$2.8 million private gift will help fund restoration of Vicksburg's majestic Illinois Memorial, removal of old park HQ considered an intrusion on the battlefield

1906 Illinois Memorial (top photos) and July 11 demolition of old park HQ (FVNMP)

Conjuring the grandeur of Rome’s Parthenon, and topped by an oculus, mythical figures and a large bronze eagle, the Illinois State Memorial at Vicksburg, Ms., records the names of 36,325 soldiers from the Prairie State who took part in the campaign to capture the vital Confederate city.

Forty-seven steps – matching each day of the Union siege -- lead up to the interior and the lists of names on bronze plaques. The building is one of Vicksburg National Military Park’s most popular tour spots, but age and time have taken their toll.

The Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park & Campaign on July 11 announced a $2.8 million private donation, matched by $2.5 million from the National Park Service, will go toward restoration of the Illinois Memorial and other projects. Texas businessman and friends founding board member John Nau III made the large donation. 

Bess M. Averett, executive director of the friends group, told the Picket the work on the Illinois Memorial, which opened in 1906, will begin in mid-August and last about one year. The monument will be closed during that time.

Retired Brig. Gen. Robert Crear, Ryan Groves, Darrell Echols, John Nau III (FVNMP)

“Over a century of weather exposure -- including through the oculus -- has caused deterioration to both the stone and the inscriptions inside,” a news release said. “A full restoration is crucial to preserve its integrity and allow future generations to experience its splendor and meaning.”

More than 100 units from Illinois fought in the Vicksburg campaign. About 40 Illinois soldiers received the Medal of Honor for their valor.

Friday’s announcement signaled the beginning of the project, which started with demolition of the park’s former headquarters and museum, built in 1937.

The structure is on Pemberton Avenue, just south of the Illinois Memorial. It is considered an intrusion “that obscures the story and sacrifices of the men who fought and died there in 1863,” according to officials.

Illinois monument is between tour stops 2 and 3; old HQ is near surrender site (NPS; click to enlarge)

“People think because it was a replica antebellum home that it was historic. But it was built long after the war and literally in the center of one of the most critical areas of the park for interpretation,” said Averett.

An NPS report on museums built at Civil War parks in the 1930s said this of the old headquarters, which was unsuitable for its use and was later condemned:

“The Vicksburg building resembled so well an antebellum plantation mansion that a later superintendent converted it to his residence and packed the museum off to a utilitarian frame structure elsewhere in the park.

Nau was on hand for a ceremony and the start of demolition.

Old headquarters (center) obstructed sight lines of the battlefield (FVNMP)

“This gift from John Nau is nothing short of visionary,” said retired Brig. Gen. Robert Crear, board president of Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park & Campaign, according to the Vicksburg Post newspaper. “It will not only preserve a national treasure -- the Illinois Memorial -- but also reclaim the battlefield from post-war development and restore its integrity for all Americans.”

Ryan Groves, acting superintendent of the park, referred emailed questions from the Picket to the friends group.

The nonprofit said its chief goal is restoring land and landmarks to their wartime appearance and context.

One of the first projects accomplished by the in 2011 was the removal of 50 acres of trees in the same area. “Before that work, rows of cannons faced a dense forest confusing visitors and hiding the very terrain that made Vicksburg so impenetrable.” 

Rotunda of Illinois Memorial includes the state seal, plaques bearing names (Library of Congress)

Names of 30 Black soldiers are added to an Illinois monument

A plaque featuring two rows of 15 names has been added to the Civil War memorial on the square in Jacksonville, Ill. Those named were Black soldiers who fought for the Union, almost all members of the U.S. Colored Troops. The more than 3,000 names on the memorial before the update included a few Black service members — but some people noticed a gap. The 30 men whose names were added served mostly with the Third Heavy Artillery and 29th Infantry. -- Article

Abraham Lincoln's crucial blockade order on Southern ports is purchased by Illinois governor and wife and donated to presidential library in Springfield

Lincoln issued this order just after Fort Sumter fell (Photo: ALPLM)

President Abraham Lincoln’s monumental order that launched the “Anaconda Plan,” a strategy intended to place a stranglehold on the Confederacy, has been purchased and donated by Illinois’ governor and first lady to a library dedicated to the 16^th president.

