Presidents at War: William McKinley and the Civil War
There is a theory that those Presidents who have experienced the horrors of war first hand are the most reluctant to send American troops to war. There were no wars on the watch of either Ulysses Grant or Dwight D. Eisenhower, perhaps the two most famous generals to become President. William McKinley, who was present at the Battle of Antietam, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, did send soldiers to fight in the Spanish-American War, but he do reluctantly and only after being under intense pressure to do so.
When the Southern states seceded from the Union and the American Civil War began, thousands of men in Ohio volunteered for service.Eighteen year old William McKinley and his cousin William McKinley Osbourne enlisted as privates in the newly formed Poland Guards in July of 1861. These men left for Columbus, Ohio where they joined up with other small units to form the 23rd Ohio Infantry. Unlike other groups of soldiers, this group was not permitted to elect their officers, who were selected by Ohio Governor, William Dennison. Dennison appointed Colonel William Rosecrans as the commander of the regiment.
The men began training on the outskirts of Columbus. McKinley wrote a series of letters to his hometown newspaper supporting the Union cause. Delays in issuing of uniforms and weapons made the men displeased with their officers, but Major Rutherford B. Hayes convinced them to accept what the government had issued them. McKinley was impressed by Hayes and the two formed an association and friendship that would last until Hayes’ death in 1893.
After a month of training, the 23rd Ohio, now led by Colonel Eliakim P. Scammon, set out for western Virginia (now West Virginia) in June 1861 as a part of the Union Army's Kanawha Division. McKinley initially thought little of Scammon's abilities as an officer, but when the regiment finally saw battle, he came to understand and appreciate the value of their drilling.
Their first contact with the enemy came in September when they repelled 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, where he worked both in supplies and as a clerk. In November, the regiment established winter quarters near Fayetteville (today in West Virginia). McKinley spent the winter substituting for a commissary sergeant who was ill, and in April 1862 he received a promotion to that rank.
The regiment resumed its advance that spring with Hayes in command. They fought several minor engagements against the rebel forces. That September, McKinley’s regiment was called east to reinforce General John Pope’s Army of Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run. But they did not arrive at the battle in time because they were delayed in passing through Washington, D.C. General Rosecrans was criticized for this.
The 23rd Ohio joined the Army of the Potomac as it hurried north to cut off Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia as it advanced into Maryland. The 23rd was the first regiment to encounter the Confederates at the Battle of South Mountain on September 14, 1862. After severe losses, Union forces drove back the Confederates and continued to Sharpsburg, Maryland, where they engaged Lee’s army at the Battle of Antietam, one of the bloodiest battles of the war. The 23rd was also in the thick of the fighting at Antietam, and McKinley himself came under heavy fire when bringing rations to the men on the line. McKinley’s regiment suffered many casualties, but the Army of the Potomac won a costly victory as the Confederates retreated into Virginia. The regiment was then detached from the Army of the Potomac and returned by train to western Virginia.
While the regiment went into winter quarters near Charleston, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), McKinley was ordered back to Ohio with some other sergeants to recruit fresh troops. When they arrived in Columbus, Governor David Tod gave McKinley a commission as second lieutenant in recognition of his service at Antietam. McKinley and his comrades 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 General George Crook’s Army of West Virginia. They marched into southwestern Virginia to destroy salt and lead mines used by the enemy. On May 9, the army engaged Confederate troops at Cloyd’s Mountain, where the men charged the enemy entrenchments and drove them from the field. McKinley later wrote that the combat there was “as desperate as any witnessed during the war.” Following the battle, the Union forces destroyed Confederate supplies and skirmished with the enemy again, once again defeating them. McKinley and his regiment moved to the Shenandoah Valley.
General 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. An advance on Lynchburg was considered, but General Hunter believed the troops there were too powerful, so the brigade returned to West Virginia.
