Life and Services of Gen. John A. Logan as Soldier and Statesman

Chicago: Belford, Clarke & Company, 1887. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Fair. xx, 580, [4] pages. Frontis illustration. Illustrations. Footnotes. Appendix. Decorative cover has some wear and soiling. Front board weak. Published by Subscription Only. The author was selected by General Logan to be his biographer. The largest part of this biography was written by Mr. Dawson over two years prior to publication, from data furnished by General Logan, who afterward read and gave to this work, substantially in its present form, his unqualified endorsement. Having read the additions which completed the history of General Logan's incomparable services and spotless life, his widow unhesitatingly gave her approval to this publication. General John A. Logan served in the Mexican-American War and was a Union Army General in the Civil War. Logan was 3rd Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic. (Major General in Civil war.) Logan fought in Bull Run, and with US Grant at the Battle of Belmont, Fort Donelson, the Siege of Corinth, Vicksburg, the Battle of Atlanta, Sherman's Carolinas Campaign, and the Battle of Nashville. Logan circle in Washington DC is named in honor of him. He served as a Senator from Illinois and Vice Presidential candidate with James Blaine in 1884. John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 - December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican-American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a state Representative, a Congressman, and a U.S. Senator and was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President of the United States with James G. Blaine in the election of 1884. As the 3rd Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, he is regarded as the most important figure in the movement to recognize Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) as an official holiday. Upon his death, he lay in state in the United States Capitol rotunda. He is the father of U.S. Army officer and Medal of Honor recipient John Alexander Logan Jr. (1865-1899). In Grant's Vicksburg Campaign, Logan commanded the 3rd Division of James B. McPherson's XVII Corps, which was the first to enter the city of Vicksburg in July 1863 after its capture. Logan then served as the city's military governor. In November 1863 he succeeded William Tecumseh Sherman in command of the XV Corps; and at the Battle of Atlanta (July 22, 1864), after the death of James B. McPherson during the day, he assumed command of the Army of the Tennessee. After the war, Logan resumed his political career, now as a Republican, and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1867 to 1871, and of the United States Senate from 1871 until 1877 and again from 1879 until his death in 1886. His re-election bid in 1885 was contentious, and Logan only won after a Democratic representative died and was replaced with a Republican. After the war, Logan, who had always been a staunch partisan, was identified with the radical wing of the Republican Party. His forceful, passionate speaking, popular on the platform, was less effective in the halls of legislation. In 1868, he was one of the managers in the impeachment trial of U.S. President Andrew Johnson. One of Logan's issues in the Senate was his efforts to stop any action taken to overturn the conviction in the court-martial of Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter.