Dodge, Grenville Mellen

Dodge, Grenville Mellen, 1831–1916, Union general in the Civil War and railroad builder, b. Danvers, Mass. Before the war Dodge, a civil engineer, did railroad work in the West. After he distinguished himself leading a brigade at Pea Ridge (Mar., 1862), where he was wounded, he was made a brigadier general of volunteers. Dodge's skill in rapidly rebuilding the bridges and railroads destroyed by Confederate forces was of great value to Grant and Sherman in their Western campaigns. Promoted to major general of volunteers (June, 1864), he led a corps in Sherman's Atlanta campaign until he was severely wounded at the siege of Atlanta. After campaigning (1865–66) against the Native Americans, he left (May, 1866) the army to become chief engineer of the Union Pacific RR. His efficient and rapid construction of that line was his greatest achievement. Dodge was a Republican Congressman from Iowa (1867–69). Throughout his long career he was prominent as a developer of railroads, especially in the Southwest.

Bibliography

See biography by S. P. Hirshson (1967).