Black Jack Logan: An Extraordinary Life in Peace and War

by Gary L. Ecelbarger

Book Overview

A new light on a major Civil War figure. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159228566X
• ISBN13: 9781592285662
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Length: 391 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Great biography, poor battlefield guide

If you're looking for biographical information on one of the most successful Union generals of the American Civil War, this is a great resource. If you're looking for information on the battles in which Logan participated, you definitely want to look elsewhere. Ecelbarger places Logan one mile away when the fighting broke out at Raymond, Mississippi, which is ludicrous. He also claims that Logan spontaneously ordered forward the Union line at Champion Hill, when in reality the assault that swept Champion Hill was carefully organized by Grant across the entire northern front (from Hovey to Stevenson). The decision to read this book should be based on the value of learning about Logan's life. Not only was he one of the most successful Generals of the war, he was the most conflicted, having spent the pre-war years fighting against what he viewed as a dangerous and foolish Republican agenda. The district that he represented in congress before the war was staunchly pro-southern, and many members of his family actually volunteered for and helped raise Confederate regiments from Southern Illinois. Logan, an observer at the First Battle of Bull Run, took a rifle from a fleeing soldier, and was immediately sold on the idea of fighting for the Union. When he returned home and announced his intention to raise a regiment for the Union, half of his family stopped speaking to him, including his own mother. Bottom line: buy this book for the rich biographical detail, and take the battle descriptions with a block of salt.

An objective biography

This is an objectively-written biography of one of the few successful political generals of the Civil War. Logan was a complex character, with some opportunistic, unattractive aspects to his personality. He was also intelligent, hard-working, and, in battle, brave and resourceful. The author does a good job describing his early life, Civil War career, and political life. Logan changed his views on several subjects during his public life, and the author explains these issues in depth. He also writes in an exciting yet accurate manner about Logan's battlefield performances. Family life played a large part in Logan's development, and this subject is not neglected. Worth the effort to read about a skilled officer and politician, who is not well-known to most of today's readers.

Well Written Biography of a Little Known General

Abraham Lincoln had a lot of trouble finding generals. And his real problem was political generals, particularly Democrats who seemed to have both little capability as generals and who spent too much time as politicians. Burnside and McClellan come to mind. By far the most successful of the Democratic political generals was Black Jack Logan. A Congressman at the start of the war, he was one of those who went out with the Union army to watch them smash the Rebels at Bull Run/Manassas. Unlike the rest of the observing congressmen, he grabbed a rifle at the start of the battle and followed a Union unit into battle. Afterwards he entered the Union Army and by its end was a Major General in command of the Army of Tennessee. He was arguably the most competent of the volunteer generals, the political generals. After the war, he became a confidant of Grant and was supported by Grant for the presidency. Frederick Douglas was another supporter. All in all he was the odds on favorite to win the 1888 election but unexpectedly died. This is a very well written biography of one of the little known but most effective generals of the American Civil War.