The FReeper Foxhole Profiles General Winfield Scott Hancock

Winfield Scott Hancock, soldier, born in Montgomery Square, Montgomery co., Pa., 14 Feb., 1824 ; died on Governor's Island, New York harbor, 9 Feb., 1886. His grandfather, Richard Hancock, of Scottish birth, was one of the impressed American seamen of the war of 1812 who were incarcerated in Dartmoor prison in England. His father, Benjamin Franklin Hancock, was born in Philadelphia, and when quite a young man was thrown upon his own resources, having displeased his guardian by not marrying in the Society of Friends. He supported himself and wife by teaching while studying law, was admitted to the bar in 1828, and removed to Norristown, where he practiced his profession forty years, earning the reputation of a well read, judicious, and successful lawyer.

Winfield S. Hancock possessed the combined advantages of home instruction and a course in the Norristown academy and the public high school. He early evinced a taste for military exercises, and at the age of sixteen entered the U. S. military academy, where he was graduated, 1 July, 1844. He was at once brevetted 2d lieutenant in the 6th infantry, and assigned to duty at Fort Towson, Indian territory. He received his commission as 2d lieutenant while his regiment was stationed on the frontier of Mexico, where the difficulties that resulted in the Mexican war had already begun. He was ordered to active service in the summer of 1847, joined the army of General Scott in its advance upon the Mexican capital, participated in the four principal battles of the campaign, and was brevetted 1st lieutenant for gallant and meritorious conduct in those of Contreras and Churubusco. From 1848 till 1855 he served as regimental quartermaster and adjutant, being most of the time stationed at St. Louis. On 7 Nov., 1855, he was appointed assistant quartermaster with the rank of captain, and ordered to Fort Myers, Fla., where General William S. Harney was in command of the military forces operating against the Seminoles.

He served under this officer during the troubles in Kansas in 1857 - 8, and afterward accompanied his expedition to Utah, where serious complications had arisen between the Gentiles and the Mormons. From 1859 till 1861 Capt. Hancock was chief quartermaster of the southern district of California. At the beginning of the civil war in 1861 he asked to be relieved from duty on the Pacific coast, and was transferred to more active service at the seat of war. In a letter to a friend at this time he said : "My politics are of a practical kind the integrity of the country, the supremacy of the Federal government, an honorable peace, or none at all."

Hancock, standing to right of tree. To his right, Francis C. Barlow, wearing the checkered flannel shirt he wore during battle, is leaning against the tree, and to Hancock's right stands David Birney (in front of the 2nd Corps Trefoil flag) and John Gibbon, in profile

He was commissioned a brigadier general of volunteers by President Lincoln, 23 Sept., 1861, and at once bent all his energies to aid in the organization of the Army of the Potomac. During the peninsular campaign under General McClellan he was especially conspicuous at the battles of Williamsburg and Frazier's Farm. He took an active part in the subsequent campaign in Maryland, at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, and was assigned to the command of the 1st division of the 2d army corps, on the battlefield, during the second day's fight at Antietam, 17 Sept., 1862.

He was soon afterward made a major general of volunteers, and commanded the same division in the attempt to storm Marye's Heights, at the battle of Fredericksburg, 13 Dec., 1862. In this assault General Hancock led his men through such a fire as has rarely been encountered in warfare. He commanded 5,006 men, and left 2,013 of them on the field. In the three days' fight at Chancellorsville, in May, 1863, Hancock's division took a prominent part. While on the march through western Maryland in pursuit of the invading army of General Lee, on 25 June, he was ordered by the president to assume command of the 2d army corps. On the 27th General Hooker asked to be relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac; and orders from the war department reached his headquarters near Frederick, Md., assigning Major General George G. Meade to its command.

The High Tide
Gettysburg July 3, 1863

On 1 July the report reached General Meade, who was fifteen miles distant, that there was fighting at Gettysburg, and that General Reynolds had been killed. General Meade, who knew nothing of Gettysburg, sent General Hancock with orders to take immediate command of the forces and report what should be done; whether to give the enemy battle there, or fall back to another proposed line. Hancock reported that he considered Gettysburg the place to fight the coming battle, and continued in command until the arrival of Meade. In the decisive action of 3 July he commanded on the left center, which was the main point assailed by the Confederates, and was shot from his horse. Though dangerously wounded, he remained on the field till he saw that the enemy's assault was broken, when he dispatched his aide-de-camp, Major W. O. Mitchell, with the following message : "Tell General Meade that the troops under my command have repulsed the enemy's assault, and that we have gained a great victory. The enemy is now flying in all directions in my front." General Meade returned this reply : " Say to General Hancock that I regret exceedingly that he is wounded, and that I thank him in the name of the country and for myself for the service he has rendered today."

