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🇺🇸 Most Badass Presidents: Combat Veteran Edition #13 William McKinley
William McKinley, our 25th President, was one badass President.
This man risked it all at Antietam to personally serve each of his troops hot coffee under intense enemy fire.
Born January 29, 1843, in Niles, Ohio.
An 18 year old schoolteacher, McKinley volunteered for service when war erupted.
He enlisted as a private in Company E of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry in June 1861.
He quickly rose to commissary sergeant.
He fought at the Battle of Carnifex Ferry.
He saw action in the West Virginia campaigns under Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes.
In September 1862 the regiment joined the Maryland Campaign.
At the Battle of South Mountain his unit came under heavy fire and Hayes was wounded.
At the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, the 23rd Ohio was rushed into battle without time to eat breakfast.
They sustained heavy casualties as they tried to advance the union line across Antietam Creek.
In the afternoon, they waded chest deep about a mile south of Burnsides Bridge at Snavely’s Ford to flank the Confederate forces.
By this time morale was low from non-stop heavy fighting and empty stomachs.
McKinley led two mule teams loaded with rations and hot coffee straight into the thick of it.
Working over rough ground through a devastating hailstorm of artillery and rifle fire, he ignored repeated warnings to retreat.
One mule team was shot to pieces by Confederate gunners.
But McKinley pressed forward and made it. He then personally served hot coffee and food to every man in his regiment under heavy fire.
His sudden appearance with hot coffee and hot meat was described by Gen. Hayes as the physiological equivalent of “putting a new regiment on the field.”
McKinley’s work on the battlefield earned him the nickname, “Coffee Bill”.
There is a monument at Antietam Battlefield dedicated to McKinley just for this action.
For this extraordinary bravery he was promoted to second lieutenant.
He later served on Hayes’ staff as assistant quartermaster.
During the Shenandoah Valley campaigns McKinley made a gallant ride at Second Kernstown. The 13th West Virginia Infantry was isolated in an orchard and about to be overwhelmed.
McKinley rode straight across an open field through a storm of artillery and rifle fire to reach them. He delivered the order to withdraw and brought the entire regiment back to safety under heavy fire.
At the Battle of Cedar Creek his horse was shot out from under him, pinning him to the ground as Confederate forces surged forward.
He freed himself, limped back to the Union lines under fire and barely escaping capture, and helped rally the troops.
McKinley rose from private all the way to brevet major by the end of the war.
He was the last United States President to be a veteran of the U.S. Civil War.
He was also the only enlisted U.S. Civil War soldier to serve as a U.S. President
He fought for the Republic on Civil War battlefields long before he ever stepped foot in the White House.
Thank you, Mr. President! 🇺🇸🫡
