Potus Geeks Summer Reruns: William McKinley the Soldier
Originally posted on May 30, 2014 as part of our series entitled "The Civil War Presidents".
William McKinley Jr. was the last of the Presidents of the United States to have served in the Civil War. Born in 1843, he was 18 years old when the war broke out. He wasn't a general, but he certainly saw the worst side of the war, having been present at the terrible and bloody Battle of Antietam. I've often suspected that McKinley's first-hand exposure to the ravages of war made him reluctant to join in the rush to war against Spain during his first term as President. He did so reluctantly and only after giving the matter careful consideration.
McKinley was born to an abolitionist family in Niles, Ohio. When the Southern states seceded from the Union and the Civil War began, McKinley was among the thousands of men in Ohio who volunteered for service. He did so along with his cousin William McKinley Osbourne. The two young men enlisted as privates in the newly formed Poland (Ohio) Guards in July 1861. They left for Columbus where they were consolidated with other small units to form the 23rd Ohio Infantry. According to William Armstrong in his 2000 book Major McKinley and the Civil War, the men were unhappy to learn that they would not get to elect their officers. Instead, Ohio’s governor, William Dennison, appointed Colonel William Rosecrans as the commander of the regiment, and the men began training near Columbus.
While in training, McKinley wrote a series of letters to his hometown newspaper praising the virtues of the Union cause. Another future President, Major Rutherford B. Hayes, was one of McKinley's commanders, and the two men began an association and friendship that would last until Hayes’ death in 1893. After a month of training, McKinley and the 23rd Ohio Regiment set out for western Virginia (today part of West Virginia) in June 1861 as a part of the Army's Kanawha Division. Their first contact with the enemy came in September when they drove back Confederate troops at Carnifex Ferry in present-day West Virginia.
Three days after the battle, McKinley was assigned to duty in the brigade quartermaster office. In November of 1861, the regiment established winter quarters near Fayetteville. McKinley was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in April of 1862. The regiment resumed its advance that spring with Hayes in command.
That September, McKinley’s regiment was called east to reinforce General John Pope’s Army of Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run. The 23rd Ohio did not arrive in time for the battle, but they joined the Army of the Potomac in its effort to cut off Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia as it advanced north into Maryland. The 23rd was the first regiment to encounter the Confederates at the Battle of South Mountain on September 14. The Union forces suffered severe losses, but they drove back the Confederates and continued to Sharpsburg, Maryland, where they engaged Lee’s army at the Battle of Antietam.
Antietam was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. The 23rd was in the thick of the fighting at Antietam, and McKinley himself came under heavy fire when bringing rations to the men on the line. The regiment again suffered high casualties, but the Army of the Potomac caused the Confederates to retreat into Virginia. The regiment was then detached from the Army of the Potomac and returned to western Virginia. While the regiment went into winter quarters near Charleston, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), McKinley was ordered back to Ohio to recruit fresh troops.
When he arrived in Columbus, McKinley received a commission as second lieutenant in recognition of his service at Antietam. He saw little action until July 1863, when the division skirmished with John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry at the Battle of Buffington Island.
Early in 1864, the Army command structure in West Virginia was reorganized, and the division was assigned to George Crook’s Army of West Virginia. McKinley's unit marched into southwestern Virginia to destroy salt and lead mines used by the Confederates. On May 9, Crook's army engaged Confederate troops at Cloyd’s Mountain, where the men charged the enemy entrenchments and drove the rebels from the field. This battle had an especially memorable impact on McKinley, who later said the combat there was “as desperate as any witnessed during the war.” After the battle, Crooks's army continued to destroy Confederate supplies and skirmish with the enemy.
McKinley and his regiment moved to the Shenandoah Valley. Crook’s corps was attached to Major General David Hunter’s Army of the Shenandoah and soon back in contact with Confederate forces, capturing Lexington, Virginia, on June 11. They continued south toward Lynchburg, tearing up railroad track as they advanced. Hunter believed the troops at Lynchburg were too powerful, however, and the brigade returned to West Virginia. Before the army could make another attempt, Confederate General Jubal Early made his raid into Maryland, and McKinley his fellow Union troops headed north.Early’s army surprised them at Kernstown on July 24, where McKinley came under heavy fire and the Union army was defeated.
McKinley and his fellow Union troops retreated into Maryland, where the army was reorganized again: Major General Philip Sheridan who replaced Hunter. McKinley was promoted to captain after the battle, and was transferred to General Crook’s staff. By August of 1864, Early was retreating south in the valley, with Sheridan’s army in pursuit. In a Confederate assault at Berryville, McKinley had a horse shot out from under him. Sheridan's army advanced to Opequon Creek, where they broke the enemy lines and pursued them farther south. They followed up thqt victory with another at Fisher’s Hill on September 22, and were engaged once more at Cedar Creek on October 19. There, after initially falling back from the Confederate advance, McKinley helped to rally the troops and turn the tide of the battle.
After Cedar Creek, the army remained there through election day. McKinley cast his first presidential ballot. He voted for Abraham Lincoln. On the following day, the army moved into winter quarters near Kernstown.
The following year, in February 1865, General Crook was captured by Confederate raiders. Over the next fifteen days McKinley served under Generals John D. Stevenson, Samuel S. Carroll, and then Winfield Scott Hancock before finally being assigned to Carroll’s staff. When Robert E.Lee and his army surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant a few days later, the war was effectively over. McKinley was transferred to Hancock’s First Veterans Corps in Washington.
Just before the war’s end, McKinley received his final promotion, a brevet commission as major. Generals Carroll and Hancock encouraged McKinley to apply for a place in the peacetime army, but he declined and returned to Ohio the following month. He returned home and began to study law. His first foray into politics would come in 1867, when his army friend and mentor Rutherford B. Hayes was nominated for governor of Ohio.
