Editing Winfield Scott Hancock (section)

===Gettysburg===

[[File:Major General Winfield Scott Hancock of General Staff U.S. Volunteers Infantry Regiment in uniform) - From photographic negative in Brady's National Portrait Gallery LCCN2016646210.jpg|thumb|200px|Major General Winfield Scott Hancock. From the Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs, Prints and Photographs Division, [[Library of Congress]]]]
[[File:Hancock, Gen. Winfield S. and staff (?) LCCN2013647706.jpg|thumb|200px|Winfield S. Hancock and staff during the Civil War]]
[[File:Battle of Gettysburg LCCN2003663828.jpg|thumb|200px|Major General Winfield S. Hancock riding along the Union lines during the Confederate bombardment prior to [[Pickett's Charge]], lithograph by the company of [[Louis Prang]]]]
Hancock's most famous service was as a new corps commander at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]], July 1 to 3, 1863.<ref name=Tagg/> After his friend, Maj. Gen. [[John F. Reynolds]], was killed early on July 1, Maj. Gen. [[George G. Meade]], the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, sent Hancock ahead to take command of the units on the field and assess the situation. Hancock thus was in temporary command of the "left wing" of the army, consisting of the [[I Corps (Union Army)|I]], II, [[III Corps (Union Army)|III]], and [[XI Corps (Union Army)|XI Corps]]. This demonstrated Meade's high confidence in him, because Hancock was not the most senior Union officer at Gettysburg at the time.<ref>Jordan, p. 81.</ref> Hancock and the more senior XI Corps commander, Maj. Gen. [[Oliver O. Howard]], argued briefly about this command arrangement, but Hancock prevailed and he organized the Union defenses on [[Cemetery Hill]] as more numerous Confederate forces drove the I and XI Corps back through the town. He had the authority from Meade to withdraw, so he was responsible for the decision to stand and fight at Gettysburg.<ref>Tucker, pp. 131–34</ref> At the conclusion of the day's action, Maj. Gen. [[Henry Warner Slocum]] arrived on the field and assumed command until Gen. Meade arrived after midnight.

On July 2, Hancock's II Corps was positioned on [[Cemetery Ridge]], roughly in the center of the Union line, while Confederate [[Full General (CSA)|Gen.]] [[Robert E. Lee]] launched assaults on both ends of the line.<ref name=jordan89>Jordan, pp. 89–94.</ref> On the Union left, [[Lieutenant General (CSA)|Lt. Gen.]] [[James Longstreet]]'s assault smashed the III Corps and Hancock sent in his 1st Division, under Brig. Gen. [[John C. Caldwell]], to reinforce the Union in the [[Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day#Wheatfield|Wheatfield]]. As Lt. Gen. [[A.P. Hill]]'s corps continued the attack toward the Union center, Hancock rallied the defenses and rushed units to the critical spots.<ref name=jordan89/> First, he sent the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Division, under Col. George Willard, into the fray to stop the advance of Confederate Brigadier General William Barksdale's Brigade.<ref>{{cite book |title=Reminiscences of Winfield Scott Hancock |last=Hancock |first=Almira |publisher=Digital Scanning, Inc. |year=1999 |isbn=1-58218-056-3 |location=Scituate, Massachusetts |pages=198}}</ref> In one famous incident, he sacrificed a regiment, the [[1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry|1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment]], by ordering it to advance and charge a Confederate brigade four times its size, causing the Minnesotans to suffer 87% casualties.<ref name=jordan93>Jordan, p. 93.</ref> While costly, this sacrifice bought time to organize the defensive line and saved the day for the Union Army.<ref name=jordan93/> Following the action toward his right, he sent the [[13th Vermont Infantry|13th Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment]] of the 1st Corps, which had come from Cemetery Hill to help quell the crisis, to recover some artillery pieces the Confederates had captured and were pulling away. The Vermonters were successful.<ref>{{cite book |title=Gettysburg: The Second Day |last=Pfanz |first=Harry |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=1987 |isbn=0-8078-1749-X |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |pages=[https://archive.org/details/gettysburgsecond00pfan/page/422 422] |url=https://archive.org/details/gettysburgsecond00pfan/page/422 }}</ref> Having stabilized his line, he turned his attention to the sound of fighting on East Cemetery Hill. There, with darkness falling, Confederates from Maj. Gen. [[Jubal Early]]'s Division had gotten into Union batteries and were fighting the cannoneers hand-to-hand.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill|last = Pfanz|first = Harry|publisher = University of North Carolina Press|year = 1993|isbn = 0-8078-2118-7|location = Chapel Hill, North Carolina|pages = 269}}</ref> Hancock sent the First Brigade of his Third Division, under Colonel Samuel S. Carroll, to the fighting.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Gettysburg: Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill|last = Pfanz|first = Harry|publisher = University of North Carolina Press|year = 1993|isbn = 0-8078-2118-7|location = Chapel Hill, North Carolina|pages = 263–64}}</ref> The brigade was crucial in flushing the enemy out of the batteries and dispatching them back down the face of East Cemetery Hill.

On July 3, Hancock defended his position on Cemetery Ridge and thus bore the brunt of [[Pickett's Charge]].<ref>Jordan, pp. 96–99.</ref> During the massive Confederate artillery bombardment that preceded the infantry assault, Hancock was prominent on horseback, reviewing and encouraging his troops. When one of his subordinates protested, "General, the corps commander ought not to risk his life that way," Hancock is said to have replied, "There are times when a corps commander's life does not count."<ref>Foote, p. 545.</ref> During the infantry assault, his old friend, [[Brig. Gen. (CSA)|Brig. Gen.]] [[Lewis A. Armistead]], now leading a brigade in [[Maj. Gen. (CSA)|Maj. Gen.]] [[George Pickett]]'s division, was wounded and died two days later. Hancock could not meet with his friend because he had just been wounded himself, a severe wound caused by a bullet striking the pommel of his saddle, entering his inner right thigh along with wood fragments and a large bent nail.<ref>Jordan, p. 98.</ref> Helped from his horse by aides, and with a [[tourniquet]] applied to stanch the bleeding, he removed the saddle nail himself and, mistaking its source, remarked wryly, "They must be hard up for ammunition when they throw such shot as that."<ref>Foote, p. 561.</ref> News of Armistead's mortal wounding was brought to Hancock by a member of his staff, Capt. [[Henry H. Bingham]]. Despite his pain, Hancock refused evacuation to the rear until the battle was resolved. He had been an inspiration for his troops throughout the three-day battle. Hancock later received the thanks of the [[U.S. Congress]] for "...&nbsp;his gallant, meritorious and conspicuous share in that great and decisive victory."<ref Name=Eicher/>

One military historian wrote, "No other Union general at Gettysburg dominated men by the sheer force of their presence more completely than Hancock."<ref name=Tagg>Tagg, pp. 33–35.</ref> As another wrote, "his tactical skill had won him the quick admiration of adversaries who had come to know him as the 'Thunderbolt of the [[Army of the Potomac]]'."<ref>Tucker, p. 15.</ref>