November the regiment had reached its winter quarters near the falls of the Great Kanawha. During that year it had marched over six hundred miles.

The men built for themselves cabins of planks and logs, so as to pass the winter as comfortably as the soldier could. The camp was named in honor of Colonel Hayes' wife, Camp Lucy Hayes. Late in January she came on from her Ohio home with her three boys to visit the colonel; other ladies also joined their husbands in camp. Mrs. Hayes performed many acts of kindness to the boys, who were proud of her presence, cheering them up if they manifested any signs of homesickness, and providing for the comfort of the feverstricken in the hospital.

Thus passed away the time for eight months from November, 1862, to July, 1863. How much longer the regiment might have stayed there with no chance for active warfare, is a question, had not the Morgan raid occurred in July. Morgan crossed the Cumberland at Burkesville with about 2,500 men, and struck through the State of Kentucky to the Ohio River. In five days he reached the river about sixty-five miles below Louisville, seized two steamers by which he sent his men across the river, thence pushing on through Southern Indiana towards Cincinnati, riding fifty and sixty miles a day, burning bridges, cutting telegraph wires, and leaving general consternation behind him. He passed on so swiftly and so secretly that on the afternoon of the 14th he had reached a point only twenty-eight miles east of Cincinnati. The raiders dashed on, meeting with very little fighting in their course. The Twenty-third Ohio heard of Morgan's presence in their State by the 16th of July, and Colonel Hayes prepared to head him off. He

did it with dispatch. Choosing two regiments and a section of artillery, and embarking his force, he reached Gallipolis on the 18th. A little further on, Hayes's forces met the raiders, and after a slight skirmish Morgan fled, and the Twenty-third was sent in pursuit. Next day the raiders were entirely routed, more than half of them were captured, and later on Morgan surrendered with the remnant of his men, and was sent to the Ohio Penitentiary.

The Twenty-third returned from this raid, with the rest of Hayes's command, where it lay for another long and dreary season in camp, until April 29, 1864. The interval, however, was a season of expectation and preparation for various services. When the regiment finally moved in April, it was to a point a few miles above Brownstown, on the Kanawha, to join the forces under General Crook in a raid on the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad.

Without detailing their daily marches, it is sufficient to say that the regiment toiled over the rugged mountains, up ravines, and through the dense woods, meeting with snows and rain in sufficient volume to appal the stoutest hearts; but they toiled patiently, occasionally brushing the enemy out of their way, until on the 9th of May, 1864, the battle of Cloyd Mountain was fought.

McKinley himself says of this march: "It was a rough and trying march over mountains and through deep ravines and dense woods, with snows and rains that would have checked the advance of any but the most determined. Daily we were brought in contact with the enemy. We penetrated a country where guerrillas were abundant, and where it was not an unusual thing for our men to be shot from the underbrush - murdered in cold blood."

CHAPTER VII.

FIRST LIEUTENANT AT TWENTY-BATTLE OF CLOYD

MOUNTAIN.

McKinley's Rapid Promotion Made First Lieutenant - His Tact and Ability -- Debates in Winter Quarters - The Expedition to Join General Crook Tiresome Marches over a Rough Country - Skirmishes with the Enemy A Dash across the Meadows, through the Stream, and up the Hill – Shaking the Water out of their Boots A Terrible Charge and a Murderous Fire - Scaling the Fortifications - Hand to Hand Struggle in the Fort - Rebels Driven Out - Burning the Bridges Crossing the Alleghanies Four Times and the Blue Ridge Twice - Marching a Day and all Night without Sleeping - Arrival at Winchester.

T

HE lad of eighteen who had insisted upon enlisting in defense of the Union, had not yet seen two years of

service, but his promotion had been rapid. Hayes had been quick to observe the diligence and tact of the young man in camp, and had placed him in the important position of commissary-sergeant. His next promotion was earned after his display of foresight and bravery at Antietam; but it was only four months after he had earned that deserved advancement before he received another. This third promotion, like his first, occurred during life in the winter quarters, and he was made first lieutenant of Company E, February 7, 1863. In all the arrangements of the camp

near the falls of the Great Kanawha, from October, 1862, until July of the next year, McKinley, as the second lieutenant of Company D, had taken an interested and active part. Some of the pleasantest recollections of the veterans. of the Twenty-third Ohio concerned that winter at Camp "Lucy Hayes." There were such amusements as camp life afforded, for there was little or no active business to be done except in drilling. There was some riding, fishing, and boating, and now and then a pleasure excursion. Everything that could be done for the comfort of the Ohio boys was done, and Lieutenant McKinley showed his skill and executive management in whatever duties he had to perform.

Stories are told also of interesting debates that occurred in those days of waiting, in which McKinley took an active part, and gave evidence then of the marvelous power which later made him famous, of going straight to the point of disputed questions. We can only guess at some of the subjects that were debated that winter, for they probably concerned the course of the war. In November, 1862, General McClellan was relieved of his command of the Army of the Potomac, and General Burnside moved to the Rappahannock, where the battle of Fredericksburg took place. General Sherman was active at Vicksburg in December. Active steps were taken that winter in Congress for prosecuting the war vigorously until the rebellion should be suppressed. These, and other events, we may rest assured, constituted subjects for discussion about the camp fires and for those little debates in winter quarters.

It was, therefore, as first lieutenant of company E, that McKinley took part in the important battle of Cloyd

Mountain, which followed the movement to join the forces of General Crook. In this affair, the Twenty-third was on the right of the First brigade, which was commanded by Colonel Hayes. The other regiments were mainly Ohio troops accustomed to service under him, and, like the Twenty-third, eager for the fight, even after so difficult and wearying a march. The object of the expedition was to destroy the Virginia and Tennessee railroad bridge on New River, which would cut the great line of communications between Richmond and the Southwest. General Crook was still a young man, but he had already won distinction in the Indian service, and he brought his peculiar shrewdness to work in this undertaking. Marching up the Kanawha, he sent all his music, with one regiment, ahead toward Leesburg, in the direction of Richmond, while he proceeded in a different direction towards the New River bridge. The bands, thus detached, were ordered to play as if the whole army were behind them. The first result of this was the bloodless capture of Fort Breckenridge, out of which the enemy fled at the approach of what seemed to be an immense force. On the parapet of this fort, the words "Fort Breckenridge" had been handsomely carved; but the Ohio men immediately went to work to substitute the words, "Fort Crook."

Soon after, the Confederates, discovering that they had been frightened out of the fort, hurried back. A considerable force of them was gathered under General Jenkins, who placed his army across the track of Crook's men, some distance southward, where they were forced to traverse a high mountain ridge, which was called Cloyd Mountain, and here the enemy was entrenched. The ridge was thickly