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

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."