USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. I > Part 27
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The great west with its limitless possibilities attracted him and he turned his attention to the field of railroad building in which he has attained dis- tinction. Arriving in Illinois, he took a position in an engineering party of the Illinois Central Railroad running the line from La Salle to Dixon. On completion of this survey he entered the employ of Peter A. Dey, afterward railroad commissioner of Iowa, in building the Chicago & Rock Island Rail- way, and was soon entrusted with the survey of the Rock Island road to Peoria. While thus engaged he prophesied the building of and to some extent outlined the route for the first great transcontinental railroad, a work with which he was later so closely and prominently connected. After fin- ishing his Peoria survey he accompanied Mr. Dey to Iowa and took part in the building of the Mississippi & Missouri River Railroad from Davenport to Council Bluffs, now a part of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway system.
As he had opportunity between the years of 1853 and 1861, he explored the country west of the Missouri river and examined the Rocky Mountains from north to south to find the best place to cross with a railroad. He not only formulated in his mind but also explained in letters the route which was afterward selected. Such a course is typical of General Dodge's entire life. Ile has not only performed the work in hand but has ever looked forward to the future, planning not only for the exigencies of the moment but for the opportunities to come and in this way he has been one of the promoters of the country's progress and greatness.
In 1854 General Dodge became a resident of Council Bluffs, where he became engaged in manifold interests, including banking, the real-estate business and freighting across the plains. Ile was one of the organizers of the banking house of Baldwin & Dodge, the predecessor of the Council Bluffs Savings Bank, of which his brother, N. P. Dodge, was president thirty-two years. About this time he took the initial step in his military career in organizing the Council Bluffs guards, the nucleus of his future great eom- mand, and was made its captain. He continued in his professional and business interests at Council Bluffs until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he entered upon the second eventful period of his life.
At the outbreak of hostilities he hastened to tender his services to the state government with his command, which he had previously organized. Being located on the frontier. the company was not accepted, but Mr. Dodge was sent by Governor Kirkwood to Washington, in the spring of 1861. to
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arrange for the equipment of the Iowa troops. The delegation in congress had failed to do this but Mr. Dodge was successful and, furthermore, his worth was instantly recognized by the war department, which offered him a commission as captain in the regular army. Ile declined this, but imme- diately upon recommendation of the war department, Governor Kirkwood commissioned him colonel and authorized him to raise a regiment. Within an incredibly short time he had organized the Fourth Iowa Infantry at Council Bluffs and he also recruited a company of artillery known as the Dodge Battery, which became the Second Iowa Battery. Within two weeks time Colonel Dodge was leading his command against the rebels in northern Missouri. He did not wait for the government to slowly clothe and equip his men but pledged his own credit for the purpose. During his excursion into northwestern Missouri he was successful in putting to flight the guerrillas that infested the northwestern part of that state. He also cheeked the rebel colonel, Poindexter, in his northward movement and forced him to retreat to southern Missouri. With his command, Colonel Dodge was first assigned to Rolla, Missonri, where he was placed in command of the post ; in the southwest campaign he commanded the First Brigade, Fourth Division of that army. His regiment was the first that entered the city of Spring- field, Missouri, and at the battle of Pea Ridge his brigade saved Curtis' army from disaster, although he was wounded and had three horses killed, while the fourth was wounded under him. He was under fire for three days, March 6, 7 and 8, 1862, and remained at his post until the battle was brought to a close. IIe lost one-third of his entire command, every field officer being either killed or wounded, for he would not retreat. His calmness in the face of danger, his understanding of the situation and his indomitable courage constituted the strong elements in the achievement of the great victory. His service immediately won recognition in promotion to the rank of brigadier general and when he had recovered from his wounds he was assigned to duty at Columbus, Kentucky, in command of the Central Divi- sion, Army of the Tennessee, where his previous experience as a railroad builder was brought into requisition in the reconstruction of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, which had been destroyed by the rebels and was much needed in carrying supplies to the army. The road lay through a long stretch of country where every mile had to be watched and every stream and bridge guarded from guerrillas, but by the 26th of June, 1862, General Dodge had trains running from Columbus to Corinth, Mississippi.
