The FReeper Foxhole Profiles General Winfield Scott Hancock - Nov. 8th, 2003

http://www.pa-roots.com/~pacw/officers/hancock/hancock.html ^ | pa-roots.com

[SAMWolf]

I wonder if the busybodies were counting the months for Mrs. Hancock as they were for me!

I think busybodies were the same in the 1860's as they are in 2003.

[WaterDragon]

LOL! Probably! Well, shouldn't be too hard on them, I guess. Such community censure probably discouraged a lot of unwed pregnancies!

[colorado tanker]

Yep, Hancock was a good guy - for a Democrat.

I recall a couple of things about Hancock from the movies, so I don't know if they're true. In Gettyburg, Gen. Armistead is portrayed as a friend of the Hancock family, as I recall asking that his Bible be given to Mrs. Hancock if he didn't survive.

In Gods and Generals, he's shown arguing hard against the battle plan for Fredericksburg. He was sure right about that.

[colorado tanker]

Grant has been given a lot of grief about the casualties his army took on the advance to Richmond, unfairly IMHO. The muskets and ammo used at the time meant any army taking the offensive would pay a terrible price. But there was no other way for Grant to advance to Richmond and end the war.

In many ways Grant's advance to Richmond resembles Lee's tactics driving McClellan away from Richmond during the Seven Days - relentless advances causing the opponent to fall back to avoid being flanked, but at a high cost in casualties.

[snippy_about_it]

...for a Democrat.

Always a good caveat! Good afternoon tanker.

[colorado tanker]

Good afternoon, Snippy. Maybe we should send a copy of this thread to Weasely Clark, so he could see what a loyal Democrat General who supported the war effort looks like.

[snippy_about_it]

Here is something that might interest you.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks, Snippy. I'm shocked MSNBC made the McClellan analogy, which has been commonplace at FR!

The whole idea of putting Weasely on the Dim ticket is to give that party some bona fides with the electorate on national security issues. But Weasely immediately went pacifist over Iraq. I guess that's the only way to get the Dim nomination, but it undercuts the purpose of putting him on the ticket in the first place.