MrKINLKY, WILLIAM. 



431 



Gen. Crook in the battle of Kernstown. near Win- 

 chester. July 24. 1864. Lieut. McKinley had con- 

 ducted himself with gallantry in every emergency, 

 and at Winchester won additional honors. Crook's 

 army was attacked by the whole of Early's. the 

 National forces being 6,000 strong, and the Con- 

 federate 20.000. Hayes had charge of the lirst 

 brigade on the extreme right, and was soon at- 

 tacked with such fury that he was obliged to fall 

 back toward Winchester. The movement was sue- 

 illy executed, except that the Thirteenth W.-t 

 Virginia Regiment (Col. Willliam Brown command- 

 ing) failed to retire and was in imminent danger of 

 capture. McKinley was directed to go and bring 

 it away, if it had not already fallen, and, putting 

 spurs to his horse, he started in a fierce gallop, 

 obliquely toward the advancing enemy. Kussell 

 Hastings, then major of the Twenty-third, gives a 

 graphic description of the incident: "Hayes loved 

 McKinley as a father loves a son, and only imagine 

 what must have been his feelings when the net 

 ties of the moment demanded that he should order 

 this boy to do this dangerous work ! None of us 

 expected to see him again as we watched him push 

 his horse through the open fields, over fences and 

 across ditches, while the fire from the enemy poured 

 upon him. with shells exploding around and over 

 him. Once he was completely enveloped in the 

 smoke of an exploding shell, and we thought he had 

 gone down ; but no, out of this smoke emerged his 

 wiry little brown horse, with McKinley still firmly 

 seated and erect as a hussar. Xow he had passed 

 under cover from the enemy's fire, and a sense of 

 relief came to us all. Thus far he was all right, but 

 we knew his danger was just beginning, for the ene- 

 my was still coming on. McKinley gave the colonel 

 the orders from Hayes to fall back, and added, ' I 

 supposed you would go to the rear without orders.' 

 The colonel replied : ' I was about concluding I 

 would retire, and am now ready to go wherever 

 you lead: but, lieutenant. I p'intedly believe I will 

 give them fellows a volley or two before I go.' 

 McKinley commanded, 'Then up and at them as 

 quickly as possible.' and as the regiment arose to its 

 feet the enemy came into full view. Col. Brown's 

 boys gave them a crushing volley, and. following it 

 with a rattling fire, retreated toward some woods 

 directly in their rear. At this they halted along 

 Brown's front, and for some distance to the right 

 and left, feeling for the secondary line, during 

 which hesitancy McKinley led the regiment through 

 the woods toward Winchester. As Crook and Hayes 

 saw the regiment safely oil, they turned, and fol- 

 lowing the column, with it moved slowly to the 

 rear, down the Winchester pike. At a point near 

 Winchester. McKinley brought the regiment to the 

 column and its place in the brigade. He was 

 greeted by a cheer, for all of us felt and knew one 

 of the most gallant acts of the war had been per- 

 formed. As he drew up to the side of Hayes to 

 make his verbal report, I heard Hayes say, 'Lien- 

 tenant. I feared I would never see you alive again.' " 

 The retreat continued until after midnight: the 

 men were very weary, after their hard fight and 

 forced march, and without food, for none could be 

 provided, owing to the stampede of the wagon train 

 in the afternoon. In this plight they came upon a 

 battery of artillery of four guns and their caissons, 

 which had been left in the way. an easy capture for 

 the enemy. McKinley asked permission to bring it 

 off. but his superior officers thought it impossible, 

 owing to the exhausted condition of the men. " The 

 Twenty-third will do it," said McKinley, and call- 

 ing for volunteers, every man of his company 

 stepped out. and the guns were hauled off to a place 

 of safety. The next day. July 2o. 1864. at the age 

 of twenty-one, and with "a reputation for bravery in 



which every comrade took pride, McKinley was 

 promoted to captain. 



On the retreat through Winchester mam of the. 

 inhabitants were seen at their doors, making demon- 

 strations of joy or sorrow according as their sym- 

 pathies were L'nion or Confederate. One old (Qua- 

 ker lady stood at her gate with the tears running 

 down her face when Capt. McKinley reined in his 

 horse and said in a low tone: "Don't worry, my 

 dear madam, we are not hurt as much at 

 and we shall be back here again in a few days." 



The brigade continued its fighting up and down 

 the Shenandoah valley, skirmishes occurring almost 

 daily. A fierce engagement took place at Berry- 

 ville. Sept. 3. 1864. in which Capt. McKinlcy's 

 was shot under him. and the fighting bet ween Crook's 

 and Longstreet's forces continued until nightfall, 

 when both commanders wanted to withdraw their 

 men. Hayes dispatched McKinley for this pur- 

 pose with the proper orders, but he encountered 

 a strange situation, which is best described in his 

 own words : " This engagement," he once said, will 

 not soon be forgotten. It was a brilliant scene ; the 

 heavens were illuminated by the flashes of our own 

 and the enemy's guns. Later, when both armies 

 determined to "retire, it became my duty to direct a 

 regiment at some distance from the others to move. 

 A stranger, and in the darkness, I knew nothing of 

 the country. When I started on my mission some 

 one on the other side was doing just what I was, as 

 I could tell from what I could hear. I had not 

 gone far when I was halted by a sentinel with 

 ' Who comes thaH' The distinct Southern brogue 

 was warning enough, and I hastened the other way. 

 Very soon I was stopped by a voice with a shrill 

 Western accent demanding. ' Whocomesthere ? ' and 

 recognized friends. I gave the countersign, and 

 soon had the regiment moving." 



At Opequan and Fisher's Hill McKinley again 

 distinguished himself. In the former battle oc- 

 curred an incident that showed both firmness and 

 readiness of mind. As an aide on Gen. Crook's 

 staff, he was sent with an order to Gen. Isaac H. 

 Duval to move his command quickly to a position 

 on the right of the Sixth Corps, but Duval, not 

 knowing the topography of the country, asked the 

 young aide, " By what route shall I move my com- 

 mand?" Capt. McKinley was without definite or- 

 ders or knowledge of the country, but having a 

 general idea of the direction of the water courses 

 and location of the troops, replied, "I would move 

 up this creek." Duval then said, " I shall not move 

 without definite orders." McKinley knew that any 

 delay was hazardous, and so, acting on his own view 

 of the position of the armies, at once replied : "This 

 is a case of great emergency, general, and so I 

 order you, by command of Gen. Crook, to move 

 your command on the road up this ravine to a posi- 

 tion on the right of the army." The movement 

 proved exactly right, and D aval's command was 

 soon in position to do effective work. It drove the 

 enemy in confusion from their works and con- 

 tributed to the victory of the day. Still, it is not 

 hard to conjecture what would have been the young 

 aide's fate if the order had been a mistake. 



In describing the fight at Fisher's Hill. Gov. Mc- 

 Kinley called it "one of the most brilliant of the 

 many brilliant achievements of Gen. George Crook. 

 It was a flank movement through the mountains 

 and woods to the enemy's right. Never did troops 

 advance with greater difficulty, on what appeared 

 to be an impassable route, over the mountain side. 

 where it seemed the foot of man had never trod. 

 Hayes led the charge down the gorge and up the 

 hill. He led repeated charges. I can see him now. 

 encouraging his men to make another and still an- 

 other charge until we had captured the whole of 



