Nelson Appleton Miles  "Made The Army His Career"  August 8, 1839 - May 15, 1925

Though Nelson Appleton Miles had no official military training before the Civil War, he distinguished himself in battle time and again and rose to the rank of major general of volunteers. Following the war Miles decided to make the army his career, and after being mustered out of the volunteers on September 1, 1866, he entered the reorganized regular army as a colonel of the new 40th Infantry, a black regiment.

Miles's next assignment was commandant of Fort Monroe, VA, where Jefferson Davis was held prisoner. Miles proved to be a harsh jailer. Ever-present guards were not allowed to speak to Davis, and lights were constantly left on in the dungeonlike jail cell. Miles even had Davis shackled in his cell until public outcry drove him to remove the chains.

Miles went on to command the 5th U.S. Infantry, and he served in the West fighting Indians. In 1877, while based in Montana, Miles endured rugged terrain and temperatures of 40 degrees below zero. Soldiers detailed to that environment with the stressful assignment of pursuing Sioux Indians knew to "keep the last bullet for yourself" in case capture became imminent. After being promoted in 1880 to brigadier general, Miles was instrumental in Geronimo's September 1886 surrender, promising the Apache that he and his followers could return to Arizona after exile to Florida. Miles broke his promise, however, and Geronimo and his followers were put to hard labor and never saw Arizona again.

Having achieved the rank of major general in 1890, Miles became commander in chief of the army in 1895. Two years later he wrote Personal Recollections; the year after that he led U.S. forces into Puerto Rico in the Spanish-American War. After being made lieutenant general in 1900, Miles retired in 1903 to live in Washington, DC, where he headed various veterans' organizations and wrote a two-volume autobiography. He died at the age of 85.

Fascinating Fact:  When he died in 1925, Miles was the last full-rank major general of the Civil War.


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