1880 · [N.p
by Hancock, Winfield Scot
[N.p, 1880. 12pp. Original printed self-wrappers. Outer leaves a bit toned and dust-soiled, two old horizontal folds. Very good. A scarce pamphlet recounting Winfield Scott Hancock's career as commander of the Fifth Military District, encompassing Louisiana and Texas, after the Civil War. Hancock was largely seen as a hero after the Battle of Gettysburg, and eventually ran for president in 1880. This campaign pamphlet accuses Hancock of being soft on Reconstruction, and practically indifferent to Unionists and freed slaves trying to claim rights in the South. The text of the pamphlet accuses Hancock of being ""a facile instrument" of President Andrew Johnson's and that Hancock's oversight resulted in obstructing "the work of reconstruction." Hancock's ineffectual leadership in Lousiana and Texas "is all the more painful, because an otherwise meritorious officer has been made a party to the political madness which has so long marked the conduct of the President." Hancock was eventually relieved of duty in the West after Congress failed to support his positions on civil tribunals (Inventory #: WRCAM54054)