Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I te Pakanga Taketake o Amerika, i mahi a Geddes i te ope taua a te Uniana, i whakauruhia hei tangata takitahi i te 8th Iowa Infantry. I whakatairangahia ia hei rangatira, katahi ka koromatua, a, i muri i te Hui-tanguru 1862 hei koromatua o nga kaihauturu. I whai wāhi ia ki te whawhai i
Ko Hiroa, i reira ia i whara ai, i hopukina ai. I mauheretia ia mo tetahi wa i Madison, Georgia, i te Libby Prison i Richmond, Virginia. Whai muri i tana whakawhiti, ka whawhai ia i Vicksburg me Jackson. I te Oketopa 1863, i whakawhiwhia ia ki te rangatira o te brigade ka tukuna ki Brownsville, Texas. Whai muri mai, i mahi ia hei kaitiaki o te Federal i nohoia a Memphis, Tennessee, i whakaorangia e ia mai i te hopu e te hoia eke hoiho a te Confederate i raro i a Nathan Bedford Forrest. I whakahaua e ia he piritiata i roto i te Whakatairanga Mobile me te whawhai me te rereketanga i te Pakanga o Spanish Fort. I te Hanuere 13, 1866, i whakaingoatia e te Perehitini Andrew Johnson a Geddes mo te whakatuunga ki te taumata o te brevet brigadier general of volunteers, ki te taumata mai i te Pipiri 5, 1865, a i whakapumautia e te United States Senate te whakatuunga i te Poutu-te-rangi 12, 1866.