Ephraim Cutler Dawes (May 27, 1840 – April 23, 1895) was a major in the 53rd Ohio Infantry and brevet lieutenant-colonel, United States Volunteers, during the American Civil War.

While serving with Sherman during his march to Atlanta Dawes was seriously wounded in his lower jaw in what would be his last battle, subsequently being honorably discharged in 1864.

His elder brother, Rufus,[a] after serving as a lieutenant colonel in the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment and was part of the Iron Brigade which fought during the Civil War at the Battle of Gettysburg.

[5] That same year the Civil War broke out and Dawes immediately enlisted in the 53rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he was a First Lieutenant.

Dawes found his commander to be of little education, yet intelligent, but lacking in military experience and knowledge of army regulations.

Dawes observed a group of mounted Confederate officers, bearing a dark blue flag with a white center, that of General Patrick R. Cleburne, who was considered the "Stonewall of the West".

[9][6][10] He later wrote an eye witness account of the battle as he saw it in an 1896 historical publication called Sketches of War History, 1861–1865, vol 4, entitled My First Day Under Fire at Shiloh, which he presented to the Cincinnati Chapter of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion.

[13] Many of the troops subsequently retreated, but upon the arrival of General John McClernand, he ordered them back and had them form a line with his division near the Shiloh Chapel.

Major General Henry Halleck, who received much criticism for allowing Beauregard to escape, finally pursued the Confederates three weeks after the battle, on May 3,[17][18] and conducted a month-long siege of the city that lasted until May 30, 1862.

[7][22][21] In 1864 Dawes's regiment under Sherman’s advanced against Confederate forces in Atlanta, engaging in the battles at Resaca and Dallas which occurred between May 26 and June 4, 1864, in and around Dallas, Georgia, between Lt. General William J. Hardee's Confederate corps and the Union defense line, held by the XV Corps under Maj. General John A. Logan of the Army of the Tennessee.

[4] After months of suffering from this wound, Dawes had his jaw reconstructed by Dr. George Blackman, and finally was restored to health.

[1][26][27] After being honorably discharged from the army in 1864, Dawes spent the remainder of his life pursuing both business, academic and historical interests, and wrote a number of books.

[22] Though Dawes had received a serious wound to his jaw during the Civil War, he was a gifted speaker and was in constant demand for speaking at local and political campaigns.

His speeches and addresses, most notably at a banquet of the Army of the Tennessee in 1879, and at Memorial Day Exercises at Cincinnati in 1880, brought him great notoriety as a public speaker.

Subsequently, he devoted the remainder of his life in obtaining all the publications, letters and manuscripts of historical value that he could acquire on the subject.

In his effort he amassed a sizeable and significant collection of these things, always making sure that his writing and reference work reflected both the Union and Confederate points of view.

[4] Dawes collection of books and papers covering the history of Civil War was equaled by only one other in the United States.

He was Vice President of the Army of Tennessee, and Commander of Loyal Legion as well as a trustee of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home at Xenia.