John Azor Kellogg

John Azor Kellogg (March 16, 1828 – February 10, 1883) was an American lawyer, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served as a Union Army officer through the entire American Civil War, serving with the famed Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac; he received an honorary brevet to brigadier general after the war. He was a prisoner of war for several months in 1864, and later wrote an account of his escape from captivity and his war service, called Capture and Escape: A Narrative of Army and Prison Life. He later served in the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 21st Senate district from 1879 to 1881.

Early life Born in Bethany, Pennsylvania, Kellogg moved with his parents to , in the Wisconsin Territory, in 1840. At age 18, he began studying law at Madison, Wisconsin. In 1857, he was admitted to the State Bar of Wisconsin and moved to Mauston, Wisconsin, in Juneau County. He was elected district attorney for Juneau County in 1860, but resigned in April 1861 to enter service with the Union Army in the American Civil War.

Civil War service At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Kellogg worked with Rufus Dawes to raise a company of volunteers, known as the "Lemonweir Minute Men", from Mauston and the surrounding areas of Juneau County. Dawes was elected captain with Kellogg as first lieutenant; their company was incorporated into the 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and organized as of that regiment on May 3, 1861. Upon their arrival in Washington, D.C., the regiment was organized into a brigade along with three other regiments from Wisconsin and Indiana. Their brigade later became known as the Iron Brigade, and was attached to the Army of the Potomac for most of the war. He had actually been taken prisoner. He was held in Virginia for a time, then transferred to Georgia. He escaped while en route to Charleston, South Carolina, but was pursued and recaptured. On October 15, while being transferred from Charleston to Columbia, South Carolina, Kellogg escaped again. This time he successfully reached Union forces near Calhoun, Georgia, having traveled 350 miles after his escape.

Postbellum years After the war, Kellogg moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and served as a U.S. Pension Agent in La Crosse from 1866 to 1875. Politically, Kellogg was described as a Radical Republican.

Kellogg died of a heart attack in February 1883, at age 54. He was buried in Wausau, but later his body was re-interred in Faribault, Minnesota, where his eldest daughter, Ida, was then residing.

Personal life and family In 1852, Kellogg married Adelaide Worthington of Prairie du Sac. They had five children, but at least one died in childhood.

Published works Kellogg published articles about his involvement in the Civil War. In 1908, the articles were collected and published by the Wisconsin Historical Commission as Capture and Escape: A Narrative of Army and Prison Life.

Electoral history