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Nelson A. Miles and the Twilight of the Frontier Army
Based on a wide range of sources, including materials only recently made available to researchers, this first complete, carefully documented biography of Miles skillfully delineates the brilliant, abrasive, and controversial tactician whose career in many respects epitomized the story of the Old Army.
403 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 11, 2025
Update July 10, 2025.
I just finished reading this bio of Nelson A. Miles, with the frontier slant. Last month I finished Nelson A. Miles: An Unregimented General, a 1962 bio by Virginia Johnson. The Johnson book was an old fashioned biography, and was more general, and more favorable.
I would recommend both books, but the Wooster book has a little more meat on the bone (though it is only about 274 pages). Wooster is pretty even handed, he gives Miles his props, but also is not shy about pointing out his shortcomings. I came away with a more balanced picture of who Miles was, warts and all. Sort of a microcosm on steroids of 19th Century and early 20th Century America.
Miles was a lifelong Republican I found in the Wooster book, when I had thought he had been a Democrat. This was because I knew he had been one of 12 nominees at the Democrat Convention of 1904. He only secured 2 votes, both from Kansas, so he didn’t come close to the nomination. He was forced into retirement from the Army at the mandatory age of 64, in 1903. The Prohibition Party wanted him as their candidate in 1904, but he declined because he wanted a legitimate shot at the Presidency. Miles was blocked from the Republican Party because of his feud with Teddy Roosevelt, and the power of Ted. Miles returned to the Republican Party after 1904 and the Roosevelt years..
Miles did offer his services to Democrat Woodrow Wilson at the beginning of World War I. He was in his 70s and deemed too old, though he was still in good shape and had that military bearing. What Miles proposed to do was lead a large group of volunteers into Russia in support of the Kerensky Provisional Government, which was on shaky ground. He wanted to rescue Russia from what he called the Kaiser-esque socialist Reds.
Miles was Commanding General during the Spanish America War of 1898. President McKinley and incompetent Secretary of War Alger became alienated from Miles and pushed for fat General Shafter to take the lead on the invasion of Cuba. The Administration ignored some of Miles ideas on this Cuba invasion, ideas that would have been beneficial. Miles did lead the invasion of Puerto Rico and did it very well, leading to many lives saved. Miles changed the landing spot to prevent possible resistance by the Spanish forces based on intelligence reports garnered from insecure communications. This inland route through the mountains helped minimize Yellow Fever, which was plaguing American Troops in these hot tropics.
Miles was in the anti-imperialist camp regarding the Phillipines. Roosevelt was in the jingoist big-stick camp.
Miles also fought against bureaucracy that hindered the operation of the Army. He got in trouble fighting them over tainted and unhealthy meat provided to the troops. There is a steady pattern of looking out for his troops and for the welfare of the conquered Indian tribes.
Contrast this with the glory-hound stuff and the racism common to the times, and the paternalistic side of this and you have a mix of good and bad.
Update June 30, 2025.
I am about 60 pages in, and we are through Miles Civil War and Reconstruction experiences already.
Miles was wounded at Fredricksburg (neck), Chancellorsville (gut shot, perhaps saved by his belt buckle, missed Gettysburg in recuperation).
Miles enlisted after Bull Run and served all the way through. He was wounded on a few other occasions too. This book says wounded 3x but there were some other minor wounds by my count. Once had a cannon ball take the head off the guy standing beside him. Had horses shot out from under him. Lucky to have lived until 1925, had a knarly constitution. The Johnson and the Wooster book both say he was a 6 footer, but I have seen elsewhere that he was 6'3
Miles was Commander of Fortress Monroe when Jeff Davis was captured a few weeks after Wars end. Abe had just been assassinated and rumours were floating about Davis being part of the conspiracy (untrue). Miles had orders to do what it took to prevent JD from escaping. Miles put some light leg irons on this old guy in frail health, and it caused a huge scandal. The aristocratic Jefferson Davis hated the crass yankee Miles, his widow even trying to get Miles promotions denied many years later.
Miles married General William Tecumseh Sherman's niece (also Ohio Senator Sherman's niece). Nelson wasn't West Point, so that hindered him a little at times. General Sherman bent over backwards to avoid nepotism charges, sometimes his niece and Miles wife complained that he went overboard. Mary Miles who was involved in the Womens Suffrage movement died in 1904, so Miles lived alone until he died in 1925. He made numerous successful investments throughout his life so they lived in an opulent style, mostly in Washington DC.
Miles served under General O O Howard in the Freedmans Bureau in North Carolina and was sympathetic to Republican efforts in Reconstruction and tried his best to make things better for disenfranchised blacks. Politics like this, were not his forte'. Miles commanded black troops during part of this time, and racial tensions arose between the troops and the white officers.
Miles pushed for a transfer out West, his ambitions led him there. He was fighting a losing battle in Raleigh, the deck was stacked.
Miles went in on some successful land speculation with Ohio Senator John Sherman up in the northern plains. I wonder if the indian chiefs he negotiated with knew of this?
