Description:

Hancock Winfield



Winfield Scott Hancock ALS Re: Death of Captain Rorty, His Subordinate at Gettysburg

 

1p ALS inscribed overall and signed by Major General Winfield Scott Hancock (1824-1886) as "Winfd Hancock" at lower right. Written in Washington, D.C. on November 24, 1868. On a single sheet of cream, blue-lined stationery paper. Inscribed "Gen Hancock" in a later unknown hand at top. With expected paper folds,  scattered foxing, a few wrinkles, and surface residue verso, probably from scrapbook. Else near fine. 4.875" x 8".

 

Major General Hancock wrote to Ezra Bartlett French, 2nd Auditor of the U.S. Treasury, about one of Hancock's subordinates in the Army of the Potomac who had been killed at the Battle of Gettysburg. Hancock appears to have been helping Captain Rorty's family members seek reparation. "Mr Rorty" may have referred to Captain Rorty's father Richard, or his brothers Richard (1841-1915) or David.

 

"Hon E.B. French

2d Auditor U.S. Treasury

Washington D.C.

 

My Dear Sir -

 

I enclose a letter which will explain itself. Will you do me the Honor to inform me what steps Mr. Rorty can now take to get payment for the hearse (?)

 

I present the facts as carried (?) from my knowledge of the death of Captain Rorty and the circumstances attending the same.

 

I would have called in person, but I am a member of a Court of Inquiry which sits during your office hours.

 

I am yr most ob Sevt

 

Winfd Hancock

 

Washington D.C.

Nov 24: 68."

 

Major General Hancock's other letter to French outlining the particulars of Captain Rorty's death probably touched on the following points:

 

Captain James McKay Rorty (1837-1863) was an Irish immigrant who had enlisted in the Union Army in 1861. Rorty had been captured after the Battle of First Bull Run, but had escaped from Richmond. He later joined New York's 14th Independent Battery, an Irish brigade recruited primarily from New York City. Rorty had been quickly promoted from the ranks and was commissioned captain in April 1863.

 

On July 3, 1863, at the Battle of Gettysburg, Captain Rorty commanded Battery B of the 1st New York Light Artillery. Captain Rorty's unit of 122 soldiers and four 10lb Parrott rifles were positioned on Cemetery Ridge, very close to the "copse of trees" that General Lee selected as the main target of Pickett's Charge. Losses were staggering. Captain Rorty personally manned the last functioning gun until he was shot down under heavy fire. He was 26.

 

In 1868, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock already enjoyed a national reputation, thanks to his much praised leadership at major Civil War battles like Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Cold Mountain. The career soldier would serve over 40 years in the U.S. Army, from the Mexican-American War to the Indian Wars of the 1880s. Hancock's role in the Civil War, as well as his competent overseeing of the execution of Lincoln's assassination conspirators, established his place on the national stage. Hancock ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate in 1880 against James A. Garfield.

 

Ezra Bartlett French (1810-1880) was a lawyer and politician from Maine. President Lincoln had appointed the Congressman as 2nd Auditor of the U.S. Treasury in August 1861, and French would serve in this role through multiple presidential administrations until his death.


 

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