Charles C. Dodge


 * For other people of the same name, see Charles Dodge (disambiguation).

Charles Cleveland Dodge (September 16, 1841 – November 4, 1910) was a Brigadier General in the American Civil War and one of the youngest in history, receiving his commission at the age of twenty-one. He was the son of Congressman William Earle Dodge.

American Civil War service
Dodge was commissioned as a captain in the 1st Battalion, New York Mounted Rifles of the 7th New York Volunteer Cavalry in December 1861, and was soon promoted to Major. He commanded this cavalry detachment during Maj. Gen. John E. Wool's Norfolk expedition, Prior to this Major Dodge and the Mounted Rifles participated in the clash of ironclads, firing from shore at the CSS Virginia during said Naval engagement.

After the successful seizure, of Norfolk & Gosport Naval Yard, Major Dodge was dispatched to Suffolk on May 12, 1862. This move was to choke off Rebel port and secure roads around the Dismal Swamp. This cut off supplies coming up from Carolina Sounds. Suffolk had been abandoned by rebel forces who withdrew to the Blackwater River. Major Dodge held Suffolk until General Peck was placed in charge and turned Suffolk into a fortress city with 15 miles of defensive works.

Dodge was promoted to the rank of Colonel then General in November 1862. He commanded successful engagements during the Suffolk Campaign and at Hertford, North Carolina. The mounted Rifles under Dodge served as the eyes and ears for General Peck in numerous sorties. Cavalry men under Dodge were the first to detect the movement of Longstreet that led to the siege of Suffolk by Rebel Forces.

He had performed commendably, but his superior Major General John J. Peck, and his Corps commander Major General John A. Dix, expressed preference for an older officer to lead the cavalry division. There were no other cavalry officers available with an earlier date of rank, and Dodge refused to be subordinated to someone who was likely to be twice his age, and junior to him in seniority. He resigned in June 1863 in protest, and briefly returned to service with the militia to suppress the New York City draft riots. On the third day of rioting Dodge led the 8th New York National Guard supported by Colonel Thaddeus P. Mott's 14th New York Cavalry and John H. Howell's artillery battery to Eighth Avenue and 32nd Street. At the lynching of 3 African-Americans a group of rioters had assembled which possibly numbered 5,000. The crowd retreated from the infantry and cavalry column but struck back with bricks, bats and stones. Howell's artillery was then ordered to open fire which dispersed the rioters. The next day Dodge moved with troops to 22nd Street and engaged rioters near Gramercy Park.

Postbellum service
He then went into business, and was a partner in Phelps Dodge Co., and President of the New York and Boston Cape Cod Canal Co., which was eventually purchased and completed by the Federal Government in 1914.

He died in New York City, New York in 1910 of pneumonia. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York. His grave can be found in section 33, Ravine Plot, lots 2112 & 2323.