Miles was friends with Buffalo Bill Cody, tracker Yellowstone Kelly, and later on with the great artist Frederic Remington. There is a long list of those he was not friends with, probably headed by Teddy Roosevelt, and General George Crook. the Wooster book paints a pretty ugly picture of his combative nature and many fueds, often related to his relentless ambitions and paranoia. (he wasn't always just paranoid).
Miles was a 32nd Degree Mason (I am not a big fan).
Just read his Arlington National Cemetary bio if you want a concise summary of what all he did ... which borders on the miraculous. Forrest Gump-like almost, but not hollywood. I ran out of time and couldn't find his crypt a few years ago at Arlington Cemetary.. I did see Abner Doubledays grave though. His men called Doubleday ol 48 Hours.
Personal details below that you can skip if too much of a rabbit hole:
My Moms maiden name was Miles, and her paternal grandmother told me once when I was about 13 years old that we were related.
I blew it off unfortunately, sure wish I could ask questions now. I even read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee when I was in my 30's and didn't realize Bear Coat Miles may have been somewhat related.
My ancestor was Thomas Miles, who fought in the Revolution, but he was denied a pension later in life in eastern north central Indiana, where I was born and raised.
He was supposedly from the same part of Massachusetts as Nelson, and I suspect he was a great uncle. His grave does say Continental Army Massachusetts, and he is in the Miles Cemetary that was on the large family farm that was in the family until lost in the Great Depression. When I got in SAR down here in Texas, I got in thru another guy who had migrated from the East to that same Indiana town. I was advised by SAR to do this because it was easier to do. That guy John Saxon was from the lower Hudson Valley and died in that town at age 100, during the Civil War. I had little to no idea who he was prior.
Since Thomas Miles war record was possibly sketchy, I think it possible that the ambitious Nelson sanitized him out of his bio. Miles did have 3 great Uncles that served in the Continental army per the Virginia Johnson Miles bio I have read. Nelson even ran for Prez as a Democrat (same as my entire Miles clan) but wasn't even close to the nomination.. I think Miles leaned Republican until he went out West after the Civil War, and a stint with OO Howard in Reconstruction posts in NC.. I went to the Historical Society in Westminster MA and found there were two different families of Miles there, and they helped me to trace my Ancestor in Rev War records, but he doesn't show up for Westminster. I heard that they may have spent time in NJ NY and VT.
Maybe he lied, maybe he was written out. Maybe he lived elsewhere? Most likely they just were not that important to the story, and I am just not good at genealogy.
N A Miles was the last Commanding General of the USA, so I suspect that he had this power.
I just finished reading this bio of Nelson A. Miles, with the frontier slant. Last month I finished Nelson A. Miles: An Unregimented General, a 1962 bio by Virginia Johnson. The Johnson book was an old fashioned biography, and was more general, and more favorable.
I would recommend both books, but the Wooster book has a little more meat on the bone (though it is only about 274 pages). Wooster is pretty even handed, he gives Miles his props, but also is not shy about pointing out his shortcomings. I came away with a more balanced picture of who Miles was, warts and all. Sort of a microcosm on steroids of 19th Century and early 20th Century America.
Miles was a lifelong Republican I found in the Wooster book, when I had thought he had been a Democrat. This was because I knew he had been one of 12 nominees at the Democrat Convention of 1904. He only secured 2 votes, both from Kansas, so he didn’t come close to the nomination. He was forced into retirement from the Army at the mandatory age of 64, in 1903. The Prohibition Party wanted him as their candidate in 1904, but he declined because he wanted a legitimate shot at the Presidency. Miles was blocked from the Republican Party because of his feud with Teddy Roosevelt, and the power of Ted. Miles returned to the Republican Party after 1904 and the Roosevelt years..
Miles did offer his services to Democrat Woodrow Wilson at the beginning of World War I. He was in his 70s and deemed too old, though he was still in good shape and had that military bearing. What Miles proposed to do was lead a large group of volunteers into Russia in support of the Kerensky Provisional Government, which was on shaky ground. He wanted to rescue Russia from what he called the Kaiser-esque socialist Reds.
Miles was Commanding General during the Spanish America War of 1898. President McKinley and incompetent Secretary of War Alger became alienated from Miles and pushed for fat General Shafter to take the lead on the invasion of Cuba. The Administration ignored some of Miles ideas on this Cuba invasion, ideas that would have been beneficial. Miles did lead the invasion of Puerto Rico and did it very well, leading to many lives saved. Miles changed the landing spot to prevent possible resistance by the Spanish forces based on intelligence reports garnered from insecure communications. This inland route through the mountains helped minimize Yellow Fever, which was plaguing American Troops in these hot tropics.
Miles was in the anti-imperialist camp regarding the Phillipines. Roosevelt was in the jingoist big-stick camp.
Miles also fought against bureaucracy that hindered the operation of the Army. He got in trouble fighting them over tainted and unhealthy meat provided to the troops. There is a steady pattern of looking out for his troops and for the welfare of the conquered Indian tribes.
Contrast this with the glory-hound stuff and the racism common to the times, and the paternalistic side of this and you have a mix of good and bad.
Update June 30, 2025.
I am about 60 pages in, and we are through Miles Civil War and Reconstruction experiences already.
