The National tribune., 1903-02-05

that he haa.participated in the great cam
paiSns and battles of that army: that he
had gradd$lly advanced from the COM
mand of a. regiment to a brigade, a d.
vision. aRdn corps, and had finally been
commissioned as MajorGeneral; that his
experiences In the command of troops and
in the fighting of battles was equal to that
of any Of the Corps Commanders in the
army atD the time Gen. Mcpherson fell
and the command of the Army of the Ten
nessee dexSfved upon him. He felt that
he had Justly earned, and was entitled to
receive, thepermanent assignment of COM
mand to that army. In making this claim
for himSelfi he east no reflections upon
other officers; he felt. however, that a
great injustice had been done him; he felt
that an unjust discrimination was made in
favor of West Point officers as against
volunteer officers of the same rank.
Gen. Logan felt that the action in his
case was equivalent to notice to the Vol.
unteers of the Western Army that while
they would be required to do the fighting
they need not aspire to the higher and iu,-
Dertant commands of the army; that these
were to be reserved for officers who had
been educated at West Point.
Gen. Logan laid the blame of the as.
signment of Maj.-Gen. o. o. Howard over
him to Gen. Sherman. but he felt that the
President should have prevented such an
injustice. In all of this fully agreed
with Gen. Logan. felt that he was per.
fectly competent for the command of the
Army of the Tennessee, and that he had
shown his capacity for the command of
troops in the most conspicuous way; name.
Iy, on the battlefield, as well as in camp.
| believed then, and believe now, that Gen.
Logan had greater influence as n COM
mander over the Army of the Tennessee
than any man in Sherman's Army after
Mcpherson fell. His presence was a con-
slant inspiration to deeds of valOr, to
steadiness and discipline with that whole
army. 1t is no disparagement of Gen.
Howard az a military man to say that
Gen. Logan was fully equal to the com.
mand of the Army of the Tennessee, and
should have been assigned to that posi-
ton. Gen. Howard was First Lieuten-
ant in the Regular Army at the time the
civil war broke out; he saw no service
in the Mexican war; whatever actual mill.
tary service he had rendered was on the
frontier against the Indiai,s, where he
probably never commanded 200 men. He
entered the volunteer service as Colonel OF
the Sd Me-, Jnne 4, 1861. Logan entered
the service as Second Lieutenant of Co. H
list Regiment Foot Volunteers, Mexican
war, May 81, 1S47, and was mustered ont
Oct 16, 1913. He was in the expedition
to Santa Fe. He entered the military
service as Colonel of the 31st Ill. Aug. TO-
1861. Gen. Logan and Gen. Howard were
appointed Major-Generals on the same
day. Nov. 20, 1862. As far as actual ex-
perience was concerned. neither could claim
any advantage over the other; they had
both been in the thickest part of the great
struggle, the one in the Army of the Ten
nessee, the other in the Army of the Po-
tomac. %
In his Memoirs Gen Sherman speaks
very fully inTegard to the facts which in
fluenced Els action in this matter. Speak
ing of Gert. hogan and Gen. Blair he says
Both we've men of great courage and tai
ent, but wertopoliticans by nature and ex.
perience, and it may be for this reason
they were mistrusted by Regular officers
like Gensg Schofeld, Thomas and myself. "
In discussing this subject with me Gen
Sherman, ialthough speaking of Logan and
Blair in ~ most respectful manner, char.
acterized them as political Generals
that they iwern not professional soldiers
and that he did not think it wise to place
them in the higher commands. Blair and
Logan had, .sTerted a most powerful in.
luence in .molding the public opinion of
their localities in favor of the Union; in
fact, Gen. Blair was the recognized leader
Of the Union cause in st. Louis, and was
robust factor in, rescuing the State OF
Missouri from the clutch of Gov. Clai
borne Jackson, who was determined to
swing that State into the Confederate col
umn. Logan resigned seat in Congress
to enter the Volunteer service. It is no,
TO be believed that Gen. Logan and Gen
Blair entered the Union army and risked
their lives for the purpose of securing flu
ture political preferment. They were both
men of intense patriotism, Of undaunted
courage, and were military leaders OF
great ability. Either of those men could
and would have commanded the Army Of
the Tennessee with eminent success.
l found Gen. Logan wrought up to O
very high pitch on this question. He did
not intend to allow the matter to interfere
in the least with his future military ca
| reer, indeed, his action in the field from
July u, the day he was relieved by Gen
Howard, to Sept. 3, when Hoods army
beaten and discouraged. retreated from his
front, conclusively showed that he did moi
upon being relieved from the command OF
the Army of the Tennessee retire to his
tent and sulk, but that on all occasions he
brought to bear against the enemy the in.
tense vig0r of his nature Gen. Logan
Informed me that he had applied for and
would soon receive 20 days leave of alb
| scence; that he would go home and see his
family, and at the expiration of his leave
he would return to his command.
l stated to him that the Presidential
campaign was then at its hight, and that
he must take part in it: that his old con
stituents would expect him to make a
number OF speeches during his visit home
He declared that he would take no part
| whatever in the campaign. l pointed out
to him the position the Democratic party
had taken in their Chicago platform in
declaring the war failure, and demand
ing a suspension of hostIlItfes, etc / found
that the General had not seen n newspa.
per containing copy of the Democratic
platform. The great flank movement was
on at the time, and he had not been able
to receive files of Northern papers for two
| weeks; consequently, while he learned, af.
ter the retreat of Gen. Hood, that Gen
Mcclellan had been nominated for Presi
dent by the Democratic party, he had moi
seen the platform that had been adopted
l knew from our discussion that Gen
Logan could not support the Democratic
party, but from his frame of mind feared
that he would make a flying visit home
and while there take no active part in the
great debate. When returned to Reseca
l wrote Gen. Logan q letter and sent it
with copy Of the Chicago Democrat,,
platform, by a messenger. In my letter
insisted that the fate Of the Union turned
upon the result Of the Presidential cleo
| ton; that thelOnly issue involved in the
political contest was the question of the
further prosecution of tho war, l gave
| it as my opinion that if the people should