The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-07-23
LOGAN rs HONORED
Continued from First Page.)

Iarlh 10 lne OIl-repeateQ, Dut never
comprehended mystery of a new birth.
The. blow fell while we were welcoming
the butter-cups, and II gave such a hurt
as We had never fe.t before. 1t was
cruel beyond all our masinings, for it
seemed to write failure as the end OF
everything for which We had hoped. Thus
IL touched our pride as we'll as our af-
fections. More than all, it brought the
deepest grief to those VINO were bes.
able to realize its latent meanings.
John A. Logan, only thirty-five years
OF age, was already a striking figure in
our national politics. He sat in the house
OF representatives, that body which touch
es the people at every point. and in 1.
ne was tribune. Himself triumphantly
reelected the preceding autumn, he had
seen his party beaten mis- adored leader
Douglass, defeated, and, what TO him was
Infinitely worse, his country hopelessly
drifting into civil war. In those sad days
every heart had It's own sorrow. No one
can doubht that he remembered, as true
men do, his party ties; the friends who
mad been 80 staunch; his boyhod services
IN the war with Mexico; and those name
less, tender affections which link strong
natures to the scenes Of childhood May
hap. too, ne thought Of a future overcast
and clouded, Of shattered hopes, and
plans that never could De realized. Then
came the test. ut Of the crucible the
metal flowed, melted, indeed, but melted
INTO hneness. John A. Logan was, in the
heart Of him, god. He was no; the man
to cover before any responsibility, for
in his veins was that rich Celtic blood
which makes the resolute, onward char
acter. Of such mes Tennyson was think
ing when ne sang:
Oh. well for him whose will is strong;
He suffers, but ne will not suffer long:
He suffers, but he cannot suffer wrong
Logan cut the knot, as brave men
do. He went into the war before he
had a legal right, and fought al Bull
Run under no appointment but that OF
his own undaunted heart On that i'll
starred day, grave statesmen We're pom
derlng al the capitol, as they had never
pondered before. Doubtless the record Of
congress shows that Logan was absen,
without leave. But out beyond the Po-
tomac, he was fighting, musket in hand,
in the ranks Of the fated army of the I'M
ion. He had deserted the house to be a
volunteer for the war. They tell of hin
YET, as he pressed forward through the
smoke, in the silk hat he had forgotten
to cnange. but which never became him
SO much as when ii lowered that day
over his swarthy face and those eyes
whfca we're. indeed, the windows Of his
soul.
After Full Run, he went back TO his
home in southern Illinois, facing friend
and foe alike, with the defiant note which
told them what they already knew
tAat. come what might, he was for the
union and war. That day he conquered
Egypt Everywhere he sowed the words
that Douglas had uttered: There can
be but two parties; patriots and traitors
;hen came the regiment he raised and,
after that, in brave. orderly sequence.
Relmont, Donelson, niloh. Vicksburg, At
Tanta and-peace.
'Logan's place in the war is secure
The chroniclers Of the future will write
OF him as Froissart did OF the knights
and heroes of medieval times. 1t Is
and will always be, a glorious story.
Something, perhaps. 1 ought to say
OF his nature as man; the nature that
ruled him, as temperament always does.
in fed, in camp. and in senate. He
was not easily controlled. There was
iron in his blood. and there was fire, too.
which, when he was aroused, blazed into
a consuming wrath. But this is his
glory; the self-willed, dominant temper
,t-op inII IL -,,L,, he
Ell spirit of patriotism.
Take one or two examples Of the ma
ny which illustrate this sublime charac-
.eristic. When Logan mad fought the
battle Of Atlanta, and saved a day that
was lost; when ne had shown the con-
summate qualities of great leader: ne
thought, and he had a right to think, ne
nigh; keep what he had won-the COM
mand of an army that loved him. For less
than that Napoleon made men marshals
Of the empire and babe them be the
Of Durac and Ney and Mas
sena. But it was not 10 be. The Army
OF the Tennessee was given to another,
and I;kwuhraslokfigloryq ekcmfwypfwy
and Logan went back 10 his corps, max
ing no sign.
My nature Is subdued 10 what II
works in wrote Shakespeare, in that
some: which, critics say. revealed his in
most heart No words can more truly
show Us Log heart. for all he did, |
or hoped or aspired 20 was suodued by
one master passion; mis- country.
Later, when the war vas almost
9veer. and the inevitable triumph was
plainly visible, there came to him an
opportunity which would have been a
trial and temptation TO most men. But
il was not 10 him. Grant sent him TO
relieve Thomas. and in dong 50, gave
notice % all the world that Logan was
fir for high command. 1t was one Of the |
most picturesque situations Of the war. !
The army Of the Potomac was holding
the Confederacy by the throat. while !
Sherman. marcning 20 the sea, was cut |
ting all It's veins and arteries. Mean /
while. Thomas. with beleagured Nash |
vile al bis back. was making ready. !
slowly but surely, for the blow that /
should Kill. Grant. the imperturaole. /
seeing the whole field. was. for once. i'm !
patient and could wait no longer. He /
called for his Thunderbol;; and sen: /
Logan. whom no one had ever thought /
slow. 20 make the fight. l could name 1
men. With stars on their shoulders. VINO 1
y nuld have seized that opportunity to /
numiliate the man whose lineage ran I
from Mill Spring. through Corinth, 1
and Chicamauga. 70 Al /
iauta. He, like Logan. had become a |
type He was the synonym for that /
enduring courage which stays forever !
n It's place.
But Commissioning 70 the field, |
where Thomas and Hood were prepa-- |
rC for their last grapple-s;orp ped az