William McKinley Jr. was the last of the Presidents of the United States to have served in the Civil War. Born in 1843, he was 18 years old when the war broke out. He wasn't a general, but he certainly saw the worst side of the war, having been present at the terrible and bloody Battle of Antietam. I've often suspected that McKinley's first-hand exposure to the ravages of war made him reluctant to join in the rush to war against Spain during his first term as President. He did so reluctantly and only after giving the matter careful consideration.
McKinley was born to an abolitionist family in Niles, Ohio. When the Southern states seceded from the Union and the Civil War began, McKinley was among the thousands of men in Ohio who volunteered for service. He did so along with his cousin William McKinley Osbourne. The two young men enlisted as privates in the newly formed Poland (Ohio) Guards in July 1861. They left for Columbus where they were consolidated with other small units to form the 23rd Ohio Infantry. According to William Armstrong in his 2000 book Major McKinley and the Civil War, the men were unhappy to learn that they would not get to elect their officers. Instead, Ohio’s governor, William Dennison, appointed Colonel William Rosecrans as the commander of the regiment, and the men began training near Columbus.
While in training, McKinley wrote a series of letters to his hometown newspaper praising the virtues of the Union cause. Another future President, Major Rutherford B. Hayes, was one of McKinley's commanders, and the two men began an association and friendship that would last until Hayes’ death in 1893. After a month of training, McKinley and the 23rd Ohio Regiment set out for western Virginia (today part of West Virginia) in June 1861 as a part of the Army's Kanawha Division. Their first contact with the enemy came in September when they drove back Confederate troops at Carnifex Ferry in present-day West Virginia.
Three days after the battle, McKinley was assigned to duty in the brigade quartermaster office. In November of 1861, the regiment established winter quarters near Fayetteville. McKinley was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in April of 1862. The regiment resumed its advance that spring with Hayes in command.
That September, McKinley’s regiment was called east to reinforce General John Pope’s Army of Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run. The 23rd Ohio did not arrive in time for the battle, but they joined the Army of the Potomac in its effort to cut off Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia as it advanced north into Maryland. The 23rd was the first regiment to encounter the Confederates at the Battle of South Mountain on September 14. The Union forces suffered severe losses, but they drove back the Confederates and continued to Sharpsburg, Maryland, where they engaged Lee’s army at the Battle of Antietam.
Antietam was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. The 23rd was in the thick of the fighting at Antietam, and McKinley himself came under heavy fire when bringing rations to the men on the line. The regiment again suffered high casualties, but the Army of the Potomac caused the Confederates to retreat into Virginia. The regiment was then detached from the Army of the Potomac and returned to western Virginia. While the regiment went into winter quarters near Charleston, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), McKinley was ordered back to Ohio to recruit fresh troops.
When he arrived in Columbus, McKinley received a commission as second lieutenant in recognition of his service at Antietam. He saw little action until July 1863, when the division skirmished with John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry at the Battle of Buffington Island.
Early in 1864, the Army command structure in West Virginia was reorganized, and the division was assigned to George Crook’s Army of West Virginia. McKinley's unit marched into southwestern Virginia to destroy salt and lead mines used by the Confederates. On May 9, Crook's army engaged Confederate troops at Cloyd’s Mountain, where the men charged the enemy entrenchments and drove the rebels from the field. This battle had an especially memorable impact on McKinley, who later said the combat there was “as desperate as any witnessed during the war.” After the battle, Crooks's army continued to destroy Confederate supplies and skirmish with the enemy.
McKinley and his regiment moved to the Shenandoah Valley. Crook’s corps was attached to Major General David Hunter’s Army of the Shenandoah and soon back in contact with Confederate forces, capturing Lexington, Virginia, on June 11. They continued south toward Lynchburg, tearing up railroad track as they advanced. Hunter believed the troops at Lynchburg were too powerful, however, and the brigade returned to West Virginia. Before the army could make another attempt, Confederate General Jubal Early made his raid into Maryland, and McKinley his fellow Union troops headed north.Early’s army surprised them at Kernstown on July 24, where McKinley came under heavy fire and the Union army was defeated.
McKinley and his fellow Union troops retreated into Maryland, where the army was reorganized again: Major General Philip Sheridan who replaced Hunter. McKinley was promoted to captain after the battle, and was transferred to General Crook’s staff. By August of 1864, Early was retreating south in the valley, with Sheridan’s army in pursuit. In a Confederate assault at Berryville, McKinley had a horse shot out from under him. Sheridan's army advanced to Opequon Creek, where they broke the enemy lines and pursued them farther south. They followed up thqt victory with another at Fisher’s Hill on September 22, and were engaged once more at Cedar Creek on October 19. There, after initially falling back from the Confederate advance, McKinley helped to rally the troops and turn the tide of the battle.
After Cedar Creek, the army remained there through election day. McKinley cast his first presidential ballot. He voted for Abraham Lincoln. On the following day, the army moved into winter quarters near Kernstown.
The following year, in February 1865, General Crook was captured by Confederate raiders. Over the next fifteen days McKinley served under Generals John D. Stevenson, Samuel S. Carroll, and then Winfield Scott Hancock before finally being assigned to Carroll’s staff. When Robert E.Lee and his army surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant a few days later, the war was effectively over. McKinley was transferred to Hancock’s First Veterans Corps in Washington.
Just before the war’s end, McKinley received his final promotion, a brevet commission as major. Generals Carroll and Hancock encouraged McKinley to apply for a place in the peacetime army, but he declined and returned to Ohio the following month. He returned home and began to study law. His first foray into politics would come in 1867, when his army friend and mentor Rutherford B. Hayes was nominated for governor of Ohio.