scarcely be described. The conversion of an entire people from sympathy for their kindred and friends in the South into patriotic soldiers ready to fight against them, was little short of miraculous. The sharp struggle between duty and incli. nation; the actual taking up of arms, and leaving loved ones behind while on the way to fight other loved ones in front; the sacrifice of all other ties for the sake of patriotic principle and the maintenance and preservation of the unity of the States-how trying an ordeal! And yet, despite all these heart-bursting difficulties and struggles, from which none but the noblest of men could find the true course, in ten days the grand old Thirty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, with Logan at its head, was en route for Cairo, the rendezvous of the first soldiers enlisted in Southern Illinois. From that hour the whole surrounding country seemed to catch the infection of patriotism, and Colonel Logan's regiment, the Thirty-first Illinois Infantry,-which was quickly followed by the Twenty-second, Twenty-seventh, and Thirtieth Regiments, was at once organized with others into McClernand's First Brigade under Grant. Thus Southern Illinois was saved to the Union, and the indescrib able calamity of guerilla warfare averted from the soil of Logan's native State. What might have happened, had any portion of Illinois lying south of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad joined in an attempt at secession, we care not now to contemplate. That Cairo, as a base for our armies, when they embarked for the Tennessee, Mississippi, and the whole Southern field, was of inestimable importance, none can deny. Nor can it be disputed that to Logan, more than to any other one man, is due the gallant and patriotic stand the Southern Illinoisans took; nor that its influence was felt in a very marked degree in Indiana and other adjacent States, and nerved the hearts of Union men everywhere, giving fresh impulse to Northern courage.

COLONEL LOGAN AT BELMONT-A CHARACTERISTIC DESCRIPTION OF HIM DURING THAT BATTLE-HIS BRAVERY AND "ADMIRABLE TACTICS -HIS HORSE SHOT UNDER HIM.

As a soldier, Colonel Logan brought into play all the enthusiasm, energy, and indomitable will which always characterized him. He drilled and disciplined his regiment himself, and six weeks after the enlistment of his men led them into battle at Belmont, Mo. There, the force of General Grant being landed from the transports convoyed by the gunboats Tyler and Lexington, the line of battle was formed, with Logan and his Thirty-first Illinois Infantry Regiment on the left.

The Hon. Lewis Hauback, now a member of the House of Representatives from Kansas, narrated* in the presence of the writer an interesting characteristic incident of Logan at this fight. Said he: "It was at Belmont that I first saw John A. Logan. There were five regiments of us thereamong them the Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry, to which I belonged, and the Thirty-first Illinois-Logan's regiment. I remember the Twenty-seventh-my regiment--held the right of the line of battle. I was orderly-sergeant, and accordingly was on the left of my regiment. On our immediate left, and joining it, was the Thirty-first. Logan sat his big black horse, therefore, nearly in front of me. colonel--a brave and gallant man too he was-rode up to Logan and said, rather pompously Colonel Logan, remember, if you please, that I have the position of honor!' Without turning to right or left, Logan instantly replied, 'I don't care a d-n where I am, so long as I get into this fight!' And get into' it he soon did, as he fought his way up to

Our

* During his eloquent speech at the ex-soldiers' and sailors' serenade to General Logan at Washington, June 21, 1884, after the nomination of the latter for Vice-President of the United States.

and into the camp and tore down the ensign of treason and planted in its stead the flag of beauty and of glory."

An account of this early battle says:

The advance was a continuous running fight. Every inch of ground was hotly contested. The scene became terrific men grappled with men, column charged upon column, musketry rattled, cannon thundered and tore frightful gaps in the contending forces. But unable to win against such formidable odds, the command to fall back was given (to avoid being cut off from the gunboats), and the soldiers of the North fought their way back even as they had forward.

Of Colonel Logan in this engagement the official report

says:

Colonel Logan's admirable tactics not only foiled the frequent attempts of the enemy to flank him, but secured a steady advance toward the enemy's camp.

