Wandering Lizard

Biographical Notes

Nelson Appleton Miles

Less than a month after Crook's death, Miles was promoted to major general and transferred to command the Division of the Missouri with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Sitting Bull had left Canada in 1881 and had surrendered at Fort Buford. He was now resident at the Standing Rock Agency in the Black Hills on the North Dakota - South Dakota state line. In 1885 Sitting Bull had toured with Buffalo Bill Cody in his Wild West Show and had earned a sizable amount of money. He was currently involved with followers of the Ghost Dance movement. Indian agents were concerned about the Ghost Dance phenomenon and worried that Sitting Bull's involvement might lead to trouble. Miles hoped to settle the problem without bloodshed and asked Buffalo Bill to assist in bringing Sitting Bull into custody. Cody agreed to assist, but was misdirected by Indian Agent James McLaughlin who wanted to handle the matter himself. McLaughlin ordered the Indian police to arrest Sitting Bull. That action was mishandled and Sitting Bull was killed by one of the Indian policemen. Sitting Bull's death triggered a succession of events which led to the Battle of Wounded Knee wherein elements of the Seventh Cavalry killed a large number of Sioux Indians on December 29, 1890.

Following the massacre at Wounded Knee virtually all of the Sioux fled in fear and anger. Miles personally organized and directed the action that rounded them up and brought them back to the reservations after a couple of weeks of grave uncertainty. In the spring of 1891 Miles took his family on a vacation to Mexico City at the personal invitation of President Diaz. In 1894 Miles was summoned to Washington to discuss what might be done to deal with threatened violence stemming from a strike against the Pullman Company in Chicago. General Schofield was General-in-Chief of the Army and Cleveland was in his second term. Miles met with both men and quickly took a liking to the president. A few days later the president backed him when he used troops to put down the riot that had developed in the city. In October 1894 Miles was transferred to the Department of the East with headquarters at Governors Island. In September 1895 General Schofield retired and Miles replaced him as Army Commander. William McKinley was elected president in 1896 and chose Russel Alexander Alger to serve as his Secretary of War. Alger and Miles did not get along well. In 1897 Miles was sent to observe the Greco-Turkish War and to be the military representative at Queen Victoria's Jubilee celebration. After observing the armies of the European powers Miles returned to Washington and argued vigorously and unsuccessfully for an enlarged military.

Theodore Roosevelt was serving as Deputy to the Secretary of the Navy, John D. Long. Roosevelt and Miles did not get along well. When the revolution started in Cuba and the USS Maine was sunk in Havana Harbor, the public demanded retribution against Spain. Roosevelt supported the call for war and Miles opposed it. On April 21, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain. On May 1, 1898, Admiral George Dewey, commanding the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, destroyed the Spanish Pacific Fleet in Manila Bay. An expeditionary force was sent off to occupy the Philippines and an invasion force was called for to attack Cuba. Miles successfully convinced the president that the army was ill-prepred for the invasion and that it would be far better to have the fleet blockade Cuba while the army prepared properly for the invasion. Supporters of an immediate invasion prevailed, however, and the Secretary of War, with the president's tacit support, bypassed Miles in organizing the invasion force. Roosevelt resigned his position in government, enlisted as a volunteer, and raised a regiment of other volunteers which became known as the "Rough Riders." William R. Shafter was commissioned a Major General and given command of the invasion force.

Miles continued to argue against precipitate action saying that there were inadequate supplies to support the expeditionary force, no time to train the volunteers and properly integrate them into the army, and that a military operation during the hot season would work against the American force. He argued that Cuba was primarily a question of naval superiority and that Puerto Rico should be the first objective. He was also critical of amateurs involving themselves in the chain of command and of the selection of Shafter to lead the expeditionary force. The entire Cuban campaign was full of blunders and disasters for the Americans, and eventually led to President McKinley ordering Miles to visit Cuba and see what should be done to improve the situation without replacing Shafter. Miles did as instructed and then went on to lead the invasion of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico operation went smoothly. After the peace treaty was signed political recriminations filled the newspapers and the president was forced to establish a Board of Inquiry into the Conduct of the War. Miles' testimony was critical of the Secretary of War, but Alger was able to maintain his position in the cabinet until later when he resigned to run for the Senate. Elihu Root was selected to replace him.

In 1901 McKinley was assassinated and Theodore Roosevelt, then Vice President, assumed the presidency. Miles was promoted to Lieutenant General that same year. During the last years of the McKinley administration and the early years of Theodore Roosevelt's presidency, the United States Army was involved in the Philippines, China, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Miles was uncomfortable with the policy of expansion then in favor and was involved in a constant string of arguments with the administration. Miles had a serious falling out with President Roosevelt over the decisions of a naval board of inquiry into the handling of the naval operations associated with the Cuban Invasion. He also opposed Elihu Root's plan to reorganize the military establishment. Root specifically wanted to eliminate the position of General-in-Chief and replace it with a General Staff that reported to the President as Commander-in-Chief. On August 8, 1903, Miles turned 64, the mandatory age for retirement from the army. Lieutenant General Samuel B. M. Young, as Chairman of the new General Staff, bid him farewell at the end of his retirement ceremony. A year later his wife died. He died in May 1925 at the age of 85. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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