New-York tribune., 1886-02-10

/ his personal bravery anu ndgnHCoh1
| enforced it. He was engaged at Garnetts hiI., "
| aft Savage Station, and at w mite YAK swamp on
the 2sth 29th and Both of june On INC ias. u"3
! his brigade had the trying and depressing auty D,
| covering the withdrawal OF the Union tralh anu
withstood all day the fire OF sixty TeDeI guns, WIN
hardly an oPp%rtgn p%1rnn tbs Peninsula campaign aud
the seven days fight which closed at Malvern NH
General Hancock was recominehned ny tuo Gmerai
in Chief for promotion TO the rank OF naJo -Uenertl-
| of-VOuuteers and for the brevets OF MAJOR IIeu-
tenant-co onel and colonel in the regular army
Gallant and meritorlOus conduct III Tue Ieuinsui"
! campaign was the cause specified. -. , 49,,
After the failure OF the attack on hlcnhoIu, a.i,'
the transfer of the Army OF the Potomac northWaIu
General Hancock supported rope. ne con'I9nuo1 GU
his brigade at South Mountain, and on the lHh OF
Sentember he shared I'D the battle OF Antetam. III
| that dav also beginning his connection WIN the
| second ARMY Corps through the death of Richard
son mortallv wounded on the held ana whose com com
mand the First Division. was transferred 10 MN
| When Lee retreated across the Potomac, Hancock
led The advance from Hirper's Ferry To CharieSton
driving the enemy repeatedly with heavy Dlows
| In Noyember he received his commission as major
| general, and moved to Fredericksburg, with his
division, taking part in the desperate assault on
Maryes Heights Here, in the slaughter pen
as the men called it, he sustained lleSh wound
though not enough to disable him. That he was
not killed seemed remarkable, Tor he constantly
exposed himself. not indeed IeckeSsy pGt Mnen I
his troops at a critical moment A6 ChanceOrsVliie
Hancock's division formed the rearguard OF the
| beaten army When the Eleventh Corps collapsed
il kent its position repelled every attack oil the
| enemy, and fell back in parade order. llancpck
had his horse shot under him on TINS OCCASION puI
himself escaped, though always Ill the thlck OF tho
In June 1868 month after Chancellor5vllIe,
General Hancock put III command of the Sec
ond Corps in wnich he had been division com
mander for nearly a year. His promotion was very
satisfactory to the officers and men who had fought
| nnder him. and who nad learned 10 q lmlre ana
trnst mm greatly. Then ensued the eliminating
movements of the war, Lees INVASION OF the
! North and the tremendous battle OF Gettys-
burg. upon the issue of which such moment99us
| matters depended. Genera, Meade, bearing that
the enc nys advance had been encountered at yet
| tvsburg, ordered General Hancock, theu IouftFeh
! miles away at Taneytown, TO 90 ine front and take
command there When he arr we'd the first days
! h.ttIr was well advanced, and fortune was appar-
! e1tly deserting the Union arms. The Federal
troops were retiring before the superior nun berS oi
! The enemy. General Reynolds was deaf. ms
| as he Galloped to the front ihe Flrst
! and Eleventh Corps were falling bacS
! upon the Heights. lie looked around and grasped
The strateric points of the situ1u'n Tie perceived
all the advantages of the position ana sent word To
stand and deliver battle. Meade agreed WIN MN
| and made his dispositions accordingly. Hancock
was given the command OF the Ieit centre.
| On the second day he sustained n furious
! assault, and having repulsed IT., de
! hyered telling connter-charge. ON the
third day LonGstreet prfplred, w,th do'99ho Th,
men and l20 guns to crash Hancock defence ne
! artillery PLAYED upon the Union columns ior TWO
| ionrS and then came the charge. Hancock knew
that the moment was critical that some hha ell Irt
must be made 10 me t the bow. nuddehly alhd
/ tire of he'll" which made veterans shrink ana
vtnf "A
! ing " The star SpanI Banner. Ihe cronchlnG
| soldiers looked up amazed, to see Gea-
cral Hancock. followed by hls stan'
calmly aud slowly pacing his horse down
tIr line as If on dress parade. TINS exhibition 81
/ almost incredible GOODNESS and bravery while ia"
shrek and whistle Of she'll and bullet seemed 10 M
every cubic DOT of AR produced wonderfully
/ bracing effect upon the troops. when Long frer' ;
/ charge was made II failed. and ~ the counter
chafpe 600 rebels and tnlrty stand of CO ors wrr"
| taken lhe victory WAS won, the enemy were
routed. Then the ga LIANT commander; VINO hal
| seemed to bear charmed life all through
| die, and but for swift help w"nld have fallen.
lie had received bullct IN the thigh. aud though
/ he refused TO 60 to ne roar he was lncapacltated
! for active service for some time
/ lie had not recovered from hls wound when he
! reported for duty again IN December. SOB. bat he
spent the winter IN recruiting tor the
! Second Corps, and IN March, lo9t'
he returned to the field lie had HI,
| old corps and the Third, the combined strength OF
| the command beng fifty thousand men. With
these troops he distinguished himself IN the bloody
! Battle of the Wilderness the sta, 9th aud 1th
/ of Nav Here he employed his fayorIts tactics,
with the familiar result and here 100: he showed yea
the personal vaior Whi'h kept nun nJ""H n,' ,,
front line. On the ION he cominandcd a succe-.lu'
| assault the eneIay near Spottsylvania On thc
/ l2rh he carried strongly ehtrrhched rcbo'
position favored somewhat b. fOg. with =
/ rush taking 5000 prisoners, twenty pieces OF
artillery thirty stand of cOlOrs aud several thou
/ sand rifles. Thcncefor"aId untll the I|ih oi Jnh'
h, parlcIpatrd IN almost every engagement, inlet
/ ing much loss the rebels On that date the
| hardshlps Of he campaign rcacting upon ms uh-
] healed wound,
| time for treatment ii" was only inactive yen
! DAYS however, taking The command AZ hn on ia"
27th Of June, and dong much ilhtng ai PeierS-
| buIg, Deep Bottom, kcams station anu BoNdon
| Road Al the end of November, 1864, General
/ Hancock was ordered to Washington 10 r9l,e II
! corp, of veterans. aud laynga c0mplish'd ms ne
| went 10 the front again IN COmmln of the Middle
/ Military Division, aud made his headquarters NJ
! Winchester The surrender NJ AppomdttoN
rendered unnecessary the plans which had thrn
/ been formed, "A I'd the assas'naiipi ol IRE ddeht
/ Lincoln caused Hancock To be summoned
/ to Washington. where he commanded during th1
trial of the consprraors or ms b"hhNlnr IN reRatd
| 70 Mrs Surratt there mas been much dispute, lhe
balance of probabilities jlstlhes the conclusion
that as "A soldier lac was reluctant 10 nave anything
! 10 do with the execution Of a woman. but that
| though he wOuld gladly have been relieved from
I'm INV. 1863 (icntral Hancock was promoted To
| the command Of the Middle Department. In July.
| lSGG, he received the full gra le II Auor-GrncTa.
/ IN the Army, and assumed command Of the De-
| partment of Missouri conducting several ca n
paigns against h. Indians subsequently. In 1867
he was or Ter ii to ass nm CO n uand OF the
Fifth Military district and the department of tn"
! Gulf with headquarters at Ncw-Orledns. This
was the Reconstruction Period. The South was
| restless when not turbulent Az the North there
was "a disposition To use Tigor which receive
constant encouragement from the disoyai
utierances and acts of Southern fanatics.
were already doubling the wisdom Of the policy OF
clemency that had been adopted. They feared mat
! the Freedmen would be oppressed, As they were,
and deprived of the ballot, az they also were. III
was held by not n few AT the North that the south
ern States should have been put and Kept under
military government until the people clearly
real lZed the necessity OF conforming to the constr
| tution and the laws Ii was NJ this moment that
General Hancock went to the Gu,i, and by the issue
! Of hls general order No 40" at once alarmed g
| North and acquired POPULARITY III the south. ms
order brcathed good feeling and declared his bel
! IN tine supremacy of the civil power Regarded
| abstractly nothing not lauddble could DO found
| IN IT, Regarded IN he light of surrounding CIR
! cumsances 1t mistake liable To have
| very serious cOnsequ' nces, lnasInuch aS the So
called civil power at the south was then strongly
set against accepting the laws of Congress aud the
amendments TO the Constitution, and, inasmuch as
| the suppression OF the military power really meant
| the withdrawal Of necessary aud indispensable pro-
! lection from the weaker race General Hancock
| STAYED no longer than six mon hS at New-OrlcanS.
! General Grant was lead 10 conclude that the de-
! partment Of the Gulf would ne more safely admin
| isercd by an Off .cr holding less visionary and
! more practical views political questions.