The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-10-28
NJ K|NLEY, THE SOLDIER.
The Splendid Record Made by a
Brave Man.
HE ENLISTED AS A PRIVATE.
Served in the Same Regiment with Ex-
President Hayes, and Won Each
Of His Promotions by
Hard Fighting.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.

From the Philadelphia Ledger
In this exciting political campaign i
seems remarkable that so little has beer
written or said of the most brilliant
period of the life of the Republican
candidate for the presidency.
While his political career has beer
scanned, and every word that he may
have uttered il. Congress or on tn,
stump has been criticized and com
mented upon, the glorious record of hii
four long years of faithful service in the
field has barely been touched upon.
Yet he was one of the bravest of sol
diers in one of the most famous regi-
ments of the great war, and, while
modesty may forbid his intruding the
military portion of his life on the pub
lie, ii is, at the same time, very ques'
tionable whether he would be willing
to exchange all the political honors
that he has gained, or those that may
come to him in four years in the white
house, for the glories that cluster
around the memories of his four years
of service in the army of the Union.
The regiment in which the young
soldier served, the T~enty-third Ohio
infantry, was one of the bravest and
best, and bore upon its rolls the names
of many men who afterwards became
illustrious in the country's history.
The first colonel was William ;. Rose
Grams, afterwards major general and
commander of the armies of the Tenn
essee and Department of the Cumber-
land.
The lieutenant colonel was that
splendid soldier Stanley Matthews,
who, after the war, became a Senator
of the United States and then eminent
as justice of the Supreme Court.
The major was Rutherford b. Hayes,
afterwards brigadier general, and then
Governor of Ohio and nineteenth
President of the United States.
When the war began Mckinley, then
a boy of Is, was teaching a country
school. The first gun that sounded the
commencement of the titanic struggle
awoke in the breast of the young school
all the fervor and patriotism
that the times called forth, and he was
one of the very first to respond to the
call of duty, enlisting as a private sol
dier in Company f, June IL, 1861.
For fourteen months he carried the
musket, attaining the rank of sergeant
April Is, 1862. Years afterwards, in
this period, Private William
then Governor of Ohio,
to some friends: 81 always
look back with pleasure upon those
months in which L served in
the ranks. They taught me a great
deal. | was but a school boy when l
went into the army, and that first year
was but formative period of my life,
Turing which learned much of men
md affairs. / have always been glad
hat / entered the service as private
md served those months in hat ca
Dacity."
September "a, 1862, the sergeant was
second lieutenant of
company ID. Five months afterwards
he became first lieutenant of company
;, and on July ., 1864, he had risen
o be captain of company G. How
.ver. no sooner had he been commits
ioned than his value a. an officer was
and three months after re-
Giving his first commission he was de-
allied as aide-de-camp on the staff OF
ieneral Rutherford b. Hayes. From
hat time until the close of the war he
erved continually as staff officer.
,eing at different times on the stalls of
GENERALS :. :. Carroll, George Crook,
fterwards the famous Indian fighter,
nd Winfield 5. Hancock, the superb
all of these men famous for their
lighting qualities.
He was breveted major, on the rec
of General Philip III.
sheridan, for distinguished and gallant
conduct at Cedar Creek and Fishers
Hill.
With his regiment, or while on staff
iuty. he fought in West Virginia, in
he Army of the Potomac under Nc
,iellan. and i'm the Shenandoah Nal-
ey under Sheridan. He was in all the
arly fights in West Virginia, at South
Mountain, Antietan, receiving his
boulder straps one week after that last
FAMED bloody battle, and exchanging
us musket for the sword. His first
,attle was at Carnifex Ferry, w,
Va, September 10, 1861. Here the
ohio school boy, his face aglow with
,atriotism and hope, his heart over
lowing with love of country, stood el-
,ow TO elbow with his sehoolmates of
his comrades OF to-day,
,ffering his young life, as hundreds of
of other youths were doing.
a defence of right, aud that the re-
,ublic might not perish.
Thus, four long years he fought, in
very battle and skirmish, until the
.ery end, doing his whole duty, gath
ring honors and adding TO his fame as
soldier, fearless and without reproach,
ichting at Townsend's Ferry, Novem-
er 6 at Laurel Hill, November Il /;
amp Creek, May /, 1862 New-River,
iay 6 Pack Perry, New River, Au-
ust 6 /; in support of Pope's army, Au-
1,st u: battle of South Mountain, Sep
ember IA; Antietam, September 10
nd IL: CIoyd's Mountain, Nav 8, 1884:
,uffalo Gap, June s; Lexington, June
0 Otter Creek, June 10; Lynehburg,
une IL; Liberty, June l9; Buiford
zap, June 20; Salem, June 81; Sweet ,
sulphur Springs, June p in the cam
aign against Early, July IA to Novem-
or = skirmish at Cableton, July - I:
iyht at Smokers Ferry, July q Win
hester and Kernstown, July 3 and
4: Martinsburg, July 25; Berryville,
Angus; 10 Halltown, August - Ber-
ill, -.pta,niar ? urherp his horse