Shiloh College, which was nothing more, however, than a country academy.

Upon the outbreak of the war with Mexico, young Logan, though but twenty years of age, immediately volunteered, and was elected lieutenant in a company of the 1st Regiment, Illinois Volunteers. In the service of his regiment he bore a distinguished part, acting a portion of the time as adjutant. In 1848 he returned to Illinois and commenced the study of law, in which he made rapid progress. In November, 1849, he was elected clerk of his native county, and held the position until 1850. In that year he attended a course of law studies at Louisville, and in 1851 received his diploma. Upon his return home he at once commenced the practice of his profession, with his uncle, Alexander M. Jenkins, at present Judge of the Third Judicial District. The practical character of Mr. Logan's mind, and his pleasant manners, connected with his rare abilities as a ready speaker, soon fixed his popularity among the voters of his county. Success followed quickly. In 1852 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the then Third Judicial District. He now established his residence at Benton, Franklin County, Illinois, and in the autumn of the same year he was elected to the State Legislature, to represent Franklin and Jackson Counties. On November 27th, 1855, he married, at Shawneetown, Miss Mary S. Cunningham, daughter of John W. Cunningham. In May, 1856, he was appointed Presidential Elector for the Ninth Congressional District, and the following November was re-elected to the Legislature. In 1858 he carried the Ninth Congressional District for Congress by a large majority over his Republican opponent. In 1860 he was re-elected.

In October, 1860, John Logan, as he is familiarly called in his native State, visited Greenville, Bond County, Illinois, to help along the Douglas men in their efforts to elect Hon. P. B. Fouke to Congress. A number of distinguished Democrats from that portion of the State were conversing upon the political prospects of the party. Logan remarked that it was a hard matter to keep the Southern Democrats from kicking out of the harness and quitting Congress, thus breaking up the party. Mr. Stevenson, afterwards candidate for the State Senate, from Fayette County District, remarked :

"Yes, we saw by the proceedings of Congress that you had warm times there."

Logan, with one of those looks for which he is famous, turned around, and with emphasis said :—

"You know nothing about me by the papers. If I thought Mr. Lincoln would be elected, which, however, I hope will not be the case, I would not be a candidate for Congress at the coming election, for I have no desire to spend another such a

winter as the last has been, and this under a Democratic Administration. But if Mr. Lincoln is elected, I will shoulder my musket to have him inaugurated. I have carried a musket before in defence of my country.'

The preparation for war which sounded all over the North during the spring and early summer of 1861 again fired the martial spirit of Logan. While in his seat in Congress lending every effort to the furtherance of the interests of the Government, the armies of the nation, which had been assembling around the national capital, commenced to move out to meet the enemy. This was too much for Logan. He dashed down his pen, and determined to fight the battles of his country in the field. He overtook Colonel Richardson's regiment on the march, and, securing a musket, took his place in the ranks. In the disastrous battle of Bull Run, Logan fought with distinguished bravery, and was one of the last to leave the field during the panic.

In the latter part of August he returned to his home, then at Marion, Williamson County, Illinois. On the 3d of September he made a speech to his fellow-citizens in Marion, declaring his determination to enter the service of the Government as a "private, or in any manner he could serve his country best, in defending and bearing the old blood-stained flag over every foot of soil in the United States." Under circumstances so elevating, Logan was more than himself in eloquence. The citizens of Marion and vicinity flocked to his standard, and in two weeks, September 18th, 1861, the 31st Illinois Volunteers was organized at Cairo, with John A. Logan unanimously recommended as colonel. The regiment was at once attached to McClernand's Brigade. Seven weeks later, November 7, 1861, Colonel Logan led his command in its first fight, the battle of Belmont. His regiment, though it had never seen an armed enemy before, fought like veterans. Everywhere Logan rode at their head, urging them to stand fast and keep steady. During these trying moments he had one horse shot under him, and his pistol by his side shivered to pieces by the bullets of the enemy.

