William H. McNeill was born in Washington, Pennsylvania in 1841 to James R. (from Pa.) McNeill & Mary Hunter (from Ireland).

William was a miller. He served as private in Company "B" 1st West Va. Cavalry from 1861-1865. He was captured twice, at Port Republic & Mount Pleasant. He was wounded once at Spotslvania Courthouse when a cannonball grazed his hip; the bleeding was stopped with wad of chewing tobacco. He was promoted to corporal at discharge in 1865. He refused to talk about war except to say that "a man running for his life could outrun a horse."

Later on, William served as a civilian scout for George Armstrong Custer, but was wounded two weeks prior to Little Big Horn and so was spared by being in hospital. He hit it big in silver mining in Colorado but lost it on faro. He attended some GAR reunions. He survived the 1906 San Francisco fire & earthquake by fleeing with only his pajamas on. He died in Oakland CA 1922. He had several sons, including my grandfather, Rufus Clint McNeill, born in 1867 in Bloomfield, Iowa.

I would appreciate any ancestral info on William, as I've gotten no further back than James R. - W. H. said that as a child, a 95 year old McNeill ancestor who was a Revolutionary War vet lived with him and his family.