS
| this duty, the city council OF Phiadcphia ten,
dered him a reception in Independence Hall, and
| he also received ti,e hoepttalties Of New iork,
| Albany, Boston, and other cities.
In March, 1864, he !ettirned to the field and as
sumed command of his CORPS whose numbers
! had been augmented to 10000 by consolidation
| with the gallant old Third Corps He was a
prominent figure in thebatte of the Wilderness.
| and Fifth Corps at the battle Of the Po. On the
| 12tl, the Second Corps p0unced upon the cnemy's
position, near Spottsylvania G. H., i'll a dense
| fog, at daybreak. Hancock commanded his
| corps in this assault, by which he captured the
enemy's works, nearly 5000 prisoners, twenty
pieces of artillery, more than thirty colors, sew
eral tholsaMd stands of small arms, and ether
| paraphernaia of War.
He again assaulted the cnemy:s position in
front OF Spottsylvania, May IS, and on tie 10th
repulsed an attack made upon one OF his diy-
si6ns by Ewell's Corps He an active par
| ticpant in the engagement of North Anna, Tol-
opotnu:y ana Cold T;.rbor, AMI i'll the earlier
and later operations of the army near Peters
burg that year; During all this time he was
Gettysburg. which had never fully closed, COM
pelling him to often leave his horse and ride i'll
| an ambulance until contact with tho enemy
of July, 1864. he crossed the Deep Bottom, on
the north bank of the James river, and in con-
junction with Shcridans cavalry, attacked and
ing four pieces of artillery. In August he made
another expedition to Deep Bottom. III these
operations which continued q waek, lie had a
series of sharp enga gements, during which he
broke the enemy s lines and carried off more of
his artillery. On the 25th Of August, two divi-
sions OF his corps were seat TO destroy the rail
road at Reams' Station, thirteen miles distant
from the established lines OF the Union army at
Petersburg. The remainder OF the troops held
their position i'll the general line. Anticipating
trouble at that separate operation Hancock was
not easy until he had proceeded to join that pOr
tion of his command in person. The issue show
! ed that his an Aiety was Justified. By Withdraw
I ing troops from the intrenchhcnts at Peters
burg, and sending them round to the railroad
| the enemy concentrated in his front, soon out
numbering the Union forces three to one. Here
Hancock fought another heroic fight at close
quarters, his horse being shot from under him
in the assault: TTo manths later l,9 taught illp
| battle OF tile Boy ydton Road, where he captured
II thousand prisoners and several stand Of coors.
At the request of Secretary Stanton, and by
order of the President, he was ordered to Wash
ingtOn to recruit and command an army corps
of veterans to consist OF $1,000 men. While the
recruiting MS IN psogeess ne ne was summoned ne Ito to
Middle Military Division, with headquarters at
Winchester, Va. A force of 5000 men was Or
ganized for the purpose OF moving upon Lynch
burg in case Gen. Lee should retreat to that
point, or to embark on transports to jlin Gen.
Sherman On fla Southern sea coast in case Gen.
Lee should fall back on Danville; but the sur
render of Lee and the capture of Richmond re-
moved the necessity of any such movements.
This, the last OF his active military service,
while marked with no shock of opposing forces,
grear excitement 10 himself. as well as to the
country. While his headquarters were still i'll
Che Valley of the, Shenandoah, in April 1865, the
conspirators against the life OF the President
plot. and President Lincoln was murdered. Sec;
retary seward was l.eariy STABBED to death. and
the country was panic-strcken by the evidence
Of deep-,aid plot to destroy : the government 1
certed assassination. feeling of sal fear
and distrust peryaded the North. Happily, this
feeling was only Temporary, bur while i lasted
summoned to Washington. The extent OF the
conspiracy became known, and the measures
taken by him to confront the secret peril were
thorough, and contributed greatly to allay the
terror.
GEN Hancock remained in Washington, .sy Of
der of Pfesident Jonnson, during the days OF the
trial Of the conspfat0rs, and until q! ter their
execution Much interest has been exhibited
in this part OF his service, and the prominence
OF his position has, iii the minds of some, made
his connection with the execution of the prison.
menbered me i that With tic details Of the guarding
and care of the prisoners he had nothing what
ever to do. A military commission, ordered by
the President, tried the prisoners, found them
guilty, alntiemaetl sanls Ct them to death, and
the findings OF the military court were approved
by the President. 1t was nnquestionably to be
lamented that one of the condemned persons was
woman, and the regret is deeper when, in
calmer times, people who considered the case
carefully are convinced that as far as the criine
OF assassination is concerned, she Was guiltless
The execution had been ordered for the 8th day
OF July. Gen. Hancock saw that the only hope
for Mrs. Surratt lay in the power of her daugh-
ter to move the Presidents heart, and he SO in
formed the daughter, and gave her every fsoili-
ty In his power to gain access to the President.
50 great was bis anxiety in regard to thelookea