In a report to General Meade, after he had been carried from the field, he says that, when he left the line of battle, " not a rebel is in sight upright, and if the 5th and 6th corps are pressed up, the enemy will be destroyed." Out of fewer than 10,000 men the 2d corps lost at Gettysburg about 4,000 killed or wounded. I captured 4,500 prisoners and about thirty colors. General Hancock at first received but slight credit for the part he took in this battle, his name not being mentioned in the joint resolution passed by Congress, 28 Jan., 1864, which thanked Meade, Hooker, Howard, and the officers and soldiers of the Army of the Potomac generally. But justice was only delayed, as, on 21 April, 1866, Congress passed a resolution thanking him for his services in the campaign of 1863.

Disabled by his wound, he was not again employed on active duty until March, 1864. being meanwhile engaged in recruiting the 2d army corps, of which he resumed command at the opening of the spring campaign of that year, and bore a prominent part in the battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, where the fighting was almost continuous from the 5th to the 26th of May. In the engagement at Spottsylvania Court House, General Hancock, on the night of the 11th, moved to a position within 1,200 yards of General Lee's right center, where it formed a sharp salient since known as "the bloody angle," and early on the morning of the 12th he gave the order to advance. His heavy column overran the Confederate pickets without firing a shot, burst through the abates, and after a short hand-to-hand conflict inside the entrenchments, captured "nearly 4,000 prisoners, twenty pieces of artillery, with horses, caissons, and materim complete, several thousand stand of small arms, and upward of thirty colors."

The fighting at this point was as fierce as any during the war, the battle raging furiously and incessantly along the whole line throughout the day and late into the night. General Lee made five separate assaults to retake the works, but without success. In the subsequent operations of the army, at the crossing of the North Anna, the second battle of Cold Harbor, and the assault on the lines in front of Petersburg, General Hancock was active and indefatigable till 17 June, when his Gettysburg wound, breaking out afresh, became so dangerous that he was compelled to go on sick leave, but resumed his command again in ten days. He was appointed a brigadier general in the regular army, 12 Aug., 1864, "for gallant and distinguished services in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor, and in all the operations of the army in Virginia under Lieut. General Grant."

On 21 Aug. the 2nd corps was brought to Petersburg by a long night march, and on the 25th occurred the only notable disaster in Hancock's career. While he was entrenched at Ream's Station on the Weldon railroad, which the corps had torn up, his lines were carried by a powerful force of the enemy, and many of his men captured. The troops forming the remnants of his corps refused to bestir themselves, and even the few veterans left seemed disheartened by the slaughter they had seen and the fatigues they had undergone. General Morgan's account of the battle describes the commander, covered with dust, begrimed with powder and smoke, laying his hand upon a staff officer's shoulder and saying: "Colonel, I do not care to die, but I pray to God 1 may never leave this field."

In the movement against the South Side railroad, which began 26 October, General Hancock took a leading part and although the expedition failed, his share in it was brilliant and successful. This was his last action. On 26 Nov. he was called to Washington to organize a veteran corps of 50,000 men, and continued in the discharge of that duty till 26 Feb., 1865, when he was assigned to the command of the Middle military division, and ordered to Winchester, Va., to relieve General Sheridan from the command of the Army of the Shenandoah. The latter set out the next morning with a large force of cavalry on his expedition down the Shenandoah valley.

General Hancock now devoted himself to organizing and equipping a force as powerful as possible from the mass at his command; and his success was acknowledged in a dispatch from the secretary of war. After the assassination of President Lincoln, General Hancock's headquarters were transferred to Washington, and he was placed in command of the defenses of the capital. On 26 July, 1866, he was appointed a. major general in the regular army, and on the 10th of the following month he was assigned to the command of the Department of the Missouri, where he conducted a successful warfare against the Indians on the plains, until relieved by General Sheridan. He was transferred to the command of the 5th military district, comprising Texas and Louisiana, 26 Aug., 1867, with headquarters at New Orleans. At this time he issued his " General Order No. 40," which made it plain that his opinion as to the duties of a military commander in time of peace, and as to the rights of the southern states, were not consistent with the reconstruction policy determined upon by congress. He was therefore relieved at his own request, 28 March, 1868, and given the command of the Division of the Atlantic, with headquarters in New York City.

After the accession of General Grant to the presidency, he was sent, 5 March, 1869, to the Department of Dakota; but on the death of General Meade, 6 Nov., 1872, he was again assigned to the Division of the Atlantic. General Hancock's name was favorably mentioned in 1868 and 1872 as a candidate for presidential honors, and he was nominated the candidate of the Democratic party in the Cincinnati convention, 24 June, 1880. On the first ballot he received 171 votes, in a convention containing 738 members, and Senator Bayard, of Delaware, 1531. The remainder of the votes were scattered among twelve candidates. On the second ban lot General Hancock received 320 votes, Senator Thomas F. Bayard 111, and Speaker Samuel J. Randall of the House of Representatives, advanced from 6 to 128½ votes. On the next ballot General Hancock received 705 votes, and the nomination was made unanimous. The election in November resulted in the following popular vote : James A. Garfield, Republican, 4,454,416; Winfield S. Hancock, Democrat, 4,444,952: James B. Weaver, Greenback, 308,578 ; Meal Dew, Prohibition, 10,305.

