Military History of Dodge County, Nebraska

Dodge County was not settled early enough to have a large enough population during the period of the Civil war to have sent many soldiers to that conflict. Her spirit of loyalty was, however, manifested to a good degree and all that could be spared manfully offered their services in defense of their country's flag. What few enlisted from this county were credited to Omaha and other points in the state, as no full company was sent from Dodge County.

When the war had ended and victory was to the North and the slaves of the Southland were forever free, came that awful blow to the nation when President Lincoln was assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth, April 14, 1865. At Fremont solemn memorial services were held in the Congregational Church, an account of which appears under the head of "Days of Mourning." With few exceptions the people in this county were loyal and did what they could to support the men in the field. With the exception of a few Indian scares after the Civil war ended. Dodge County and this part of Nebraska in general were at peace with all mankind until the difficulty arose between the United States and Spain in 1898.

The Spanish-American War

In the month of April, 1898, in Havana harbor, the warship Maine belonging to the United States was sunk and many lives lost and it was later proven to have been the work of Spain. From this incident war was declared on Spain by Congress under the administration of President William McKinley. It was largely a marine warfare and after a few weeks ended in the complete destruction of the Spanish war fleet in Manila Bay. The result of this short, decisive war was the independence of Cuba and the Philippines, and the haughty spirit of Spain broken. President McKinley, so far as available, used the National Guards for soldiers for the army he raised in so few weeks and which did such splendid service, both on land and sea. (See below.)

Roster of Dodge County Soldiers

The following list of officers and men who saw service in the Spanish-American war in 1889 from Dodge County has been compiled from the Adjutant-General's reports of Nebraska, and in the main may be considered correct. (These men served in Company F, Third Nebraska Regiment):

These two soldiers from Dodge County sacrificed their lives:
William O. Thompson, aged 30 years, Fremont, died September 12, 1898.
Charles Head, died in the hospital.

The World War

This, the greatest war ever waged on the globe, was fought on European soil between the German Empire and a score and more of allied nations, including the United States of America. For an extended account of the causes and final outcome of this conflict the military chapter in the Washington County section of this work will treat fully, hence is omitted in this connection.

Dodge County did its full share in this Great War for Democracy and in trying to forever obviate more wars on the face of the earth. Life was sacrificed and much material wealth expended between April, 1917, and 1919, when the war ended its active field operations.

Roster of Dodge County Soldiers

The following is the "Honor Roll" or roster of soldiers who served in the late World war from Dodge County, Nebraska, as far as the present county records show. It may be stated, however, that a number more went from the county but entered the service outside this county, hence were not credited here. For additional names of those known to have enlisted away from this county, see later. No absolute list has ever been compiled as yet by either Nebraska or the War Department at Washington, but the following roster must stand for the time being as correct a list as there is data from which to compile one:

Dodge County | Nebraska AHGP

Source: History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, Rev. William H. Buss and Thomas T. Osterman, Volume 1, The American Historical Society, Chicago, 1921.

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