John A. Logan
John Logan | |
---|---|
Richard Yates | |
Succeeded by | David Davis |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's at-large district | |
In office March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1871 | |
Preceded by | Samuel W. Moulton |
Succeeded by | John Lourie Beveridge |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 9th district | |
In office March 4, 1859 – April 2, 1862 | |
Preceded by | Samuel S. Marshall |
Succeeded by | William Allen |
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 5th district | |
In office January 5, 1857 – January 3, 1859 | |
Preceded by | Thomas M. Sans |
Succeeded by | James Hampton |
In office January 3, 1853 – January 1, 1855 | |
Preceded by | Thomas M. Sans |
Succeeded by | Thomas M. Sans |
Personal details | |
Born | John Alexander Logan February 9, 1826 Murphysboro, Illinois, U.S. |
Died | December 26, 1886 (aged 60) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Political party | Democratic (before 1866) Republican (1866–1886) |
Spouse | |
Children | 3 (including |
John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the
His likeness appears on
Early life and political career
John A. Logan was born near what is now
After the war Logan studied law in the office of his uncle, Alexander M. Jenkins, graduated from the Law Department of the University of Louisville in 1851, and practiced law with success.
John A. Logan entered politics as a Douglas Democrat, was elected county clerk in 1849, served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1853 to 1854 and in 1857; and for a time, during the interval, was prosecuting attorney of the Third Judicial District of Illinois. In 1858 and 1860, he was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1853, John A. Logan helped pass a law which prohibited all African Americans, including freedmen, from settling in the state.[2]
Civil War
U.S. Representative Logan fought at
Before resigning his seat, Union Army Colonel Logan served in the army of Ulysses S. Grant in the Western Theater and was present at the Battle of Belmont on November 7, 1861, where his horse was killed, and at Fort Donelson, where he was wounded on February 15, 1862. Soon after the victory at Donelson, he resigned his seat on April 2, 1862, and was promoted to brigadier general in the volunteers, as of March 21, 1862. Major John Hotaling served as his chief of staff. To confuse matters, the 32nd Illinois was commanded at Shiloh by a different Colonel John Logan. During the Siege of Corinth, John A. Logan commanded first a brigade and then the 1st Division of the Army of the Tennessee. In the spring of 1863, he was promoted to major general to rank from November 29, 1862.
In Grant's
In December 1864, Grant became impatient with George H. Thomas's apparent unwillingness to attack immediately at Nashville and sent Logan to relieve him. Logan was stopped in Louisville when news came that Thomas had completely smashed John Bell Hood's Confederate army in the Battle of Nashville.
Logan had been disappointed when Howard was given permanent command of the Army of the Tennessee after McPherson's death, and Sherman arranged for Logan to lead the army during the May 1865 Grand Review in Washington.
Post-war political career
After the war, Logan resumed his political career, now as a
He was the second
Logan was deeply embittered by the loss. He believed that President
Credit Mobilier Scandal
In September 1872, the New York newspaper The Sun reported that many major politicians were bribed by Union Pacific Railroad, and Credit Mobilier. In response to this Congress created the Poland Committee to investigate these accusations. The committee found out that many senators including Logan were involved. In February 1873, the House was convinced that it should share this information with the Senate. The House said to the Senate that these politicians including Logan were possibly involved with the scandal.
Logan explained that he rejected The Credit Mobilier official Oakes Ames first offer, but a few months later Logan accepted Ames offer of 325 dollars. Logan was exonerated by the committee report.[8][9]
Death
Logan showed signs of illness when the 49th United States Congress opened its first official session on December 7, 1886. By mid-December, Logan's arms swelled and his lower limbs were in pain. After several days of intense discomfort, the ailment subsided. He relapsed a few days later and eventually struggled to maintain consciousness. On December 24, Logan's doctors conceded that the condition might be fatal. Around three o'clock in the afternoon on December 26, Logan died at his home in Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C.[10] After his death, Logan's body lay in state in the United States Capitol.[11] He was temporarily interred in a vault at Rock Creek Cemetery on December 31, 1886[12] until he could be reburied in a newly constructed mortuary chapel at the United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery in Washington on December 26, 1888, the second anniversary of his death.[13]
Published books
Logan was the author of two books on the Civil War. In The Great Conspiracy: Its Origin and History (1886), he sought to demonstrate that secession and the Civil War were the result of a long-contemplated "conspiracy" to which various Southern politicians had been party since the
Logan was also a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States - a military society which was composed of officers who had served in the Union armed forces during the American Civil War.
Family
Logan was related to Cornelius Ambrosius Logan (1806–1853), the Irish-American actor and playwright, possibly as a first cousin. John Logan adopted Cornelius' daughter Kate (1847–1872), probably in 1866.[15] Cornelius' son Cornelius Ambrose Logan, a physician and diplomat, wrote a memoir of John Logan which was included in his The Volunteer Soldier of America.
