00:06 - Hi i'm Joe Farley i'm Joe Farrell.

00:09 - We're at Montgomery cemetery in Norristown Pennsylvania

00:12 - at the grave

00:13 - of Winfield Scott Hancock

00:15 - Hancock was a

00:17 - civil war

00:18 - general.

00:19 - A hero in the civil war.

00:21 - A career army officer.

00:23 - A commander at the battle of gettysburg

00:25 - and the Democratic nominee for president in 1880.

00:28 - Joe i think

00:29 - Hancock is my favorite civil war general

00:31 - He'd be an excellent choice.

00:33 - Winfield Scott Hancock was born here in Montgomery county 1824.

00:39 - On Valentine's day

00:40 - he was named after General Winfield Scott

00:43 - who was an epic man at the time based on the heroism

00:45 - he had shown during the war of 1812.

00:48 - Now after Hancock's early schooling

00:51 - he attended west point

00:52 - where he graduated

00:54 - in 1844

00:55 - in 1846 the Mexican war broke out

00:58 - and Hancock was assigned to be a recruiter

01:00 - now he was very good at that but he wanted to join in the fighting

01:04 - and in 1847 got his wish

01:06 - and when he reported for duty

01:08 - he became part of the army

01:09 - that was commanded by

01:11 - the man he was named after.

01:14 - After the Mexican war

01:15 - while serving in St Louis

01:17 - Hancock met his soon to be wife

01:19 - Elmira.

01:21 - In 1858

01:23 - the Hancocks were transferred to southern California

01:26 - where they became friendly with a lot of officers

01:28 - from the south.

01:30 - June

01:30 - fifteenth

01:31 - 1861

01:33 - the Hancocks hosted a party

01:35 - for their friends

01:36 - who are scattering because of the war

01:38 - some to fight for the confederacy

01:40 - some to fight for the union.

01:42 - That party has become legend

01:43 - and is chronicled

01:45 - in the book

01:46 - the Killer Angels

01:47 - and in the movie Gettysburg.

01:49 - There was

01:50 - much sadness many tears were shed

01:52 - at that party

01:54 - Lewis armistead promised

01:55 - he would never take arms against his friend

01:58 - Winnie Hancock

02:00 - Later on

02:00 - Elmira

02:01 - would recount

02:02 - how that at the battle of gettysburg three of the six confederate officers

02:07 - that were at that party

02:08 - were killed by Hancock's men

02:10 - in September of 1861

02:12 - Hancock was promoted

02:14 - to the rank of brigadier general.

02:16 - He led his troops in the peninsula campaign so effectively

02:19 - that general

02:20 - mcclellan referred to him as Hancock the Superb

02:23 - now that moniker stuck

02:25 - and for

02:26 - years after many people referred to him as Hancock the Superb.

02:29 - He led his troops in the battle of Antietam

02:32 - after which he was promoted to major general

02:34 - during the battle of fredericksburg he led a disastrous

02:37 - attack

02:38 - where he was wounded in the abdomen

02:40 - later during the battle of chancellorsville

02:43 - he was wounded yet again

02:44 - after that battle he wrote a letter to his wife

02:47 - saying that he had been offered

02:48 - command of the army of the potomac

02:50 - but he had turned the position down.

02:53 - Hancock's most famous service was at the battle of Gettysburg

02:55 - on July 1st, 2nd and 3rd

02:57 - 1863

02:59 - He was

03:00 - elevated on day one

03:01 - to commander

03:02 - after.

03:03 - General John Reynolds was killed

03:05 - early on the first day.

03:07 - On day one he was in charge of the left side of the union troops

03:11 - which was the focus of the confederate attack

03:14 - on day two

03:15 - he commanded the left side of the union line

03:17 - and his troops

03:18 - were the focus of the confederate attack

03:20 - on day three

03:22 - his men bore the brunt

03:23 - of Pickett's charge.

03:25 - Hancock was wounded

03:27 - during Pickett's

03:27 - charge

03:28 - shot in the groin very seriously hurt

03:30 - but he refused to leave the battlefield

03:33 - until the issue

03:34 - was decided

03:35 - Lewis Armistead was also

03:37 - wounded

03:38 - at Pickett's charge

03:39 - mortally wounded

03:40 - and as he lay dying

03:41 - he asked to see Hancock when he was told that Hancock had been hit

03:45 - and was unable to come see him.

03:47 - He asked.

03:48 - That Hancock be told

03:49 - that he was sorry.

03:51 - There's a memorial

03:52 - marking the friendship between these two

03:55 - at the gettysburg national museum it's called the friend to friend memorial.

03:59 - There's also monuments marking a spot where each of them

04:02 - was wounded.

04:03 - After the battle of gettysburg

04:05 - Hancock fought

04:06 - in every major

04:07 - battle for the duration of the war

04:09 - when Lincoln was assassinated

04:11 - Hancock was put in charge

04:13 - of Washington DC

04:15 - and it was under Hancock's command

04:17 - that the conspirators in the assassination were tried

04:20 - and then put to death.

04:22 - Hancock was the Democratic nominee for president

04:25 - in 1880

04:26 - and he lost narrowly to James Garfield

04:29 - he then became commander

04:30 - of the division of the Atlantic

04:32 - and he held that post

04:34 - until he died

04:35 - in 1886

04:38 - There are three statues

04:39 - memorializing

04:41 - Hancock

04:41 - on the Gettysburg battlefield

04:43 - one on cemetery hill.

04:45 - One on the Pennsylvania monument

04:47 - and one on the New York state monument

04:48 - there are also statues

04:50 - to Hancock in

04:52 - Washington DC.

04:54 - Fairmount park in Philadelphia

04:56 - and

04:56 - Hancock square in new York city.

04:58 - You can learn more about

05:00 - Winfield Scott Hancock

05:01 - in our book

05:02 - Keystone Tombstones

05:03 - the civil war

05:04 - available at sunbury press dot com.