General Grenville Dodge’s Hat

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[Hanna Howard, Museum and State Curator State Historical Society of Iowa] The American Civil War remains the deadliest conflict in United States history and the hat is a really good reminder that no one on the battle field was safe from harm.

[Narrator] Worn by General Grenville Dodge, this hat may be the Civil War's most unexpectedly famous accessory, complete with a bullet hole.

[Howard] Officers like General Dodge were exposed to gunfire during the Civil War more often than you might think. That's because by and large the majority of forces fighting during the Civil War were volunteers.

People enlisted on either side, the Union or the Confederacy, because they felt compelled to do so. So, these are people who have very little training, very few specific skills about how to shoot, how to maneuver, etc.

And the lead from the back kind of stye of military leadership was not very popular or common at the time. So, we have generals like General Dodge at the front lines.

[Narrator] Grenville Dodge was born in Massachusetts in 1831. He earned a degree in civil engineering before relocating to the Midwest in his 20's and eventually settling in Council Bluffs along the Missouri River. 

He worked as a railroad surveyor before volunteering for the Union Army at the start of the Civil War. 

Governor Kirkwood then appointed Dodge Colonel of the 4th Iowa Regiment. By August 1864 when he and this hat saw action at the Siege of Atlanta, Dodge was a Major General, still taking a very active and dangerous role in the trenches beside his men.

[Howard] General Dodge was charged with supervising the construction of earthwork fortifications near an active combat zone outside Atlanta. 

Earthwork fortifications is basically a fancy term for a trench. 

On the morning of August 19th, he was inspecting enemy fortifications from afar looking through a peephole out at those trenches when a bullet came through the peephole, struck him in the forehead piercing the hat. 

But luckily for him, it bounced off of his forehead, although he did lose some hair and gained a concussion in the process.

[Narrator] Photographs of General Dodge show the scar that was left behind, a part of his hair that took some time to grow back.

[Howard] This was not just a close call. General Dodge could have and probably should have died from the bullet that struck his forehead.

The hole in the hat speaks to how much luck has to do with whether or not you survived something like the Civil War. 

Rank didn't protect him. This was a man who had risen through the ranks from Colonel to General and that didn't have anything to do with whether or not he was safe. It was complete luck.

[Narrator] The style of the hat Dodge was wearing when a bullet ripped through it provides additional interesting clues to the past.

[Howard] The origins of the hat are kind of a mystery because general issue for Army uniforms during the Civil War is kind of a mismatch anyway. 

There are Hardee hats, which are these wool hats that usually have the insignia of the branch of the Army and it's got infantry information on it. But this hat does not have that. 

So, in collaboration with some of our other staff here at the State Historical Society we think this is probably a civilian slouch hat. Those were more common to wear during battle anyway because you don't want things like insignia or pins or tassels getting in the way when you're trying to get a clear line of sight or you're running, something like that.

[Narrator] Many artifacts reach museums through descendants of their original owners. But fittingly, this hat arrived in a more unusual way.

[Howard] The origins of the hat and how it came to be in Iowa are unfortunately a little bit of a mystery. We don't have complete acquisition records for the hat. But we do have some materials that indicate it was donated to the State Historical Society by General Dodge himself before his death in 1916.

[Narrator] However this hat made its way to its current resting place, it demonstrates how an everyday item can mark important history.

[Howard] Objects are tangible connections to everyday life. You know, this hat that General Dodge wore, especially if it was a civilian slouch hat like we've been talking about, this is something he might have worn every day even before he was in service to the Army. 

He put this hat on as part of his uniform, as part of his everyday dress, under service in the Army and everyday life. At the end of the day, he was just showing up and getting ready for work.

[Narrator] General Dodge's biggest impact on our country's history is actually not intertwined with this hat. 

After the Civil War, he became chief engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad, guiding it to completion at Promontory Summit, Utah in 1870. Along the way, he also served in the House of Representatives. But politics didn't suit him. He preferred to be a man of action out in the field just as he was in the Civil War when an enemy bullet found its way through a peephole.

[Howard] General Dodge's hat is a symbol not only of his own courage and resilience in the face of Confederate rebellion, but I think it also speaks to the courage and resilience of the 70,000 other Iowans who committed their lives to the Union cause.