The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 3, 1901, Page 1

- ation of the Union. « fioors and dusts chairs e might be ition had not sm burned so bright- 1ad in Oberlin College ps to enlist “for £ &s the war lasts.” ith his eniire class, ¥ picture he was 17 years h the Twenty- up his duster umper, for his day’'s * time was his to refight » beilion. s coxy lttie house In the pictures of “the com- “The besl be loaded en & Wruck, which was Gxtven Jest back of na The driver young serges retions tn and the fre of MeXinley mpany I # Bhad attracted the aitemtion of the was made second lieutenant of - -ward oclons!, who waiched bim with growing teret s noticed that he was always of duty; that duty was first, #nd pe danger always last. ey rose in four years from e ranks to brevet major of . was no ballroom major, elther,” s o1d e, Henry, “for ours regiment, was the Twenty- Presidential regiment,’ ise Rutherford B. McKinley were en thet made up the MeKin ry sergeant I . the place where mes when s was open I my fin- nd talking to that he would the United he line of pro- 1 guing up ever the was on a taste of what hing with cold, mile was three young = enemy I think we felt iency in military COMMISSARY WILLIAM 20 T)—}E MEN A% “ training. We were farmer boy»s, and the were good soldiers “Well, I was dispatched to comp to ask for reinforcements. It was a new coun- try to me. Sometim:s a flash of light- ning would ligat up my path, and then leave me in the dark, drenchiyg ra'n more frighten than eyver. The thunder in my ears sounded like the cannous of that day. SERGEA] M KIN LE’YNT OMN THE FIRING LINE _I The ronr of the rrver at my side and the mysierious trées of the forest about me all tended to increase my terror. “Suddenly a man blocked my path. In- stinct told me it was a sentinel. 1 ha. never encountered one before, and the only word I coul@ think of was halt, so 1 shoutcd ‘Halt!’ against all rules of mil- itary discipline. Eighth Commant 3By (Nrs. Aeslic Ca Raazaaaaaad ooy o ol on s g s, | 7, i “"Who goes there? he sald. “A frlend with the countersign,’ I re- plied, with trembling'lips. “+Approach and give the countersign,’ he commanded. “He placed the muzzle cf his gun against my breast and over that muzzle 1 gave the countersign. It was the most terrible moment of my life. ““The countersign Is correct,’ he sa'd, and my fright was abated. “Then one of the boys came running up ‘ “‘“‘N‘t,bl THE WILLIAM MSKINLEY AT THE AGe OF 2.1 FromM A PHOTO.IN THE POSSESSioN OF MRs GEorGE Mowrse OF SAN FRANCISCO UNDER FULL 7 to nform us that the nomss we heard was caused by a dog coming through the un- derbrush, and not by the enemy. In a flash of the light I recognized Bi.ly Me- Kiniey as the bearer of the good news. “After Carnifax Ferry the Twenty-third saw same hard fighting in the western part of the State of Virginia, and we learned that the grit of the farmer boys and the courage of young hearts count even against trained soldiers: for after these series of baitles McClellan tele- ~ / MARCH 3=° 1901 graphed to Washington, ‘Secession Is killed in this country,’ and & new State was organized and admitted Into the Union under the name of West Virgin'a. “At the battle of Winchester an act of Billy McKinley's gained for him mention in the official dispatches and secured for him promotion to captain of Company D. “He carried a message to fall back to & regiment that had not been notified of the withdrawal of the rest of the army. He rode under full fire of the enemy. Coloniel Hays watched the young man through the fleld-glasses. When McKin- ley returned the colonel said: “ “Well, young man, I never expected to gee you again n the flesh.’ “And there was another time,” went on MecKinley's old comrade, “when Billy was sent with a message to order Duval to a rew position on the right flank of our army. It was near Winchester. Duval said that he was ignorant of the lay of the surrounding country and refused to move his men until more definite instruc- tions should be sent him. “McKinley was also.uninformed, but he nad a reserve force of echaracter that made itself felt in an emergency, & ‘some- thing up his sleeve’ that enabled him to face any situation coolly. “One thing, McKinley knew that delay was dangerous, “‘General Duval,’ he said, ‘this is a time of great emergency. I eommand you by order of General Crook to move your command up this ravine to a position on the right of the army.’ “He spoke better than he knew, for this very movement swung Duval's division In a position to take the enemy’s flank and win the victory. “Then McKinley was made assistant ad- jutant general of the first division, First Army Corps, and the last year of the war he was brevetted major on recommenda- tion of his commanding officer for services in Shkeridan's campaign in the Shenan- doah Valley. “We did some tall fighting in the Shen- andoah, Billy McKinley and Il INSSSSS “I never shall forget the battle of Cedag Creek, made famous by Sheridan’'s ride We were stat d slong Cedar Creel. The rebel sple wd that day discovered a break in our lines r cover. of night part of th dtvision marched ough the ga when day- nt broke attack was & damp, foggy morniny. We s our breakfast when we were surprised by rebs to the left of r to the right of us, rebs all abou Ve never would have caped had it not en that they were f following up v s and fail pethe says ne greatest thing in the wc ' Bo 1% proved that mer try took a back se iven love of coun- he rebs ate eanwhile we he rear, and Sheridan ‘at Win twenty miles away,’ where he had gone to get instrue- tions. “Suddenly we saw him gallop toward the ranks, riding at full And the wave of retreat checked ita then, because The sight of the = With foam and with was gray Pv the flash of his eye and his red nostrils’ course compelled it to pausa ust the black charger nai Iz s sword and henr: entered every 80 “ ‘Forward, march!" # march to wrench from the hands of def ‘The rebels ran for their lives Harly poweriess to call them to order. “We surprised them as Washington &1d when he crossed tbe Delaware and came upon the Eritish at Trenton. “We followed them up and captured their stores and provisions and finished our breakfast, which we calied lunch, for it was now long past the hour of break- tast. “Did I see McKinley inaugurated? “Well, I guess yes. “It was McKinley's wish that his old comrades should be his escort on the day of his inauguration. I went clear from California to be thers. = “We escorted the President down Penn- sylvania avenue from the Capitel to the ‘White House, carrying banners with Twenty-third Ohio Infantry printed om them In gold letters. Before us was the old flag that had been eur inspiration for four years during the war. It.was now shot to shreds. On the end of one of the shreds hung a lonely star. The mast was shattered in half. I remember the day ‘when it was done. “The bullet entared the heart of the color bearer and he foll dead, dut the flag was quickly picked up and hoisted ea high with its shattered mast. “T have written to the Governor of Ohle to see if we can get it out here. It ia now In the archives of the Stats of Ohia “McKinley is coming out hers, you know, in May, and his old comrades are going to meet him at the ferry and escof® him to his hotel. There are nine of us on the Pacific Coast who served with Me- Kinley in the Twenty-third Ohio. They are: Martin Ritter of San Leandro, C. C. Kelser of ths Soldiers’ Home at Santa Monica; C. H. Hubbard, ex-Mayor of Sacramento; Harrison Gray Otis of Los Angeles, J. Q. Drake of Stockton, Harry C. Moor of Sacramento, Thomas Conners of the Colviile Indian reservation, Wash- ington; O. B. Burgett of Meriden, Cal., and Henry Harrison Woodruff of Berke- ley. Y We are all anxicus to ses McKinley again. “fhe day after the inauguration we all went up to the White House to pay our to the new President. ard we did success the of w “The Turk was waiting with his fez and flowing Turkish trousers, the Egyptian and the Jap, the Chinaman and the p ous Spantard pay respects als *‘Send in my in costu old comrades,’ came word from McKinley, and in we flled—ninety- six of us. “It is natural that our hearts swelled up a little with pride as marched down the hall past t} ’ the into our eid comrad e dig hanged? Billy McKinley? Well, a Mttle stouter, perhaps. than b be lived on hard tack anc 1 Comrade Wood 1 “Yes, som: older, E through own not change an ko never changes, McKinley never always what he s the same whol was when Twenty-third Ohio. So, according to former fighters are to & May. May 15 President McKinley the graduating students, a And some time in launch the new ba s of ks and will be completed How fitting th a President should launch the Ohio. The State of Ohlo is the nest. In it have I o publican list of Pre: with but one or two exceptions, till the name Ohio is ale most synonymous with President. Pre stial