Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1896-12-04
Mckinley, the Soldier.

Splendid Record OF Brave man---
He Enlisted as a Private In the Same
Regiment with ex-PresIdent Hayes,
and Won Promotion by Hard Fight
ing and strict Attention to Duty.
The regiment in which the young sol
der served, the Twenty-third Ohio Infant
nv, was one of the bravest and best, and
bore upon its rolls the names of many
men who afterwards became illustrious in
stae' country's history. The first colonel
naias William S. Rosecrans, afterwards ma
reBr general and commander of the armies
ppUf the Tennessee and department of the
Cumberland. The lieutenant colonel was
tthat splendid soldier, Stanley Matthews,
I who, after the war, became a senator of
the United States and then eminent as a
y 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
boy of IS, 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, enlsting as a
private soldier in Company E June II,
De 1851. a.. -,,,.,.o.
.ttaining the rank of sergeant April
Is, 1862. Years afterwards, in recalling
this period, "Private William Mckinley"
then governor of Ohio, remarked to some
o friends: 81 always look back with pleas
The upon those ID months in which
ularlrved in the ranks. They taught me
aftereat deal. was but a school boy when
by went into the army, and that first year
~tnwas formative period of my life, during
which learned much of men and affairs
have always been glad that l 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 afterwards he be-
came first lieutenant of Company Z, and
on July 25, 1864, he had risen to be cap
tain of Company G. Every promotion
was we'll earned. However, no sooner had
be been commissioned than his value as
an officer was recognized, and three months
after receiving his first commission he was
detailed as aide-de-camp on the staff of
Gen. Rutherford B. Hayes. From that
time until the close of the war he served
continually as a staff officer, being at diff
ferent times on the stats of Generals s.
cnuf. Carroll, George Crook, afterwards the
actiAmous Indian fighter, and Winfield S.
If tHancock, the superb-all of these men
Tathlmous for their fighting qualities. He
was breveted major on the recommends
ton of Gen. Philip II. Sheridan, for dis
tinguished and gallant conduct at Cedar
mouse. Hand Fishers Hill.
has the 18th his regiment, or while on staff duty,
in his fought in West Virginia, in the Army Of
sis the Potomac under Mcclellan, and in the
e Shenandoah Valley under Sheridan. He
was in all the early fights in West Virginia
at South Mountain and Antietam, receiv
ing 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
September 10, 1861. Here the Ohio school
boy, his face aglow with patriotism anC
hope, his heart overlooking with love O.
country, stood elbow to elbow with hi
schoolmates of yesterday, his comrades o
today, offering his young life, as hundred
of thousands of other youths were doing
in defence of right, and that the republi
might not perish. Thus, for four lonI
years he fought, in every battle and Skin
mish, until the very end, doing his Who'll
duty, gathering honors, and adding to hi
fame as a soldier, fearless and without re
proach.
He was in more than 30 battles and Skin
mishes, and all the time, from the begin
ming to the end of the war he was at tn
front, never missing days duty, or tigh
until he was mustered out July 20, 1885
after more than four years of continuou
service. He was but % years of age evel
then, yet a veteran of two score and tel
engagements, distinguished among tn
bravest of the brave in the greatest war tn
world has ever seen-as a private soldier
knowing how to follow and obey; as a.
officer, how to lead and command.
he was honored and breveted by tn
fiery Sheridan, when, after his ride froI
Winchester town, he came on the field an
found Captain Mckinley in the storm o
the battle calmly rallying his disoIdere
troops and facing them to the front.
was on the recommendation of Gen. Crook
endorsed by Sheridan and approved b
Grant, that the Private Mckinley of 1856
came home with the leaves of Major o
his shoulder straps.
No wonder that now, thirty years afte
the echo of the last gun has died ava
among the hills, and the smoke of the las
battle has been lifted from the valleys c
our land, that all the glories of the old day
come wildly back to the veterans whe
one of their own comrades is again in tn
front. With him they again get in line
touch elbows, "guide right" and march
victory, feeling that one who stood wit
them in the ranks in the fire of the battle
offering his life for his country, can well b
trusted to take command and lead the n
public to a still more exalted positio
among the nations of the earth.