John A. Logan Museum | Murphysboro, IL

Logan Biography Continued - Page 3

By the end of the war Logan’s troops were stationed outside the city of Raleigh, North Carolina. When word of Lincoln’s assassination arrived, the soldiers formed an angry mob bent on destroying the city. Logan rode into their midst and, in front of their cannons, proclaimed that they will have to fire through him. The crowd dispersed, and after the war Raleigh honored Logan for saving the city. Logan was made commander of the Army of the Tennessee again and led them into Washington, D.C.

After the war, Logan returned to U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican. There he was one of the leaders in the effort to impeach President Johnson. Logan also helped found the Grand Army of the Republic. As its commander in 1868, he issued General Order No. 11 which established the first Memorial Day. He was elected to the Senate twice and, in 1884, was James G. Blaine’s vice-presidential running mate on the Republican ticket. They lost, but Logan’s popularity with veterans contributed to the narrowness of the defeat.

John A. Logan died suddenly on December 26, 1886, in Washington, D.C. His death was due to long-standing complications from his Fort Donelson wounds. His body was laid in state under the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol for one day. At the time of his death, Logan was only the seventh person to be laid in state there, and he is one of only twenty-nine people to receive that honor to date. His funeral was held in the Senate chambers. Logan is buried in the United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Further Reading:

Cottingham, Carl D., P. Michael Jones, and Gary W. Kent
1989
General John A. Logan: His Life and Times. American Kestrel Books, Carbondale, Illinois.

Jones, James P.
1967
Black Jack: John A. Logan and Southern Illinois in the Civil War. Florida State University, Tallahassee. Reprint, 1995. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, Illinois.

1982
John A. Logan, Stalwart Republican from Illinois. Florida State University, Tallahassee. Reprint, 2001. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, Illinois.

Summers, Mark W.
2000
Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion: The Making of a President, 1884. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.

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