Grenville M. Dodge: Soldier, Politician, Railroad Pioneer (review)

366CIVIL WAR HISTORY ing his eye on the main theme, which is Logan himself. His presentation is studious and serious. He attempts to deal with the important question as to whether Logan almost went "Soudi" in 1861 and, as might be expected , came up widi littie that is new. On the other hand, Jones does destroy the myth that Logan's slowness in relieving Thomas at Nashville was because of "Black Jack's" sympathy for The Rock of Chickamauga. There is little question diat a study of Logan was needed. One can make a few minor complaints about die book, however. The title is slightly misleading. Soudiern Illinois is woven into Jones's story incidentally , which makes die book a simple biography of Logan down to 1867. Yet, perhaps diat is what the author intended to do. Also, the style in which the book is written could use a little more of the Logan personality; die natural dash in his character, the lustiness of die West, and the more savory stories about Logan's real self. In other words, Jones has failed to do with Logan what southern biographers have done for such men as Forrest and Jackson. The one virtue which does come through is Logan's sturdiness. This is the essential quality of James P. Jones's work. The book is, in this respect, sob'dly and competendy done. Victor Hicken Western Illinois University Grenville M. Dodge: Soldier, Politician, Railroad Pioneer. By Stanley P. Hirshson. (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1967. Pp. xiv, 334. $10.00.) "He was typical of what we like to regard as essentially American," eulogized Theodore Roosevelt on the death of Grenville M. Dodge in 1916. Stanley P. Hirshson, in his biography of Dodge, "Soldier, Politician, and Railroad Pioneer," directs himself to dus theme. He speaks of Dodge's life as an "American saga" of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and saga it was. Born in 1831 in Massachusetts, Dodge graduated from Norwich College in 1851 and moved west as a surveyor and engineer. After almost a decade in Iowa, chiefly as an engineer and lobbyist, he was commissioned colonel of the 4th Iowa Infantry in 1861. His Civil War career, while not filled with combat, was distinguished. His first service came in Missouri and Arkansas and he was badly wounded at Pea Ridge. Advanced to brigadier in 1862 and major general in 1864, Dodge spent most of that period in various commands in Mississippi and Tennessee. Dodge's major services there were as railroad builder and organizer of a well-run spy network. In 1864 Dodge ably led die XVI Corps in Sherman's Atlanta campaign. Just before Atlanta's fall he was wounded and returned to Iowa. The last year of the war Dodge spent in Missouri and Kansas as departmental commander chasing guerrillas and Indians. BOOKREVIEWS367 Widi peace, Dodge's "American saga" moved like many others to business and politics. Taking advantage of die political power of die uniform, Dodge was sent to die House from Iowa. He served, with little distinction, from 1867 to 1869 as a Republican. Though this was Dodge's only postwar elective office, he influenced bodi Iowa and national Republican politics as a power behind die scenes. His friendship with practically every President from Grant to Taft meant diat Dodge's role in national party councils was considerable. Dodge's most important accomplishment, and a central chapter in the saga, was as railroad pioneer in the West. Chief engineer of the Union Pacific and Texas Pacific and associate of Jay Gould in that promoter's railroad programs, Dodge supervised die construction of well over ten thousand miles of track. In addition, he founded Cheyenne, Laramie, and die Kansas cow town that bears his name—Dodge City. He also led the white man's assault on the plains Indians. Finally, Dodge served as a leading railroad lobbyist, eminently successful because of his connections in high places in Washington. But Professor Hirshson's saga goes far deeper than this into Dodge's career. Though Dodge was a man of ability, courage, and hard work, he was also a scheming, opportunistic speculator. "Dodge's favorite occupation was anything...