Just a few days after the fall of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Lincoln issued the order, which called for a naval blockade of vital Southern ports, to be imposed in conjunction with land assaults. The seven states cited in the order had seceded from the Union by that time.

The office of Gov. J.B. Pritzker made the donation announcement Tuesday. The news was first reported by the Associated Press.

Pritzker and his wife M.K., who purchased the blockade order on behalf of the people of Illinois, on Tuesday visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.

The document will be available for viewing in the ALPLM Treasures Gallery beginning Wednesday and will remain on display until February 2025, when it will be transferred to the ALPLM vault for safekeeping, a news release said.

Cartoon of Anaconda Plan with caricatures (Library of Congress)

“To me, this document – and the museum as a whole – serves as a reminder of how far we’ve come,” said the governor. “Despite our divisions and challenges, more than 150 years later, our nation perseveres.” 

Steve Lansdale with Heritage Auctions confirmed to the Picket that the document was sold for $471,000 in July 2023. The document – formally entitled “Order to Affix Seal of the United States to a Proclamation of a Blockade” – had been owned by anonymous private collectors.

Lansdale says the company does not release information on buyers or sellers, and Pritzker’s office declined to provide details on the purchase or price.

Andy Hall, who has written extensively about the blockade, wrote in his Dead Confederates blog that Lincoln’s proclamation “was one of a series of actions and reactions that expanded the conflict between the national government in Washington and that of the seceded southern states. The blockade order was, most directly, a response to Jefferson Davis’ call on April 17 for privateers to obtain Confederate letters of marque to attack U.S. shipping.”

While the one-page order is now at the Lincoln library, the fuller proclamation is kept at the National Archives.

Harper's Weekly depiction of chase of a blockade runner (Library of Congress)

The blockade was meant to prevent the export of cotton from the South to foreign nations and the import of essential supplies into the Confederacy, according to Pritzker’s office.

The Lincoln document reads in full:

"I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of State to affix the Seal of the United States to a Proclamation setting on foot a Blockade of the ports of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, dated this day and signed by me and for so doing this shall be his warrant. Abraham Lincoln, Washington, 19th April, 1861."

Dr. Ian Hunt, the ALPLM’s acquisitions director, said the order captures Lincoln at an unprecedented moment of crisis.

“A lesser president might have dithered and delayed while searching for a ‘safe’ option,” Hunt said in a statement. “President Lincoln acted boldly by ordering a blockade. This is the symbolic tip of the spear in his long struggle to save the nation and, ultimately, end slavery."

Hunt, in a library Facebook video, provided some historical background to the Lincoln order. The president's Cabinet had some reservations about the idea, including the possibility it could be construed as recognition of the Confederacy as a nation. Union Gen. Winfield Scott argued a total blockade would be needed to crush the rebellion. 

The blockade required monitoring 3,500 miles of Atlantic and Gulf coastline with180 possible ports of entry, according to the library. “The United States had about 40 working ships at the time. By war’s end, it had 671. The Navy destroyed or captured about 1,500 Southern blockade runners over the course of the war.”

Hunt said the addition of the document to the library is "phenomenal."

Black veterans formed GAR posts to remember their service, do public good. The Lincoln Presidential Library is ensuring precious post documents endure

(Clockwise from top left) Delany post charter, Maj. Martin R. Delany, damaged charter from other post
(charter photos: ALPLM), Gustavus or Henry Booth with 5th Mass. Cavalry; same unit as Lewis Thompson
(Richard Carlile Collection as printed in Military Images; click all to enlarge)

Pvt. Enos Bond and the 17^th U.S. Colored Troops fought at the Battle of Nashville. Pvt. Lewis H. Thompson’s 5^th Massachusetts Cavalry took part in an assault on Confederates near Petersburg. And Sgt. Shederick Conaway of the famed 54^th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment survived the pitched fighting at Fort Wagner, the climactic scene in the film “Glory.”

Years later, these three men and seven other African-American veterans in Chicago founded Martin R. Delany Post #663 of the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization of Union Civil War veterans. (Delany, an influential abolitionist and author, was the first Black field officer in the U.S. Army. Photo below)

The Delany post met for at least a few years to socialize, discuss their war experiences and trauma, and support monuments, memory and charity – no doubt proud to have helped end slavery in the United States.