After the conclusion of tile canvass General Hancock continued in the discharge of official duty. His last notable appearance in public was at General Grant's funeral, all the arrangements for which were carried out under his supervision. The esteem in which he was held as a citizen and a soldier was perhaps never greater than at the time of his death, he had outlived the political slanders to which his candidacy had given rise, and his achievements in the field during the civil war had become historic. His place as a general is doubtless foremost among those who never fought an independent campaign, he was not only brave himself, but he had the ability to inspire masses of men with courage. He was quick to perceive opportunities amid the dust and smoke of battle, and was equally quick to seize them ; and although impulsive, he was at the same time tenacious, tie had the bravery that goes forward rapidly, and the bravery that gives way slowly.

The Union 2nd Corps

The second corps was prominent by reason of its longer and continuous service, larger organization, hardest fighting, and greatest number of casualties. Within its ranks was the regiment which sustained the largest percentage of loss in any one action; also, the regiment which sustained the greatest numerical loss in any one action; also, the regiment which sustained the greatest numerical loss during its term of service; while, of the one hundred regiments in the Union Army which lost the most men in battle, thirty-five of them belonged to the Second Corps.

The corps was organized under General Orders No. 101, March 13, 1862, which assigned General Edwin V. Sumner to its command, and Generals Richardson, Sedgwick, and Blenker to the command of its divisions. Within three weeks of its organization the corps moved with McClellan's Army to the Peninsula, excepting Blenker's Division, which was withdrawn on March 31st from McClellan's command, and ordered to reinforce Fremont's troops in Western Virginia. Blenker's Division never rejoined the corps, in fact, it had never really joined. The remaining two divisions, which constituted the corps, numbered 21,500 men, of whom 18,000 were present for duty.

The first general engagement of the corps occurred at Fair Oaks, where Sumner's prompt and soldierly action brought the corps on the field in time to retrieve a serious disaster, and change a rout into a victory. The casualties of the two divisions in that battle amounted to 196 killed, 899 wounded, and 90 missing. In the Seven Days' Battle it lost 201 killed, 1,195 wounded, and 1,024, missing. Upon the withdrawal of the Army from before Richmond, it moved to the support of Pope at Second Bull Run, arriving on that field in time to go into position at Chantilly, but was not engaged.

The corps then marched on the Maryland campaign, during which French's (Third) Division was added. At Antietam the corps was prominently engaged, its casualties amounting to more than double that of any other corps on the field. Out of 15,000 effectives, it lost 883 killed, 3,859 wounded, and 396 missing; total, 5,138. Nearly one-half of these casualties occurred in Sedgwick's (Second) Division, in its bloody and ill-planned advance on the Dunker church, an affair which was under Sumner's personal direction. The Irish Brigade, of Richardson's (First) Division, also sustained a terrible loss in its fight at the "Bloody Lane," but, at the same time, inflicted a greater one on the enemy. General Richardson was killed in this battle, and General Sedgwick received three wounds.

General Edwin V. Sumner

The next battle was at Fredericksburg. In the meantime Sumner had been promoted to the command of a Grand Division -- Second and Ninth Corps -- and General Darius N. Couch, a division commander of the Fourth Corps, was appointed to his place. General Hancock succeeded to the command of Richardson's (1st) Division, and General Howard took Sedgwick's place, the latter being absent on account of wounds. The loss of the corps at Fredericksburg exceeded that of any other in that battle, amounting to 412 killed, 3,214 wounded, and 488 missing, one-half of which fell on Hancock's Division in the unsuccessful assault on Marye's Heights. The percentage of loss in Hancock's Division was large, Caldwell's (1st) Brigade losing 46 per cent. killed and wounded.

After Fredericksburg, the Grand Divisions were discontinued, and General Sumner retiring on account of age and physical disabilities, General Couch remained in command. Couch led the corps at Chancellorsville, with Hancock, Gibbon, and French as his division commanders. Sedgwick had been promoted to the command of the Sixth Corps, and Howard, who had commanded Sedgwick's Division at Fredericksburg, was promoted to the command of the Eleventh Corps. At Chancellorsville the principal part of the Second Corps' fighting fell on Hancock's Division, its skirmish line, under Colonel Nelson A. Miles, distinguishing itself by a successful resistance to a strong attack of the enemy, making one of the most interesting episodes in the history of that battle. During the fighting at Chancellorsville, Gibbon's (2d) Division remained at Fredericksburg, where it supported Sedgwick's operations, but with slight loss.

General Sedgwick's men cross the Chickahominy on the Grapevine Bridge

Not long after Chancellorsville, General Couch was relieved at his own request, Hancock succeeding to the command of the corps, and Caldwell to that of Hancock's Division. While on the march to Gettysburg, General Alex. Hays' Brigade joined, and was assigned to the Third Division, Hays taking command of the division. At Gettysburg, the corps was hotly engaged in the battles of the second and third days, encountering there the hardest fighting in its experience, and winning there its grandest laurels; on the second day, in the fighting at the wheat-field, and on the third, in the repulse of Pickett's charge, which was directed against Hancock's position. The fighting was deadly in the extreme, the percentage of loss in the First Minnesota, Gibbon's Division, being without an equal in the records of modern warfare. The loss in the corps was 796 killed, 3,186 wounded and 368 missing; a total of 4,350 out of less than 10,500 engaged. Gibbon's Division suffered the most, the percentage of loss in Harrow's (1st) Brigade being unusually severe. Hancock and Gibbon were seriously wounded, while of the brigade commanders, Zook, Cross, Willard and Sherrill were killed. The monthly return of the corps, June 30, 1863, shows an aggregate of 22,336 borne on the rolls, but shows only 13,056 "present for duty." From the latter deduct the usual proportion of non-combatants,--the musicians, teamsters, cooks, servants and stragglers, and it becomes doubtful if the corps had over 10,000 muskets in line at Gettysburg.

