NPS

COLONEL GRENVILLE DODGE

Commander, 1st Brigade, 4th Division

With the exception of Philip Sheridan, no other participant in the battle, either North or South, would be as successful as Grenville Dodge.  In 1851, at the age of 20, Dodge worked as a surveyor for the Illinois Central Railroad.  Moving to Iowa in the early 1850s, he supervised railroad construction throughout the state until the start of the war.  Dodge helped raise the 4th Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry and was elected its first colonel.  At the start of General Curtis' winter campaign, Dodge was appointed to command of the 1st Brigade, 4th Division.  His aggressiveness and engineering expertise would prove to be one of the key factors in the Federal victory at Pea Ridge.

Dodge would eventually rise to command the Federal XVI Corps during the Atlanta Campaign and ended the war as a Major General of Volunteers.  After the war, Dodge resigned his commission and returned to his true passion - railroading.  In 1866, he was appointed the Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad.  From 1866 through 1869, Dodge played an instrumental part in the creation of the transcontinental railroad and would continue to play a key role in the further expansion of the railroads throughout the later part of the 19th Century. (The famous Kansas railroad and cattle town, Dodge City, was named in his honor.)  Besides his work with the Union Pacific Railroad, Dodge served in the United States Congress as one of Iowa's Representatives.  Dodge died in January, 1916.