The Battle of Atlanta and Other Campaigns, Addresses, Etc.   By: Grenville Mellen Dodge (1831-1916)

THE BATTLE OF ATLANTA AND OTHER CAMPAIGNS, ADDRESSES, Etc.

BY Major General Grenville M. Dodge

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA THE MONARCH PRINTING COMPANY 1911

CONTENTS

Page.

The Southwestern Campaign 9 Letter of General Dodge to his Father 35 The Battle of Atlanta 39 Letter to General Raum 53 The Indian Campaigns of 1864 65 63 The Indian Campaigns of 1865 66 79 Campaign up the Tennessee River Valley 111 The Army of the Tennessee 129 The Campaign in the West 137 A Talk to Old Comrades 145 General Grant 151 Use of Block Houses During the Civil War 159 An Incident of the War 165 Gen. G. M. Dodge on the Water Cure 173 Misplaced Sympathy 177

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Major General Grenville M. Dodge Frontispiece Major General Samuel R. Curtis 7 Sylvanus Dodge 34 Sixteenth Army Corps in the Battle of Atlanta 38 Monument on the Battlefield of Atlanta 52 Old Fort Kearney 62 James Bridger, Guide 78 Pumpkin Buttes 94 Brigadier General G. M. Dodge and Staff 110 Commanders of the Army of the Tennessee 128 Major General G. M. Dodge and Staff 136 Fort Cottonwood 140 Where General McPherson Fell 144 Major General George G. Meade 150 Pontoon Bridge Across the Tennessee River 158 To the Memory of Samuel Davis 164 Company L, Fifty First Iowa Infantry 172 Scotts Bluffs 176

[Illustration: MAJOR GENERAL SAMUEL R. CURTIS

Commander of the Army of the Southwest, in the Spring of 1861.]

THE SOUTHWESTERN CAMPAIGN

The Southwest became prominent before the nation early in the war from the doubt existing as to the position of Missouri, which was saved by the energy and determination of Frank P. Blair and Colonel Nathaniel Lyon; the latter first capturing Camp Jackson, on May 10th, 1861. He then, picking up what force he could without waiting for them to be disciplined or drilled, marched rapidly against the Missouri State troops under Price, who were driven to the southwest through Springfield, where, being joined by the troops from Arkansas, under Colonel McCullough, they stood and fought the battle of Wilson's Creek. This would have been a great victory for the Union forces if Lyon had not divided his forces at the request of General Siegel and trusted the latter to carry out his plan of attack in the rear while Lyon attacked in the front. This General Siegel failed to do, leaving the field when the battle was half over, and allowing Lyon to fight it out alone. Even then, if Lyon had not been killed at the head of his Army while fighting the whole force of the enemy, it would have turned out to be a great victory for the Union forces, and would have held that country. The death of Lyon caused a return of his troops to Rolla and Sedalia, and opened up again the whole of Missouri to the Missouri State troops under General Price.