It was on this occasion that, in a moment of victory, McClernand's command, being given over to rejoicing, was much demoralized, and exposed to danger should the enemy reinforce and return. This the enemy was doing when Colonel Logan discovered him, instantly formed his command, and repulsing the attack, succeeded in getting the entire command on board. It was during a successful bayonet-charge at this battle that Logan's horse was shot under him and his pistol at his side shattered to pieces by the fire of the enemy. General McClernand complimented the regiment upon its unexampled bravery, and Colonel Logan for having cut his way three times through an overwhelming force of the enemy, thus opening the way for the return of the army.

The design of the expedition was the breaking up of the enemy's encampment at Belmont. Having accomplished it, the Union troops returned to Cairo with many prisoner's.

The discomforts of the raw troops in Cairo at that time were very great, and much harder to bear than the greater hardships which they subsequently bore as veterans.

They

had left their homes and comfortable surroundings quite unprepared for the life of a soldier. Their equipage was poor, as neither quartermasters nor purveyors had yet learned how to properly prepare for the needs of troops. Colonel Logan, with that solicitude for the well-being of his men which always distinguished him, and for which, together with his military skill and daring, they idolized him, finally went to Washington and arranged for arms and clothing suitable for his command, although, owing to the confusion incident to the hurried preparations for war, it was almost impossible to obtain muchneeded supplies of any character.

LOGAN AT FORT HENRY-HE IS THE FIRST TO ENTER IT-HIS INTREPIDITY AND SKILL AT FORT DONELSON-HE IS

WOUNDED AND CARRIED FROM THE FIELD, HAVING EARNED A BRIGADIER-GENERALSHIP.

The plan for the campaign in the Southwest having been perfected, the troops were embarked upon ordinary Western river steamboats to go up the Ohio to the Tennessee River, to strike and dislodge the enemy at Fort Henry-a work quickly done. Logan commanded his regiment through the most trying circumstances in the rear of Fort Henry. He was the first of the army to enter the captured fort, and, in command of two hundred cavalry, pursued and captured eight of the enemy's guns. This was the first decisive triumph of the Union arms upon Western waters, and "on to Donelson!" was the cry of every tongue. Colonel Logan made several reconnoissances around Fort Donelson preparatory to the movement of our forces on that point. In the fiercest storms of a severe winter, after the fall of Fort Henry, the Union cavalry, infantry, and artillery were landed and marched across the country to Fort Donelson, a much more formidable fortification on the Cumberland River, which had been erected for the defence of Nashville and the whole section of country thereabout. The gunboats pushed up the river to shell the

fort in front, while the command marched rapidly to the rear of the works, despite sleet, rain, almost impassable mud, and bitter cold. For three days the Union forces besieged Fort Donelson, doing some gallant fighting all along the line, in which Colonel Logan's regiment was constantly engaged. The lamented Ransom and Logan, respectively with the Eleventh and Thirty-first Illinois Infantry, with inflexible courage held their positions notwithstanding they received the heaviest fire of the enemy and sustained the sudden and simultaneous attack of an immense mass of Confederate infantry which had been hurled on McClernand's crumbling division at the right of Grant's line of investment. It was in the afternoon of the third day, after the naval attack by Foote's gunboats had been repulsed, when the Eleventh and Thirtyfirst Illinois, the latter commanded by the intrepid Logan, stood like a wall of belching fire against the enemy, until both had nearly exhausted their cartridges and had suffered greatly in killed and wounded,*-among the killed in the Thirty-first Illinois being their lieutenant-colonel (White) and the senior captain (Williamson), and among the wounded Colonel Logan himself, that Logan, regardless of a severe wound in his left arm and shoulder and a flesh wound in the thigh, his left side streaming with blood, maintained his seat on his horse, and by his bravery and daring and influence over them, rallied his men to fresh exertion and held them in position † until from exhaustion and loss of blood he was carried from the field. The wounds were so severe that for weeks his life was despaired of.

*Of the 606 men of Logan's regiment who went into the fight, but 303 answered to their names the next morning.

It was about this time, when Lieutenant-Colonel White had been killed, and officers and men were falling, killed or wounded, by scores and hundreds, there came a moment when even the wonderful courage of the gallant Thirty-first Illinois seemed to waver. Its colonel, Logan, saw the momentary hesitation, and, with trumpet voice, on the instant, came the words from his lips: "Boys! give us death, but not dishonor!" These words, and the inspiration of his flashing eye and martial bearing, steadied his lines at once, and the brave fellows fought better than ever.