in his commission as brevet major. Sheridan had hoped to capture and destroy Early's army after Fisher's Hill, but the failure of Torbert and Averill to intercept him in his flight gave him an opportunity to escape. The succeeding month was largely taken up by cavalry skirmishes. Early was pursued as far as Harrisonburg, after which Sheridan fell back down the valley, destroying the forage as he went, and finally posting his forces on the north side of Cedar Creek.

ALMOST A DISASTER TO SHERIDAN'S ARMY

In

Meanwhile the movements of Sheridan's army had become a subject of interest and debate at Washington, and a discussion by telegraph about its future operations went on for some time. the end he was summoned to Washington by General Halleck for a personal interview. This action well nigh resulted in a very serious disaster to the army, and led to the famous incident known as "Sheridan's Ride."

Crook's command held at this time the left flank of the Union army. On the morning of October 19th, under cover of a dense fog, the Confederates swept down upon his camp with such suddenness and force that the whole Union army was thrown into confusion and driven back in dismay. The story of what followed is told by Sheridan in his Memoirs, in his simple and lucid language. We learn from him how he had reached Winchester on his return from Washington, how he set out from there with the sound of distant artillery ringing in his ears, and how he arrived on the field and turned the tide of battle, changing defeat into victory. The episode is one of the most dramatic in the nation's whole history.

On arriving at Newton, where a portion of the demoralized army was still seeking to hold its own against Early's triumphant forces, Sheridan tells us that he met Major McKinley of Crook's staff, who quickly spread the news of his arrival among the disorganized soldiers, giving them new hope and confidence. McKinley had just been engaged in placing Dupont's battery in a

favorable position, by command of General Crook.

It was on his

return from the performance of this duty that he met Sheridan. This brilliant cavalry leader rode hurriedly from side to side of the field, observing the situation, calling the men to face the enemy, and when, two hours later, at the suggestion of Colonel Forsyth, he decided to ride down the line so that all the troops might see him, McKinley was among the group of officers that accompanied him.

MCKINLEY RECEIVES HIS BREVET OF MAJOR

Sheridan threw off his overcoat and appeared in a new uniform, which he had put on with the purpose of presenting himself at the War Department in Washington. In the hurry of the movement he handed his new epaulets to McKinley, and mounting his black horse, Rienzi, still white with dust and foam from its recent headlong gallop, he rode, hat in hand, and followed by his staff, down the front of the re-formed army, the wildest enthusiasm greeting him as regiment after regiment and brigade after brigade rose with cheers of welcome and waving battle flags. At the sight of their commander the spirit of the army blazed forth again, and at the word of command they sprang to the charge and swept Early's army out of the valley, never to return.

McKinley remained on Crook's staff until after the latter had the misfortune of being captured with General Kelly in West Virginia. Subsequently the young captain was detailed to the staff of General Hancock, then commanding the department. At a later date he was assigned to the staff of General S. S. Carroll at Washington. In this duty he remained until after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. On March 13, 1865, he received his brevet as major, and without seeing any more fighting was mustered out of the United States service on July 26th. Thus closed his military

career.

TH

CHAPTER VII

Choosing a Profession

HE close of the Civil War left the young soldier without a profession. He had entered the ranks of the volunteer army as an enthusiastic boy, eager for the active stir of a military life and moved by a warm patriotic impulse. He had risen through sheer force of valor, intelligence, and military ability from the rank of a private soldier to that of a Major, and was still only twenty-two years of age when the close of the conflict left him with the world before him in which to choose a career. It was something for one of his age to be the proud owner of a commission, signed by Abraham Lincoln, appointing him to the rank of Brevet-Major of United States volunteers "for gallant and meritorious services at the battles of Opequan, Cedar Creek, and Fisher's Hill;" but this valued document would not bring him bread, and how to obtain a place in the strife of life was next to be considered.

He was not, indeed, obliged to seek a position in private life. An army career lay before him, if he chose to accept it, and General S. S. Carroll, his personal friend, earnestly advised him to enter the regular army, saying that a young officer with his reputation for gallantry and efficiency could readily secure a commission. He offered, indeed, to use his influence in the young man's behalf, and laid before him the temptation of a life free from business cares and in which his future would be assured.

There can be no doubt that the temptation was a strong one, and that the proffered place was not declined until after long and anxious deliberation. Yet it did not appeal to the young soldier. To remain in the army in times of peace, with none of the excitement

of battle, none of the thrill of danger, none of those stirring scenes which set the nerves tingling and the blood bounding through the veins, was by no means to his taste. He had been a soldier. He did not care to become a drill-master. A field of conflict of different character lay before him, that of professional or business life, and the warlike spirit which still inspired his soul counselled him to enter upon a private career, where alone his impulse to fight seemed likely to find a vent.

WITHOUT A TRADE OR PROFESSION

His father and mother, brothers and sisters, still resided in the quiet little village of Poland, whence he had set out as a lad of eighteen to follow his country's flag and give his young life, if need were, to her cause. He had spent in the army the years when most boys are getting their training for business, with the roar of cannon and rattle of rifles in his ears instead of the bustle of trade or the activity of professional life. He had entered the years of manhood without trade or profession, and to begin his 'prentice life at his age was not an attractive prospect. But it must be done; he had chosen the alternative; he must set his shoulder to the wheel.

What career should he choose? No doubt he called the combined experience and judgment of the family to the decision of this important question, and there may have been long and anxious consultations within the precincts of that humble home. However this be, the choice finally fell upon a profession in which many a Western boy has found the route to fame and fortune, that of law. He decided to enter upon a legal career.

Little time was lost after the decision had been made. He obtained admission as a student to the office of Judge Charles E. Glidden, the leading lawyer of the county in which he resided, and then earnestly began his studies, assailing the outworks of the law as vigorously as he had attacked the intrenchments of the Confederate troops in the field.

The young man had days and years to make up.

Others of his age were practicing in the courts before he had opened his first legal tome. There was no time to be lost. Only hard and incessant work could regain the vanished time. Night and day found him. at his studies, devouring books with an ever unsatisfied appetite. He worked like a Trojan, for he had more than the difficulties of legal lore to overcome. His family were far from wealthy and his father could give him little aid. Wants and demands pressed upon him, and more than once, during his long months of study, he was sorely tempted to abandon his books and enter upon a business

career.

We are told that his elder sister was his chief mental support in his persistent study. She assured him that no sacrifice was too great to enable him to accomplish the end which he had deliberately set out to win, and her courageous spirit was, no doubt, of the utmost aid to the struggling and penniless young man. For nearly two years he continued in Judge Glidden's office, and then entered a law school at Albany, New York, where he finished his studies and graduated with success. It was in 1867 that this struggle for a profession ended, and the newly-fledged lawyer gained admission to the bar.

The next question to be decided was that all-important one for a new "limb of the law," of the best place to locate; where, in the growing State of which he was a citizen, a young lawyer might look for a reasonable share of business. Poland, with its 400 people, was no place in which to hope for success. The town finally chosen was Canton, the county-seat of Stark County, and not far away from his boyhood's home. In selecting Canton he was largely influenced by the fact that his elder sister Anna, she whose counsel had done so much towards inducing him to persist in his legal studies, was a teacher in that town, where she had won the good-will and respect of the people by her merit as an instructor and her estimable character as a woman. Her brother had the warmest affection for her, and her residence in Canton was