Hancock’s most important campaign was at Gettys-
burg (1–3 July 1863). On the first day of the battle, after
the left flank of the Union army had suffered heavily,
and General John F. Reynolds was killed in action, Han-
cock arrived and had to decide whether the Union force
should withdraw or hold their position. He decided to
hold his ground on Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge.
On the second day, Hancock commanded the center
flank of the Union army, taking over the left flank as well
after General Dan Sickles was wounded in action. On
the third day, Hancock commanded the Union forces,
taking the full impact of Pickett’s Charge, the Confeder-
ates’ final desperate attack up the hill when Confederate
general George E. Pickett’s troops attempted to break
through the Union Center. As the Confederate artil-
lery opened fire, Hancock rode along the front of his
troops to show he shared the danger with them. In the
end, Hancock’s forces lost over 4,000 men out of 10,000
troops, but Lee withdrew, defeated. Because of a wound,
Hancock went into convalescence for six months before
he could return to service. He received the thanks of
Congress for his service to the Union.
Hancock returned to service in May 1864 and
saw action at Spotsylvania (10–12 May 1864), the fol-
low-up to the battle of the Wilderness. Positioned on
the right flank of General Ulysses S. grant, he took
a leading role in the battle, as historian George Bruce
writes: “General Hancock on the right surprised the first
line of the Confederate defenses and compelled General
[Joseph E.] Johnson and his division to surrender.” At
Cold Harbor (31 May–3 June 1864), following Grant’s
orders, Hancock sent his men into a bloody but usuc-
cessful assault. After Cold Harbor, his wound reopened,
and he again left the army to convalesce. His return to
command was marked by a defeat at Reams’ Station (25
August 1864). In November 1864, he again had to give
up his command because of his wound and was em-
ployed in raising a new corps. He was slated to return to
the battlefield when Richmond fell and the war ended.
Following the assassination of President Abraham
Lincoln in April 1865, Hancock was placed in com-
mand of all troops in the Washington, D.C., area. He
also oversaw the military trials of the conspirators in the
president’s assassination, the execution of some and the
imprisonment of the remainder. However, he argued
with Washington and urged lenient treatment of the
Southern states, now slowly being reintroduced back
into the Union under Reconstruction rule. Promoted to
major general in the regular army in July 1866, he served
in a series of military appointments before retiring.
A lifetime Democrat, Hancock was a candidate for
the 1868 presidential nomination, eventually won by
New York governor Horatio Seymour. In 1880, he did
win the Democratic nomination, with William H. En-
glish nominated for vice president, but he was defeated
by the Republican James A. Garfield by less than 7,000
votes. (Garfield was assassinated less than a year into his
term.) In his final years, Hancock lived on Governor’s Is-
land, New York, where he died on 9 February 1886, five
days before his 62nd birthday. His body was returned
to his native Pennsylvania, and he was laid to rest in the
Montgomery Cemetery in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
Hancock was an important member of the Union
high command during the Civil War, although some
historians overlook his service. Ulysses S. Grant, who
clashed with Hancock over strategy, wrote of him:
“Hancock stands [as] the most conspicuous figure of all
the general officers who did not exercise a separate com-
mand. He commanded a corps longer than any other,
and his name was never mentioned as having committed
in battle a blunder for which he was responsible.”References: Jordan, David M., Winfield Scott Hancock:
A Soldier’s Life (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1988); Walker, Francis Amasa, Hancock in the War of Re-
bellion (New York: The Press of G. J. Little & Company,
1891); Gambone, A. M., Hancock at Gettysburg: And
Beyond (Baltimore: Butternut and Blue, 1997); Bruce,
George, “Spotsylvania,” in Collins Dictionary of Wars
(Glasgow, Scotland: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995),
236; Tucker, Glenn, Hancock the Superb (Indianapolis,
Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill, 1960).Hannibal (Hanba’al) (247–ca. 183/182 b.c.)
Carthaginian general
Most of the facts of Hannibal’s life come not from Car-
thaginian sources but those of his Roman enemies. The
son of hamilcar barca, another Carthaginian com-
mander whose exploits have been well documented in
history, he was born in Carthage, located in what is now
modern Tunisia, in 247 b.c., and named Hannibal (prop-
erly “Hanba’al” in his native language, meaning “mercy
of Ba’al”). At the age of nine, he served at his father’s side
in campaigns in Spain. Hamilcar’s death in 229 b.c. did
not deter the 18-year-old Hannibal’s desire to become hAnnibAl