The charter of Post #663, which cemented the bond among Conaway and the others, recently underwent conservation at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill. Experts at ALPLM, which has 269 charters of GAR posts in its collection, have been cleaning, mending and rehousing scores of the documents.

“During their active lives (as documents) the charters were very often displayed, framed or unframed and exposed to light and unfavorable storage conditions,” Christopher Schnell, ALPLM manuscripts manager, told the Picket in an email.

Schnell says the GAR charters, made official with signatures and foil seals, are a boon for researchers and historians, and that’s why restoration is crucial.

“By working on individual documents, or by taking the time to examine an individual set of records, we can raise up the stories of underrepresented members of our collective past,” Schnell wrote in an article about the GAR foundational documents.

Member of 54th Massachusetts survived Fort Wagner

We don’t know exactly how the 10 men who started the Delany post may have known each other. Two, Lewis McGowan and Moses McGowan, served in the 109^th USCT and may have been related. It’s also difficult to ascertain how many may have been born into slavery.

1850 census lists Robert Conaway and  his children, including Shederick

Conaway is believed to have been born free in New Bern, which on the eve of the war had one of the largest concentrations of free people of color in North Carolina, according to the Craven County visitors center. (One source says he was actually born in Newton, N.C.)

His family moved to Cleveland, where Conaway worked as a waiter before enlisting in the 54^th Massachusetts.

A look at fold3.com, military and pension records and genealogy indexing services show multiple variations of the soldier’s first name (Shad, Shadrack, Shedrick, Shederick, Shaderick, Shadrick) and last name (Conway, Conaway).

List of Delany post members, including Conaway. Click to enlarge (Chicago History Museum)

Conaway was 19 when he enlisted in a Boston neighborhood in April 1863. One history says he was wounded at Fort Wagner.

The 54^th Massachusetts saw action at Olustee in Florida (Conaway was in the hospital at the time) and on islands around the Charleston area of South Carolina.

Conaway participated with Company G in the Battle of Honey Hill west of Beaufort, S.C, in November 1864, according to Schnell.

The soldier, who was promoted twice, was mustered out in August 1865.

The soldiers home in Milwaukee, which still provides services today (Wikipedia)

“After the war he went back to work in Cleveland and Chicago restaurants and hotels, married, and had at least one child. Near the end of his life, he moved into the Soldiers Home hospital in Milwaukee suffering from ’asthma’ and ‘heart disease,’” Schnell told the Picket.

Conaway died in February 1894 at age 50. He’s buried at a national cemetery in Milwaukee. I have been unable to come up with a photo of Conaway or any of the other nine charter members.

GAR was widespread, powerful and integrated

The names of the Delany post’s charter members – Bond (a retired police officer), Conaway, the McGowans, Thompson, William Banks of 1^st Michigan Colored Infantry, William French of the 109^th USCT, Peter French of the 6^th U.S. Colored Cavalry, Walter E. Johnson of 14th Regiment, Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, and Alexander Jackson, 17^th USCT, were written into history through the September 1888 charter. (Schnell believes the post eventually had 26 members.)

The GAR got its start in Illinois in 1866 and posts spread across the United States, with a peak membership of 400,000 in 1890. The Delany charter was issued three years after the death of its namesake. Illinois had nearly 800 posts.

“It had a profound effect on late-19th century politics, with its membership providing the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln and Grant, with a solid voting bloc in Northern states,” according to ALPLM. “The organization used this political power to encourage the federal government to establish a robust veteran’s pension program.” (GAR medal left, courtesy of ALPLM)

By being a racially integrated public institution, the GAR was extremely unusual for its time. Illinois had about 48 integrated posts, while Chicago has at least two all-Black (including Delany #663) and 37 all-white posts.

Historian Barbara A. Gannon, in “The Won Cause: Black and White Comradeship in the Grand Army of the Republic” (UNC Press, 2011),” wrote that “although black veterans still suffered under the contemporary racial mores, the GAR honored its black members in many instances and ascribed them a greater equality than previous studies have shown.”

Gannon told the Picket that before her book, people often described the GAR as a segregated group under the assumption that the posts were segregated by direction of the organization. Instead, she says, black veterans asked the state GAR to charter their posts and they had reasons for doing so.

