“As new companies arrived, I sometimes would go among them and get acquainted with the boys. One day I visited Company E and, to my surprise, found a _Private_, my neighbour, Billy McKinley. Colonel Rosecrans took the regiment into West Virginia, where we were just in time for the battle of Cainifax Ferry, September 10, 1861. This is the first battle the writer or ‘Billy’ ever saw. We moved around considerably, joining other forces all under command of ‘Old Rosey.’ We had fought nineteen battles before the war was over, commencing at Cainifax Ferry and ending at Fisher’s Hill, in the upper Shenandoah Valley. “After serving as a private for one year, McKinley was promoted to Regimental Commissary Sergeant and got his first shoulder straps, for the meritorious act performed by him at Antietam. We lined up for battle and commenced firing before the sun rose. McKinley, knowing the condition of our haversacks, drew from the quartermaster 1,000 rations of fresh beef, got camp kettles, pressed some men into service, cut up and cooked the entire amount, pressed a teamster (John Harvey by name) into service, got some crackers and drove along behind the line still in battle, giving every man a chunk of beef between two crackers. I thought then and still think it was the sweetest morsel I ever ate. “This act was noticed by Colonel (afterward President) Hayes, who was in command, and McKinley got a commission as Second Lieutenant. From this he rose rapidly through all grades, ending with Brevet Major, then Governor of Ohio, and President of the United States. “Soon after his election he began to make plans for his inauguration, and among other things, he issued an invitation to his old regiment to assemble in Washington City and to act as his escort on Inauguration Day, with the result that ninety-six members arrived at our headquarters, very proud of our honoured Comrade ‘Billy,’ as he was called. “Next morning, we assembled in the Capitol grounds to witness the _second_ member of our regiment take the oath of office as President of the United States. We took the post of honour under the command of Captain Skyles, whom we had elected as our Commander, formed on Pennsylvania Avenue, and with great pomp and honour escorted the new President to the White House, his future home.