In General Grant's campaign up the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, Logan commanded his regiment in the battle of Fort Henry, and, after the flight of the enemy, gave pursuit with two hundred cavalry, capturing eight pieces of artillery. At Donelson, while rallying his men after meeting a desperate assault, he received a severe wound, the ball entering the left arm in front near the shoulder, and, following round, passing out through the shoulder. But Logan, perfectly fearless, his left side streaming with blood, and two fresh wounds in the thigh, clung to his

*This incident is told by Colonel John B. Reid, commanding the 130th Illinois Volunteers.

1865.]

5

horse and called upon his men to hold their ground. Soon re-enforcements arrived, and Logan, though reeling in his saddle, reluctantly permitted himself to be taken from his horse and treated by the surgeon. Notwithstanding his critical condition, which was heightened by a sudden attack of disease, he would not leave his men until convinced that their every want was attended to. Upon reaching his home in Illinois, the Colonel's health was entirely despaired of; but with his iron will he overcame sickness and wounds, and in April reported to General Grant at Pittsburg Landing.

The noble conduct of Logan coming to the ears of the Government, he was promoted to Brigadier-General of Volunteers, to date from March 5th, 1862.

In the movement against Corinth in May, Logan commanded a brigade, and was again distinguished.

After the occupation of Corinth, General Logan commanded. the railroad guard during the opening of communications with Jackson, Tennessee, after which he was placed in command of the forces at that place.

General Logan's high qualities as a soldier made him popular, not only all over the North, but particularly in his native State and district.

During the summer of 1862 he was warmly pressed to again become a candidate for Congress. We make some extracts from his letter in reply to these requests. The letter was dated August 26th, 1862, and addressed to O. M. Hatch, Secretary of State of Illinois.

"In reply, I would most respectfully remind you that a compliance with your request ou my part would be a departure from the settled resolutions with which I resumed my sword in defence and for the perpetuity of a Government, the like and blessing of which no other nation or age shall enjoy, if once suffered to be weakened or destroyed.

"In making this reply, I feel that it is unnecessary to enlarge upon what were, are, or may hereafter be my political views, but would simply state that politics of every grade and character whatsoever are now ignored by me, since I am convinced that the Constitution and life of this Republic-which I shall never cease to adore— are in danger."

"I express all my views and politics when I assert my attachment for the Union. I have no other politics now, and consequently no aspirations for civil place and power."

"No! I am to-day a soldier of this Republic, so to remain, changeless and immutable, until her last and weakest enemy shall have expired and passed away." "Ambitious men, who have not a true love for their country at heart, may bring forth crude and bootless questions to agitate the pulse of our troubled nation, and thwart the preservation of this Union, but for none of such am I. I have entered the field, to die, if need be, for this Government, and never expect to return to peaceful pursuits until the object of this war of preservation has become a fact established."

"Whatever means it may be necessary to adopt, whatever local interest it may If any locality or section suffers affect or destroy, is no longer an affair of mine. or is wronged in the prosecution of the war, I am sorry for it, but I say it must not be heeded now, for we are at war for the preservation of the Union. the evil be rectified when the present breach has been cemented forever." "If the South by her malignant treachery has imperilled all that made her

Let

great and wealthy, and it was to be lost, I would not stretch forth my hand to save her from destruction, if she will not be saved by a restoration of the Union. Since the die of her wretchedness has been cast by her own hands, let the coin of her misery circulate alone in her own dominions until the peace of Union ameliorates her forlorn condition."

The letter concluded by thanking his friends for their kindness, but refusing emphatically to accept any political office while the war lasted.

During General Grant's winter campaign, 1862 and '63, in Northern Mississippi, General Logan led his division through the toilsome marches incident to that movement, and though on the part of the infantry there was no fighting above a skirmish, the General displayed great abilities in the handling of troops on the march. It was in this campaign that Logan received his promotion as Major-General of Volunteers, to date from November 29th, 1862.

