Benjamin Logan (1742-11 December 1802) was a colonel of the Virginia militia during the American Revolutionary War and one of the leaders of Kentucky during its colonization by the United States.
Biography[]
Benjamin Logan was born in 1742 in Augusta County, Virginia, and he inherited his father's 860 acre farm when his father died in 1757. Logan joined the Virginia militia during the 1764 expedition against the Shawnee led by Henry Bouquet, and he served as a Lieutenant in the colonial militia during Lord Dunmore's War against the Shawnee on the Virginia frontier. In 1776, he moved to Kentucky and built Logan's Fort, and he served under George Rogers Clark during his campaign against the Native Americans in 1778, although Logan and Clark disagreed on strategy. From 1781 to 1787, Logan served in the Virginia House of Delegates, and in October 1786 he began Logan's Raid against his enemies, the Shawnee. Chief Moluntha's murder against Logan's orders led to the Northwest Indian War breaking out. From 1792 to 1795, Logan served in the Kentucky House of Representatives after Kentucky became a state, and in 1796 and 1800 he ran for Governor. Logan died of a stroke in 1802.