New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-11
M'KINLEY AS A SOLDIER.
HIS RECORD IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION
WHAT HIS coMRhpEs SAY.

WHAT HIS CoMRhDEs SAY.
To the Editor of The Tribune
Sir Just now everything In the past history Of
our candidate for President is sought out and to
the veteran his military record will be Of great
interest The general fact that when he seven
teen years old he enlisted az a common soldier In
the I'd Ohio Volunteers and carried his musket and
aocoutrements. his knapsack, his haversack his
half-tent and gum blanket for fourteen months Is
well known He passed from the grade Of private 10
corporal. sergeant, orderly sergeant. then second
lieutenant. first lieutenant. and In the summer OF
1864 he was promoted TO captaincy. and later was
brevetted major Of United States Volunteers. by
commission direct from President Lincoln. for gall
liant and meritorous services at the battles Of Ope-
guam. Cedar Creek and Fishers Hill" His regi-
ment saw Its principal service in West Virginia
and the Shenandoah Valley, and was diverted once
back to Ohio and Kentucky TO head off the Morgan
raid 1t participated in the battles of Antetam
and South Mountain in September, 1852. The late
President Hayes was successfully major lieutenant
colonel and colonel of the regiment. in the fall OF
1864, after the Confederates had been driven out OF
the mountains Of West Virginia Crooks command
worked east. and We find them under Sheridan IN
the Shenandoah Valley and bearing a conspicuous
part in the various battles which, than any
thing else, made the fame of Little Phil"
In Vol. %, page 1868 OF 1.-The Ohicial Records OF
the War of the Rebellion General George Crook
In closing his report Of the battle fought September
10. 1864, between Opequan Creek and Winchester,
says:
From the following officers Of my STAFF who were
present upon the field Of battle and amid the
thickest Of the fight cl.eored the men onward and
encouraged them by example to do their whole
uu,y, received invaluable assistance: Lieutenant
Colonel w. 6. Starr Major r.. w stephens. cap
tain W. H. Douglass, Captain II. \. Du Pont Cap
William Mckinley. LIEUTENANT j. y. Patton Lieu
Lieutenant c. s Roberts
The officer. in his report Of tho succeeding
battle. that Of Fishers Ill., September % on page 36i
Of the same volume says:
r. am personally indebted to my star-Lieutenant
assistant inspector general Captain b g Bier as
sistant adjutant general Captain William McKin-
G. cherrhston provost marshs Ientenant 4
Patton. aide-de-camp; Lieutenant b. H. Moore aide
oficSr ana Lieaenan g s Roberts S ASSISTANT
commsssry OF mustersfor their assistance 10 me on
the field by carrying orders and for cheering the men
forward during the thckest OF the fight and to Sur,
John G craig assistant orartrrmasfer for th@ir ar
tention in getting the wounded off the field.
The sturdy youth who entered the service at
age when his father could have taken him away from
the recruiting officer and bore all the harlships Of
campaigns. marches and battles, and who. unaided.
except from merit, becomes a captain before he IS
President is entitled TO the love and respect Of every
Revolutionary grandsire was. in his case. greatly in
As there is no place like the camp. the march and
the battlefield to test a man, and such keen
critics comrades wrote to Cyrus S Roberts, one
Of the above mentioned. who was sergeant-rnaJOr
and afterward a lieutenant in my regiment. and is
captain. L. s. A. Inf). commanding Columbus
Mckinley. The reply was written. not with tie
view to publica ton but ! anxious that the vet
Grams all over the country should know what Captain
Roberts says, and here Il Is:
Columbus Barracks Ohio. June Is. 1896
Colonel j H. COgswell, Titusville. Penn.
Dear Sir and Comrade I knew Mckinley very well
when comrades IN the Shenandoah. lie was
one of the most gallant men ever knew and most
efficient staff officer. have met him several times
within the past year He s all that his friends claim
for him. One of the abest men In public life, and Is
modest and unassumng as when boy.
This ia signed by Captain Cyrus 2 Roberts
J. H. COGSWEI1.
Titusville Penn, Sept 8. 1896