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Show ' i I . LOGAN WAS CONVERTED 1, What Caused the Great Illinois Soldier to Forget Party Prejudices. , The attlKidn -of Oon. John A. Ixigan In the exciting days Immediately following fol-lowing the Aral election of Lincoln nnil the outbreak of the civil war liu been l the subject of a good deal of dleniB- eton, to which a writer fur the llllnoU j Stale Kegtsler of Springfield. 111.. ha JuhI contributed an Interesting chnp-ter. chnp-ter. (According to "Applcton'a Knryclope. dla of American lliography" Hen. l.o-gnn l.o-gnn wan from the flrxt au nrdont sup-porter sup-porter of Lincoln ami the I nlou. It says: "On the first Intlmntlon nf coming trouhlo from the South he (Loc.anl declared de-clared that in the event of the elee. tion of Abrnhnm Lincoln he would shoulder hli musket to have him Inaugurated." In-augurated." Further on the encyclopedia says: "In July, isfli, dii rln the extra fen- Ion of congress culled by President Lincoln lie. tLogau) left IiIh seat In . - congress' that he might ovortake the troops that were marching out of Washington to meet the enemy, and fought In the ranks of Col. Hlchard-eona Hlchard-eona regiment In the battle of Dull Hun." With both these statements the -rll. r hi the Illinois State It'glstcr takes Issue. Describing himself as a warm friend and admirer of (leu. Logan, Lo-gan, he avcra thnt IxiKnn did not sympathize sym-pathize with Lincoln at tho start und - not favorable to the canso of Hie I' n Inn, when the war began. , lie further any that while Logan's patriotism was nrvd by tho roar of the Hull linn nulla, the story that he left hifi eeat In cotitu-css to overlako and fight In the nuika of tho I'nlon army ar-my nt Hull Ituu l erroneous, lie s.iya: "The history of (leu. John A. li-gun li-gun la a family one. and the object of tho writer 1 to correct that history with no Intent or aim to pluck from tho brow of one of Americas bravest a single laurel to which he la entitled or to wrong his memory In the slightest slight-est degree. Hut the truth, the whole I truth and nothing but tho truth, a. the oath goes, la this: "John A. Iigan was not favnrnble to the I'nlon aide when the war of the rebellion commenced, and those who claim thnt he was not only do him but themselves a great wrong. "On the eontrary. John A. Logan denounced the war aa a 'damned Abolition Abo-lition scheme to free the nigger,' and went ao far In hia denunciation of tha Lincoln party, aa lie termed It, aa to denounce Douglas and many of his warmest friends In Springfield and at lila heme. On tba train upon which I Douglas and his wife were going to fe- Chicago, he declared In tha hearing of I' hundreds of people: jk " 'Douglas has sold out ths Demo-'T Demo-'T cratlc party, but 111 tie damned If be ( 1 can deliver the goods.' I "He was ao enraged at Douglas ha II would not go to Douglaa' room In tha I American llouao In Springfield, al-I al-I though Douglaa Implored him by aay-I aay-I lng: I " 'John, come up to my room and let B us talk this thing over.' E "'Oh, talk the devil.' said Logan. R 'I've talked with you and been led by H you. until you have led the Democratic K party Into rulnl I'll be damned If K you lead me any mors!' 1! "He would not listen to the speeches II made by lkiuglns at Hloomltigton, Ton-F Ton-F tlac and Jnllet, at which last place Lo-R Lo-R (an got off the train and Douglaa went K on to Chicago, where be died the June following. "John A. Ixigan had been elected to congress as had old Col. 'Dick' ltlch-ardson, ltlch-ardson, as everybody called lit in. Col. I Richardson on tho day beforo the bat- lie of Hull Hun made up a party of , lis, four to go In a carriage and two ,' on horseback, to witness the battle. ( They arrived near there on tha even- !lng before the battlo and could got no place to sleep, until 0"e of tha party, Col. It K. Ooddell of Donvor, I John A. l-ogan. Colo., Improvised a camp by taking sheaves of oats from a Held near by, upon which the party slept that night "The parly consisted of Col. Kleh-ardson. Kleh-ardson. Col. John A. McClornand, con-grenaniau con-grenaniau from Springfield: John A. Logan, the Hon. Hurt Cook, Col. II. K. Uocldoll and one other to be remembered. remem-bered. Tha party were soundly sleeping sleep-ing In their oat-sheat beda when the '.J sound of a cannon was heard aud i Ben. McT'lernand exclaimed: 1 "'My (Jod. boys, it is the beginning of the tug-of-war! (let up and let ua J hurry to the front." I "They went without their breakfast Bald were as hungry aa benra, but Btlll i nxlous to ace tha fight They puahed j I along until they began to meet stragglers strag-glers coming toward tliein, running at their bent speed. They came thic ker and faster, sod then they were met by three men carrying musket. "John A. Logan Jumped toward them and asked " What la the matter? Where and whnt are you running for?' "One of the men replied: 'Thcr's a hell of a fight and the rebels are giving giv-ing tl hll ami we aie trying to get out'of their reai h.' "John A. Logan then grabbed one of the muskets and exclaimed' 'There I" but nnn'sldd to inke1 In this light and I am going to take tho I'nlon elite.' "With Ihafhla trltnja'i heered hlin. for he had been etlll UDding fault with the . war and -.i) lug .aharp things . v ,. , Mr. Jihn A. I.oro-ng.ilnut I.oro-ng.ilnut thu idera of hla own pnrty for hclpliu Lincoln and hi party.' Mi demand at oure anld: '"Ho tiaa been enuveited,' and congratulated con-gratulated him on hla change of fronL" t And this, according to the Writer In the Illinois Slate KeglKler, Is tha truo hletory of how John A. !oKan, for once and for all, threw aaldn hla Southern aympnthlca and enlleted, heart and eoul. in tho war from the I'nlon In wblrh ho made ao splendid a record as a brave and loyal soldier. |