Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-01-06
MILITARY H0NORs
FOR GEN.. DODGE
DISTINGUISHED COUNCIL BLUFFS
CITIZEN TO BE BURIED
THURSDAY.

Council BLUFFS, Jan. 4. - Inc funeral
of Gen. Grenville M. Dodge will be
held Thursday. Two battalions OF
Iowa and Nebraska national guards
men will act as escort
Gen. Grenville NJ Dodge, distinguish
ed soldier and railroad builder, died at
his home here Monday afternoon at 3
O'Clock. He was S4 years Of age and
was the last surviving union general
who commanded a corps in the civil
war.
Since 1911 Gen. Dodge had been
president for life of the Society of the
Army of the Tennessee, whose annual
meeting last fall was abandoned be-
cause of his i'll health.
q Two notable services to his country
assure Major General Granville Mellen
Dodge a place among the history max
ers of the civil war and reconstruction
periods. .u-
AS a soldier his valor Is attested by
the fact that four horses were shot
from under him in the battle Of Pea
Ridge, and that he himself received
wounds in several battles. 1 .
AS a pioneer in western railroad
building he has the Union Pacific rail-
road, whose line he located and whose
construction he superintendent, stand
ing today as a monument to his mem
DRY.
Some sixty years ago, the then
young Dodge, who had moved from
New England, where he had studied
civil engineering, to Council Bluffs,
entered the employ of the Illinois Cen
trail railroad. Abraham Lincoln, who
had done legal work for the same COM
pany, met the young Yankee. They
talked of building a railroad over the
Rocky mountains and beyond. The
world had been laughing at the pro-
ject. Lincoln and Dodge agreed that
1t was feasible
The federal government shortly at
terward decided to begin surveying for
the proposed line. Dodge jumped at
the chance Of leading the party. Sew
eral trips were made as far as the
Rocky mountains searching for the
most feasible route, the men under
Dodge plunging into many wilderness
to meet stubborn resistance on the
part Of the Indians.
In the midst of the undertaking the
civil war broke. Dodge, born at Dan
vers, Mass, in 1881, was just thirty
years old. He had had some military
training at Norwich university, In Yer
mont, and some experience fighting In
dams. Securing a coloneps commits
sion from his old friend, President Lin
coin, he raised, drilled and equipped at
his own expense the Fourth Iowa in
fantry regiment.
Within two weeks Colonel Dodge
was leading his command against the
rebels in northern Missouri. His gal
lantry soon afterWard at the battle OF
Pea Ridge won almost instant promo
ton to the rank Of brigadier general.
He lost one-fourth of his entire COM
mand but he saved the day for the
federal army. He again distinguished
himself in the decisive battle OF the At
lanta campaign, July %, 1864. when he
defeated General Hoods desperate
to the rear Of the Army OF
the Tennessee.
Later while standing in trench be-
fore Atlanta, General Dodge was shot
and severely wounded in the head.
After the fall of Vivksburg he receiv-
ed appreciative recognition from Gen
eral Grant, being promoted to major
general and given command OF the
sixteenth army corps. >s
The hanging of "sam" Davis, a Con-
federate spy who was captured In Ten.
nessee, was one of the incidents OF
General lodges career. On Davis
were found complete plans Of the forti-
1cations at Nashville, which, evidently
he had received from some federal Of
ticer high in authority. General Dodge
offered the young spy his freedom II
he would reveal the name of his infor-
mant, but the accused man refused.
Half a dozen times before sending the
man to the gallows, General Dodge Of
fered him immunity. The spy went to
his death with his lips closed. HE
was the bravest man that ever died."
said General Dodge
When General Dodge retired In 1865,
it was to go back to railroad building.
Once, in the meantime, Lincoln had
summoned Dodge to Washington for
conference on the route. Dodge sug.
gested Omaha as the eastern terminus
of the railway and it was at his sug-
gestion that this decision was made.
Work had progressed but slowly, how