“For example, they named their post after a famous African-American in the Civil War as was their prerogative.” Gannon says. “They did so to remind white Americans of their Civil War experience.”

According to Schnell, black posts participated alongside white and integrated posts in traditional GAR  activities “to observe Memorial Day cemetery exercises and church services to honor the Civil War dead, to march together in patriotic parades, such as one held in Chicago to commemorate the Constitution centennial in 1887, and to attend annual meetings, like when the Martin R. Delany post joined the 7,000 member Illinois delegation to attend the national ‘encampment’ at Detroit in 1891.”

James Lewis Henry (right, ALPLM photo), a veteran in the John Brown post in Chicago, was a statewide leader in the organization and helped organize suc activities. A free black man, Lewis fought in Federal cavalry units and later became a lawyer.

The Delany post, like others, maintained a small charity account for members in need, but other than holding meetings, “we don’t know about the inner workings of the group,” said Schnell.

The Chicago History Museum has a roster book and minute book for the Delany GAR post.

While the surviving charter at ALPLM is from 1888, the CHM roster book is marked 1879-1890. It’s possible the post’s first charter had to be replaced.

CHM reference librarian Maggie Cusick says the minute book is more narrative and contains about 60 pages of content.

One of the pages about the post’s activity is written by acting adjutant Bushrod Washington.

A soldier by that name served in the 26^th USCT, according to the National Park Service. Washington, a Virginian, died in Chicago in 1890, just a month after making the entry.

One of the Delany post volumes at the Chicago History Museum (Courtesy of CHM)

Mending these important documents follows a formula

When GAR posts ceased operating (the date for the Martin R. Delany post is unclear), records were turned to headquarters and folded several times. Charters often were 17 inches by 22 inches. The Illinois State Historical Society for many years held them once the GAR became inactive. The ALPLM eventually took charge of the documents.

“When retrieving post records for researchers, ALPLM staff would occasionally find charters, or the remains of them, that had to be placed on hold for conservation before they could be viewed or imaged,” says Schnell.

In 2019, conservators Bonnie Parr and Ginny Lee began the exacting work of carefully “relaxing,” or unfolding long-folded documents, cleaning, mending, removing acid and rehousing them (Mylar sleeves and oversize folders stored in flat drawers).

While the Delany charter needed just basic cleaning and mending, other documents are in pieces, officials say. About 40 GAR charters in the most serious condition are yet to be treated. (At left, a Delany post record with names of members. Courtesy ALPLM, click to enlarge)

“There have been a few charters with notes to the effect that they are replacements for originals destroyed by fire (and even one destroyed by a tornado). I’ve wondered about those incidents and how they affected the GAR members of those posts,” says Parr.

As an example of her work, Parr sent a photo of the much-folder, yellowed and brittle charter for Post #468 in Downers Grove. She believes some of its wear is due to long-term light exposure while in a GAR hall.

Parr recently completed work on a charter for the Gov. Richard Yates Post #687, an African American chapter, in Jacksonville, Ill. She put the document in a humidity chamber – made up of a rack in a sink, with damp towels nearby. The sink was covered with plastic. During the day, she gradually unfolded the paper as it “relaxed” from high humidity. The paper was dried and flattened between blotters.

“My satisfaction comes from taking the folded paper – which can’t be handled without damage – through conservation treatments that unfold and stabilize the fragile paper so that it can be read and be accessible for research,” says Parr.

Post #687 charter before unfolding, treatment area and the dried document (Courtesy ALPLM)

Parr uses specific tools during the process of lining – which involves a support system for the document while undergoing the final stages of conservation.

“I use a sheet of acid-free Japanese tissue for the lining and wheat starch paste to attach the GAR document to the tissue. I let it air dry for several days,” she says.

"Then, I use a metal spatula to carefully lift the tissue/charter off the lining surface, trim the excess tissue from the edges, deacidify the document, place it in a polyester film (a chemically inert plastic) sleeve, and send it back to the Manuscripts Department (where it ‘lives’).”

The #687 charter during the lining process and the final product (Courtesy ALPLM)

Schnell tells the Picket the GAR charters are among the most heavily used manuscripts at the library.

