The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1896-11-28
M'KINLEY, THE SOLDIER
A SPLENDID RECORD OF A BRAVE
MAN.
He Enlisted as Private in the Same
Regiment with eX-PreSident Hayes,
and Won Each One of His Pro-
motions by Hard Fighting
and Strict Attention to
Duty.
Duty.

LIZ Ill WHICH uIt NOullS SOlulpT
served, the Twenty third Ohio Infantry,
was one Of the bravest and best, and bore
upon its rolls the names of many men who
afterwards became illustrous in the coun-
try's history. The first colonel was Will
liam 5. Rosecrans, afterward Maior-General
and Commander of the armies of the Ten
nessee and Department of the Cumberland.
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 Su-
preme Court.
The Major was Rutherford b. Hayes,
afterwards Bigadier General, and then Gov
ernor of Ohio and nineteenth President of
the United States
When the war began Mckinley, then
boy of 49, was teaching country school.
The first gun that sounded the commence
ment OF the titanic struggle awoke in the
breast of the young school master 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, enlistiug as
private soldier in Company E June II, 1861.
For fourteen months he carried the mus
ket, attaining the rank of Sergeant April
Is, 1869. Years afterward, in recalling
this period, "Private William Mckinley, :"
then Governor OF Ohio. remarked to some
friends: 81 always look back with pleasure
upon those fourteen months in which I
served in the ranks. They taught me a
great deal. l was but school boy when
went into the army, and that first year was
formative period Of my life, during which
learned much OF men and affairs 1 have
always been glad that entered the service
as private and served those months in
that capacity"
September "a, 1862, the Sergeant was
commissioned Second Lieutenant of Com
pany d. Five months afterward he be-
came First Lieutenant of Company f, and
on July %, 1864, he had risen to be Cap
tain OF Company G.. Every promotion was
we'll earned. However, no sooner had he
been commissioned than his value as an
officer was recognized, and three months
after receiving his first commission he was
detailed as aide.de-campe on the staff of
General Rutherford B. Hayes. From that
time until the close of the war he served
continually as staff officer, being at differ
ent times on the staffs of Generals S. S.
Carroll, George Crook, afterward the ia
nous Indian fighter, and Winfield S. Han
cock, the superb all of these men famous
for their fighting qualities
He was Brevet Major on the recommen-
dation of General Philip II. Sheridan, for
distinguished and gallant conduct at Cedar
Creek and Fishers Hill.
With his regiment, or while on staff duty,
he fought in West Virginia, in the Army of
the Potomac under Mcclellan, and in the
Shenandoah Valley under Sheridan. He
was in all the early fights in West Virginia,
at South Mountain and Antietam, receiving
his shoulder straps one week after that last
named bloody battle, and exchanging his
musket for the sword. His first battle was
at Carnifex Ferry, West Virginia Septem-
Der 10, 1861. Here the Ohio schoolboy,
his face aglow with patriotism and hope,
his heart overlooking with love Of country,
stood elbow to elbow with his schoolmates
OF yesterday, his comrades of today, offer
ing his young life, as hundreds of thous.
ands of other youths were doing, in defense
of right and that the Republic might not
perish. Thus, for four long years he fought
in every battle and skirmsh until the very
end, doing his whole duty, gathering
honors, and adding to his fame as Il soldier,
fearless and without reproach, fighting at
Townsend's Ferry, November 6; at Laurel
Hill, November II; Camp Creek, May l.,
1862; New River, May 6; Packs Ferry,
New River, August 6; in support of Pope 5
army, August 10: battle of South Noun
tain, September ii; Antietam, September
1G and II; Cloyd's Mountain, May 8, 1864,
Buffalo Gap, June o; Lexington, June 10;
Otter Creek, June 16; Lynchburg, June II;
Liberty, June 10; Buford Gap, June 20;
Salem, June 21; Sweet Sulphur Springs
June 25; in the campaign against Early,
July II to November %; skirmish at Cable
town, July 10; fight at Smokers Ferry,
July 2l; Winchester and Kernstown, July
% and "a; Martinsburg, July 25; Berry
vile, August 10; Halltown, August %;
Berryville, September 3, where his horse
was shot under him; battle of Winchester,
September 10; Fishers Hill, September %;
skirmish at New Market, October 7; Cedar
Creek, October 10; battle of Cedar Creek,
October lin all, more than thirty battles
and skirmishes-in the very 'front.' from the
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