Upon the withdrawal of the army north of the Tallahatchie, General Logan was assigned to the command of the Third Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, Major-General James B. McPherson commanding.

In February the Third Division was transferred to Memphis, whence it embarked and joined that portion of the Seventeenth Corps which had preceded it to Lake Providence.

When the army commenced to move across the Peninsula to secure a foothold in Mississippi south of Vicksburg, Logan was again in motion, and, in the crossing of the Mississippi, followed immediately after the Thirteenth Corps, which had the advance. That corps, as soon as it landed, pushed at once for Fort Gibson, and engaged the enemy. The contest was doubtful until Logan hastened to the field, and by the weight and courage of his veterans turned the scale into a decided victory.

In the movement of May 12th, Logan, with his troops, was in the advance. After a short march he encountered a small body of the enemy, about six thousand in number, strongly posted near Raymond. Without a moment's delay he attacked. The rebels tenaciously held their ground, and repeatedly repelled the desperate charges of Logan's men. In the height of the action McPherson and staff arrived on the field. By a sudden dash of the enemy, a portion of Logan's line was crushed. Defeat now seemed certain. The General, perceiving this, rode up to McPherson, weeping bitterly. A few words passed, and, with the velocity of the wind, Logan rode in the midst of his scattered men. He called upon them to rally and follow. The men obeyed. By one of those acts of daring, terribly desperate, Logan led his men up to the very muzzles of the enemy's guns. He drove them back, and in thirty minutes the field was won. In speaking of this battle, General Grant called it "one of the hardest small battles of the war." From Raymond, Logan pushed on with the corps, and participated in the

brilliant rout of the enemy at Jackson, May 14th, and two days after was again distinguished in the battle of Champion's Hill. During the siege of Vicksburg he held McPherson's centre, confronting Fort Hill, the key to the enemy's works. It was on his front that Hickenlooper's famous mine was run, and it was Logan's men that made the desperate assault into the crater, after the explosion, on June 25th. After the surrender of Vicksburg, July 4th, 1863, Logan's Division led the advance of the column of occupation, and the same day the general himself was appointed military governor. For gallant conduct during the campaign, General Logan was presented by the Board of Honor of the Seventeenth Army Corps with a medal of gold, inscribed, "Belmont, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Siege of Corinth, Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion's Hill, and Vicksburg."

Having set the administration of affairs at Vicksburg in good working order, General Logan visited the North, spending the most of his time in making those telling speeches for which he is so widely celebrated. It was thus, then, in his Carbondale speech of July 31st, in 1863, when accused by a set of men, who once claimed to be his friends, that he had forsaken his party, he turned upon them all the forces of his anger, saying, "I am not a politician to-day, and I thank God for it. I am not like those who cling to party as their only hope."

And again, speaking of a Northwestern Confederacy, he said:

"If you let these people gain their designs for a Southern Confederacy, we shall have a Northwestern Confederacy. There was a plan for this before the breaking out of the rebellion. It was talked over by men who are steeped to the lips in treason, and if we fail to put down the rebellion, our beautiful prairies of the Northwest will be drenched in blood."

And on mobs :

"If I was President I would have no mobs. The first man that raised his hand to resist the law, I would hang to the first tree or lamp-post. I don't blame the President for being more lenient; I only say what I would do."

In a speech in Cairo, during the month of August, he thus seared the Copperheads of Southern Illinois:

"They have had their eyes upon these unmitigated cowards, these opponents of the country and the Administration (and the Administration, I contend, is the country), and when they return, it will do the soul of every loyal man good to see the summary manner in which they will cause these sneaks and peace agitators to seek their holes."

In the important changes in command which took place in the fall of 1863, by the promotion of General Grant to the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, and Sherman to the Army of the Tennessee, Major-General Logan succeeded the latter in command of the Fifteenth Army Corps, dating October 27th, though it was late in November before he assumed command.