Medical Information on General Officers: Major General Winfield Scott Hancock

From eHistory.com

A wound suffered at Gettysburg hindered the rest of famed Second Corps General Hancock's Civil War career.

Born on Valentine's Day, 1824, Hancock graduated from West Point in 1844 and served in the Mexican War. He was wounded slightly in the knee at Churubusco and was suffering from chills and fever during the battle of Chapultepec.

Hancock was wounded while sitting on his horse on July 3 at Gettysburg. The bullet entered his right thigh and lodged, carrying in some foreign material. An improvised tourniquet staunched the bleeding. The wound remained a constant problem for Hancock until a surgeon, Dr. Louis Read, was able to find the bullet and remove it.

In June of 1864, the wound reopened and bone fragments extruded from it. Hancock gave up command on June 17, but returned to command on the 27th. He gave up command of the Second Corps in November 1864. Hancock died on Feb. 9, 1886 in New York. The book "Hancock at Gettysburg" by A.M. Gambone gives much detail about General Hancock's wounding.

Posted in: Civil War Wounds