Dodd, George Allan, BG

After the death of his father in battle,at Petersburg six days before the end of the Civil War, George Dodd helped his mother raise the younger members of his family. George was the eldest of five children. 

As a nod to his father's martial gallantry, George took and passed the entrance exam at West Point and entered the U.S. Military Academy in 1872. He was commissioned a second lieutenant as a cavalry officer upon his graduation on June 15, 1876.He was dispatched to the Dakotas and served as an officer throughout the west. He was the innovator of several cavalry training techniques. For several years he was the commander of a number of Indian scouts.

Dodd was assigned to the Third U.S. Cavalry and saw action against insurgent Indians in such places as Wyoming, Montana, the Dakota Territory, Kansas Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas.

During the next 15 years Dodd performed such duties and training and leading Sioux and Apache scouts against other Indian tribes. One of his most notable accomplishments during these years was his development of a system of training cavalry horses to the skirmish drill and assisting in the development of improved cavalry equipment.

Dodd distinguished himself in battle during the Spanish-American War with the Third Cavalry, seeing action at the Battle of San Juan and the siege of Santiago. While fighting in the Santiago area, Dodd was wounded and sent back to the United States.
In 1880, he married Clara Agnes Steele. They had nine children: Emily, Catherine, Allen, Charles, George Allen, Mary Ethel, William Alexander, Reginald Alden, and Lida Dorothy. 

After returning to the United States he was promoted to major. He was then sent overseas again, this time to the Phillipines to deal with the insurgency led by Emilio Aquinaldo in 1899. He went on to serve in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War and, in 1916, was called on by General John Pershing to be one of the leaders of the troops chasing Pancho Villa during the Mexican Punitive Expedition. During the chase for Villa he was widely written of in the major newspapers. He earned four silver stars received a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel.

By 1904 he had attained the permanent rank of lieutenant colonel and was named second in command of the famous Tenth U.S. Cavalry, the legendary "Buffalo Soldiers," a regiment of African-Americans, so admired by former General and Secretary of State, Colin Powell.

He retired from active Army service on July 26, 1916 and retired to a farm near Ithaca, New York. He lived there for several years before moving to Orlando, Florida, where he died on June 28, 1925 at the age of 72.

His funeral was held in Washington, D.C. and was attended by many distinguished people, including General of the Army John J.Pershing.

Dodd is buried with his wife and one son at Arlington National Cemetery.

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