Before the army could make another attempt, Confederate General Jubal Early’s raid into Maryland forced their recall to the north. Early’s army surprised them at Kernstown on July 24, where McKinley came under heavy fire and the Union army was defeated. They retreated into Maryland, where they were reorganized yet again. Major General Philip Sheridan replaced Hunter, and McKinley, who had been promoted to captain after the battle, was transferred to General Crook’s staff. By August, Early was retreating south in the valley, with Sheridan’s army in pursuit. They fought off a Confederate assault at Berryville, where McKinley had a horse shot out from under him. The army advanced to Opequon Creek, where they broke the enemy lines and pursued them farther south. This victory was followed by another at Fisher’s Hill on September 22. On October 19, the Union troops met their enemy once more at Cedar Creek. 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 stayed in the vicinity through election day, when McKinley cast his first presidential ballot, voting for the incumbent Republican, Abraham Lincoln. The next day, they moved north up the valley into winter quarters near Kernstown.
In February 1865, General Crook was captured by Confederate raiders. McKinley found himself serving on the staffs of four different generals over the next fifteen days—Crook, John D. Stevenson, Samuel S. Carroll, and Winfield Scott Hancock. He was finally assigned to Carroll’s staff again.
Fortunately, McKinley did not have to see any further combat. General Robert E. Lee and his army surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in April, effectively ending the war. McKinley and Carroll were 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. In July, the Veterans Corps was mustered out of service, and McKinley and Carroll were relieved of their duties. Both 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.
Many years later, during his first term as President, American opinion, fueled by newspaper publishers like William Randolph Hurst, expressed outrage against Spain for their treatment of Cuban rebels. Many called for war to liberate Cuba. McKinley shared in the outrage over Spanish treatment of the Cubans, but he favored a peaceful approach, hoping that through negotiation, Spain might be convinced to grant Cuba independence, or at least to allow the Cubans some measure of autonomy. The United States and Spain began negotiations on the subject in 1897, but it became clear that Spain would never concede Cuban independence, and the rebels would never settle for anything less.
In January 1898, McKinley agreed to send the battleship USS Maine there to protect American lives and property after riots broke out in Cuba. On February 15, the Maine exploded and sank with 266 men killed. Public opinion and the newspapers demanded war, but McKinley still believed that it should first be determined if the explosion was accidental. Negotiations with Spain continued, but on March 20, a commission investigating the explosion ruled that the Maine was blown up by an underwater mine. (This conclusion was later called into question.) As pressure for war mounted in Congress, McKinley continued to negotiate for Cuban independence. Spain refused McKinley’s proposals, and on April 11, McKinley turned the matter over to Congress. He did not ask for a declaration of war, but Congress declared war anyway on April 20.
When the Southern states seceded from the Union and the American Civil War began, thousands of men in Ohio volunteered for service.Eighteen year old William McKinley and his cousin William McKinley Osbourne enlisted as privates in the newly formed Poland Guards in July of 1861. These men left for Columbus, Ohio where they joined up with other small units to form the 23rd Ohio Infantry. Unlike other groups of soldiers, this group was not permitted to elect their officers, who were selected by Ohio Governor, William Dennison. Dennison appointed Colonel William Rosecrans as the commander of the regiment.
The men began training on the outskirts of Columbus. McKinley wrote a series of letters to his hometown newspaper supporting the Union cause. Delays in issuing of uniforms and weapons made the men displeased with their officers, but Major Rutherford B. Hayes convinced them to accept what the government had issued them. McKinley was impressed by Hayes and the two formed an association and friendship that would last until Hayes’ death in 1893.
After a month of training, the 23rd Ohio, now led by Colonel Eliakim P. Scammon, set out for western Virginia (now West Virginia) in June 1861 as a part of the Union Army's Kanawha Division. McKinley initially thought little of Scammon's abilities as an officer, but when the regiment finally saw battle, he came to understand and appreciate the value of their drilling.
Their first contact with the enemy came in September when they repelled 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, where he worked both in supplies and as a clerk. In November, the regiment established winter quarters near Fayetteville (today in West Virginia). McKinley spent the winter substituting for a commissary sergeant who was ill, and in April 1862 he received a promotion to that rank.
The regiment resumed its advance that spring with Hayes in command. They fought several minor engagements against the rebel forces. That September, McKinley’s regiment was called east to reinforce General John Pope’s Army of Virginia at the Second Battle of Bull Run. But they did not arrive at the battle in time because they were delayed in passing through Washington, D.C. General Rosecrans was criticized for this.