On the 15th of November, 1862, General Grant appointed General Dodge to command of the Second Division, Army of the Tennessee, and soon after to the district of Corinth, a position which required all kinds of business talent, as he discharged his duties there of engineer, railroad mana- ger, chief of the corps of observation, ete. At the same time both Grant's army at Corinth and Rosecrans' army at Chattanooga relied on him for all information as to the movements of the enemy. He built all railroads needed in his department and destroyed those that could be of any use to the enemy. He intercepted and defeated all raiding parties and quite effectually put a stop to guerrilla warfare. At the same time he was of great assistance to
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Colonel Straite and other raiding parties of the Northern army, one of which under his command destroyed many million dollars' worth of sup- plies for Bragg's army.
About this time President Lincoln called General Dodge to Washington to consult with him about the location of the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad, the result of which it was located at Council Bluffs, Iowa.
In the campaigns of 1863 he defeated the rebel forces under Generals Forrest, Roady, Ferguson and others and took a prominent part in the movement against Grenada, Mississippi, that resulted in capturing fifty-five loco- motives and one thousand cars-a valuable equipment for the Northern army. He received appreciative recognition from General Grant on the 5th of July, 1863, the day after the fall of Vicksburg, being first on his recommendations for promotion to rank of major-general and in appoint- ment to the command of the left wing of the Sixteenth Army Corps, with headquarters at Corinth. When General Grant succeeded General Rosecrans, General Dodge's command was ordered to move with General Sherman to Chattanooga, but before the latter reached Chattanooga, General Grant ordered him to halt and rebuild the railroad from Decatur to Nashville, a work which he accomplished in forty days.
At the opening of the Atlanta campaign he joined General Sherman at Chattanooga on May 4, 1864, in command of the Sixteenth Army Corps in the field and was entrusted with the advance of the Army of the Tennessee in its famous flank movement, taking Ships Gap at midnight on the 5th of May and Snake Creek Gap on the 8th of May, reaching Johnson's rear at Resaca and forcing him to give up his almost impregnable position at Dal- ton, Georgia.
General Dodge was successful in many brilliant engagements and espe- cially distinguished himself in the greatest and most decisive battle of the Atlanta campaign, July 22, 1864, in first meeting and checking and finally defeating, with the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps, General Hood's desperate and able movement to the rear of the Army of the Tennessee. While stand- ing in a trench before Atlanta he was severely wounded in the head, August 19, 1864, and was sent north to recover. During his convalescence he visited General Grant at City Point, Virginia, and saw the splendid armies of the Potomac and James. On the restoration of his health he was assigned in November to the command of the Department and Army of the Missouri. The western country was overrun by guerrillas, and the army was in bad condition. General Dodge proceeded at once to restore order, to introduce discipline and demand obedience, and also quelled the general Indian out- break which then threatened along the entire frontier, and opened the overland mail routes to Denver, Salt Lake and California, which had been closed three months by the Indians, at the same time making a vigorous war on the guerrillas. General Jefferson Thompson's command, with eight thou- sand officers and men, surrendered to him in Arkansas. At the close of the war General Dodge's command was made to include all the Indian country west of the Missouri river and north of Indian Territory, and for a year thereafter he was in command of the Indian campaigns reaching from the
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Arkansas to the Yellowstone rivers. Many Indian battles were fought by his troops, which finally brought about a temporary peace with all the plains tribes.
Feeling that his country no longer needed his aid, General Dodge tendered his resignation, which was reluctantly accepted, May 30, 1866. He had been placed by General Grant at the head of the list of major-generals of volunteers whose services he desired to retain with that rank in the Regular.
