Draw the Sword

Location: Hancock Avenue, north of the Angle

Order of Battle: Second Corps, Army of the Potomac

Commander: Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a career U.S. Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service in the Mexican-American War and as a Union general in the American Civil War.

Monument Specifications: Polished granite rectangular monument with rough hewn sides. Bronze plaque affixed to front.

Dedication Date: December 1906.

Main Inscription: Reads,

ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
SECOND CORPS
Major General Winfield S. Hancock
Brigadier General John Gibbon

First Division Brigadier General John C. Caldwell
Second Division Brigadier General John Gibbon
Brigadier General John Harrow
Third Division Brigadier General Alexander Hays
Artillery Brigade Captain John G. Hazard

July 2. Arrived between 6 and 8 A. M. on Taneytown Road and went into position on Cemetery Ridge on right of 5th Corps and at the left of the cemetery relieving a part of 1st Corps. Caldwell’s Division on the left Gibbon in centre and Hays on the right of line from Cemetery Hill to Round Top. Between 5 and 6 P. M. Caldwell’s Division was sent to the support of 3D Corps and was engaged until sunset. It returned to its first position.

July 3. At 1 P. M. the Confederate artillery opened a heavy fire all along Hill’s Corps and the left of Longstreet’s Corps for two hours when an assault under the command of General Longstreet was made by a force of about 15,000 which was repulsed with great loss in killed wounded and prisoners.

Casualties Killed 66 Officers 731 Men Wounded 270 Officers 2924 Men Captured or Missing 10 Officers 365 Men Total 4369

Other Monuments and Memorials: Headquarters of General Winfield Scott Hancock. Erected by the Gettysburg National Parks Commission and completed in June 1913; consists of steel cannon mounted on a granite base.

Supplemental Materials: After Action Report of Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock (will open a pop up window).