General Hancock's wounds necessitated an absence of several months. General William Hays was placed in command of the corps immediately after the battle of Gettysburg, retaining the command until August 12th, when he was relieved by General Gouverneur K. Warren, who was ordered to take Hancock's place during the latter's absence. Warren had distinguished himself at Gettysburg by his quick comprehension of the critical situation at Little Round Top, and by the energetic promptness with which he remedied the difficulty. He had also made a brilliant reputation in the Fifth Corps, and as the chief topographical officer of the Army of the Potomac. He was, subsequently, in command at Bristoe Station, a Second Corps affair, and one which was noticeable for the dash with which officers and men fought, together with the superior ability displayed by Warren himself. He also commanded at Mine Run and Morton's Ford, the divisions at that time being under Generals Caldwell, Webb and Alex. Hays.

The Angle
Gettysburg July 3, 1863

Upon the reorganization of the Army of the Potomac, March 23, 1864, the Third Corps was discontinued, and two of its three divisions were ordered transferred to the Second. Under this arrangement the Second Corps was increased to 81 regiments of infantry and 10 batteries of light artillery. The material of the old Second Corps was consolidated into two divisions, under Generals Barlow and Gibbon; the two divisions of the Third Corps were transferred intact, and were numbered as the Third and Fourth, with Generals Birney and Mott in command. By this accession, the Second Corps attained in April, 1864, an aggregate strength of 46,363, with 28, 854 present for duty. General Hancock, having partially recovered from his wounds, resumed command, and led his battle-scarred divisions across the Rapidan. In the battle of the Wilderness the corps lost 699 killed, 3,877 wounded, and 516 missing; total, 5,092, half of this loss falling on Birney's (Third) Division. General Alex. Hays, commanding the Second Brigade of Birney's Division, was among the killed.

At Spotsylvania the Second Corps again attained a glorious place in history by Hancock's brilliant and successful assault on the morning of May 12th. During the fighting around Spotsylvania, Mott's (Fourth) Division became so depleted by casualties, and by the loss of several regiments whose term of service had expired, that it was discontinued and merged into Birney's Division, Mott retaining the command of a brigade. The casualties of the corps in the various actions around Spotsylvania, from May 8th to the 19th, aggregated 894 killed, 4,947 wounded, and 801 missing; total 6,642, or over one-third of the loss in the entire Army of the Potomac, including the Ninth Corps. The heaviest loss occurred in Barlow's (First)Division. Up to this time the Second Corps had not lost a color nor a gun, although it had previously captured 44 stands of colors from the enemy.

After more of hard and continuous fighting at the North Anna, and along the Totopotomoy, the corps reached the memorable field of Cold Harbor. While at Spotsylvania it had been reinforced by a brigade of heavy artillery regiments, acting as infantry, and by the brigade known as the Corcoran Legion, so that at Cold Harbor it numbered 53,831, present and absent, with 26,900 "present for duty." Its loss at Cold Harbor including eleven days in the trenches, was 494 killed, 2,442 wounded, and 574 missing; total, 3,510. Birney's Division was but slightly engaged.

In the assaults on the Petersburg entrenchment's, June 16th-18th, the Corps is again credited with the largest casualty list. In one of these attacks, the First Maine Heavy Artillery sustained the most remarkable loss of any regimental organization, in any one action, during the war. At this time the corps contained 85 regiments; its effective strength, however, was less than at a previous date. The corps recrossed the James, and fought at Deep Bottom, July 26th, and again on August 14th; then, having returned to the lines around Petersburg, Barlow's and Birney's Divisions were engaged at Ream's Station, on August 25th, a disastrous and unfortunate affair, in which it lost a large number of men captured.

UNION ARMY 2nd CORPS

At the battle of the Boydton Road, October 27, 1864, the division commanders were Generals Egan and Mott, the First Division (Miles'), being retained in the trenches. In November, 1864, General Hancock was assigned to other duty, and General Andrew A. Humphreys, chief of staff to the Army of the Potomac, succeeded to his position. He was in command during the final campaign, the divisions being under Generals Miles, William Hays and Mott. The corps fought its last battle at Farmville, April 7, 1865, two days before Lee's surrender. In this final action General Thomas A. Smyth, a brigadier in Hays' (2d) Division, was killed. Smyth was an officer with a brilliant reputation, and at one time commanded the famous-Irish Brigade.

