★ ★ Dodge, Grenville M.

Grenville Mellen Dodge:​

Born: April 12, 1831

Birthplace: Putnamville Massachusetts

Father: Sylvanus Dodge 1801 – 1871

(Buried: Walnut Hill Cemetery Council Bluffs Iowa)​

Mother: Julia Theresa Phillips 1802 – 1888

(Buried: Walnut Hill Cemetery Council Bluffs Iowa)​

Wife: Ruth Ann "Annie" Browne 1833 – 1916

(Buried: Walnut Hill Cemetery Council Bluffs Iowa)​

Children:

Lettie Dodge Montgomery 1855 – 1935​

(Buried: Simsbury Cemetery Simsbury Connecticut)​

​

Eleanor Dodge Pusey 1858 – 1931​

(Buried: Walnut Hill Cemetery Council Bluffs Iowa)​

​

Anne Dodge 1866 – 1950​

(Buried: Walnut Hill Cemetery Council Bluffs Iowa)​

Education:

1851: Graduated from Norwich University​

Occupation before War:

Surveyor and Ax Man for Illinois Central Railroad​

Worked for the Peoria division of Chicago and Rock Island Railroad​

Surveyor of Railroads in Council Bluffs Iowa​

Member of the Banking firm of Baldwin and Dodge​

Member of Council Bluffs Iowa City Council​

Civil War Career:

1861: Sent to Washington, D.C. to secure 6,000 muskets for Iowa​

​

1861 – 1862: Colonel of 4th​ Iowa Infantry Regiment​

​

1861: Pistol in his coat discharged causing wound in his left leg​

​

1862: Wounded in the side and hand at the Battle of Pea Ridge​

​

1862 – 1864: Brigadier General, Union Army, Infantry​

Commander of Union Forces in Corinth, Mississippi

​

1862: Served in the fighting at Hatchie River, Mississippi​

​

1862: Captured Confederate guerillas at Dyersburg, Tennessee​

​

1863: Attacked Tuscumbia, Alabama attacking Van Dorn​

​

1863: Intelligence Officer during the Vicksburg Campaign​

​

1863: Used method of building two story blockhouses near bridges​

​

1863: Aggressive with his recruitment of African American Soldiers​

​

1863: Asked by President Lincoln where point Union Pacific should be​

​

1863: General Grant petitioned for promotion of Dodge​

​

1863: Led successful expedition to Northern Alabama​

​

1863: Served in the skirmish at Rawhide, Alabama​

​

1864 – 1866: Major General, Union Army Volunteers​

​

1864: Corps Commander during the Atlanta, Georgia Campaign​

​

1864: Led Sweeney's Division in the Battle of Atlanta, Georgia​

​

1864: Got into a fist fight with Thomas W. Sweeny​

​

1864: Corps Commander at the Battle of Ezra Church, Georgia​

​

1864: Shot in the head during the Siege of Atlanta, Georgia​

​

1864 – 1865: Union Army Commander of Department of Missouri​

​

1864 – 1865: Provided information for Thomas Clark Durant​

​

Commander of the Departments of Kansas, Nebraska, and Utah​

​

1865: Ordered the start of the Powder River Expedition​

​

1865: Found a pass for the Union Pacific Railroad in Wyoming​

​

1866: Resigned as Major General from the Union Army in May​

Occupation after War:

Chief Engineer of Union Pacific Railroad Company​

​

1867 – 1869: United States Congressman from Iowa​

​

1867 – 1869: Lobbyist on behalf of the Union Pacific Railroad​

​

1868: Delegate to Republican Party National Convention​

​

Helped complete negotiations for the First Transcontinental Railroad​

​

1876: Delegate to Republican Party National Convention​

​

President and Chief Engineer of Several Railroad Companies​

​

Moved to New York City to manage his business Interests​

​

Member of Commission to investigate Spanish American War Army​

​

Returned to his home in Council Bluffs, Iowa​

Died: January 3, 1916

Place of Death: Council Bluffs, Iowa

Cause of Death: Cancer of Rectum and Bladder

Age at time of Death: 84 years old

Burial Place: Walnut Hill Cemetery, Council Bluffs, Iowa

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

That would have been an important step to prevent scurvy and Vitamin A deficiency.

I would like to read more about how much understanding there was at that time in the US regarding the causes of malnutrition, but the fact that he was so proactive about addressing the health of his soldiers, and not just relying on what the government or the local countryside would provide, is kind of astounding to me. Possibly a man who felt if you wanted something done right, you needed to do it yourself?

What other general did something like this? Maybe this cut down on foraging parties and kept the locals happier as well.

 

[wausaubob]

I would like to read more about how much understanding there was at that time in the US regarding the causes of malnutrition, but the fact that he was so proactive about addressing the health of his soldiers, and not just relying on what the government or the local countryside would provide, is kind of astounding to me. Possibly a man who felt if you wanted something done right, you needed to do it yourself?

What other general did something like this? Maybe this cut down on foraging parties and kept the locals happier as well.He was fro

He was from Iowa, a farming state. And he had wilderness experience. He probably knew dietary diversity was a requirement.

 

[Pollaco]

Isn't he the one who got into a fist fight with one armed General Sweeny?