1895 SERVICE REPORT BY WM MCCASKEY FORT LEAVENWORTH KS

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Up for auction is an original individual Service Report for Major Willliam S. McCaskey. This report was filled out by the hand of William McCaskey in ink. This Service Report is for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 1895. At the time he filled out this report he was stationed, with the 20th Infantry, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.The report shows that at the start of the fiscal year(July 1, 1894) William McCaskey was stationed at Fort Assinniboine, Montana. From October 10th until October 14th, 1894 the 20th was changing stations. From October 15th, 1894 until June 30th, 1895 he and the 20th were stationed at Fort Leavenworth, KS. We also learn from this report, that he was present for duty 359 days. He had NO sick days, and only six ordinary official leave days. He is married and has six children. That during his service with the U.S. Army, since 1861, he has occupied all Regimental and Post Staff positions. That during the year he was examined for promotion and was promoted. His present duty: Commander 1st Battery, 20th Infantry.This Official(Form A) Officer's Report is one sheet of paper that is 8" by 14" in size. T is information on both sides of the paper.This document is in excellent conditon. is more information on Major General William S. McCaskey: The below information comes from a webpage for the 79th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment 1861-1865. William McCaskey, younger brother of future Lancaster City mayor, and school principal J. P. McCaskey, joined the 79th Pennsylvania after service in one of the 90 day regiments first called by President Lincoln at the outbreak of the Rebellion. McCaskey was not the only veteran to join the regiment in the fall of 1861, and nearly all of them were soon running the regiment as officers and non-commissioned officers. McCaskey, who's prior service was as a Private, now found himself a Sergeant in Company B. One of his closest friends was the diarist, Private (later Sergeant) William T. Clark. Throughout the war McCaskey's performance was so excellent that he kept getting promoted. Eventually he was made (Brevet) Captain, Company Commander of Company B. On July 20, 1864, McCaskey led the 79th Pennsylvania in a counter assault against Confederate rifle pits along Peach Tree Creek in northwest Georgia. For his leadership, and success in the assault he was mentioned in dispatches. He was popular with his men, and recognized as an outstanding soldier and leader. When the war ended McCaskey secured a regular commission as a Second Lieutenant, thanks to the good offices of Lancaster's Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Honorable Thaddeus Stevens. McCaskey embarked on a career in the Army, starting in the 20th U.S. Infantry which served out west. By 1876, McCaskey was a full fledged Captain (no longer a Brevet promotion), and was left in command of the post at Fort Lincoln, Dakota Territory, when Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer led the 7th U.S. Cavalry out to a rendezvous with an infantry column along the Little Big Horn River. When the steamboat Far West came down the Platte River some days later with the news of the Massacre at Little Big Horn, it fell upon Captain McCaskey to gather the ladies of the fort together to inform them they were now widows. McCaskey went on to a superb Army career, serving in the west for many years and at the end of the 19th Century, in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. He retired in 1906 as a Major General. He is thought to have advanced farther than any other person who served in the Civil War(from Volunteer Private to Major General in the Regular Army), and was thought to be the last serving member of the Armed Forces of the U.S. to have carried a musket in combat. Major General McCaskey retired to the Presidio in the San Francisco area, living t until his death in August of 1914. The news of his death arrived in Lancaster only hours after the outbreak of th... read more

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