The 23rd Ohio joined the Army of the Potomac as it hurried north to cut off Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia as it advanced into Maryland. The 23rd was the first regiment to encounter the Confederates at the Battle of South Mountain on September 14, 1862. After severe losses, Union forces drove back the Confederates and continued to Sharpsburg, Maryland, where they engaged Lee’s army at the Battle of Antietam, one of the bloodiest battles of the war. The 23rd was also in the thick of the fighting at Antietam, and McKinley himself came under heavy fire when bringing rations to the men on the line. McKinley’s regiment suffered many casualties, but the Army of the Potomac won a costly victory as the Confederates retreated into Virginia. The regiment was then detached from the Army of the Potomac and returned by train to western Virginia.
While the regiment went into winter quarters near Charleston, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), McKinley was ordered back to Ohio with some other sergeants to recruit fresh troops. When they arrived in Columbus, Governor David Tod gave McKinley a commission as second lieutenant in recognition of his service at Antietam. McKinley and his comrades 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 General George Crook’s Army of West Virginia. They marched into southwestern Virginia to destroy salt and lead mines used by the enemy. On May 9, the army engaged Confederate troops at Cloyd’s Mountain, where the men charged the enemy entrenchments and drove them from the field. McKinley later wrote that the combat there was “as desperate as any witnessed during the war.” Following the battle, the Union forces destroyed Confederate supplies and skirmished with the enemy again, once again defeating them. McKinley and his regiment moved to the Shenandoah Valley.
General 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. An advance on Lynchburg was considered, but General Hunter believed the troops there were too powerful, so the brigade returned to West Virginia.
Before the army could make another attempt, Confederate General Jubal Early’s raid into Maryland forced their recall to the north. Early’s army surprised them at Kernstown on July 24, where McKinley came under heavy fire and the Union army was defeated. They retreated into Maryland, where they were reorganized yet again. Major General Philip Sheridan replaced Hunter, and McKinley, who had been promoted to captain after the battle, was transferred to General Crook’s staff. By August, Early was retreating south in the valley, with Sheridan’s army in pursuit. They fought off a Confederate assault at Berryville, where McKinley had a horse shot out from under him. The army advanced to Opequon Creek, where they broke the enemy lines and pursued them farther south. This victory was followed by another at Fisher’s Hill on September 22. On October 19, the Union troops met their enemy once more at Cedar Creek. 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 stayed in the vicinity through election day, when McKinley cast his first presidential ballot, voting for the incumbent Republican, Abraham Lincoln. The next day, they moved north up the valley into winter quarters near Kernstown.
In February 1865, General Crook was captured by Confederate raiders. McKinley found himself serving on the staffs of four different generals over the next fifteen days—Crook, John D. Stevenson, Samuel S. Carroll, and Winfield Scott Hancock. He was finally assigned to Carroll’s staff again.
Fortunately, McKinley did not have to see any further combat. General Robert E. Lee and his army surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in April, effectively ending the war. McKinley and Carroll were 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. In July, the Veterans Corps was mustered out of service, and McKinley and Carroll were relieved of their duties. Both 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.
Many years later, during his first term as President, American opinion, fueled by newspaper publishers like William Randolph Hurst, expressed outrage against Spain for their treatment of Cuban rebels. Many called for war to liberate Cuba. McKinley shared in the outrage over Spanish treatment of the Cubans, but he favored a peaceful approach, hoping that through negotiation, Spain might be convinced to grant Cuba independence, or at least to allow the Cubans some measure of autonomy. The United States and Spain began negotiations on the subject in 1897, but it became clear that Spain would never concede Cuban independence, and the rebels would never settle for anything less.
In January 1898, McKinley agreed to send the battleship USS Maine there to protect American lives and property after riots broke out in Cuba. On February 15, the Maine exploded and sank with 266 men killed. Public opinion and the newspapers demanded war, but McKinley still believed that it should first be determined if the explosion was accidental. Negotiations with Spain continued, but on March 20, a commission investigating the explosion ruled that the Maine was blown up by an underwater mine. (This conclusion was later called into question.) As pressure for war mounted in Congress, McKinley continued to negotiate for Cuban independence. Spain refused McKinley’s proposals, and on April 11, McKinley turned the matter over to Congress. He did not ask for a declaration of war, but Congress declared war anyway on April 20.