Legacy
The
Logan is one of only three individuals mentioned by name in the Illinois state song:
On the record of thy years,
Abraham Lincoln's name appears,
Grant and Logan, and our tears,
Illinois, Illinois,
Grant and Logan, and our tears,
Illinois.[19]
- Logan County, Illinois, was named after Logan's father, Dr. John Logan, an early pioneer physician. However, Logan County, Kansas was named after General Logan.
- Logan was at one time honored with the naming of a street in Lansing, Michigan. Community activists persuaded the city council to co-rename the street as Martin Luther King Boulevard in 1991. Logan's name was dropped completely a few years later. See Capitol Loop#Street name changes
- Logan County, Oklahoma, is named in his honor. The city of Guthrie is the county seat.
- Logan County, Colorado, is named in his honor. The city of Sterling is the county seat.
- Logan County, North Dakota, is named in his honor. The city of Napoleon is the county seat.
- John A. Logan College in Carterville, Illinois is named in his honor.
- Logan Junior High School in Princeton, Illinois is named in his honor.
- Logan High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin is named in his honor.
- The Logan House in Wilmington, Delaware is the oldest Irish Pub in the state and named in his honor.
- Ft. Logan National Cemetery established 1887 in Denver, Colorado is named after him.
- Logan's final resting place at the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery is a granite, Norman-style mausoleum, design by the former supervising architect of the U.S. Treasury Department, Alfred B. Mullett, which houses the remains of General John A. Logan; his wife, Mary S. Logan; daughter, Mary Logan Tucker; and grandsons, Captain Logan Tucker and George E. Tucker.[20]
Publications about Logan
- Andrews, Byron (1884). A Biography of Gen. John A. Logan: With an Account of His Public Services in Peace and in War. New York: H.S. Goodspeed. OCLC 11321584.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals (Union)
- List of Grand Army of the Republic commanders-in-chief
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899)
Notes
- ^ Jones (1967) p. 2
- ^ "The Black Codes". Illinois Periodicals Online.
- ISBN 978-0-8093-2001-1.
- ^ "Logan and the President: A Fight to be Made Over Mr. Curtis's Nomination". The New York Times. The New York Times. 23 December 1884. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
- ^ a b "W.E. Curtis: He Thinks Gen. Logan Had Better Let Him Alone". Chicago Tribune. 31 December 1884.
- ^ "In The United States Senate". Wood County Reporter. 2 April 1885.
- ^ "Senator Again: The Soldier-Statesmen Chosen His Own Successor in the United States Senate". Chicago Daily Tribune. 20 May 1885.
- ^ U.S. Senate Historical Office, United States Senate Election, Expulsion and Censure Cases: 1793-1990 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1995), pp. 189-1995.
- ^ "U.S. Senate: Expulsion Case of James W. Patterson of New Hampshire (1873)". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
- ^ "Lying in State or in Honor". US Architect of the Capitol (AOC). Retrieved 2018-09-01.
- ProQuest 138188655. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
- ProQuest 138128226. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
- ^ John A. Logan (1886). The Great Conspiracy: Its Origin and History.
- ^ Reminiscences of a Soldier's Wife, Mrs. John A. Logan, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913, p. 211
- ^ Historical markers at John Logan House on Logan Circle, Washington, DC: (a) "John Logan House". https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=113672 (b) "No Braver Man Than John Logan". https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=153987 (c) "Logan Circle: Mirror on American History". https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=153986 (d) "When Logan Rode the Battle Line". https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=153988
- ^ About Logan Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine. Logan Township, New Jersey. Accessed August 22, 2007. "The town's name comes from Alexander "Black Jack" Logan, an American General and founder of Memorial Day."
- ^ Chicago and North Western Railway Company (1908). A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways. p. 51.
- ^ "Illinois Official State Song". Archived from the original on 2009-04-05.
- ^ "United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery-Civil War Era National Cemeteries: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary". Nps.gov. Retrieved 2014-07-09.
References
- Cottingham, Carl D., Preston Michael Jones, and Gary W. Kent, General John A. Logan: His Life and Times, American Resources Group, 1989, ISBN 0-913415-11-1.
- Eicher, John H., and ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Jones, James Pickett. John A. Logan and Southern Illinois in the Civil War Era. 1967. ISBN 0-8093-2001-0.
- Logan, Mrs. John A., Reminiscences of a Soldier's Wife, Kessinger, 2007, ISBN 0-548-10421-2.
- Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.
- This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Logan, John Alexander". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 866–867. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- United States Congress. "John A. Logan (id: L000403)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Works by John A. Logan at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about John A. Logan at Internet Archive
- U.S. Memorial Day Association
- Portrait of A Hero in Blue, Major Genernal John A. Logan
- The volunteer soldier of America by John A. Logan