He bore with seemliness the title "The Superb," which could have rested so gracefully on the shoulders of  few other Americans." -- Glenn Tucker

To the North he was known as "Hancock The Superb," and  "the Paladin of the Northern Armies."  To the South -- "The Thunderbolt of the Army of the Potomac."  The Sioux and Cheyenne called him "Old Man of the Thunder."  A man of great charisma and commanding physical presence, he was a soldier's soldier, something of an artist, amateur scientist, botanist, and he even wrote some verse.

WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK was born one of identical twin brothers on February 14, 1824 in Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania. Descended from a long line of American soldiers, he was christened with the name of America's greatest living soldier -- General Winfield Scott, the hero of the War of 1812.  In 1828, the family moved to Norristown, Pa., and for the rest of his life, Hancock always considered Norristown "home".

Hancock's Birthplace, Montgomery Square, Pa.

In 1840, young Hancock -- then only sixteen -- received a coveted appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.  He graduated on June 30, 1844, eighteenth in a class of twenty-five, perhaps one of the youngest graduates of that year..  His future Adjutant in the Second Corps, Francis A. Walker, would  later write:

"Hancock's career at West Point was in no sense distinguished.  The qualities which made him powerful as a commander were not those which would give academic distinction.  His ultimate success was to be preeminently through character."

The U. S. Military Academy at West Point, New York

Breveted Second Lieutenant in the Sixth U. S. Infantry upon his graduation, Hancock was detailed to Indian Territory, near the Red River on the border of Texas, where he served at Fort Towson and, later, Fort Washita.  During the time he was stationed there, relations between Whites and Indians were comparatively calm, and he spent two delightful years in the open, hunting, fishing, riding the plains and filling out his tremendous frame.  In this rough but exhilarating duty he remained until the outbreak of the Mexican War. Fearing he would miss the war entirely, Lt. Hancock repeatedly wrote to the War Department requesting a transfer from his desk job to the front.  Finally, on July 13, 1847, the young officer was transferred to Vera Cruz to serve under his namesake, General Winfield Scott, in the fight against the forces of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.  His first action in that conflict was at the National bridge, on the way from Vera Cruz to Puebla, where he was in command of a party sent to storm and capture the bridge.  He saw further action in the battles of Churubusco, Molino Del Rey, Vera Cruz and witnessed the assault and capture of Mexico City.  On August 20, 1847, "for gallant and meritorious conduct at the battles of Contreras and Churubusco," Winfield Scott Hancock was breveted First Lieutenant. The Sixth Infantry remained in Mexico City until 1848, when the war ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.  It was then ordered to Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri, then up the Mississippi River to Fort Crawford, Wisconsin.  During this time, Hancock served as regimental quartermaster, and on October 1, 1849 was appointed adjutant, and aide-de-camp to General Newman S. Clarke, commander of the Sixth Infantry.

Regimental headquarters returned to St. Louis and, while stationed there, Hancock met lovely Almira Russell, the daughter of a prominent St. Louis merchant.  They were married on January 24, 1850.

In the years following, the Hancocks had two children: a son, Russell (October 29, 1850 - December 30, 1884) born in St. Louis,  and a daughter, Ada Elizabeth (February 24, 1857 - March 28, 1875), born in Fort Myers, Florida.. On November 5, 1855, Lieutenant Hancock was appointed Assistant Quartermaster, U.S.A, with the rank of captain, and ordered to Fort Myers in southern Florida during the Seminole Wars of 1856-7.  It was difficult and arduous service, but Hancock performed his quartermaster duties with apparent ease and complete competence.  He was quickly becoming indespensible in that capacity although, according to Almira Hancock, "he very much disliked quartermaster duties."

Almira Russell Hancock

Russell Hancock

For a larger, colorized version of the Hancock coat of arms, click on the image above

In 1857, he served at Fort Leavenworth during the violence of "Bleeding Kansas," observing firsthand the bitterness and enflamed feelings that the twin issues of slavery and States' Rights had brought to that frontier.  Of his own loyalties, he would say:

Ada Elizabeth Hancock

"I shall not fight on the principle of State-rights, but for the union, whole and undivided. I do not belong to a country formed of principalities"

Indeed, the winds of sectional strife and disunity were already sweeping across the country, pushing it inexorably to the brink of a fratricidal civil war.  In the interim, Hancock served briefly in Utah during the Mormon uprising of 1858-59 and, when the War finally came, he was stationed with his family in Los Angeles, California, once again far away from the field command he so desired. Southern California was, at that time, a hotbed of secessionist sympathies, and there was significant talk of rebellion and of the state seceeding should Abraham Lincoln be elected President.  Captain Hancock, sensing that his army supplies were endangered, was prepared.  Through single-minded personal courage, patriotic speeches, and the threat of ultimate army intervention, he was able to frustrate the plans of the local secessionists and to hold the state of California for the Union.

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