The history of the Second Corps was identical with that of the Army of the Potomac. It needs no words of praise; its record was unsurpassed.

Additional Sources:

www.virtualology.com/virtualwarmuseum.com/uscivilwarhall
www.civilwararchive.com/2ndcorp.htm
scriptorium.lib.duke.edu
www.currencygallery.org
www.generalsandbrevets.com
www.allenscreations.com
www.civilwarartist.com
www.talonsvcs.com
www.mortkunstler.com
www.westbrookfield.org

'Soldiers, these are terrible gaps that I see before me in your ranks. They remind me and you of our dead in the field of battle, of our wounded comrades in the hospitals, of kindred and friends weeping at home for those who filled the vacant places that once knew them, but shall know them no more forever. Are you willing again to peril your lives for the liberty of your country? Would you go with me to the field to-morrow? Would you go to-day? Would you go this moment?'

-- Winfield Scott Hancock

'The historian of the future who essays to tell the tale of Gettysburg undertakes and onerous task, a high responsibility, a sacred trust. Above all things, justice and truth should dwell in his mind and heart. Then, dipping his pen as it were in the crimson tide, the sunshine of heaven lighting his page, giving 'honor to whom honor is due,' doing even justice to the splendid valor alike of friend and foe, he may tell the world how the rain descended in streams of fire, and the floods came in billows of rebellion, and the winds blew in blasts of fraternal execration, and beat upon the fabric of the Federal Union, and that it fell not, for, resting on the rights and liberties of the people, it was founded upon a rock.'

-- Winfield Scott Hancock

'I have been quite content to leave the historian of the future to say what was the value of the services I was enabled to render my country during the period of her great extremity.'

-- Winfield Scott Hancock

'Hancock stands the most conspicuous figure of all the general officers who did not exercise a separate command. He commanded a corps longer than any other one, and his name was never mentioned as having committed in battle a blunder for which he was responsible. He was a man of very conspicuous personal appearance. Tall, well formed, and, at the time of which I now write, young and fresh looking, he presented an appearance that would attract the attention of an army as he passed. His genial disposition made him friends, and his personal courage and his presence with his command in tile thickest of tile fight won him the confidence of troops serving under him.'

-- General Grant

'If you will sit down and write the best thing that can be put in language about General Hancock as an officer and a gentleman, I will sign it without hesitation.'

-- General Sherman
To a reporter in search of adverse criticism during the presidential canvass of 1880.

'When I go down in the morning to open my mail, I declare that I do it in fear and trembling lest I may hear that Hancock has been killed or wounded.'

-- Abraham Lincoln

'Some of the older generals have said to me that he (Hancock) is rash, and I have said to them that I have watched General Hancock's conduct very carefully, and I have found that when he goes into action he achieves his purpose and comes out with a smaller list of casualties than any of them. If his life and strength be spared, I believe that General Hancock is destined to be one of the most distinguished men of the age.'

-- Abraham Lincoln

Veterans Day 2003
PDN News Desk ^ comwatch

November is Here - Veterans Day is right around the corner.

It only takes a few minutes to write a letter to the kids and share a story of why you served.

If you aren't a Veteran then share your thoughts on why it is important to remember our Veterans on Veterans Day.

It's an opportunity for us to support our troops, our country and show appreciations for our local veterans. It's another way to counter the Anti-Iraq campaign propaganda. Would you like to help? Are there any VetsCoR folks on the Left Coast? We have a school project that everyone can help with too, no matter where you live. See the end of this post for details.

There are two events still schedlued in Northern California and we need help with each:

Saturday - 11 a.m. November 8th: Veterans Day Parade (PDN & Friends parade entry)

http://www.patriotwatch.com/V-Day2003b.htm

Sunday November 9, 2003 Noon to 3:00 PM Support our Troops & Veterans Rally prior to Youth Symphony Concert

http://www.patriotwatch.com/V-Day2003d.htm

Each of the WebPages above have a link to e-mail a confirmation of your interest and desire to volunteer. These are family events and everyone is welcome to pitch in. We'd really appreciate hearing from you directly via each these specific links. This way, we can keep you posted on only those projects you want to participate in.

Veterans in School - How you can help if you're not close enough to participate directly. If you are a veteran, share a story of your own with the children. If you have family serving in the military, tell them why it's important that we all support them. Everyone can thank them for having this special event. Keep in mind that there are elementary school kids.

Help us by passing this message around to other Veteran's groups. I have introduced VetsCoR and FreeperFoxhole to a number of school teachers. These living history lessons go a long way to inspire patriotism in our youth. Lets see if we can rally America and give these youngsters enough to read for may weeks and months ahead. If we can, we'll help spread it to other schools as well.

Click this link to send an email to the students.

Bugles Across America
http://www.buglesacrossamerica.org/

Bugles Across America, NFP was founded in 2000 by Tom Day, when Congress passed legislation stating Veterans had a right to at least 2 uniformed military people to fold the flag and play taps on a CD player. Bugles Across America was begun to take this a step further, and in recognition of the service these Veterans provided their country, we felt that every Veteran deserved a live rendition of taps played by a live Bugler. To this end, we are actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families

Our Organization now has 1500 bugler volunteers located in all 50 states and growing number overseas. Since the Department of Veterans Affairs is expecting more than 1/2 million veterans to pass every year for the next 7 years, Bugles Across America is ALWAYS recruiting new volunteers.

