Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/25

Rh the Indian fashion to be sold to the whites. He was there chosen by the Mingoes as their chief. About 1770 he removed to the banks of the Ohio, where he became addicted to drinking. In the spring of 1774 his family were massacred by set- tlers on the Ohio while carousing ni the cabin of a trader. Logan sent a declaration of war to Mi- chael Cresap, whom he supposed, though wrong- fully, to have ordered the massacre, and then at once instigated a war against the scattered settlers of the far west, and for several months fearful barbarities were perpetrated upon men, women, and children. He himself took thirty scalps in the coarse of the war, which terminated after a severe defeat of the Indians at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. He disdained to appear among the chiefs who subsequently sued for peace. Lord Dunmore, the governor of Virginia, sent John Gib- son as his messenger to invite the old chief to at- tend the council ; but the latter took Gibson into the woods, and, after tearfully recounting the story of his wrongs, sent back the following message : " I appeal to any white man to say if ever he en- tered Logan's cabin hungiy, and he gave him not meat ; if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites that my countrymen pointed as they passed and said : ' Logan is the friend of the white men.' I had even thought to have lived with you but for the injuries of one man. Col. Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, mur- dered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. 1 have sought it ; I have killed many ; I have fully glutted my ven- geance. For my country I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear ; Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one." His habits of intemperance grew upon him after this, and while frenzied with liquor he felled his wife by a sudden blow. Thinking that he had killed her he fled, and while traversing the wilderness between De- troit and Sandusky was overtaken by a party of Indians. Supposing his avengers at hand, he pre- pared to attack them, and was killed by a nephew in self-defence. Logan's pathetic speech was re- peated by Gibson to Lord Dunmore. It was writ- ten down by an officer, printed in the " Virginia Gazette," and has been preserved by Thomas Jef- ferson in his " Notes on Virginia." See " Ta-gah- jute, or Logan, the Indian, and Captain Michael Cresap," by Brantz Mayer (New York, 1867).

LOGAN, John Alexander, statesman, b. in Jackson county. 111., 9 Feb., 1826 ; d. in Washington, D. C, 26 Dec, 1886. His father, Dr. John Logan, came from Ireland when a young man and set- tled in Maryland, but removed to Kentucky, thence to Missouri, and finally to Illinois. He served several terms in the legislature, having been chosen as a Democrat, and held several county offi- ces. The son was educated at a common school and under a private tutor. This instruction was sup- plemented, in 1840, by attendance at Shiloh col- lege. When war with Mexico was declared, he volunteered as a private, but was soon chosen a lieutenant in the 1st Illinois infantry. He did good service as a soldier, and for some time was act- ing quartermaster of his regiment. After his re- tiirn from Mexico he began the study of law with his uncle, Alexander M. Jenkins, and in 1849 was elected clerk of Jackson county, but resigned to continue the study of law. In 1851 he was gradu- ated at Louisville university, admitted to the bar, and became his uncle's partner. He soon grew popular, and his forcible style of oratory, pleasing address, and fine voice, secured his election to the legislature in 1852 and again in 1856. At the end of his first ter:n he resumed practice with such suc- cess that he was soon chosen prose- cuting attorney for the 3d judicial dis- trict. In 1852 he I'emoved to Benton, Franklin co.. 111. He was a presiden- tial elector in 1856 on the Buchanan and Breckinridge ticket. In 1858 he was elected to con- gress from Illinois as a Douglas Dem- ocrat, and was re- elected in 1860. In the presidential campaign of that year he earnestly advocated the election of Stephen A. Douglas ; but, on the first intimation of coming trouble from the south, he declared that, in the event of the election of Abraham Lincoln, he would " shoulder his musket to have him inaugurated." In July, 1861, during the extra session of congress that was called by President Lincoln, he left his seat, overtook the troops that were marching out of Washington to meet the enemy, and fought in the ranks of Col. Richardson's regiment in the battle of Bull Run, being among the last to leave the field. Returning home in the latter part of August, he resigned his seat in congress, organized the 31st Illinois infantry, and was appointed its colonel, 18 Sept. At Belmont in November he led a successful bayonet-charge and a horse was shot under him. He led his regiment in the attack on Fort Henry, and at Fort Donelson, while gallantly leading the assault, received a wound that incapacitated him for active service for some time. After he had reported for duty to Gen. Grant at Pittsburg Landing, he was made a brigadier-general of volunteers, 21 March, 1862. He took an important part in the movement against Corinth, and subsequently was given the command at Jackson, Tenn., with instructions to guard the railroad communications. In the summer of 1862 his constituents urged him to become a candidate for re-election to congress, but he declined, saying in his letter : " 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." During Grant's northern Mississippi campaign Gen. Logan commanded the 3d division of the 17th army corps under Gen. McPherson, and was promoted major-general of volunteers, to date from 29 Nov., 1862. He participated in the battles of Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, and Champion Hills. In the siege of Vicksburg he eonmianded McPherson's centre, and on 25 June made the assault after the explosion of the mine. His column was the first to enter the captured city, and he was appointed its military governor. He succeeded Gen. Sherman in the command of the 15th army corps in November, 1863. In May, 1864, he joined Sherman's army, which was preparing for its march into Georgia, led the advance of the Army