would be reduced to 6,000, it shows how little knowledge he had of affairs
in his department, for at that time there were not 6,000 troops on the
plains or in my command.

It is well that no one knew the condition of affairs; that no one was
aware of the ignorance of the group of statesmen at Washington who were
supposed to be responsible for our nation and its preservation. They did
not seem to know where to ascertain the facts. It would seem that
Secretary Stanton purposely wished to place a reflection on General Grant,
for he must have known that he was responsible for the Army and for all of
its movements. It seems that General Grant was away at the time the
dispatches of General Pope and myself were sent showing the necessity of
continuing the campaign and punishing these savages. When he returned he
tried to stop this Cabinet panic, but his dispatches in answer to those
from Pope and myself show that he could not do it, and the fatal mistake
was made of stopping the campaign just as it was accomplishing and
successfully ending a year's work. It seems to have all come about through
the misrepresentation of the Doolittle Peace Commission and the lack of
proper information on the part of the Cabinet.

In the years 1863, 1864 and 1865 the Indians deliberately made war,
believing that the Civil War had so crippled us that we could not
effectively contend with them; but just as we had spent millions of
dollars, sent thousands of troops into their country, and commenced
fighting and capturing them, we were forced to lay down our arms almost in
sight of the line of battle and beg for peace, and the Indians believed
they had defeated us and that we could not conquer them, and for from
three to ten years afterward we had to spend great sums, make winter
campaigns, and suffer great losses of life and property, before we
obtained the lasting peace which was in sight in 1865 and 1866 if we had
been allowed to carry out our campaigns and plans to a legitimate end.

Upon the close of my campaigns on the plains the Legislature of the State
of Iowa passed and sent me these commendations of my services:

_Resolved_, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of
Iowa, That the thanks of the people of this State are due and are
hereby extended to Major-General Grenville M. Dodge, for his able and
efficient management of Indian affairs on the plains, in protecting
the Great Overland Routes, and our