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HANCOCK THE SUPERB

© John S. Cooper

Winfield Scott Hancock was named for the famous soldier, Winfield Scott. These two men shared more than just their names. These two were the only "also-rans," or runners-up for the presidency, who lived their entire adult lives, including the period when they were running for the presidency, in the military. In spite of his lack of political experience, Winfield Scott Hancock was probably more qualified to be president than most of the political candidates of his day.

Hancock was born in Montgomery Square, near Norristown, Pennsylvania, in 1824. His father was a prosperous lawyer who named his first-born son after the general under whom he had served during the War of 1812. Winfield had a twin brother, Hilary, who showed some talent in his early years as a geologist, artist and cartoonist, but later became an alcoholic and skid row bum.

The turning point in Winfield's life was his appointment to West Point. A local former Congressman, John Benton Sterigere, was an enemy of the father of another boy who wanted to go to West Point. To get his revenge on the other boy's father, Sterigere got the appointment for Winfield. Hancock was then barely sixteen, short and weak. His good looks and good nature allowed him to escape much of the hazing he might otherwise have endured. By the time he graduated, he was big (6'2") and strong. His graduating class was not noted for outstanding excellence, and Hancock was no standout. Hancock was popular and respected by his peers, who included in his four years at West Point Stonewall Jackson, George McClellan, James Longstreet, and Ulysses S. Grant.

Hancock's first years in the army were spent along the Red River in Texas and on the frontier fighting Indians. The Indian fighting years were spent hunting wild game rather than Indians. When war broke out with Mexico in 1846, Hancock requested assignment in a fighting unit, but he had few achievements to recommend him. The one thing he did have in his favor was his name and the fact that he had met Winfield Scott while at West Point. Scott had Hancock assigned to Mexico, and Hancock arrived before the war was over. He was there long enough to get commendations for bravery in four different battles (Contreras, Churubusco, Molina del Ray and Chapultepec).

His next assignments were in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He was not advancing quickly in rank; few did in the peacetime army. Many of his contemporaries who later became Civil War generals left the army during this period. During this period, a West Point classmate, Don Carlos Buell, another future Civil War general, introduced Hancock to Almira Russell. After a short courtship, they were married in an elaborate ceremony.

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