Robert Henry Logan (July 10, 1839 – December 26, 1900) was an American soldier and politician. A

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

colonel during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, he went on to be mayor of

Salem, Virginia Salem is an independent city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,346. It is the county seat of Roanoke County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combin ...

, Salem's attorney, and a member of the

Virginia Legislature The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 1619 ...

Biography

Logan was born in Salem, the son of Joseph Addison Logan and his wife Elsie, the daughter of

Henry A. Edmundson Henry Alonzo Edmundson (June 14, 1814 – December 16, 1890) was a nineteenth-century Virginia lawyer, congressman, farmer, slaveowner and Confederate officer. Early and family life Born in Blacksburg, Virginia on either June 8 or 14 and ...

. He was descended from James Logan, who had been a colonel during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The family also claimed descent from a Scottish "Lord Logan". He was educated at the Montgomery Male Academy and later at

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a private liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers 35 majors, 57 minors and concentrations, and pre-professional pr ...

, moving on to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

in 1857. After distinguished service with the 42nd Virginia Infantry under General

John B. Floyd John Buchanan Floyd (June 1, 1806 – August 26, 1863) was the 31st Governor of Virginia, U.S. Secretary of War, and the Confederate general in the American Civil War who lost the crucial Battle of Fort Donelson. Early family life John Buchan ...

and later with the 27th Virginia Cavalry, Logan served as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

to General

Gabriel C. Wharton Gabriel Colvin Wharton (July 23, 1824 – May 12, 1906) was an American civil engineer and soldier who served as a General officer, general in the Confederate States Army, Confederate Army during the American Civil War. After the war he was a ...

. Having risen to a high command in the

45th Virginia Infantry The 45th Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly in the mountainous area that today encompasses ...

by the end of the war, he returned to Salem, where in 1867 he was admitted to the bar. In 1871 he married Anna Clayton Logan, a

second cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...

, and they had five children. He was Mayor of Salem on two occasions and was the town's attorney for twenty years. He died in Salem, aged 61.

References

1839 births 1900 deaths People from Salem, Virginia Mayors of places in Virginia People of Virginia in the American Civil War Members of the Virginia General Assembly 19th-century American legislators Confederate States Army officers United States Military Academy alumni 19th-century Virginia politicians {{Virginia-mayor-stub