was as patriotic as any in the North, and when recruiting began at the old Sparrow House tavern, William McKinley walked over to listen to the speech making and see who enlisted. He had already been over to Youngstown with a cousin to see some soldiers off, and this had fired his patriotism. The old tavern was gayly decorated with the stars and stripes, and on a board was posted Lincoln's call for volunteers. On a small box on the porch of the tavern stood a recruiting agent, talking earnestly to all who had gathered.
"Our country's flag has been fired upon," said the speaker, pointing to Old Glory. "It has been trailed in the dust by those who should have cherished and loved it. And for what? That this free government may keep a race in the bondage of slavery! Who will be the first to defend the glorious stars and stripes?"
There was a painful silence, and one man looked at another. Then a veteran of the Mexican War spoke up.
"I will go. Come on, boys. Show what you are willing to do for Uncle Sam!"
"I will go," cried one of the young men, who had been McKinley's schoolfellow.
Then several others stepped forward and put down their names. One or two looked at William McKinley.
"Are you going, Will?" asked a friend.
"I expect to go," was the answer.
"Then why don't you put down your name?"
"I want to tell mother first," he answered, and hurried away. It did not take him long to reach the house in which he lived, and rushing in, he found his mother hard at work in the kitchen.
"Mother, I am going to enlist," he said.
"Enlist, William?" she said slowly, and dropped her broom.
"Yes. They need soldiers to fight the South and put down this rebellion. The others are enlisting, and I don't want to hang back."
"But you are so young," pleaded the mother. "And you are not very strong."
"Oh, I'm stronger than I was. Of course, if they reject me, I'll have to stay home."
The mother demurred, for she loved her boy greatly; but at last, when she saw that his heart was set upon going, she consented. Back to the tavern he rushed, and put down his name on the list of volunteers.
"Hurrah! we'll have great sport," cried one of the young volunteers. "We'll soon show those rebels how to behave!"
"It will not be sport to kill people," replied McKinley. "And the sport, as you call it, may be on the other side. In the Revolution the soldiers of the South fought as well as did the soldiers of the North. They are surely in earnest, or they wouldn't have bombarded Fort Sumter."
"Oh, they knew they had a sure thing there," was the reply. "It was their game from the start. But when we meet them on an open battlefield, they will sing a different tune."
So the talk ran on, the majority thinking that going to war was to be very much like a huge "picnic," as some expressed it. A few thought the rebellion would last six months, but the majority thought that thirty or sixty days would see its conclusion. Could they have foreseen those four long years of blood and carnage, how they would have shuddered!
The volunteering of the recruits was followed by drilling on the town green. There were no uniforms, and not enough muskets to go around, and the officers wore only belts and swords. At first the company was an awkward one, and the mistakes made in military tactics were laughable. Here William McKinley learned to "line up," "march," "wheel," and the like, and likewise learned the manual of arms. It was a busy time, and the green was always crowded with those who desired to see how the young soldiers were progressing.
At last came the day when the volunteers were to leave Poland, march to Youngstown, and there take the train first for Cleveland and then for Camp Chase at Columbus. It was a holiday in the town, but a sorrowful one, for many who marched away so bravely were never to return. Flags fluttered from many windows and housetops, and an old cannon roared out a parting salute. In the ranks marched William McKinley, a private, going to fight for the Union which he, in later years, helped so greatly to prosper. On the sidewalk were his folks, his mother weeping silently, and the others scarcely less affected.
"Good-by!" he shouted bravely, even though there must have been a strange lump in his throat. "Good-by all!"
"Good-by, and God bless you, my boy!" said the fond mother, and then the drum rattled, the fife piped up its merry tune, and the Poland volunteers were off for the war.
CHAPTER V
At Camp Chase — The Twenty-third Ohio Infantry and its Officers — A First Engagement — In Washington — Battle of South Mountain.
The trip from Youngstown to Cleveland and then to Columbus did not take long, and arriving at the latter place, the Poland recruits were immediately marched to Camp Chase, a beautiful spot well adapted to the purposes of mustering troops into the United States service.
Here every volunteer had to be examined physically, and it may well be supposed that William McKinley was exceedingly anxious concerning this part of the proceedings. He had set his heart upon going to the war, and had he been rejected on account of his health, he would have been sorely disappointed.
When his turn came, he found himself in the presence of General Fremont, known as the "Pathfinder of the West," because of his trip of years before. General Fremont looked him over, thumped him on the chest, gazed into his clear grayish eyes, and then said pleasantly, "You'll do."
It was a great relief from a mental strain, and McKinley hurried back to his tent with his face full of smiles.
"I guess you're going, Will," sang out one of the volunteers. "He didn't turn you down, did he?"
"No; he said I'd do," answered McKinley. "And I'm going to do — the very best I can."
The Poland volunteers became Company E of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and were mustered into service for three years on June 11, 1861. The regiment was in many respects a remarkable one. Its first colonel was William S. Rosecrans, afterward Major-general and Commander of the Department of the Cumberland; its lieutenant-colonel was Stanley Matthews, afterward United States senator, and associate justice of the Supreme Court; and its first major was Rutherford B. Hayes, who after the war became governor of Ohio and then President of the United States. Before the regiment went into the field, however, Colonel Rosecrans received a commission as brigadier-general in the regular army, and was succeeded in command by Colonel E. P. Scammon.
It was a solemn proceeding when the regiment was sworn into the service of the United States, a proceeding which none of the young recruits forgot for many years afterward. The swearing-in was followed by constant drilling, and each soldier was measured for his uniform and given a rifle, ammunition-box, knapsack, and blanket.
It is said by those who were in the regiment with him, that William McKinley took to soldiering naturally and learned his Hardee's Tactics with scarcely an effort. With one who had been so studious, this was not to be wondered at; and it will surprise nobody when told that he was always on hand when wanted.
Fourth of July was passed in camp by the soldiers, who did what they could to make the day a patriotic
