Grenville Mellen Dodge in the Civil War: Union Spymaster, Railroad Builder and Organizer of the Fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry by James Patrick Morgans

Author:James Patrick Morgans
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Published: 2016-03-31T00:00:00+00:00

General Ulysses S. Grant proved to be one of the few Union generals who could win battles. Grant depended on Dodge’s military intelligence, the result of Dodge’s spy network and scouts. Grant also began to look at Dodge as the best and most efficient railroad builder he had. After the war was over, Grant and Dodge remained close friends (Library of Congress).

In the last part of August of 1863, Grenville Dodge took ill. Dodge had what he called a congestive chill and was losing weight. He was sent north to Council Bluffs to recuperate. Dodge kept in touch with his army while convalescing.

Colonel James A. Williamson came back to the 4th Iowa Infantry Regiment from sick leave. Lt. Colonel George Burton had taken command of the 4th Iowa while Williamson was gone. Burton, a tough man born in Ireland, had received a severe wound at Pea Ridge from grapeshot and almost bled to death. Dodge had noticed Burton’s stoic manner while wounded. Burton was from the eastern part of Iowa at Lyon. He was 43 when he entered the Union army. Lt. Colonel George Burton took over command of the 4th Iowa Infantry, while Williamson was given command of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, and Sherman’s XV Corps. Williamson took over command of General John M. Thayer’s old brigade, of which the 4th Iowa was a part. Thayer then went to Fort Smith, Arkansas, and took over command of a cavalry unit.

A panel of Union officers decided that the 4th Iowa could put on their colors and guidions, “Pea Ridge, First at Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Vicksburg, siege and assault, 19th and 22nd, Jackson.” On September 22, 1863, the 4th Iowa took steamers to Memphis. Colonel Williamson took over a different command of the 2nd Brigade, known as the Iowa Brigade, which included the 4th Iowa Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, with General Peter J. Osterhaus commanding. They were part of Sherman’s XV Corps.70

In late September disaster struck the Union army. General Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland had occupied the important rail and manufacturing center of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Rosecrans had visions of marching from Chattanooga into the heart of Dixie at Atlanta. He continued to underestimate the size of Braxton Bragg’s Rebel army before him. Unfortunately, Rosecrans’ continued delays had allowed Bragg to significantly increase the number of troops in his army. As Dodge had tried to tell him, parts of Longstreet’s Corps from the Eastern Theater had joined Bragg. In addition, elements of Pemberton’s paroled Confederate army from Vicksburg were streaming into Bragg’s lines. General Phillip Sheridan and General Wilder, a few days before the Battle at Chickamauga, had captured soldiers from Longstreet’s Corps and taken the prisoners to Rosecrans. The Union general emphatically denied that Longstreet was in front of him and had called one of the captured Confederates a liar for insisting he was with Longstreet. At a small creek in Georgia, the Chickamauga, Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland and Bragg’s Army of Tennessee met for a bloody battle.

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