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PATRIOTISM OF ILLINOIS.

475 zeal by accepting it, although at great pecuniary loss to himself and family. During the long period from his enlistment, to the investment of Vicksburg, the regiment did not meet the enemy in battle; but on the 22d of May, when General Grant ordered the assault, owing to the illness of Col. Starring, he assumed entire command of the regiment. Not satisfied with the usual position of an officer, sword in hand, he led his men clear up to the rifle-pits, where he received his death wound. He died a true soldier. In his last moments he was continually talking about military movements, giving orders to his regiment, and urging on his men to the charge. We have seen him as a merchant and soldier. As a citizen, he strictly and conscientiously fulfilled all the duties of life. He was not only a professed Christian, but one who practiced his Christianity by carrying it into all the details of every day life. He won hosts of friends among all parties. In the social circle few had such conversational powers, or used those powers in a manner so entirely free from taint or corruption. He was pre-eminently a lover of his family hearth, and the genuineness of his patriotism is no more thoroughly shown, than by the sacrifice it cost him to leave his home. As a speaker, he was fluent, and gifted with an eloquence which has rarely been excelled west of the lakes. For many years he was the leading spokesman of the Chicago Board of Trade, which has boasted many good speakers.

A sincere and humble Christian, an upright and honorable man, a sagacious and enterprising merchant, a gallant and patriotic soldier, a true man-he laid down his life upon the altar of his country, and that country mourning the loss of so many of her sons in this wicked rebellion, has lost none braver, truer or nobler than Joseph C. Wright.

CHAPTER XXIX.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ILLINOIS GENERALS-LIFE And Career of GEN. MCCLERNAND-HIS YOUTH-ON THE LAW AND IN BUSINESS-ELECTED TO THE Legislature— ADVOCACY OF GREAT PUBLIC MEASURES-ELECTED TO CONGRESS-BILLS INTRODUCED— ENTERS THE SERVICE-HIS CAREER AS A GENERAL-RESIGNATION-LIFE OF GEN. LOGAN CONGRESSIONAL CAREER-IN THE SERVICE-PERSONAL SKETCH-HIS INFLUENCE AND EXAMPLE—A NOBLE LETTER-LIFE OF GEN. RANSOM-EARLY DAYS IN CHICAGO-ENTERS THE SERVICE-AT VICKSBURG AND PLEASANT HILLS-HIS HEROISM-LAST ILLNESS-DEATH of a Gallant Soldier-GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF HIS DEATH-SUMMARY OF HIS CHARACTER-GEN. MCARTHUR AND HIS LIFE AND CAREER.

JOHN

OHN ALEXANDER McCLERNAND was born of Scotch parents, in Kentucky, and, when very young, went with his parents to Shawneetown, Ill. At the early age of twenty he took an honorable position at the bar, in the practice of the legal profession. In 1832, he volunteered as a private in the Black-Hawk war, in which he served until its close, and during which he performed many gallant actions, among them that of bearing a dispatch from General Posey nearly one hundred miles through a wild country infested by hostile Indians.

After the war his health was so impaired that it would not allow him to resume his profession and he consequently engaged in more active pursuits, trading on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. In 1835 he established the first Democratic press in Shawneetown, and in the same year re-commenced the practice of the law. In 1836 he was elected to the State Legislature from the county of Gallatin. During the session he was appointed on a committee, of which Douglas was a member, to investigate charges preferred by Governor Duncan against President Jackson, and was also an ardent advocate of the "deep-cut plan," for the Illinois and Michigan Canal, of which great

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IN THE LEGISLATURE.

477 work he was soon after elected commissioner and treasurer. In 1838 the office of Lieutenant-Governor was tendered him, which he declined, as he was not yet of the constitutional age-thirty years.

In 1840 he was elected the second time to the Legislature from the county of Gallatin. During the session, Mr. McClernand, in a debate, made a statement, on the authority of Mr. Douglas, impugning the conduct of the Supreme Court, to which Judge Theophilus W. Smith took exception, and sent a challenge, which was promptly accepted. He repaired to the appointed spot but the Judge failed to make his appearance.

In 1839 he was nominated, by a State Convention, as one of the electors to support Van Buren and Johnson. In 1842 he was elected to the Legislature for the third time from Gallatin, during which session he brought forward amendments to the banking system of the State, which were finally adopted. In 1843, while still a member of the Legislature, he was elected a representative to the twenty-eighth Congress. His first speech in Congress was on the bill to refund the fine imposed on General Jackson by Judge Hall. During the same session he made speeches on the Rhode Island controversy and in favor of the repeal of the second section of the apportionment law, requiring the States to elect representatives to Congress by single districts. During this session he also brought forward, as a member of the Committee on Public Lands, a report, accompanied by a bill, for a grant of land to aid in the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. In 1844, owing to a change of the usual time by an act of the Legislature, another election for representatives in Congress came on and Mr. McClernand was elected without opposition. He was one of the members who insisted upon the "fifty-four forty," in the Oregon controversy, and as chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, he introduced a bill to grant to the State of Tennessee the public lands of the United States lying within her borders. During the first session of the twenty-ninth Congress, he introduced the bill to reduce and graduate the price of the public lands. At the ensuing session he took an active part in favor of the bill to bring into market the mineral regions around Lake Superior.

In 1846 he was again elected to Congress for the third time, and

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