The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1880-07-31

son. The issue showed that his
anxiety was Justified. By witl,t,rawino
troops from the i,,trrnchmt.nfa at
1 Petersburg, and sending them roan1l
! to the railroad, the enemy concentra- :
ted in his front, soon Communicating
the Union forces three to one. Here
Hancock ghtznnutlaer heroic fioht
lit c!use e.lal ters, lis horse being
shot from under him ii, the assault.
Two. months later he fought TIN. bat
tie of the Boydtan Road, where I,e
captured a thousand prisoners and
several stand Of colors.
At The request Ut Secretary Stan
ton, and by order uf the President, he
! was ordered to Washington to recruit
| and command alI army corps of yetcr-
ans to consist of $4,000 men. While
| the recruiting was III progress he was
| summoned to the front, aud assigned
to the command Of the Middle Mill
tary Division, with Headquarters mt
Winchester, Va. A force of IS 900
men was organized for the purpose Of
moving upon Lynrl,burg III case Lee
should retreat t1 flat point. or to
embark on tr,,nsIn.rfs to jpin Gen.
Sherman On the Southern Sci, coast IN
case Lee should fall back on DAN
vile !; but the surrender Of Lee and
the capture Of RICHMOND removed the
necessity of any such movements.
This, the last Of his active military
service, while marked will, no shock
of opposing forces, was, nevertheless.
destined to he Il period IT great ex,=
citement to himself, as well as TO the
country. While his headquarters we're
still in the Valley Of the Shenandoah.
in April, 1865, tl,e conspirators
against the life of the President and
his Cabinet consHmmated, in part,
their plot, aud President Lincoln was
murdered, Secretary Seawmd was
| nearly stabbed to death. and the
country was panic stricken by the
evidence of a deep laid plot to
destroy tho government l,y tile alom-
Unable method OF secret and concerted
assassination. A feeling Of universal
fear and istrustsperv;,ded the no, III.
Happily, this feeling was only tempo
rary, but while it lasted it was uni
versal and real Gen. Hancock Was
summoned to Washington. The ex
tent of the conspiracy became kuewn.
and tho measnres taken by him to
confront the secret peril we've thor
ongll, and contributed greatly to allay
the terror.
General Hancock remained In Wash
ington, by order Of President JOHNSON,
during the days Of the trial of the
conspirators, and until after their ex-
ecution. Much interest has been ex-
hibited in this part Of lis service and
the prominence of his position. has. in
the minds Of some, made his conncc-
tion with the execution of the pris-
oner's more intimate than is true. 1t
must be remembered that with the
details of the eYsrtliHg. and care Of
the prisoners I6 had natlIing what
ever to do. A military commission.
ordered By the President, tried the
prisoners, found them guilty, con
demne1 some of them to death. and
the 1hdiDgs of the military court were
approved ny the President. 1t was
uhqaestiohabiy TO be lamcnted that
one o1 the condemned persons was
woman, ana the regret ls deeper
"hen, III Gamer times, people WHO
considered the Case carefully, are con
vlhcea mat, as 1ar rs the crime Of as
sassination IS concerned, she was
galit,ess. the execution had been or
aefeG fof' tie otl' day of July. Gen.
I. na'eock saw mat the only hope for
Mts. onfratt lay IN the power Of her
uauShtef 20 move fhe Presidents
neaft, ana ne SO informed the daugh- |
ter, ana gave hef every facility IN his
power 70 gam access to the President.
90 % great was MS anxiety III regard to
,he looked 1of pardon or repfieve that
ne u placed iii'e OF mounted sentlneis
rom .ne Hi''te i1onse TO the place OF
execution, that the words OF grace, if
spoken at the last minute, should go
surrey ana swiftly. But no such |
words were spoken, and to the bow
a. a,'nose universal regret Ut the people, |
MIS- oaffatt d'ed.
After the close of the war, in july, I
1865, Gen. Hancock was assigned to I
the Middle Military Department, with
headquarters at Baltimore, ard in
1866, to the command Of the
Department at Missouri. In the lat
ter capacity his services were OF great
in harn,onizing the CON
dicting elements iu Missouri, arising
out oi the occupation of the State by
troops under the State authorities,
and the presence Of the men of the
Southern Confedcracy, who had lust
returned to their homes. While still
i'll the Southwest he was also engaged
i'm q campaigu against hostile Indians +