by Rev. Canon Dr. Robert Girard Carroon, PCinC
One of the major figures among the tycoons of the Gilded Age, Grenville Mellen Dodge was far more than a financier and builder of railroads. Major General Dodge was an important figure in the War of the Rebellion, eventually rising to command the XVI Corps at the Battle of Atlanta. Although a valiant and inspiring leader on the battlefield, it was in engineering and military intelligence that General Dodge made his greatest contributions to the war effort.
A native of Danvers, Massachusetts, Dodge was born on April 12, 1831, the son of Sylvanus and Julia Theresa (nee Phillips) Dodge. The family was not well off financially, and Grenville worked at various jobs – clerking in stores, driving delivery carts, and selling produce. Eventually, he was able to attend Durham Academy in New Hampshire and then Norwich University in Vermont. He graduated in 1851 from the scientific department with a degree in civil and military engineering and immediately became involved in the work that would occupy much of his life – railroad construction.
His interest in railroad engineering and in the real estate development accompanying westward railroad expansion brought him to Peru, Illinois, where he secured a position with the Illinois Central Railroad. He soon became associated with the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad and undertook survey work from Davenport to Iowa City and from there to Council Bluffs and Omaha, Nebraska. It was in Council Bluffs that Grenville M. Dodge established his home. He became a prominent citizen, organizing the banking house of Baldwin and Dodge while continuing his railroad work. In 1856, together with other young men in the town, he organized a militia company, the Council Bluffs Guards. His military education at Norwich University led to his selection as Captain of the Company.
At the outbreak of the Rebellion, Governor Kirkwood sent Dodge to Washington, DC, to obtain arms and equipment for the Iowa regiments then being raised. He succeeded and, upon returning to Council Bluffs, was given permission to raise a regiment, the 4th Iowa Infantry, and also Dodge’s Battery, Iowa Light Artillery. Commissioned Colonel of the 4th, he attacked and defeated a large rebel force under Colonel John A. Poindexter. He then reported to Major General John C. Frémont in St. Louis.
Given command of the 4th Division, Army of the Southwest under Major General Samuel R. Curtis, he participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge, where three horses were killed from under him and he was wounded. Promoted to Brigadier General and recovering from his wounds, he was assigned to command the District of Columbia, Missouri. There he demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for military intelligence. He recruited over 100 operatives who spread throughout the western Confederacy from Missouri through Tennessee and Alabama. He enlisted formerly-enslaved African-Americans and formed the First Alabama Colored Infantry Regiment. Along with the First Alabama Cavalry, these units conducted secret service work for General Dodge. His intelligence reports enabled him to defeat General John B. Villepique on the Hatchie River, capture General Faulkner near Island Number Ten, and attack General Earl Van Dorn at Tuscumbia, Tennessee.
In the spring of 1863, from his headquarters at Corinth, Mississippi, Dodge opened the campaign by defeating forces under Generals Nathan Bedford Forrest, Philip R. Roddey, and Samuel W. Ferguson. In July, he was assigned command of the left wing of the XVI Corps and conducted a raid on Grenada, capturing 55 locomotives and 1,000 rail cars. He rebuilt railroads, organized and equipped thousands of African-American troops, and continued intelligence operations throughout the Trans-Mississippi area. While attached to General William T. Sherman’s forces at Vicksburg, his agents penetrated the city and provided General Ulysses Grant with up-to-date reports on conditions within the besieged city.
While stationed in Tennessee directing the Bureau of Military Intelligence for General Grant, he captured Samuel Davis, often referred to as the “Nathan Hale of the Confederacy.” Davis, serving as a courier, was captured in a Union overcoat carrying incriminating documents intended for General Braxton Bragg. When Davis refused to identify his superior – Captain Henry B. Shaw, operating under the alias Captain E. Coleman and already in Dodge’s custody –General Dodge reluctantly ordered Davis’s execution. After the war, Dodge contributed to a monument honoring Samuel Davis.
