Grenville M . Dodge Grenville Mellen Dodge ( April 12 , 1831 – January 3 , 1916 ) was a Union army officer on the frontier and during the Civil War , a U . S . Congressman , businessman , and railroad executive who helped construct the Transcontinental Railroad . Early life and career . Dodge was born in Putnamville , near Danvers in Massachusetts , to Sylvanus and Julia Theresa Phillips Dodge . From the time of his birth until he was 13 years old , Dodge moved frequently while his father tried various occupations . In 1844 , Sylvanus Dodge became postmaster of the South Danvers office and opened a bookstore . While working at a neighboring farm , the 14 - year - old Grenville met the owner ' s son , Frederick W . Lander , and helped him survey a railroad . Lander was to become " one the ablest surveyors of the exploration of the West , " according to Charles Edgar Ames in " Pioneering the Union Pacific " . Lander was impressed with Dodge and encouraged him to go to his alma mater , Norwich University ( in Vermont ) . Dodge prepared for college by attending Durham Academy in New Hampshire . In 1851 , he graduated from Norwich University with a degree in civil engineering , then moved to Iowa , where he settled in the Missouri River city of Council Bluffs . For the next decade , he was involved in surveying for railroads , including the Union Pacific . He married Ruth Anne Browne on May 29 , 1854 . He was also a partner in the Baldwin & Dodge banking firm , and in 1860 served on the Council Bluffs City Council . Civil War . Dodge joined the Union Army in the Civil War . At the beginning of the war , Dodge was sent by the Governor of Iowa to Washington , D . C . , where he secured 6 , 000 muskets to supply Iowa volunteers . In July 1861 , he was appointed Colonel of the 4th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment . He commanded the 1st Brigade , 4th Division at the Battle of Pea Ridge , where he was wounded . For his services at the battle , he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers and placed in command of the District of the Mississippi , where he was involved in protecting and building railroads . He was appointed major general in June 1864 and commanded the XVI Corps during William T . Sherman ' s Atlanta campaign . At the Battle of Atlanta , the XVI Corps was held in reserve , but it happened to be placed in a position which directly intercepted John B . Hood ' s flank attack . During the fighting Dodge rode to the front and personally led Thomas W . Sweeny ' s division into battle . This action outraged Sweeny so much that he got in a fistfight with Dodge and fellow division commander John W . Fuller . Sweeny received a court - martial for this action while Dodge continued to lead the corps at the Battle of Ezra Church . During the ensuing siege of Atlanta , while looking through an eyehole in the Union breastworks a Confederate sharpshooter spotted him and shot him in the head . After , he was to complete the war as commander of the Department of the Missouri . Also during the war , he provided information to Thomas Clark Durant who consequently made a fortune smuggling contraband cotton from the Confederate States . After the war , Dodge joined the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and was assigned insignia number 484 . Indian campaigns . As the Civil War was coming to a close , Dodge ' s Department of the Missouri was expanded to include the departments of Kansas , Nebraska and Utah . During the summer of 1865 , Sioux , Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians had been raiding the Bozeman Trail and overland mail routes . Dodge ordered a punitive campaign to quell these raids , which came to be known as the Powder River Expedition . Field command of the expedition was given to Brig . Gen . Patrick Edward Connor , who commanded the District of Utah . Connor ' s men inflicted a decisive defeat on the Arapaho Indians at the Battle of the Tongue River , but the expedition in general was inconclusive and eventually escalated into Red Cloud ' s War . Railroads . During the 1865 campaign in the Laramie Mountains in Wyoming ( known then as the Black Hills ) , while escaping from a war - party , Dodge realized he had found a pass for the Union Pacific Railroad , west of the Platte River . In May 1866 , he resigned from the military and , with the endorsement of Generals Grant and Sherman , became the Union Pacific ' s chief engineer and thus a leading figure in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad . Dodge ' s job was to plan the route and devise solutions to any obstacles encountered . Dodge had been hired by Herbert M . " Hub " Hoxie , a former Lincoln appointee and winner of the contract to build the first 250 miles of the Union Pacific Railroad . Hoxie assigned the contract to investor Clark " Doc " Durant who was later prosecuted for attempts to manipulate the route to suit his land - holdings . This brought him into vicious conflict with Dodge and Hoxie . Eventually Durant imposed a consulting engineer named Silas Seymour to spy and interfere with Dodge ' s decisions . Seeing that Durant was making a fortune , Dodge bought shares in Durant ' s company , Crédit Mobilier , which was the main contractor on the project . He made a substantial profit , but when the scandal of Durant ' s dealings emerged , Dodge removed himself to Texas to avoid testifying in the inquiry . Politics and later life . In 1866 , Dodge defeated incumbent Republican John A . Kasson in the nominating convention to represent Iowa ' s 5th congressional district in Congress . In the general election , he won , defeating former Union general James M . Tuttle . His election brought problems since he was also away much of the time building the railroad . His time in Washington ( during the Fortieth United States Congress ) , was often spent lobbying on behalf of the Union Pacific , although he supported internal improvements to the West . He served in the House from March 4 , 1867 to March 3 , 1869 . In April he would complete negotiations with Collis Huntington , on behalf of Union Pacific Railroad regarding the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad . He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago in 1868 and again at the 1876 convention in Cincinnati . After his term in office expired , he returned to railroad engineering . During the 1880s and 1890s , he served as president or chief engineer of dozens of railroad companies . Dodge went to New York City to manage his growing number of businesses he had developed . Dodge returned home to Iowa and died in Council Bluffs in 1916 . He is buried there in Walnut Hill Cemetery . His home , the Grenville M . Dodge House , is a National Historic Landmark . Fort Dodge in Kansas , an important army base during the settlement of the western frontier , was named in his honor , as is Dodge City . Although Dodge Street in Omaha , Nebraska , the location of Union Pacific Headquarters , is often reputed to have been named after him the street was actually named for influential ( and unrelated ) Iowa Senator Augustus C . Dodge . The Interstate 480 bridge over the Missouri River is named the Grenville Dodge Memorial Bridge in his honor . The Iowa Army National Guard Center in Johnston , Iowa is named after him , Camp Dodge . Dodge Hall at his alma mater , Norwich University , is also named after him .