National Republican., 1880-08-12
THE GENERAL TY RUFELE SHIRT

THE GENERAL IN RUEELE SHIRT.
HancoclVs Vindictiveness--Arroga One
of His Distinctive Traits of Charaoter--
Driving Soldiers rs Mules aud Starving
Them to Secure Comfort Himself-The BAD
Record of ProGauc Officer.
[From the Huntington (W. Va.) Comnercial.l
1t is not our intention at tho present time
to eXpend any campaign ammunition on Gen
eral Hancock. We have no need CT so doing
for we have alleged facts in regard TO his ways
recorded i've years before his name was ever
mentioned in connection with the presidency,
aud when there was no apparent motive for
invention or exaggeration. They show that
he was not merely tho ornament of dress
parade whom the soldiers nicknamed General
Strut but coarse and uniceling man. In
1868 Surgeon Alfred l.. Castlomau, Of the
Fifth Wisconsin regiment published q volume
entitled THE Army of the Potomac, Diary
| of Unwritten History from the Organization
of the Army by General George b. Mcclellan
to the Close Of the Campaign in Virginia.
about the Last Day of January, 1863" This
testimony of an eyewitness is very interest
ing, and may be said 10 give pretty faithful
portrait offs parsonage often mentioned in its
pages. Under dato of October 9, 1861, DR..
Castloman says his regiment was transferred
to a brigade under command Of BriGadier-
| General Winfield Scott Hancock, an officer of
| uut appearances, Uuk Wltu rather n harrow tOfe-
| head, and from what little have seen of him /
should presume him to be at least excitable if
not irritable" This opinion was not mistaken,
| for about three weeks later we find the author
writing:
Brigadier.G General Winfield Scott Hancock Is the
| very antipode of General Smith. lie Is fully AS
long as his name with the title prelNcd aud for
| quiet aud cOurtesy-Oh, he ! saw him come on
10 the field one morning this week 10 brigade drill
| He was perfectly sober lie is one ofthose para
IfNA hn ha1i mn nat lie Ia ha
| known by his much talking. He became excited
or wished to appear SO, at some little mistake In
the maICeuvring of his brigade. aud the vOlloy of
| oaths that rolled aud thundered down the line
startled the men with Suspicion that they were
| der the commsud of some quauermasler lately
| made general, who mistook the men for mules and
| their officers for drivers He must be facetJus
| chap, that general, TO wish to excite such stis-
| picions. think he halls from Pennsylvania, but
| nobody seems 10 know much about him, except
| from his statement that he has been Seventeen
| years in the service, and knows all about it," Who
ever he has been, he has certainly acquired p0r.
| feet intimacy with the whole gamut Of profanity,
There was by no means u solitary outbreak.
On January g 1862, the men in the hospital
under the surgeon, twentyseven in number,
were rejoicing over their christmas aud new
years boxes, Then followed this scene:
| This morning as was prescribing for them (all
| sitting up). some reading the morning papers aud
| talking loudly over the news, some playing whist,
| some checkers somo chess, some dominoes, all
Gughing and merry, General H. walked in, and
| looking for a moment along the line of sick, eX-
claimed, What the h-ll have you got thereT
"AIy hospital, general" "a brigade" replied he,
in his roughest manner, "of d-dsight better men
'Ail here sir" WELL this beats anything have
| seen in the army, aud II you give your men such
beds and such comforts as this you win have every
man of your regiment in the hospital before il
month
| A little later during the winter the surgeon
went to see detachment OF this regiment
which had been appointed to guard Hancock Is
headquarters. lie says:
| Around the house occupied by the general was
large ditch, some five feet deep and some ten or
twelve feet wide, dug Us the commencement of a
fort In the ditch, over which O few evergreen
| boughs had been thrown as u covering, stood q
wedressed lieutenant from my own regiment)
with squad Of soldiers guarding the general 3
house, the lieu uenant trying TO inuse into the men
attle warmth of patriotic feeling, while the winter
| torrents poured through the evergreen branches,
| aud their whole frames shook with cold IN this
sentry-house, chsritably built for them by orders
of the general, who ut that moment was being joy
| iul over his wine, and with his friends
| But 1t WAS not cold hearted indifference only
that characterized HancOck's conduct toward
the men under his command. He was
mischievously meddlesome. DIR. Castleman
writes, under date of March 49,
| The effects of General lis vnlctive med.
ding with the medical department are beginning
| to manifest themselves. When he took from me
my well-trained hospital attendants and my expe-
rieuced druggist on the 9TH instant there were an.
pointed in their places men worthless in the ranks
and without knowledge Of the important duties
J which they were TO perform III the hospital The
druggist knew not one medicine nom another, aud
| to-day three men were poisoned by mistake in
| dispensing medicine. Oneofthcm is already dead:
| the other two suffering severely though ! have
| hopes that they may yet be saved. Thank God |
was absent at the time and had nothing 10 do with
either dispensing or administering; and yet, should
| write that the Yindctyeuess was not vet Crutinpd
| would the world credit it2 Ii Is even So naVe
addressed 10 the general respectful letter settiug
! forth the facts aud urging the restoration of my
druggist. but he refuses! Would he dgCiulate his
brigade to crafty his yindctyeness?
| The sick were not tbs only persons who
suffered from Hancock's unfeciug sofshnoss.
On the 18th of May the journal notices the
arrival of his command at tho Pamuukcy
river, and continues:
| one circumstance occurred on our arrival here
| this morning, showing the difference between
officers aud men, and so Characteristic is IL of lhe
mau thnt cannot refrain from recording IL in my
| journal as food for the thought hereafter. We
| found some negroes drawing Seine in the river
| here, Some soldiers made bargain to make d
| draw for them, fixing II price aud paying for 1t.
| The men had been on short ral1ns Of hard bread
aud salt meat for several days Beiug compelled
70 carry their provisions in their haversacks they
| can carry nothing but this simple food while the
| officers, having transportation at command take
with them all the comforts Of the country. Well
the net was cast aud while the drawing was going
on General Hancock rOdo down TO the beach
| and watched the operation with much apparent
| interest, The draught was nearly ut shore tho
| hungry mouths aud watching eyes of the sol
u
joyous feast, for II was now beyond doubt that the
net was cast at a propitiouS moment and was com
| ing in loaded with herring shRd and GELS. But
what right had common soldiers 70 indulgenCOs
| like these2 The generals mouth wateIed, too
The instant the draught was brought 10 laud the
bayonet Of the generals guard briSted all around
and the generals CapaCOus bags received every
fish Oifthey were carried for himself and friends
without even nod in acknowledgment.
Two months later the journal declares that
Hancock was evidently possessed of one very
Napoleonio trait Of character-that when an
object is 10 bo attained the lives of men arc
not to be estimated" 1t adds: "Hhe men
were exposed and hard worked. The efforts
of the surgeons were not seconded. Their ad.
vice was disregarded. Sickness increased" In
August, when the weather was very hot, an.
other example of the generals inhumanity
was afforded. On August 10 writes DR., Cas-
tlemau.
This morning we started early. The day has
been intensely hot, the dust almost insunerable,
General Hancock was in command Of his brigade.
We had made q rapid march Of about ten miles,
| The men were tatigued, tOOt'soro aud thirsty In
| many instances two or three having TO depend on
| one canteen, IL was soon empued, ana when we
| stopped 70 rest after the ten mile march, We were
in sight Of spring of1cautul cold water. But the