New-York tribune., 1880-06-25

of many citizens Of the metropolis. he Is man 70
arrest the attention of the crowd. whether he be
| fellow pedestrian Of the sidewalk, or stage OF
streetcar passenger and be much gwen to all three
varieties Of ocOmotion. Ordinarily, there Is noun
ing in his dress to denote his relation to the profes
sion militant when he passes from Governors Is
| land to Manhattan on missions Of public bust
| ness or private affairs. But he sometimes wears
Generals fatigue felt hat with very narrow coru
The military, however, crops out IN bis Dearng'
which is alert, frank robust, and GER
tainly modest aud dignifed. He seldom escapes
being identified in q public conveyance, and has
sufficient Pennsylvania phlegm to enable him TO
stand the fire Of curiosity with becoming se1-for
getfulness. His manner toward friends and stranR-
ers is cordial, and equally balanced between heart-
mess and coursliness. with dignity kept in the
background and thoroughly entrenched there. For
that reason he is what is called o popular" " man,
in the sense of comradeship rather than intellectual
| leadership.
As brigadier-raised to that position suddenly at
the beginning of the Rebellion from the office OF
uuartermaster-General Hancock was the beau ideai
OF a handsome soldier" But he has grown stout
and unfortunately for the sentiment OF ideality the
signs of cOrpulency most prominent In the race
| His double chin has the advantage in point OF
prominence to the forehead above his hne blue
eyes His appearance calls up Sir Andrec A0aechee"S
| diagnosis of his own dulness; that 1t might arise
from his being "a great eater of beef" The COM
parson Ill fits General Hancock, for his whole make
up is indicative of forcible if not of an original or
creative mind. His cean-cut nose, his heavy chin
| and bold front suggest wlll-power, and his thick
| mustache and small g0atee give him q cavalier ap-
pearance His fine gray hair is worn longer than
the ultra military fashion. In stature he Is above
six ieet broad-shoudcred and deep-chested, and he
looks az if he would rather wrestle for the Pfes-
dency than make an intellectual fight; and even
on the turf it is doubtful if the Canal Boy"
would hesitate to lock arms with him. General
! Hancock is something better than " handsome
man.; he has sturdy. self-cOntained about evenly
| balanced mental and physical v1gOr. In some re-
spects hc resembles we-bred mastitf.
His EARLY HISTORY.
General Hancock is hfty-s years of age. which
with him means the very primo of life. He
was born in Montgomery County, Penn Feb
ruary IA. 1924. His ancestors. on his moth
crs side were active patriots in the Revolution.
| His great. t.grandfather served under Washington.
and his grandfather was captured on the seas and
placed III an English prison. His father served In
the war of 1912 and gratiied his taste for hOstil
! ties after peace was declared by long service as a
lawyer III Montgomery County. The young Han
cock received his early education at the academy
in Norristown his native place, and must have been
bright studlous pupil, for at fifteen years OF age
he was ushered INTO public life as the reader Of the
Declaration OF Independence of local Fourth OF
,July celebration. The following year be received
an appointment to the Military Academy Of West
Point and in 1914 was graduated as number
rirhiern in a class which iuclnded Generals Grant.
| Mcclellan. J. F. Reynolds Burnside and W. +.
Smith He hrst served as a second lieutenant with
troops in the Indian Territory, and "wOn his
ypuls" in the Mexican campaign of 1s47. being
! oil fnrU nt he COntTefaS
! ana ChrrubnScu. As quarteTmaster and adjutant
| of hs regiment, the Gih Infantry, he took part in
/ several Indian campaigns, was IN the South
! FLORIDA war Of 1877 then joined the expedition
! against the M0rmon', and 1859 was transferred to
! Calllnrn!u, where the OulbuIst Oi tie reDciliOi'
t,.,d nim serving quartz rmastcr AT Los Angeles.
lie showed zeal M once to be transferred tn the
scene of the gathering storm. and when General
| VI, rilan took clei command Ot the Army on tho
! retirement oi Grncral ScOtt' Iec3nlmrnua,oh
from him secured brCadler-RrneralSilp Of Noilln-
trcrs iur Hancock with an assignment 70 ,iuty III
/ Grn,rM v. i. smith division. In the following
camraIgu on the Yorktown Peninsula HancOcks
b.igad was in tGe thick of the fight, and the
(i,nrr proved himself an energetic, competent ana
/ gallant rulninlu,rr lie iiist met the enemy at
/ Warwick court House, aud ut Williamsburg when
/ IIuu,r,'s ,url were severely handled IN front of
Font Alagilurr Hancock executed n flank movement
uiIdrr bis dl con. and III the lace ola serious
i Hias,ing Of rebel uoUps led III person charge
which drc.il.d tn" days battle in iavOrOt the Union
! Army. L. Jane he fou9ht the eng1gement 81 G4in- Gin
| ~, Farm. aud III the tight at Garneis Hill,
SaN5-'t station ana W ME YAK swamp.
| in, reward for gtllantry 0H the Peninsula was
! rec, meu.iat.nI promotion To tho rank of Ma
joi-tcnrral Oi N"iuitcris lie, however, fought III
/ The biilr Of south Mountain, September lSG2. rs
Il br.ga li,r: hut ut The battle Ot Antietan. when
t;cnr n K:card,on tc Hancock was srnt to take
command of tine dIyiS on. Ills promotion or cpn-
| NISSAN ciwe III November, ANA Dee, ,mber 1B hc
| wa. IN the as>nulf Mayre's Heights, IL bloody
contest in which his command sli red terribly. lie
cllr ont If ilc thickrSt OF II with slight wound.
| In Nav lsG3. hr had his h0rSe shot under nm a.
Chaucrllotsyile. and in june he relieved General
| Couch oI t,lc command of the Second Corps.
on THE FIELD AT GETTYSBURG.
lie most distinguished himself at the battle Of
Gettvshurg III the march which he was directing
the rear guards. When General Meade loarned thai
the advance had received u repuse. and that Cen
rral Reyl olls had fallen, he ordered Hancock, hO
was not the ranking General, to hasten forward,
take command of all the troops at the front. and by
survey of the situation report on the adyisability
of giving decisive battle rather than of seeking
a more advantageous position. General Han
| cock had stomach for the fight" Tho ground
suited him. Ilo reported rs much to General
Meade and took measures to bring the disOrlered
advance to the " sticking point" He made sure of
Cemetery Hill by planting q well-suppOrted battery
on II. 1t was on this hi in the second DAYS fight
| ing, that Hancock took the heart out of Long
streets old Guard of the South" With foresight
| of that murdcrOus duel he had placed eighty guns
In position, and tho infantry were lying on the
ground; while is said $50 rebel cannon opened fire
with great havoc TO cheer bis men, as he was an
ticipating an assault. Hancock ordered the band to
play, and rode, swinging his hat. down the front ot
his line. Suddenly the rebel fire ceased, and Long
streets $4,000 men came TO the assault. Han
cocks eighty cannon moved the rebel ranks and his
infantry completed the rOut. Five thousand OF the
nssnilnnts we're killed or captured. Toward the
close of the fight General Hancock received bullet
in the thigh. The wound was at first thought to bo
mortal but he recovered sufficiently by December,
1868 to be able to go North, where during his
valescence, he recruited his corps.
Tho following March found him again at the
'front.' this time under Grant In the battle of the
Wilderness, where he had command of parts of the
Fifth and Sixth Corps, as well US Of his old Second:
at SpOttsylyauia Court House he captured 4 900 of
"Stonewall Jackson's brigade. He did hard fight
ing ut Cold HarbOr where his loss estimated at
between 10000 and 10000 He attacked the