Bugler Volunteers can be male or female. They can play a traditional bugle with no valves, or they can perform the ceremony on a Trumpet, Cornet, Flugelhorn, or a 1, 2 or 3 valved bugle. The bugler can be of any age as long as they can play the 24 notes of Taps with an ease and style that will do honor to both the Veterans, their families, and the burial detail performing the service.

Thanks quietolong

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Saturday Morning Everyone!

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

Good Morning Snippy

Good morning, snippy and SAM! I love Saturdays, the really hard New York Times crossword puzzle is at it's meanest. I never complete it, LOL, but with Google and Dictionary.com, I give it a good try!

Just stopped in to say hello, but will be back to read what you have on Scott, SAM. He was a fantastic general, but old and weak by the Civil War. That's the sum of my knowledge, so I'm looking forward to the history lesson!

Best wishes, too, on your Veterans' Day plans!

I've got my eyes pried open a little wider now, and see that the lesson today is not Winfield Scott but his namesake, the incredible Hancock. Even better!

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole. Gonna sit at home and watch OU/Texas A&M and OSU/Texas today. How's it going where you are?

Today's classic warship, USS Minnesota (BB-22)

Connecticut class battleship
displacement. 16,000 t.
length. 456'4"
beam. 76'10"
draft. 24'6"
speed. 18 k.
complement. 880
armament. 4 12", 8 8", 12 7", 20 3", 12 3-pdr., 4 21" tt.

The USS Minnesota was laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va., 27 October 1903; launched 8 April 1905; sponsored by Miss Rose Marie Schaller; and commissioned 9 March 1907, Capt. J. Hubbard in command.

Following her shakedown off the New England coast, Minnesota was assigned to duty in connection with the Jamestown Exposition, Jamestown, Va., 22 April to 3 September 1907. On 16 December she departed Hampton Roads as one of the 16 battleships s ent by President Theodore Roosevelt on a voyage around the world. The cruise of the "Great White Fleet," lasting until 22 February 1909, served as a deterrent to possible hostilities in the Pacific; raised American prestige as a global naval power; and, most importantly, impressed upon Congress the need for a strong navy and a thriving merchant fleet to keep pace with the United States' expanding international interests and her far-flung possessions.

Returning from her world cruise, she was modernized, receiving initially a "cage" foremast and other superstructure alternations, as well as a coating of grey paint. About a year later, she was fitted with a second "cage" mast. During the next 3 years she operated primarily along the east coast, with one brief deployment to the English Channel. In 1912, her employment schedule began to involve her more in inter-American affairs. During the first half of that gear she cruised in Cuban waters and was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, 7 to 22 June, to support actions aimed at establishing order during the Cuban insurrection. The following spring and summer she cruised in Mexican waters. In 1914, she twice returned to Mexican waters (26 January to 7 August and 11 October to 19 December) as that country continued in the throes of political turmoil. In 1915, she resumed east coast operations, with occasional cruises to the Caribbean area, which she continued until November 1916 when she became flagship, Reserve Force, Atlantic Fleet.

On 6 April 1917, as the United States entered World War I, Minnesota rejoined the active fleet at Tangier Sound, Chesapeake Bay, and was assigned to Division 4, Battleship Force. During World War I she was assigned as a gunnery and engineering training ship, cruising off the middle Atlantic seaboard until 29 September 1918. On that date, 20 miles from Fenwick Island Shoal Lightship (38 d. 11'N,; 74 d. 41'W.) she struck a mine, apparently laid by the German submarine U-117. Suffering serious damage to the starboard side, but with no loss of life, she managed to reach Philadelphia where she underwent 5 months of repairs. On 11 March 1919, she put back to sea as a unit of the Cruiser and Transport Force. Assigned to that force until 23 July, she completed three round trips to Brest, France, to return over 3,000 veterans to the United States.

Primarily employed thereafter as a training ship, Minnesota conducted two midshipmen summer cruises (1920 and 1921) before decommissioned 1 December 1921. Struck from the Naval Register the same day, she was dismantled at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and on 23 January 1924 was sold for scrap.

HOLD YOUR FIRE!