“People interested in family history use the records to search for their veteran forebearer. Local historians seek information about the veterans (and their activities) who lived in their communities in the past,” he says.

Museums have asked for reproductions of the documents for purposes of exhibit. The charter conservation project was started because a county historical society asked for a scan of their local post charter and it needed repair before digital scanning.

“With restored charters as a starting point, we can continue the GAR’s work of honoring the sacrifices of Civil War veterans by going beyond the ink and paper to recover the stories of the people who once fought to restore the Union and end slavery,” Schnell wrote in his blog post.

New bust honors little-known Illinois Medal of Honor recipient

Clear skies greeted Civil War reenactors, history fans, Boy Scouts and politicians who gathered Saturday to unveil a new bust dedicated to a Medal of Honor recipient who came from Galena, Illinois. Sgt. Henry H. Taylor was the first man to plant Union colors on enemy works in Vicksburg, Ms., in June 1863. -- Article

We've got the dirt on Civil War soil: Illinois researchers want to take new samples to see what's changed. Findings could help farmers today

Andrew Margenot, 1861 sample and two more jars in barn (University of Illinois)

I love going off on a tangent. On occasion in this blog, I start with the kernel of an idea that involves the Civil War, and then march off in multiple directions to find out about the environment and culture in which an event occurs.

One example in the Picket, from 2014: “What do USS Monitor, Jimmy Fallon have in common? Saugerties, NY. This town morphed from industrial 'Inferno' to a cool tourist spot.” It started with a mark on a part from the famous ironclad and expanded to a study of an artsy Hudson River town.

Weird, right?

So it may come as no surprise that I was drawn to this headline: “After historic find, University of Illinois soil scientists want to dig up more on state's land.” They want to resample about 450 sites and are asking landowners and producers for permission to dig.

This sample dates from 1913 and details depth (University of Illinois)

About 8,000 soil samples -- packed into jars in a university barn that will soon be demolished -- go back to the mid-19^th century, with a few dating to the Civil War. I was all in. I recently reached out to University of Illinois soil scientist Andrew Margenot about the discovery and why soils are sampled and what we should know about dirt from the past.

It turns out most of the samples are from the 1920s, with a larger group from the 1980s. By 1900, most Illinois prairies were being used for agriculture. Researchers now want to resample areas where these soil samples were taken decades ago.

Margenot’s responses have been edited.

Q. Can you please tell me more about the November 1861 jar? How full is it, any characteristics? From what county?

A. Fairly full, though not yet analyzed. It was sampled from “virgin prairie” in Perry County. The ink writing isn’t very legible or intact.

Q. Any others from the Civil War (1861-1865)?

A. To our knowledge, only a couple more are in this period. (Picket research: About 16 companies of soldiers were raised in Perry County during the Civil War. The population was about 6,000. Coal reserves and a railroad spurred growth around that time)

Q. Do you have any idea of the state of soil in Illinois at the time of the Civil War? Did farmers have any way in the 1860s to amend or improve the soil?

A. So much to say here. In short, yields were 5-10x lower than they are today, and the major source of nutrients inputs were manures, with some scattered availability of bone meal, guano, and phosphate rock as phosphorus and nitrogen sources.

Q. How were these soil samples taken in the 19th century? Has the technology for taking them changed?

A. Not too different: using a hand auger or a metal tube of some sort. Corkscrew augers may have been used back in the day. As for farming practices, the moldboard plow was becoming popular at that time.

Farming was booming by the Civil War (Northern Illinois University Digital Library)

Q.  Roughly what is the time frame for most of the jars? Is each of the jars being emptied? What is done with the contents?

A. 90% are 1910-2012. We are preserving the soils in the jars.

Q. How many total jars are/were in the barn? I assume they have been known about, but when were they most recently examined?

A. About 8,000. They were last examined by Professor Ted Peck (who died in 2003). We’re picking up the baton from him..

Q. What kind of analysis are you doing with the jar contents? What specifically can you learn from each?

A. We are currently measuring total P (total concentration of phosphorus in the soil), and will be measuring other basic soil properties such as pH and variables such as total organic carbon (C) that will help us understand holistically how soils and their fertility have changed over time.

