John A. Logan (1826-1886). The Great Conspiracy: Its Origin and History. New York: A.R. Hart & Co., 1886. 4to Original embossed red morocco gilt. First edition. Eicher 529. INSCRIBED BY LOGAN to the front free endpaper: "Yours Truly John A. Logan June 19-86" With W. T. Sherman & P. Tecumseh Sherman bookplates to interior front board.

Sherman's copy, inscribed by the author himself, of John A. Logan’s "lengthy and labored treatise on the political causes of the war and a running narrative of the political significance of events during the war." (Eicher, The Civil War in Books, 529).

John Logan was a veteran of the Mexican-American War, lawyer, and politician, who was serving as a Democrat representing Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives at the outbreak of the Civil War. He fought at the First Battle of Bull Run as an unattached volunteer in a Michigan regiment before officially joining the Union Army as Colonel of the 31st Illinois Infantry. Logan was present at the Battles of Belmont and Fort Donelson, where he was wounded, before he resigned his congressional seat and was promoted to brigadier general. He saw further action at the Siege of Corinth, Grant's Vicksburg Campaign (as commander of the 3rd Division, XVII Corps), before joining Sherman at the Battle of Atlanta and the Carolinas Campaign. During the Atlanta campaign, he commanded the XV Corps, was wounded, and took temporary command of the Army of the Tennessee after the death of General James B. McPherson.

Sherman, however, chose to replace Logan with General O.O. Howard, as recounted in Sherman's Memoirs: "[General George H. Thomas] remonstrated warmly against my recommending that General Logan should be regularly assigned to the command of the Army of the Tennessee by reason of his accidental seniority. We discussed fully the merits and qualities of every officer of high rank in the army, and finally settled on Major General O.O. Howard as the best officer who was present and available for the purpose...All these promotions happened to fall upon West-Pointers, and doubtless Logan and Blair had some reason to believe that we intended to monopolize the higher honors of the war for the regular officers. I remember well my own thoughts and feelings at the time, and feel sure that I was not intentionally partial to any class. I wanted to succeed in taking Atlanta, and needed commanders who were purely and technically soldiers, men who would obey orders and execute them promptly and on time; for I knew that we would have to execute some more delicate maneuvers, requiring the utmost skill, nicety, and precision...I regarded both Generals Logan and Blair as 'volunteers,' that looked to personal fame and glory as auxiliary and secondary to their political ambition, and not as professional soldiers." This sentiment was typical of Sherman, who distrusted politicians, and especially political generals. Sherman’s attitude led to Logan's distaste for professional soldiers and West Pointers.

Their past conflict and biases were apparently overcome in the decades following the war, as Logan sent his former commander this inscribed copy of his book and Sherman entered it into his own library.

Logan was widely regarded as the most capable of the "political generals" and continued a very successful political career after war, returning to the U.S House of Representatives before earning a US Senate seat in 1879. He was the Commander-In-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (1886-1871) and was James G. Blaine's vice presidential running mate in the 1884 election.

Condition: minor scuffing.

PROVENANCE:

The Sherman-Fitch Library

Primarily assembled by General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), the collection of books was inherited and curated by his son, Philemon Tecumseh Sherman (1867-1941). Before his death, Philemon transferred the library to his niece, Eleanor Sherman Fitch (1876-1959). Eleanor was the granddaughter of General Sherman through his eldest daughter, Maria "Minnie" Ewing Sherman Fitch (1851-1913). Until now, the Sherman-Fitch library was held at the family estate in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

The library includes a range of diverse material owned by General Sherman that principally relates to the Civil War, American history, and the Sherman family. Many works in the Sherman-Fitch library are historically significant, including General Sherman's annotated copy of Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, the Sherman family bible, and Barnard's "Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign."

Most examples in the collection are affixed with bookplates that bear both General Sherman's and Philemon's names. In some cases, where General Sherman's ownership was clear, his bookplate was not always affixed. However, books with just Philemon's bookplate were generally acquired after his father's death in 1891. General Sherman’s bookplates were likely added by Philemon after his father’s death. Philemon’s bookplates were placed by Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (1908-1969) after he inherited the library in 1942.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Books, Ephemera, Politics, Generals]