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on November 08:
1626 Christina, queen of Sweden who abdicated after becoming Catholic
1656 Sir Edmond Halley 1st to calculate comet's orbit (Halley's Comet)
1847 Bram Stoker, author (Dracula).
1848 Gottlob Frege Germany, mathematician/logician (Begriffsschrift)
1876 Frank L Gillespie Ark, founded Supreme Life Insurance Company
1878 Marshall Walter "Mayor" Taylor famous African
1883 Sir Arnold Bax London, England, composer (Farewell My Youth)
1896 Bucky Harris baseball manager (Phillies, Yankees)
1897 Dorothy Day author (Stump the Authors)
1900 Margaret Mitchell writer (Gone With the Wind)
1913 Robert Strauss NYC, actor (Sgt Gruzewsky-Mona McCluskey)
1914 Norman Lloyd Jersey City NJ, actor (Auschlander-St Elsewhere)
1916 June Havoc Seattle Wash, actress (Willy, Panic, GE Theater)
1916 Peter Weiss Germany, Swedish writer/dramatist/novelist (Marat/Sade)
1921 Gene Saks actor/director (One & Only, Prisoner of 2nd Ave)
1921 Jerome Hines Hollywood CA, basso (I am The Way)
1922 Christiaan Barnard South Africa, surgeon (performs 1st heart transplant)
1922 Esther Rolle Pompano Beach FL, actress (Florida-Good Times, Maude)
1924 Joe Flynn Youngstown Ohio, actor (McHale's Navy)
1927 Patti Page Claremont Oklahoma, singer (Tennessee Waltz)
1930 Bob Harris Long Beach CA, actor (Jim-Troubleshooters)
1931 Morley Safer Toronto Canada, TV newscaster (60 Minutes)
1935 Alain Delon France, actor (Honor Among Thieves)
1936 Edward G Gibson Buffalo NY, astronaut (Skylab 4)
1942 Angel Cordero Jr jockey (won over 6,000 races)
1947 Margaret Rhea Seddon Murfreesboro TN, MD/astro (STS 51D, STS 40)
1947 Minnie Ripperton Chicago, singer (Loving You)
1948 Dale A Gardner Fairmont MN, Cmdr USN/astronaut (STS 8, STS 51A)
1949 Bonnie Raitt LA, singer/guitarist (Green Light, The Glow, Thing Called Love)
1951 Mary Hart Sioux Falls SD, TV hostess (Entertainment Tonight)
1952 Christie Hefner daughter of Hugh Hefner, Playboy CEO
1954 Rickie Lee Jones Chicago, singer (Chuck E's in Love)
1956 Randi Brooks NYC, actress (Man With 2 Brains, Tightrope)
1961 Leif Garrett Hollywood Cal, singer/actor (Devil x 5, 3 for the Road)
1967 Courtney Thorne-Smith actress (Day by Day, Lucas, Summer School)
1967 Kim Dugger Wichita Kansas, Miss Kansas-America (1991)
1968 Parker Posey Baltimore MD, actress (Tess Shelby-As the World Turns)

Deaths which occurred on November 08:
0644 Omar I, 2nd kalif of Islam, murdered
0899 Arnulf of Carinthia, last emperor of Austria-France, dies
1308 Duns Scotus who coined the word "dunce", dies
1887 Doc Holliday, dies of tuberculosis in Glenwood Springs, Colorado
1933 King Nadir Shah of Afghanistan, assassinated by Abdul Khallig
1965 Dorothy Kilgallen columnist (What's My Line?), dies at 52
1968 Wendell Corey actor (11th Hour, Peck's Bad Girl), dies at 54
1969 Kam Tong actor (Have Gun Will Travel, Mr Garlund), dies at 62
1978 Golda Meir, Israel's PM (1969-74), dies in Jerusalem at 80
1978 Norman Rockwell artist, dies in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, at 84
1980 John Lennon, assassinated in NY by Mark David Chapman at 40
1983 Robert Agnew director, died at 84 of kidney failure
1986 Beatrice Kay singer/actress (Sister Sue-Calvin & the Col), dies at 78
1993 Carlotta Monti, lover of WC Fields, dies at 86
1994 Antonio Carlos Jobim, Brazil composer (Girl From Ipanema), dies at 67