Q. Why is soil resampling so important? What are specific potential benefits for the state? 

A. (This response is from a web page about the soil archive project): “We wish to resample these same locations in order to identify how soils have changed over time in Illinois.

"By doing so, we can understand soil changes as far back as 1899 to present day – over 120 years. This would yield unprecedented insight to our state’s soil resource base, and enable improvements in soil fertility management and conservation, including much needed updates to the Illinois Agronomy Handbook.”

Nearly 8,000 jars were stored in the barn (University of Illinois)

In Atlanta, John A. 'Black Jack' Logan picked up the pieces and helped save the day for the Union. He inspired his men in several battles

In the nick of time, Logan rallies the troops on July 22, 1864 (Picket photo)

On Friday, I marked the 158^th anniversary of the Battle of Atlanta in a rather unusual way. Rather than walking paved-over battleground, I drove to the Atlanta History Center and bought one of two puzzles it stocks depicting the Cyclorama painting. It's been a while since I put one together.

The AHC, of course, houses the colossal Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama, which focuses on a brief Confederate breakthrough on the afternoon of July 22, 1864, at the Troup Hurt house.

Galloping furiously to the rescue, hat in hand, is Union Maj. Gen. John A. “Black Jack” Logan, temporary head of the Army of the Tennessee. That’s the scene shown in the 48-piece puzzle (I know, not super challenging to put together).

Known for his flowing hair and marvelous mustache, Logan was perhaps the best “political” or non-West Point general fighting for the Union. His clutch performance in Atlanta and a few days before, at Dallas in nearby Paulding County, were perhaps his shining moment.

Capt. DeGress trails Logan as they ride forward (AHC)

Entering the battle, Logan, commanded the 15^th Corps, which with the 16^th  Corps and 17^th Corps, made up the Army of the Tennessee. During the pitched fighting on the 22^nd, Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson, commander of that group, was killed. Logan took command of the three corps and rallied troops after the breakthrough and pushed the Rebels back, securing a decisive victory.

“He was a damn good leader -- indispensable in restoring 15^th Corps morale that afternoon,” say Gordon Jones, senior military historian and curator at the AHC.

Jones cited remarks made by J.W. Long of the 2^nd Iowa Infantry in a National Tribune article in September 1888:

"No one can describe how Logan looked in battle any more than he could describe the raging sea. I am satisfied that the biggest coward in the world would stand on his head on top of the breastworks if Logan was present and told him to do so."

Logan excelled despite no military training before war (Library of Congress)

Logan, from Illinois, served in the U.S. House before the war. He opposed abolition of slavery, but his thoughts on that changed during the war and he later espoused equal rights for African-Americans. He served with distinction at Fort Donelson, where he was wounded, and Vicksburg.

In his review of Gary Ecelbarger’s biography of Logan, Charles R. Bowery writes of the general: “Logan was a quick study in tactics and the operational art. He took care of his men, shared hardships with them, and led by example at all times, placing himself in danger to inspire his men on numerous battlefields. The units he commanded responded in kind, often stopping to cheer him when he appeared on the field of battle to reverse a deteriorating situation.”

Such a potential situation presented itself at Atlanta, when Logan, as ranking officer, found himself in the hot seat after McPherson (right) was shot down. The news of the popular McPherson’s death tore through the Union lines that afternoon. He was a favorite of Gen. William T. Sherman.

Ten years after the war, Logan made these remarks at the unveiling of the McPherson monument in Washington, D.C.

“The news of his death spread with lightning-speed along the lines, sending a pang of deepest sorrow to every heart as it reached the ear; but, especially terrible was the effect on the Army of the Tennessee. It seemed as though a burning, fiery dart had pierced each breast, tearing asunder the flood-gates of grief, but, at the same time, heaving to their very depths the fountains of revenge. The clenched hands seemed to sink into the weapons they held, and from the eyes gleamed forth flashes terrible as lightning.

“The cry ‘McPherson, McPherson! and “McPherson and revenge!’ rose above the din of battle, and, as it rang along the lines, swelled in power, until the roll of musketry and booming of cannon seemed drowned by its echoes.”

The Cyclorama, which was painted in Milwaukee to show a Union victory, was later modified and misinterpreted in Atlanta as showing a Southern triumph – however short.

