Miles, Nelson Appleton
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
Nelson Appleton (1839-), an American soldier. He was born at Westminster, Massachusetts. In youth he was a clerk in a Boston store. At the outbreak of the Civil War he entered the army as a lieutenant in the 22d Massachusetts regiment. He was with McClellan in the Peninsular Campaign. He was with the Army of the Potomac constantly until the close of the war. He came out with the rank of major-general of volunteers. At the close of the war he was made a colonel of infantry in the regular army. He was promoted repeatedly. In 1895 he was placed in chief command, and in 1900 he was given the rank of lieutenant-general. In 1903 he was retired from active service. Miles' chief reputation is that of an Indian fighter. From 1874 to 1886 he was engaged in chastising the Cheyennes, Comanches, Sioux, Nez Perces , and Apaches of the Great Plains country extending from Montana to Arizona. As a daring rider and strategist he was matched against Chief Joseph, Geronimo, and Sitting Bull . For his services he was thanked formally by the legislatures of Arizona, New Mexico , Montana, and Kansas. He led the American troops in the Porto Rican campaign of 1898. During the last year or two of his service General Miles fell somewhat under a cloud. He discussed Admiral Dewey and other public men as well as public measures, unbecomingly, it was thought. Military etiquette requires an officer to maintain silence with respect both to his superiors and his inferiors. See Army ; Comanche ; Custer
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's wrote in 1910 Miles was still alive and "under a cloud" for talking out of turn about Admiral Dewey; he died in Washington on 15 May 1925, reportedly while at the circus with his grandchildren, and was buried at Arlington. The post Aiton's calls being "placed in chief command" — Commanding General of the Army — was abolished in 1903 in favour of the Chief of Staff system, so Miles was the last man to hold it. What has changed most is the framing: the phrase "chastising the Cheyennes, Comanches, Sioux, Nez Perces, and Apaches" reads very differently now, and modern accounts stress that the terms Miles offered Chief Joseph in 1877 were not honoured by the government, and that the 1890 killings at Wounded Knee, which Miles himself condemned and investigated as commander of the division, are treated as a massacre rather than a battle.
Written for this edition, 2026.