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 PARKER RICHARD H.---AUSTRALIA
[AUSTRALIAN ARMY 1RAR]
1967 ADAMS JOHN R.---CHICO CA.
1967 BRENNEMAN RICHARD C.---MISHAWAKA IN.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 96]
1967 BAXTER BRUCE R.---LOWELL MA.
1967 EVERT LAWRENCE G.---CODY WY.
1967 HINES VAUGHN M.---ARCADIA CA.
1967 KUSICK JOSEPH G.---BRUIN PA.
1967 WEATHERMAN EARL C.---ORANGE CA.
[04/01/68 DIC DURING ESCAPE]
1970 CORONA JOEL---PHARR TX.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
392 Theodosius of Rome passes legislation prohibiting all pagan worship in the empire
618 St Deusdedit I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1789 Bourbon Whiskey, 1st distilled from corn (by Elijah Craig, Bourbon KY)
1793 Louvre in Paris, opens
1837 Mount Holyoke Seminary in Massachusetts-1st US college founded for women
1861 US removes Confederate officials from British steamer Trent
1864 Abraham Lincoln elected to his 2nd term as President
1870 Democratic governor elected in Tennessee
1889 Montana admitted as 41st state
1892 Grover Cleveland (D) elected President
1895 Wilhelm Rontgen discovers x-rays
1900 Theodore Dreiser's novel "Sister Carrie" is published
1904 President Theodore Roosevelt (R) defeats Alton B Parker (D)
1910 1st Washington State election in which women could vote
1923 Adolf Hitler attempts a coup in Munich, the "Beer Hall Putsch," and proclaims himself chancellor and Ludendorff dictator.
1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D) elected President for 1st time
1933 FDR creates the Civil Works Administration
1938 1st black woman legislator, Crystal Bird Fauset of Philadelphia
1942 Operation "Torch" began as US & British forces land in French N Africa
1944 25,000 Hungarian Jews are loaned to the Nazis for forced labor
1948 Jordan annexs Arabic Palestine
1950 1st jet-plane battle of Korean War
1954 AL approves Philadelphia A's move to Kansas City
1956 UN demands USSR leave Hungary
1960 JFK (MA-D-Sen) beats VP Richard Nixon (R) for President
1965 "Days of Our Lives" premiers on TV
1965 British Indian Ocean Territory formed
1966 Edward W Brooke (Rep-R-MA) becomes 1st black elected to Senate
1966 Movie actor Ronald Reagan elected governor of California
1966 President Johnson signs anti-trust immunity to AFL-NFL merger
1967 The Carol Burnette Show premieres on CBS-TV
1967 Silver hits record $1.951 an ounce in London
1968 Cynthia Lennon is granted a divorce from John
1970 Tom Dempsey of New Orleans Saints kicks NFL record 63 yard field goal
1973 Nevada approves pari-mutuel betting on Jai Alai
1974 Bundy victim (?) Debi Kent disappears in Salt Lake City, UT
1979 ABC broadcasts "Iran Crisis: American Held Hostage" with Frank Reynolds (the forerunner to "Nightline")
1980 Voyager 1 space probe discovers 15th moon of Saturn
1983 Martha Layne Collins (D) elected 1st female governor of Kentucky
1983 STS-9 vehicle again moves to launch pad
1983 W Wilson Goode (D) elected 1st black mayor of Philadelphia
1984 Anna Fisher becomes the 1st "mom" to go into orbit
1984 STS 51-A mission; launch
1985 Atlantis moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 61-B mission
1987 Occupied Palestinians start "intefadeh" (uprising) against Israel
1987 US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in DC to sign the first treaty to reduce the nuclear arsenals of the two superpowers.
1987 11 die as a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army exploded at Ulster Remembrance Day Service
1988 900 die as earthquake hits China
1988 George Bush (R) beats Mike Dukakis (D) for Presidency
1990 100,000 additional US troops are sent to the Persian gulf
1990 Saddam fires his army chief & threatens to destroy Arabian peninsula
1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed into law by President Bill Clinton. NAFTA, a trade pact between the US, Canada, and Mexico, eliminates virtually all tariffs and trade restrictions between the three nations.
1994 Republicans regain control of US Congress

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Montana : Admission Day (1889)
World : World Community Day (1945) (pray for peace) (Friday)
England : Lord Mayor's Day (Saturday)
US : Notary Public Week Ends
US : Abet and Aid Punster's Day(HEY HEY HEY! Let's becareful now)
US : Romances Are Rewarding Day
Real Jewelry Month

Religious Observances
Christian : St Claude
RC : Commemoration of Holy 4 Crowned Martyrs
Christian : Commemoration of St Godfrey, bishop of France,

Religious History
1837 Mt. Holyoke Seminary first opened in Massachusetts. Founded by Mary Lyon, 39, it was the first college in the U.S. established specifically for the education of women.
1889 Birth of Oswald J. Smith, Canadian clergyman. Founder of the People's Church of Toronto, Smith also authored a number of books and composed more than 1,200 hymns, including "The Song of the Soul Set Free."
1904 Emile Combs introduced a bill for the separation of Church and State in France. The bill passed in December 1905, thereby ending the Concordat of 1801 and allowing complete liberty of conscience.
1951 American Presbyterian missionary Francis Schaeffer wrote in a letter: 'The higher the mountains, the more understandable is the glory of Him who made them and who holds them in His hand.'
1952 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.... When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Behind every argument is someone`s ignorance."

Question of the day...
Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

Murphys Law of the day...(Anthony's Law of Force)
Don't force it, get a larger hammer.

From the cornucopia of completely useless information...
The pupil of an octopus' eye is rectangular.

Present!

Good morning WaterDragon.

I never thought about using google for the crosswords puzzles. LOL. Of course it may be because it has been ages since I worked one.

I used to enjoy working them but then we are a one town newspaper here and I refuse to buy it. It's just not the same doing them on the computer.

I'm off to run some chores and then I'll be back to read about Scott too.

Well thanks, LOL. I guess I'll be back to read about Hancock. HA! Can you tell I'm just waking up too.

Good morning EGC.

Haven't even had my coffee yet. Today is chore day for me.
Enjoy your games.

Good morning aomagrat.

I agree with SAM on the "cage" design. It just doesn't look right. Looks like it's not finished.

Thanks for the continuing history of our ships.

From the cornucopia of completely useless information... The pupil of an octopus' eye is rectangular.

Well there you go. This is one of those things you learn that stick with you for no good reason. LOL.

Good morning Valin.

Good morning manna.