Miles Standish, Captain of the Pilgrims

by John S.C. Abbott (Creator)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Nonfiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1872

About the author

John Stevens Cabot Abbott (Andover Theological Seminary; Bowdoin College, 1825) was a historian, Congregationalist pastor, and pedagogical writer. With his brothers, including Gorham and Jacob Abbott, he was a co-founder of Abbott Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies in New York City.

Reviews

[Rapier Reviews]

This book is written as a tribute to Miles Standish and while he is mentioned throughout, his story is inseparable from that of the Pilgrims, so that it is more a history of them than him, though there is a short biography of his life in the last chapter.

Nonetheless, it is an easy book to comprehend despite being an old one, having been written in 1872. It relies heavily on direct quotes and narratives of people living the events told, so that it is less a history book and more a combined diary.

I give it a 4.5 rating.

[Randy D.]

Miles Standish: The Puritan Captain

I was not going to read John S. C. Abbott's Miles Standish: The Puritan Captain this Thanksgiving, but I began reading a few paragraphs and decided I would read it. I quickly learned it serves as an elaboration of William Franklin Atwood's, The Pilgrim Story, which I recently finished reading. As I noted in my review of The Pilgrim Story, Atwood obviously wrote his story for the upper elementary and middle school student to learn about the earliest events of our country's history. Atwood used Abbott’s, Miles Standish: The Puritan Captain as the primary resource for The Pilgrim Story. It was written 65 years later in 1940; did Atwood condense and rewrite Abbott’s well-researched story and retitle it? As I was reading Abbott's story, I noticed Atwood's, The Pilgrim Story does have similarities to Abbott's original work.

With that being said, Miles Standish: The Puritan Captain is primarily the biography of the military leader of the Pilgrim “militia.” Since the Pilgrims were basically alone in the New World, they had to rely on themselves for survival, which included their protection. Miles Standish was a trained military officer, therefore, he was the Pilgrim leader's logical choice for the job. Miles Standish is probably the most famous Pilgrim, but ironically, he was not a "pilgrim"; he was hired by the religious dissenters as a military consultant during the initial planning stage of their future voyage to the far northern area of the English colony of Virginia, located at the mouth of the Hudson River.

The story begins with the author explaining who the Pilgrims were; in reality, they were known as "The Puritans" because they wanted to "purify" the Church of England. Of course, since this act of non conformance was blasphemy, or worse, considered a crime against the Crown, it brought with it severe punishment. To freely worship God in their own way, the "puritans" had to either meet in secret and risk arrest and severe punishment, forget their beliefs and conform to the will of the Church establishment or leave their homeland and immigrate to Holland, as that country practiced freedom of religion. A sizable number of these puritans chose the latter of the three alternatives.

Those puritans who did immigrate were nicknamed "pilgrims" by their leader, William Bradford. The name stuck, and these people were the famous Pilgrims who traveled to America and inadvertently planted what Abbott stated were, "the foundations of one of the mightiest empires upon which the sun has ever shone.1

The beginning chapters of Miles Standish: The Puritan Captain tell of the hardships the Pilgrims endured, both during their voyage to America and in their new home. A fierce Atlantic storm altered their course and the Mayflower dropped anchor off Cape Cod, 66 days after sailing from Plymouth, England. Realizing they had no legal claim to the land they wanted to inhabit, they drew up the famous Mayflower Compact as a document expressing their self form of government. This document would later form the basis of the American Constitution. Not long after the Pilgrims were established in their new home, they encountered a Native American scouting party; after a tense situation that luckily went their way, the author states Miles Standish was, "given almost dictatorial powers as military commander."2   They called this incident the "First Encounter."

The story describes how the Pilgrims developed their new home, which they named the Plymouth Colony, by working in harmony with one another. Their belief in a common idea, worshiping God in their own way, was the spiritual glue that held the little band together. After a very difficult winter, they soon experienced a modest amount of prosperity. Of course, they learned rather quickly that in order to survive, they would have to “do as the 'locals' do.”

The primary "local" was a rather unique Native American by the name of Squanto. Without his assistance, the Pilgrims, now whose members were reduced by almost half, would likely have succumbed to the challenges of carving out a home in the wilderness. They suffered a language barrier in both Holland and now, more precariously in Virginia, but once communication was established between them and the Native Americans, through Squanto, they lived in relative peace.

The story continues with several incidents and events that occured during the following year of their adventure, the most notable being, "their Governor set apart a day for public thanksgiving."3  Of course, this "day of thanksgiving" is the basis for our unique American holiday. The Pilgrims were truly thankful for their good fortune and bountiful harvest produced during the first spring and summer in their Plymouth Colony. As with most biographies, Miles Standish: The Putitan Captain centered around the events of the protagonist's life. Mr. Abbott successfully incorporated these notable events Standish experienced into the history of the Pilgrims and the growth of the Plymouth Colony, which occurred  the next few years; Abbott's writing technique made for a very interesting and informative reading experience. As a fitting conclusion to his book, Abbott describes the dedication ceremony of the granite monument erected in proximity to the final resting place of the first commissioned military officer of New England, Captain Miles Standish.

John S. C. Abbott, in researching information for his book used the personal diaries of several Pilgrims, or those from people who knew them as references. Because a diary is considered a prime source of information, he was able to sort fact from fiction. In this respect, Miles Standish: The Puritan Captain is not only an interesting biography of an early American historical figure, it is a superb textbook concerning this early event in our country's history. It is a story we all know, with its key elements being the before mentioned Mayflower Compact, and the Pilgrim's "First Thanksgiving," the latter of which is a unique part of Americana. It has continued for 162 years, established by a president, who was guiding our nation through the midst of a terrible civil war. Lincoln officially recognized the Pilgrim's "day of public thanksgiving," as a symbolic day of reverence, which would help reunite a broken country. Ironically, with all the troubles our country is facing on this Thanksgiving Day of 2025 ... I am thankful I live in the United States of America.

So, in conclusion, John S. C. Abbott's biography of Miles Standish was interesting and informative reading; he incorporated the notable events of the Puritan captain into the history of the Pilgrims and the growth of the Plymouth Colony. Miles Standish: The Puritan Captain is indeed worthy of its five-star rating.  *****

1. Miles Standish: The Puritan Captain; Ch. IV, pg. 76
2. Ibid; Ch. V; pg.97
3. Ibid; Ch. VIII; pg. 170

[Yaaresse]

Abbott was a well-received biographer in the mid-1800s. He tended to cast his subjects in a very favorable light, so likely was more into moralistic posturing than actual facts, but he still wrote books that were enjoyable to read once one got a grasp on the sometimes baroque 1800s writing style.
Our school library had a bunch of his books. (It was an old school with an ancient book collection even back then.)

I recall this one wasn't the best of the lot. Even to my pre-teen eyes, it had a lot of hero-worship built in, the usual much about the great being great because of their moral fiber and Good Christian Qualities, etc. At least Abbott acknowledges the Native Americans were more complicated than our elementary history books gave them credit for being. (Note: Abbott does refer to the Indians as "savages," which will likely twist some 21st century PC readers out of their frames. You have to remember this thing was written in the mid 1800s, when that phrasing was as common and accepted as "good morning." Not saying that is "good", only saying that when you read something 150+ years old, you really should expect 150+ year-old terminology and ideas rather than get all indignant about it not fitting your 21st century mindset.)

[Joshua Horn]

I skimmed through this book during some research on Standish. While it isn't bad, per say, it falls into an easy trap when writing about the Pilgrims, 95% of the book seems to be just a restatement of Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, and the handful of other primary sources, leaving only the remaining 5% about Standish. And that 5% could be just as well switch out for a few dozen pages on a good number of other Pilgrims with little change to the rest. I think Standish would be worthy of a modern more focused and thorough biography.

[Jolee]

Finished most of this but it was very meh. It was interesting, don’t get me wrong! But the author really put the pilgrims on a pedestal. I wanted just the facts off it all and more so surrounding what happened that made the Thanksgiving story come about so I didn’t care too much about Miles Standish’s life necessarily.

[Andy Febrico Bintoro]

Biography

The biography of Miles Standish and The Pilgrims which opened the door for the Great Britain in America in the newly phase of the colonialism there. The book was dedicated as his memoir, of his heroism to his country.

[Laurel Perkins]

Historical Nonfiction

[Michael The Awesome]

Awesome stories about the different Native American tribes, their customs, and hospitality. Shows how they were completely loving kind people. It showed how the Indians saved the first founding fathers of the New England region (Plymouth) again and again by sharing their corn amongst other food to keep them from starvation. Despite the europeans betraying, enslaving, raping and randomly murdering their family members in the past they still gave the europeans trust and took care of them. Of course the europeans ended up nearly extincting all the Tribes. Either by burning to death or giving them infected small pox blankets. Through out the book they still call the Native Americans Savages though lol. Anyhow Captain Miles Standish was pretty bad ass, and fought some pretty bad ass native americans. Worth the read for historic purposes