Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-07-23
were hest able 10 realize its latent mean
ingF. - t-A

tiOnal politics. lie sat, IN the mouse OF
Representatives,, that body which touches
the people at every point. and in it he
was a Tribune. Himself trlumphantly re-
elected the preceding autumn, he had
seen his party beaten. his adored leader,
Douglas. defeated, and, what TO him was
Infinitely worse his country hopeLessly
drifting into civil war. In those SAD days
every heart had its own sorrow. NO one
can doubt that he remembered, as true
men do, his party. ties: the friends VINO
had been SO stanCh, his boyhood service
. in the war with Mexico: and those name
less, tender affections which link strong
natures 10 the scenes OF childhood- May
hap too. he thought OF future. overcast
and clOuded, Of shattered hopes and plans
that never could be realized. Then came
the test Out OF the crucible the metal
flowed, melted. indeed, but melted into
nneness. John a. Logan was, in the heart
OF him, gold. he was not the man 10
cover before any responsibility, for in his
veins was that rich celtic blood which
makes the resOlute. onward character.
d" oh well for him whose will is strong;
lie suffers, but ne will not suffer long,
lie 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 at Bull Run. under no
appointment but that Of his own undaunt-
ed heart On that tll-starred day, grave
statesmen were pOndeTing at the capitol,
as they had never pondered before. Doubt
less the record of congress shows, that
Logan was absent without leave. But out
beyond the Potomac. he was fighting, mus
OF the Union. He had deserted the house
10 be a volunteer for the war. They tell
of him yet, he pressed forward through
the smoke in the silk hat he had forgotten
TO change. but which never became him
so much as when 1t lowered. that day over
his Ewarthy face and those eyes. which
were. indeed, the windows OF his soul.
After Bull Run, he went back TO his
home in Southern Illinois. facing friend and
foe alike. with the defiant note which told
them-what thes already knew-that, come
what might. he was for the Union and the
That Aar "a eOpU11prpd EuVnt EV-
erywhere he sowed the words that Douglas
had uttered: There can be but two par
the regiment he raised. and after that, in
q. brave. orderly sequence. Belmont, Don
elson,. Shiloh, Vicksburg, Atlanta, and
LOgan's Place secure.
"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. a .
Something, perhaps, ought 20 say of
his nature as a man; the nature that ruled
him, as temperament always does. In field,
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 consuming
wat. wrats. But this is his glory; the self;
submissively to the stronger spirit Of patri-
Take one or two examples of the many,
which illustrate this sublime character
istic. When Logan had fought the battle
Il
when he had shown the c0nsummate quail
tiles of a great leader; he thought, and he
pad a right 70 think he might keep what
he had won-the command Of an army that
loved him. For less than that, Napoleon
made men marshals of the empire and bsde
them be the companions of Davout and
Ney and Massena. But 1t was not TO be.
The Army Of the Tennessee was given to
another, and Logan went back to his corps,
making no sign.
MY nature is subdued
To what II works in
wrote Shakespeare, in that sonnet which.
critics say, revealed his Utmost heart. No
heart: for ali he did. or or hoped or aspiTed to
country. -'' H" "a
A Picturesque Situation.
Later, when the war was almost over.
and the inevitable triumph was plainly Wis
which would have been a trial and a temp
tgtIon bit to most ST. men i; But i i was not TO
and. in doing so, gave notice to all the
world that Logan was fit for high COM
situations Of the war. The Army of the
Potomac was holding the Confederacy, by
the throat, while Sherman. marching to the
sea. was cutting all its veins and arteries:
Meanwhile, Thomas, with beleaguered
Nashville az his back. was making ready,
SLOWLY but surely, for the blow that should
kill. Grant, the imperturbable. seeing the
whole field, was for once impatient. and
could wait no longer. He called for his
thunderbolt: and sent Logan. whom no
one had ever thought slow, to make the
hght. could name men with stars on
their shoulders, who would have seized that
opportunity to humiliate the brave Virgin
ian whose lineage ran from Mil Spring.
mauga. to Atlanta. He like Logan, had
become a type. He was the synonym for
that enduring courage which stays forever
But Logan. fastening TO the field where
Thomas and Hood were preparing for their
last grapple. stopped at louisville: not be-
cause II was best for his own fortunes
but because IL was right. He. who would
have flown to any place where danger Law
halted at that supreme moment. He ruled
his own soul; and his conduct shines with
a great light, when we read, IN Sherman's
fore, Thomas, after the battle Of Atlanta
consclentiously. no doubt-remonstrated !
the Army OF the Tennessee 10 Logan. The
day Logan halted on his way TO Nashville |
brought him the noblest revenge that ever |
like some story of old romance In his !
pocket was the order which gave him the |
right to supersede the general who had |
said he ought not to command the Army of |
the Tennessee. Both now are gone. Their |
si armies VIII never camp again. but the ma |
tlon loves and honors the two men who !
were thus drawn together In those last |
great DAYS. The world win never forget !
Louisville and left Thomas to go forward. |
in his own way. to victory which was |
like Cromwells crowning mercy.
Statesman as Well as Soldier.
This day is dedicated to Logan. as a |
soldier. He won IL from the calendar.
ana made II his own. But, in the midst |
Of all its pageantry, We must not forget |
that he was n statesman in the most try
Ing times OF our history. II Is not for me |
At such a moment. to discuss any oues-
lion OF party opinion. Logan was a man |
. OF positive Views. plain, direct and un-
compromising. For what he believed 10 |
he right he would fight in the senate a. |
undauntedly as he fought on the field
He was for freedom; and all of those great |
amenumenis OF the constitution that made |
equality before the law; he was for the /
common soldier who had felt the wound |
which Is the soldiers best decoration.
he was for the national honor. on land and |
sea. for the army and navy, and for force
n need be. to defend every right which |
ought 10 he recognized without force
He loved Illinois; and Illinois loved him /
the son she had nursed I'm her own cra-
die. He was loyal to her, and faithful to 1
the uttermost; but he believed, as this |
great state has always believed that the |
soil or Illinois Is the soil Of the United |
States
1T is little 10 say that he was honest
Through all his great career he went nm /
scathed, and no man ever dared to whisper
in his ear & thought of personal gain
II any one had ventured. he would have
seen, IN that flashing eye, such a warning |
as made the slave sent to kill Caius i
Marius. fly quakinE from the presence of /
him who had been consul.
HE. more than any other created the /
Grand Army Of the Republic; that organ |
iZation which makes us remember what |
we are prone TO forget. Here his form will /
sleep forever, guarded by them and by those
who follow them. I greet you. comrades |
who now again attest your fealty to his |
great name and 10 the nation. for whose /
honor you 50 often followed him to VIC |
1t was he who gave. us the sweet OBJ