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Civil War Soldiers - Logan

Logan, John A., major-general, U.S. Army, was born in Jackson county, Ill., Feb. 9, 1826. In 1840 he attended Shiloh college, and when the war with Mexico broke out in 1846, being twenty years of age and of a military turn of mind, he volunteered for service and was appointed a lieutenant in the 1st regiment of Ill. volunteers. His record during the war was good, and he was for some time adjutant, and also acting quartermaster of his regiment. He returned from Mexico in 1848, and entered upon the study of law with such enthusiasm that he made more rapid progress than many young men enjoying greatly superior advantages. He subsequently attended the law school of Louisville, Ky., and in 1849 he was elected clerk of Jackson county, but, although he accepted the position, he resigned it to continue the study of law. Meanwhile he had developed a taste for politics and a talent as a public speaker ; he soon became very popular with the Democrats of his county, so that he was elected prosecuting attorney of the judicial district in which he lived, and the following autumn was elected to the state legislature. In 1856 Mr. Logan was appointed presidential elector for his district, and in 1858 he was elected to Congress on the Democratic ticket. In 1860 he again became a candidate and was returned to Congress ; in the presidential campaign of that year he earnestly advocated the election of Stephen A. Douglas. Logan was in Washington when the news of the fall of Sumter aroused the people; he was there also when the capital was cut off from the North by the Baltimore mob, and when McDowell started for the battle-field of Bull Run Logan followed him, and overtaking Col. Richardson's regiment obtained a musket, marched with it and fought in the ranks, being one of the last to leave the field. The following month he returned home to Marion, Ill., and so awakened the people to a realization of the impending crisis by his eloquence that in two weeks a regiment was raised, of which he was made colonel, and in less than two months he led it into battle at Belmont, where he fought gallantly and raised the character of his troops to the highest pitch by his conduct, having a horse shot under him during the engagement. He was with Grant through the campaigns of the Cumberland and the Tennessee, and led his regiment in the attack on Fort Henry. While at Fort Donelson he received a wound which incapacitated him for active service for some time, and on March 5, 1862, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers. He commanded a brigade in Halleck's movement against Corinth, and was afterward in command at Columbus. In Grant's winter campaign in northern Mississippi, Logan, who had been promoted to the rank of major-general, was assigned to the command of the 3d division of the 17th army corps under McPherson, and he bore a conspicuous part in the campaign against Vicksburg and at Port Hudson. He made the desperate assault which followed the explosion of the mine under the main fort at Vicksburg, and on the surrender of the place his division was given the post of honor, leading the advance of the party of occupation, while he was put in command of the place. For his distinguished service in this siege, Gen. Logan received a medal of honor voted him by Congress, and inscribed, "Vicksburg, July 4, 1863." He succeeded Sherman in the command of the 15th army corps in 1863, and he led the advance in the following spring when Sherman moved down to Chattanooga, making his first great flank movement to Resaca, the initial movement in the celebrated Atlanta campaign. At the battle of Dallas he was shot through the left arm ; and during the desperate assaults which Hood made upon McPherson at Atlanta, Logan fought splendidly, and it was to him that McPherson sent the last message that he ever dispatched on earth. On the death of this great general, Logan, by virtue of his rank, assumed command, and he changed the defeat into victory without receiving any orders from Sherman, who was in command of all the forces. After the evacuation of Atlanta, Logan received a medal from the Army of the Tennessee, upon which were engraved the names of the battles in which he had taken part. After a few weeks spent in Illinois in the political campaign of 1864, he rejoined his troops at Savannah, and continued in active service until the surrender of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, April 26, 1865. Active service being over, President Johnson appointed Gen. Logan minister to Mexico, but the office was declined, and in 1866 he was elected to Congress in Illinois as representative of the state-at-large, as a Republican. He continued in the lower house of Congress until he was elected by the Illinois legislature U. S. senator from that state for the term which began March 4, 1871. At the expiration of his term he settled in Chicago, where he practiced law until he again returned to the senate in 1879. At the Republican national convention held at Chicago in June, 1884, Gen. Logan was nominated for vice-president on the ticket with Mr. Blaine, but was defeated at the ensuing election. Gen. Logan died in Washington, D. C., Dec. 26, 1886.

Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908
 


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