In the spring of 1864, General Dodge joined General Sherman at Chattanooga and participated in the opening of the Atlanta Campaign. On August 19, while leading elements of the XVI Corps before Atlanta, he was seriously wounded in the head. After recovering, he was ordered to relieve General William S. Rosecrans and take command of the Department of Missouri. There he again demonstrated intelligence expertise, infiltrating guerrilla forces in Missouri and Kansas and capturing or eliminating many bushwhackers. General Jeff C. Thompson surrendered 8,000 officers and men, and General Kirby Smith surrendered approximately 4,000.
General Oliver Otis Howard wrote of him, “General G.M. Dodge was Sherman’s special favorite on account of his work with bridge making and railway construction on marches or in battles. Dodge’s capabilities and personality alike drew Sherman to him. I never knew an officer who on all occasions could talk so freely and frankly to Sherman as Dodge. One good reason for this was that Dodge’s courage was always calm and his equanimity contagious, no matter how great or trying the disturbing causes.”
Following the war, promoted to Major General for his service at Vicksburg, Dodge commanded a vast district encompassing Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Western Dakota, Montana, and Utah. He oversaw campaigns against Native Americans, directing forces under Generals John B. Sanborn, Patrick E. Connor, and others. Peace treaties were concluded with the Comanches, Apaches, Southern Cheyennes, and other tribes.
In June 1866, Dodge resigned and returned to Council Bluffs to become Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad. Shortly thereafter, he was elected to the 40th United States Congress, serving on the Military Affairs Committee and assisting in postwar army reorganization. Declining renomination, he resumed railroad work. On May 10, 1869, he participated in driving the golden spike at Promontory Point, Utah. His railroad projects extended across the West and Southwest, including work on the Texas and Pacific, Denver and Fort Worth, and Denver, Texas, and Gulf lines. He supervised construction of the Mexican Oriental Railway and served as a consultant on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Communities including Dodge City, Kansas; Dodge City, Nebraska; and Fort Dodge, Iowa, were named in his honor. Later moving to New York City to manage his business interests, he became active in civic causes, serving as Vice President of the Grant Monument Association and Chairman of the Grant Memorial in Washington, D.C.
General Dodge joined the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States on May 1, 1867, as a Companion of the First Class of the Pennsylvania Commandery, receiving Insignia #484. He later helped found the New York Commandery, transferring there in 1886. He served as Commander of the New York Commandery from May 5, 1897 to May 5, 1898. On October 16, 1907, he succeeded General John R. Brooke as Commander-in-Chief of the Loyal Legion.
Commenting on the Loyal Legion, General Dodge said, “I look upon this organization as the most distinguished and useful of all patriotic societies. In its constitution and actions, it has shown above and beyond any selfish or personal motives the greatest patriotism and interest in the welfare of our country. Since its organization it has been run so successfully that it is looked upon the world over as a great honor to become one of its members.”
His final major national service was chairing the commission appointed by President William McKinley to examine the conduct of U.S. forces in the Spanish-American War. Known as the Dodge Commission, it consisted of twelve Civil War veterans, nearly all members of the Loyal Legion. While offering some criticisms – drawing the displeasure of General Nelson A. Miles – the Commission concluded that the armed forces had performed admirably. Dodge also supervised reconstruction efforts in the Caribbean, including construction of Cuban railways. President Theodore Roosevelt remarked that had Dodge been ten years younger, he would have entrusted him with supervision of the Panama Canal’s construction.
General Dodge was succeeded as Commander-in-Chief, after serving a two-year term, by Lieutenant General John C. Bates. In 1854, he married Ruth Anne Brown of Peru, Illinois. They had three daughters: Lettie, Ella, and Anne. Lettie married Major Robert H. Montgomery of the U.S. Cavalry. Their son, Grenville Mellen Dodge Montgomery, became a member by inheritance of the Pennsylvania Commandery with Insignia #16144. Grenville Mellen Dodge died in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on January 13, 1916, and was interred in a mausoleum there in Walnut Hill Cemetery overlooking the Missouri River.