His successes in battle are part of the lore of the Civil War, as were his occasional mishaps. He would not achieve the political power of Grant, but he did not really want it. What he wanted was a permanent fighting force made up of a few professionals completely under the control of democratic institutions and many citizen-soldiers whose military education and training came as close to that of West Point as the nation could afford. Logan was serious about his soldiering and the administrative duties he was fulfilling in the late 1880s, but he also knew his reading public. In this crisp and convincing account he gives plenty for them to read about his campaigns but he also knows the citizen-soldier was the reason for his success. Here he blends his reminiscences with stout research on military education, the benefits and deficiencies of the militia system and its training methods, and the reason why old soldiers like him need well-prepared volunteers to make an effective armed force to defend democracy.