Upon his retirement General Dodge directed his energies into other chan- nels of usefulness. Undoubtedly he could have attained high political honors had his ambition been in that direction. He was elected on the republican ticket to represent his district in congress, his nomination coming to him entirely unsolicited. He did not desire political preferment, but accepted for one term and proved an able working member of the house, rendering valuable aid in putting the army on a peace footing and also in solving the questions pertaining to internal improvement in the west, including the building of the transcontinental railway lines. He had already gained dis- tinction as a civil engineer in railway building and his opinions were regarded as most valuable. While in congress General Dodge continued his work as chief engineer of the Union Pacific, which position he had accepted upon leaving the army. This great transcontinental line owes its existence largely to him. He had faith in its possibilities and with wonderful presc- ience recognized what its worth might be to the country. Obstacles con- fronted him on every hand and at one time when it appeared the entire plan would fall through, General Dodge went to New York and so demon- strated the feasibility of the scheme to the financiers that the work was undertaken with new heart and courage. Nearly every mile of the road had to be built under military protection because of the hostile red men who sacrificed to their blood-thirstiness many of the best men employed on the work. The materials and supplies had to be brought from the east and hauled hundreds of miles from the end of the track over wagon roads in the poorest condition and the difficulties were almost insurmountable, but the chief engineer possessed a faith and courage that knew no defeat. He believed that his plan was the most practical solution of the question and though criticisms were heaped upon him he had the satisfaction of complet- ing his line and winning the approval of the government commissioners appointed to examine it and of the engineers who made an examination for the purpose of making changes that would better the line. The great under- taking was completed May 10, 1869, at Promontory Point, Utah, ten hundred and eighty-six miles from the starting point on the Missouri river, and it was built in three years, five hundred and fifty-five miles of it being built in one year, a feat that has not been equaled up to this time. This was but the beginning of his great work as a railroad builder. In 1871 he was chief engineer of and built the Texas & Pacific Railway from Shreveport to Dallas, and Marshall to Sherman; also located the line from San Diego, Cali- fornia, constructing it from San Diego eastward. From 1880 until 1885 he was engaged on the construction of the Texas & Pacific Railway from Fort Worth to El Paso; the New Orleans & Pacific Railroad from Shreveport to
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New Orleans; the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway; the International & Great Northern Railway; the Mexican Oriental Railway in Mexico, and the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway. From 1886 until 1890 he was engaged on the construction of the Denver, Texas & Fort Worth, the Denver, Texas & Gulf and other railway lines, and in 1894 he was chosen president of the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf Railroad. The railroad had been justly styled the chief promoter of civilization and in this connection General Dodge. has done a great work for his country in opening up the vast west with all of its natural resources and possibilities. From 1874 until 1900 he spent a portion of the time abroad, where his advice was sought by the builders of the great Russian transcontinental line from St. Petersburg through Siberia to the Pacific ocean. He was also consulted on other foreign enterprises and was asked to take charge of a system of internal improvements in China but the project failed at first on account of the death of Anson Burlingame, former United States minister to China, who had this work in charge, and when the work was undertaken again in 1886, although General Dodge was once more asked to go to China in connection therewith, he found himself unable to do so.
General Dodge since he was nineteen years old has been continuously and actively connected with the railroad interests of the United States and has taken an active part in all the questions affecting those interests. He was one of the first to appreciate the necessity of national supervision of the internal improvements of the country, and supported the president and congress in the passage of all the national laws which have now proved so beneficial to the companies and the country, and at this time, 1907, is con- nected with several railroads, more intimately the Colorado & Southern, which line he commenced building in 1880, and which now reaches front Galveston, Texas, to Orin Junction, Wyoming, and needs only three hun- dred and fifty miles to build to connect with the lines north of the Yellow- stone river, which will give a continuous line from Galveston to Edmonton, Canada, a distance as far north and south along the east base of the Rocky mountains as it is east and west from the Atlantic to the Pacific along the transcontinental lines, and it has been one of the ambitions of his life to see this north and south connection completed.
A republican from the organization of the party, General Dodge was delegate-at-large from Iowa to the national conventions at Philadelphia, Chi- cago and Cincinnati and has done much effective campaign work. His posi- tion is never an equivocal one and he has a statesman's grasp of affairs, studying closely the great problems which have confronted the country in all of the campaigns since the election of Abraham Lincoln. That General Dodge has never sought political honors or had aspirations in that direction is indicated by the fact that in September, 1869, he declined an appoint- ment to the position of secretary of war by General Grant and in January. 1876, the election of United States senator from Towa. Civic and military honors have been conferred upon him. The state of Iowa has honored him by placing his equestrian statue upon the soldiers' monument at the state capitol, and his statue in bold relief is upon the pedestal of the General John
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A. Logan monument and in bas relief upon the pedestal of the statue of General William T. Sherman in our national capital.
General Dodge's relations with his commanding officers during the Civil war were very close. General Grant in his memoirs pays him the highest tribute and General O. O. Howard gives his relations with General Sherman thus :
"General G. M. Dodge was Sherman's special favorite on account of his work with the bridge making and railway construction on marches or in battles. Dodge's capabilities and personality alike drew Sherman to him. I never knew an officer who on all occasions could talk so freely and frankly to Sherman as Dodge. One good reason for this was that Dodge's courage was always calm and his equanimity contagious, no matter how great or trying the disturbing cause."
President Roosevelt stated when the Panama Canal was to be constructed that if General Dodge was ten years younger he would be given the entire control of the work, and in his speech at Indianapolis paid this tribute to him:
"Iowa did its share in the work of building railroads when the business was one that demanded men of the utmost daring and resourcefulness; men like that gallant soldier and real captain of industry, Grenville M. Dodge; men who ran risks and performed feats for which it was difficult to make reward too high; men who staked everything on the chances of a business which today happily involves no such hazards."
He has been deeply interested in the various military organizations which are the outgrowth of the Civil war. Ho assisted in founding the Loyal Legion, was commander of the New York commandery for two years and is now, 1907, commander-in-chief of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was elected president of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee upon the death of General Sherman. He is vice-president of the Grant Monu- ment Association and in 1897 was chosen as grand marshal at the inaugura- tion of the tomb of his old-time friend and comrade, General Grant. He is likewise president of the Grant Birthday Association, both of these societies being New York Organizations. In April, 1898, he was appointed major general of the United States volunteers of the Spanish war and in September of the same year he was made president of the commission appointed by President MeKinley to investigate the conduct of the war department in its relations to the war with Spain. He is a member of the Union League, the Army and Navy Clubs of New York, and also of the National Geographical So- ciety. He likewise holds membership in the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and in the Odd Fellows of Council Bluffs. He is president of the Nor- wich University Alumni Association and the Iowa Society of New York.
General Dodge's career has been one succession of victories-victories achieved because he has always had the courage of his convictions, has felt that his position has been a correct one and because he has had the determina- tion and loyalty to continue in the conflict until he brought it to a success- ful termination. Such has been his course in business as well as in military
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life. His projects have been so vast and of such far-reaching effect that they have naturally awakened the opposition of many conservative men and of those who for selfish, personal reasons have championed a different course. Such opposition has been to him the call to battle, and in no instance of his en- tire life has he ever been known to lower his colors or swerve in his loyalty. No one has ever questioned the honesty of his intent or purpose and he stands today among the great men of the nation by reason of the fact that his life has been one of signal usefulness to his fellowmen.
WALTER INGLEWOOD SMITH.