At 4 p.m. on July 22, the battery of Federal Capt. Francis DeGress was firing canister as fast as it could near the Troup Hurt house (left). Determined Confederates continued to push forward and were about to be upon them.

DeGress knew the horses could not pull back the guns in time, Jones said, and he had two guns spiked. The captain and Sgt. Peter Wyman stayed with the other two weapons, firing double canister. They eventually had to flee; Wyman was killed while DeGress fled back to the collapsed Federal line.

Fast-forward to the scene depicted in the Cyclorama: Logan – riding a black horse named Slasher -- rallying his troops and rushing toward the breach, with DeGress riding behind.

DeGress, already a respected veteran, is about to become a folk hero to the Northern cause. He retakes the four 20-pounder Parrott guns and turns them on the retreating Confederates.

(It’s important to note the battlefield on July 22 was much larger than what is shown in the painting. For example, troops clashed for a much longer time on Bald (Leggett’s) Hill south near current Interstate 20.)

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, told the Picket that Logan was “inspirational” at Dallas and Atlanta.

“Didn’t function much as an army commander, but was great at restoring the line of his own 15^th Corps. McPherson and Dodge (16^th Corps) deserve credit for repulsing the initial attack on the far left flank, and Blair (17^th Corps), Leggett, and G.A. Smith did most of the command work in the Battle for Bald Hill.

“By the time (approx. 2:30) that Logan knew he was an army commander, 17^th Corps was facing repeated attacks by Cleburne and Maney, but Blair, Leggett, and G.A. Smith were effective in their respective command roles without a lot of direction from Logan. Once breakthrough occurred in 15^th Corps sector (approx. 4:30), Logan justifiably focused on that emergency.”

Logan, DeGress and others head for the Troup Hurt house breakthrough (AHC)

Despite his heroic service that day, Logan served as commander of the Army of the Tennessee for only four days. Sherman gave that job to Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, a West Point grad. Sherman reportedly was skeptical of politicians in uniform, but there may have been personal differences, too. Logan was crushed by the news.

He “viewed this as a personal slight which gave him a very dim view of West Pointers in the future,” says the American Battlefield Trust. He performed well in the coming days at Ezra Church and Jonesboro.

“Logan put on his politician hat in the fall of 1864, returning to his home state to campaign for Abraham Lincoln -- a marked contrast for the erstwhile Democrat,” the trust says. “In December, the major general returned to the field at the head of the Fifteenth Corps until the cessation of hostilities. He was given command of the Army of the Tennessee on May 23, 1865 -- just in time to lead it in the Grand Review in Washington, DC.”

Logan got back into politics, serving several terms in the U.S. House and Senate. He was an unsuccessful Republican vice presidential candidate in 1884 and was considered a front-runner in the upcoming presidential election. He died in 1886 at age 60 from the effects of rheumatism.

The artists made this sketch of Logan, other figures for the painting (AHC)

He also is remembered today as the father of Memorial Day, which began as Decoration Day in 1868. As head of the Grand Army of the Republic, Logan lobbied for a special day to commemorate America’s war dead.

Logan obviously is the star of the Cyclorama, given there are no recognizable Confederate officers during the fight at the Troup Hurt house.

The circular painting debuted in Minneapolis in June 1886, a few months before the general died, but there is no evidence that he saw it (Logan later in life, right. Library of Congress photo) .

Harper's Weekly illustrator Theodore R. Davis is responsible for Logan and DeGress being prominently depicted in the painting. Davis, who traveled with the Federal army, submitted an illustration and article for the publication about DeGress soon after the battle and served as an advisor to the artists in Milwaukee.

Jones, the AHC military historian, told the Picket that stories claiming Logan commissioned the painting to promote a political campaign amount to an untrue urban legend.

“The Battle of Atlanta was paid for by about 40 Chicago-area investors in the American Panorama Company. Logan had nothing to do with it,” said Jones.

“Theodore Davis ... was a personal friend of Logan and all the top brass of the Army of the Tennessee. He was the one who placed Logan so prominently in the foreground of the painting. Besides, having him there would give the painting celebrity star power and help sell tickets in the upper Midwest.”

Advertisement for painting when it was show in Minneapolis in 1886 (Picket photo)