Miles was wounded at Fredricksburg (neck), Chancellorsville (gut shot, perhaps saved by his belt buckle, missed Gettysburg in recuperation).
Miles enlisted after Bull Run and served all the way through. He was wounded on a few other occasions too. This book says wounded 3x but there were some other minor wounds by my count. Once had a cannon ball take the head off the guy standing beside him. Had horses shot out from under him. Lucky to have lived until 1925, had a knarly constitution. The Johnson and the Wooster book both say he was a 6 footer, but I have seen elsewhere that he was 6'3
Miles was Commander of Fortress Monroe when Jeff Davis was captured a few weeks after Wars end. Abe had just been assassinated and rumours were floating about Davis being part of the conspiracy (untrue). Miles had orders to do what it took to prevent JD from escaping. Miles put some light leg irons on this old guy in frail health, and it caused a huge scandal. The aristocratic Jefferson Davis hated the crass yankee Miles, his widow even trying to get Miles promotions denied many years later.
Miles married General William Tecumseh Sherman's niece (also Ohio Senator Sherman's niece). Nelson wasn't West Point, so that hindered him a little at times. General Sherman bent over backwards to avoid nepotism charges, sometimes his niece and Miles wife complained that he went overboard. Mary Miles who was involved in the Womens Suffrage movement died in 1904, so Miles lived alone until he died in 1925. He made numerous successful investments throughout his life so they lived in an opulent style, mostly in Washington DC.
Miles served under General O O Howard in the Freedmans Bureau in North Carolina and was sympathetic to Republican efforts in Reconstruction and tried his best to make things better for disenfranchised blacks. Politics like this, were not his forte'. Miles commanded black troops during part of this time, and racial tensions arose between the troops and the white officers.
Miles pushed for a transfer out West, his ambitions led him there. He was fighting a losing battle in Raleigh, the deck was stacked.
Miles went in on some successful land speculation with Ohio Senator John Sherman up in the northern plains. I wonder if the indian chiefs he negotiated with knew of this?
Miles was friends with Buffalo Bill Cody, tracker Yellowstone Kelly, and later on with the great artist Frederic Remington. There is a long list of those he was not friends with, probably headed by Teddy Roosevelt, and General George Crook. the Wooster book paints a pretty ugly picture of his combative nature and many fueds, often related to his relentless ambitions and paranoia. (he wasn't always just paranoid).
Miles was a 32nd Degree Mason (I am not a big fan).
Just read his Arlington National Cemetary bio if you want a concise summary of what all he did ... which borders on the miraculous. Forrest Gump-like almost, but not hollywood. I ran out of time and couldn't find his crypt a few years ago at Arlington Cemetary.. I did see Abner Doubledays grave though. His men called Doubleday ol 48 Hours.
Personal details below that you can skip if too much of a rabbit hole:
My Moms maiden name was Miles, and her paternal grandmother told me once when I was about 13 years old that we were related.
I blew it off unfortunately, sure wish I could ask questions now. I even read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee when I was in my 30's and didn't realize Bear Coat Miles may have been somewhat related.
My ancestor was Thomas Miles, who fought in the Revolution, but he was denied a pension later in life in eastern north central Indiana, where I was born and raised.
He was supposedly from the same part of Massachusetts as Nelson, and I suspect he was a great uncle. His grave does say Continental Army Massachusetts, and he is in the Miles Cemetary that was on the large family farm that was in the family until lost in the Great Depression. When I got in SAR down here in Texas, I got in thru another guy who had migrated from the East to that same Indiana town. I was advised by SAR to do this because it was easier to do. That guy John Saxon was from the lower Hudson Valley and died in that town at age 100, during the Civil War. I had little to no idea who he was prior.
Since Thomas Miles war record was possibly sketchy, I think it possible that the ambitious Nelson sanitized him out of his bio. Miles did have 3 great Uncles that served in the Continental army per the Virginia Johnson Miles bio I have read. Nelson even ran for Prez as a Democrat (same as my entire Miles clan) but wasn't even close to the nomination.. I think Miles leaned Republican until he went out West after the Civil War, and a stint with OO Howard in Reconstruction posts in NC.. I went to the Historical Society in Westminster MA and found there were two different families of Miles there, and they helped me to trace my Ancestor in Rev War records, but he doesn't show up for Westminster. I heard that they may have spent time in NJ NY and VT.
Maybe he lied, maybe he was written out. Maybe he lived elsewhere? Most likely they just were not that important to the story, and I am just not good at genealogy.
N A Miles was the last Commanding General of the USA, so I suspect that he had this power.
May 6, 2019
An interesting book about the old frontier army with Nelson A. Miles in many events that changed the outcome of the Indians. Along with Arthur MacArthur they both tamed the West with the natives. He was an very outspoken officer as well as very competent.
June 27, 2015
Following the Civil War General Nelson Miles took part in several campaigns and wars against the American Indian. This book looks at both his successes and his failures and is an excellent read on the demise of the American frontier and the changing American Army. Wooster has again done an excellent job in creating a well researched and documented history.
September 5, 2011
General Miles fought the Apache Indians as well as other tribes during the period between the Civil War and the Spanish American War.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews