For this article, I am moving away from my traditional technology subject and diving into historical: in this case, the Civil War.
Wilbur Hancock was born on February 14, 1824, while Armistead was born February 18, 1817. Hancock was a Pennsylvania native, while Armistead hailed from the state of North Carolina. Little did they know, that they would become friends, then be worlds apart as they found themselves on opposing sides of the brutal Civil War.
General Lewis Armistead and General Wilbur Hancock both attended West Point, but Armistead soon dropped out, rumored to have been expelled for conflicts against peer Jubal Early, who was also to become another Confederate General in the war. Armistead’s father helped in the military, and he earned the rank of second lieutenant, in the infantry.
The two had very different lives as well. Armistead had two children, a boy, and a girl, then lost his daughter and his first wife, Cecelia Love. In Virginia, the Armistead family home burned down. He then married again and lost his second wife, Cornelia Jamison to cholera, which, according to Google, is now an extremely rare disease.
Hancock became a soldier after graduating 18th out of 25 students in West Point, earning the rank of brevet second lieutenant. His wife, Almira Russell bore him two children. Hancock and Armistead first became friends in the army, as they both were in the 6th U.S. Infantry.
Hancock and Armistead were excellent friends, and Hancock supported Armistead through his many tragedies. But when the Civil War began, Hancock, from Pennsylvania, joined the Union army, while Armistead fought for his native North Carolina in the Confederate army. Through the war, they still remained excellent friends, planning after the war to meet again. They had no idea how wrong they were.
On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, General Armistead took command of a brigade in the famous Pickett’s Charge. Commanding General Robert E. Lee attempted a desperate plan, bombarding an area with cannon fire to clear enemy forces, followed by a brutal charge across open terrain of nearly the entire army, during which time the army would be completely open to cannon fire. Armistead’s brigade reached the enemy line, but General Lewis Armistead was mortally wounded in the charge. Hancock was injured in the same fight. They were taken to separate sides’ hospitals, and Armistead died within the week. Hancock survived, struggling from his wound throughout the rest of his life.
Later in his life, Hancock ran for President and lost to James Garfield. He died 23 years after his friend.
Sources: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
The Concordian
