Winfield Scott Hancock and David Bell Birney

Union general Winfield Scott Hancock (1824–1886) commanded the Second Corps of the Army of the Potomac. He won praise from soldiers and peers alike for his bravery and leadership at Gettysburg in 1863, where he was seriously wounded, and in the Virginia battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor in 1864. At Gettysburg, Hancock’s command repulsed the brunt of Pickett’s Charge. In response to a subordinate who urged Hancock not to ride his horse in the midst of the fight, he replied, “There are times when a corps commander’s life does not count.”