Most Famous Soldier in America: A Biography of Lt Gen Nelson a Miles 1839-1925 - Softcover

Amchan, Arthur J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0961713216 ISBN 13: 9780961713218

Publisher: Amchan Pubns, 1990

Synopsis

A biography of Nelson A. Miles, a twenty-one year old clerk in a Boston crockery store, who rose from the rank of Lieutenant to that of Major-General in the Union Army in the course of three years. Miles saw action in almost every major bat tle in the East during the Civil War, except Gettysburg. He missed that battle because he was recovering from a near-fatal abdominal wound he received while commanding a picket line at Chancellorsville. In recognition for his gallantry in that battle h e was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Virtually no individual in American history participated in as many famous historical events as General Miles and few have been as controversial. He was Jefferson Davis' jailer at Ft. Monroe in 1865-66 and placed the Confederate President in leg irons fo r several days. As a result Miles earned the lifelong enmity of Mrs. Davis, with whom he exchanged accusations as late as 1905.

One of the Army's most successful Indian fighters, Miles was instrumental in subjugating the Sioux after Custer's last stand and received the surrender of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce in 1877 and that of the Apache chief, Geronimo, in 1886. Commander o f the Army's Division of the Missouri in 1890, Miles was very critical of his subordinates who killed many Indian civilians at Wounded Knee.

In 1894, General Miles commanded the federal troops sent to Chicago during the Pullman strike and again provoked controversy. Despite his reservations, President Grover Cleveland appointed Miles to the post of Commanding General of the United States Arm y in 1895.

Miles' relations with the McKinley administration, which replaced the Cleveland administration, in March 1897, were never good. The new President may have disliked Miles in part because of the General's long feud with General George Crook, under whom Mc Kinley served as a staff officer in the Civil War. Miles, for his part, was hostile to the administration for its treatment of Senator John Sherman, his wife's uncle and his political benefactor. During the Spanish-American War, Miles played second fiddle to Naval heroes such as Admiral George Dewey, and General William Shafter, the commander of the Cuban invasion force. Nevertheless, Miles commanded reinforcements sent to Cuba before the Spanish surrender and the invasion of Puerto Rico.

In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became President upon McKinley's assassination. He immediately clashed with General Miles over the General's public comments about a Naval court of inquiry concerning the conduct of Admirals Sampson and Schley during the Cuba n campaign. He continued to cross swords with the President over the conduct of America's war with the Philippine nationalists. Upon his retirement from the Army in 1903, The New York World described General Miles as "the most distinguished American sol dier now living." President Roosevelt, however, was of a different view. A year earlier, he described the General as "a perfect curse."

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

At the time of his death in 1925, few recognized the name of Nelson A. Miles, but at the turn of the century he was familiar to virtually every American. Mark Sullivan, the most famous chronicler of that period characterized General Miles as, "head of the United States Army in a symbolic as well as an official sense." His position as the prototypical American soldier is also indicated by H. L. Mencken's characterization in 1917 of the German general August von Mackensen: The German beau ideal. An amazing flummery and the highest military genius...The Nelson A. Miles of Germany.

Miles was even a subject for the popular turn-of-the century political humorist, Finley Peter Dunne, "Mr. Dooley," who described him as having "faced death an' promotion in ivry form." Miles' career, however, had by 1925 been overshadowed by World War I. John J. Pershing, who had served under him on the frontier, had emerged as the new model of the American soldier. As time passed, Miles' fame receded further and in many historical accounts of his time he is portrayed as he was by Margaret Leech in The Days of McKinley as "a born troublemaker and a tireless promoter of his own interests."

General Miles' story is worth retelling because no man's life so closely parallels American history from the Civil War through World War I. Moreover, despite the numerous enemies he made, a good case can be made that America never had a military leader who better combined physical and moral courage with tactical skill.

Review

"A fascinating study of one of the most remarkable and controversial of that extraordinary breed of Americans-civilians at the outbreak of the Civil War, who rose through the ranks of the Union Army to become outstanding professional commanders." -- Professor James M. McPherson, author of The Battle Cry of Freedom, letter to Author, March 7, 1990.

"In a portrait that is well balanced...Miles is depicted as both a gifted soldier and a difficult and ambitious subordinate...the only recent study of one of the great unsung American military figures...it deserves a place in larger collections." -- American Library Association's Booklist, February 15, 1990.

"It is ironic that everyone knows the name of Gen. George Custer, a flop at battling Indians, while the mention of Gen. Nelson A. Miles, possibly America's most successful Indian fighter, draws no recognition. Arthur Amchan tries to right the wrong with this excellent softcover biography of Miles." -- George Shestak, The Omaha World Herald, February 18, 1990.

"This book should be read by anyone who is interested in the American military campaigns from 1860 to 1920. There are plenty of footnotes, but they are interesting, and the book is easy to read." -- J.R. Curtis, True West, September, 1990.

Edition details

• Publisher: Amchan Pubns
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0961713216
• ISBN 13: 9780961713218
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 216