Walter I. Smith, a prominent lawyer of Council Bluffs, was born in this city on the 10th of July, 1862, a son of George Francis and Sarah H. (Forrest) Smith, early settlers of Council Bluffs, where the father carried on business as a contractor and builder for many years. During his boyhood Walter I. Smith attended the public schools of this city, graduating from the Council Bluffs high school in 1878, and for a part of the following year he was a student at Park College in Missouri. IIe then taught school in Potta- wattamie county from the spring of 1880 until the summer of 1881, when he commenced the study of law in the office of Colonel D. B. Dailey and was admitted to the bar in December, 1882. He began practice at once in partner- ship with his former preceptor, Colonel Dailey, and this connection con- tinned until May, 1885, after which he was alone for two years. In 1887 he formed a partnership with Hon. J. E. F. McGee, a relation that was maintained until Mr. McGee was elected superior judge of Council Bluffs in the spring of 1890.
In July, 1890, he was united in marriage to Miss Effie Marie Moon, and to them have been born four children, all of whom are still living, namely : Howard Forrest, Barbara, Grace Marian and Malcolm Alan. Mr. Smith is a member of various fraternal organizations. He has taken all of the York rite degrees of Masonry; is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine; and a member of the Order of the Eastern Star; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Knights of Pythias; the Royal Arcanum; the Ancient Order of United Work- men ; the Modern Woodmen of America; and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Recognizing his worth and ability, Mr. Smith has been called to various official positions of honor and trust. He was elected judge of the fifteenth judicial district of Iowa, composed of the counties of Shelby, Audubon, Pot- tawattamie, Cass, Montgomery, Mills, Fremont and Page, to which Harrison was subsequently added. He was re-elected in 1894 and 1898, but resigned on the 1st of September, 1900, to accept the republican nomination for con- gress in the ninth district of Iowa, composed of Harrison. Shelby, Audubon, Guthrie, Pottawattamie, Cass, Adair, Mills and Montgomery counties .. He was elected to fill a vacancy in the fifty-sixth congress and was elected a member of the fifty-seventh, fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth and sixtieth congress.
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He has served on the committee to investigate hazing at the West Point Mili- tary Academy; also the committee on banking and currency ; on elections; and is now in 1907 a member of the committee on appropriations.
C. H. READ, D. D. S.
Dr. C. H. Read, an active and successful member of the dental profes- sion, practicing in Avoca, where he is also filling the position of postmaster, was born in Ogden, Iowa, on the 20th of August, 1875. His parents were Herbert R. and Cora (Ring) Read. The father was born in Utica, New York, in 1842, and when eight years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Wales, that state, where he was reared, his early education being supplemented by a course of study in the normal school. After winning a state certificate he began his career as a teacher and followed that profes- sion for a number of years. He afterward spent some time as a commercial traveler and later engaged in mercantile business on his own account in partnership with his brother, Elgene Read, in Wales, New York. After carry- ing on the store for some time he sold his interest to his brother in 1872 and came to Iowa, settling near Ogden, where he engaged in farming. He made purchase of three hundred and twenty acres of good land, which he culti- vated and improved, his time and energies being devoted to active farm labor for fourteen years. In 1886 he took up his abode in Ogden, where he estab- lished a lumber business, conducting the same with goodly success until 1900, when he retired from active commercial life. Removing to Avoca, he purchased a small farm of forty acres adjoining the town and has since given his time here to the raising of Duroc Jersey hogs. This has proven a very successful venture, as have his other business interests in life, and as the years have gone by his labors have enabled him to enjoy many of the com- forts and some of life's luxuries. A stalwart republican in politics, he has never been an aspirant for public honors nor office, yet has held some minor positions in the township, to which he has been called by his fellow townsmen, while in the local councils of his party his opinions have proved an influ- encing factor. An earnest and consistent Christian gentleman, he is an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church and for many years was super- intendent of the Sunday school. For a long period he was also a member of the official board of the church and his labors have been far-reaching and effective in promoting its welfare and growth. Unto him and his wife have been born three sons: Professor William B. Read, who fills the chair of mathematics in Simpson College at Indianola, Iowa; C. H., of this review ; and Dr. Ervin C. Read, a practicing dentist of Oakland, this county.
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