Evening star., 1916-01-04
MAI. GEN. DODGE
EXPIRES IN IOWA
Distinguished Soldier and Rail-
road Builder Was Eighty
Four Years Old.
WAS FRIEND OF LINCOLN
IN EARLY DAYS OF BOTH
Carried to It's Success the Construc
ton of Trunk Line Across the
Rocky Mountains.

COUNCIL BLUFFS. Iowa, January A.
Maj. Gen. Grenville Mellen Dodge. dis
tinguished soldier and railroad builder,
died at his home here yesterday after
noon. He will be buried in this city
Thursday. The funeral services will be
in charge OF Col Matt A. Kinney of
the Iowa National Guard, in accordance
with Gen. Dodge's wishes, expressed
shortly before his death. Two battalions
of Iowa and Nebraska guardsmen will
act as escort. Cen Dodge's three daugh-
tiers will attend the funeral, but his
widow who is in New York, has an
nounced that she is too i'll 10 make the
trip.
Two notable services to his country as
sure Gen. Dodge a place among the his
tory makers of the civil war and recon-
struction periods.
AS 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
AS a pioneer in western railroad build
ing he has the Union Pacific railroad,
whose line he located and whose con-
struction he Superintended, standing to-
day as a monument TO his memory.
Early Friend of Lincoln.
Some sixty years ago the then young
Dodge, who had moved from New Eng
land, where he had studied civil en-
gineering, to Council Bluffs, Iowa, en-
tered the employ of the Illinois Central
railroad Abraham Lincoln, who had
done legal work for the same company,
met the young Yankee They talked of
mountains and beyond The world had
been laughing at the project. Lincoln
and Dodge agreed that it was feasible.
The federal government shortly att
erward decided to begin surveying for
the proposed line. Dodge jumped at the
chance of leading the party. Several
mountains searching for the most
feasible route, the men under Dodge
plunging into many a wilderness to
meet stubborn resistance on the part
of the Indians.
In the midst of the undertaking the
civil war broke. Dodge. born at Dam
Vers, Mass, in 1881, was just thirty
years old. He had had some military
training at Norwich University in Ver-
mont. and some experience fighting In
dians. Securing a colonel's commission
from his old friend. President Lincoln,
he raised, drilled and equipped at his
own expense the 4th Iowa Infantry
Regiment
Within two weeks Col Dodge was
leading his command against the rebels
in northern Missouri. His galiantry
soon afterward. at the battle of Pea
Ridge, won almost instant promotion
to the rank of brigadier general He
lost one-fourth of his entire command,
but he saved the day for the Federal
army He again distinguished him
self in the decisive battle of the At
lanta campaign. July %, 1854, when
he defeated Gen. Hoods desperate
movement to the rear of the Army Of the
Tennessee.
;, Wounded at Atlanta.
Later while standing in trench be-
fore Atlanta, Gen. Dodge was shot and
severely wounded in the head
After the fall of Vicksburg he re-
ceived appreciative recognition from
Gen. Grant. being promoted to major
general and given command of the 18th
Army Corps.
The hanging of Sam Davis, Con-
federate spy, who was captured in
Tennessee. was one of the incidents Of
Gen. Dodge's career. On Davis were
found complete plans of the fortiica-
tions at Nashville. which evidently he
had received from some federal officer
high in authority. Gen. Dodge offered
the young spy his freedom If he would
reveal the name of his informant, but
the accused man refused, Half a
dozen times before sending the man
to the gallows Gen. Dodge offered
him immunity. The spy went to his
death with his lips closed. He was
the pravest man that ever died. said
Gen. Dodge.
When Gen. Dodge retired in 1856, it
was to go back to railroad building.
Once, in the meantime. Lincoln had sum-
moned Dodge to Washington for con-
ference on the route. Dodge suggested
Omaha as the eastern terminus of the
railway, and it was at his suggestion that
this decision was made. Work had
progressed slowly however. up to 1866,
when Dodge took charge again. BY May,
1877, he had 1900 men along the River
Platte, and he kept them steadily NOV
ing westward. Within three years the
last spike was driven
In addition TO his military service and
his engineering successes Gen. Dodge re-
mained UP to late in life an active and
influential man. He was elected to Con-
gress the first year after the war, and
IL was said that a promising political life
was before him. but he declined renomina-
ton. I'm favor Of the railway project He
was later delegate to the repu blican ma
tional conventions Of 1858 and 1876 In
1898 he was chairman Of the Presidents
commission to inquire into the manage
ment Of the war with Spain. He was FOR
time commander-in-chief Of the Mil
tary Order of the Loyal Legion and an
officer OF numerous patriotic organiza-
tions.