Medford mail tribune., May 15, 1925, Page 5, Image 5

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MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. OffEOON, FRIDAY, M.Pf 15, 1025
PAGE FIVE
f, ;x. MIL)
(Continued from page one.)
times the point of deuth from
wounds, and enu?"ged from the great
struggle the possessor of many envi
able citations for bravery und distin
gu lulled service. Continuing in the
army, he 'fought and pursued Indians
on the Great Plains for more than 20
years; led the army of occupafton in
Porto mco uuring tne spamsn-Amer-
lean war, and although long retired
when the United States entered the
World wnr, he was ready and eager
to participate once again in the ser
vice to which his life had been devoted.
It was the saddest disappointment
of .a long and adventurous career
when, depsite his best efforts. General
Miles was not recalled to active ser
vice in J 9 1 7. He had been retired in
1903 upon reaching the age limit, but
when the United States entered the
European war, he asked to be sent to
Siberia with tho American troops. It
was decided, however, that an execp-t-jm
could pot be made In his case,
hchce his last military' service was in
1816, when he presided over the
medal of honor board which reviewed
the list of officers and men who had
been honored by the nation with that
decoration.
General Miles received his first
military training at the hands of a
tornssr officer of the French army
who eked out a livelihood in Boston
by teaching a number of young men
the tactics employed by the French
army. It was quite natural that his
ambitions should center on the army,
for he sprang from ft long line of
fighting colonists on the paternal
side. The family traced Its ancestry
back to the Rev. John Myles, a
"fighting parson," who, upon the out
break of "King Phillip's War" in 1075
girded on his sword and led thQ Col
onists against the Indians. Captain
Myles's home was fortified by the
pioneers, and from there he led many
subsequent forays against the red
men,
Daniel Miles and Jacob Miles,
great-grandfather and , grand-father,
respectively, of General Nelson A.
Aitofl, fought in - the Revolutionary
war and were "in at the death'
fut her.
when
Daniel
Yorktown fell. His
also waH a fighter.
The elder Daniel Miles at one time
possessed, a large landed fortune,
which he had built up through long
years of unremitting toll. Just as the
country was settling back after the j
War of. Independence, Daniel Miles :
was one of those who reposed enough ;
confidence In the government he had
aided In establishing to convert his j
farms and treasure Into colonial cur
rency. There Was a great wave of
counterfeiting sweeping the land at
the time, however, and hardly had the
Miles fortune been counted out in
paper money when the government j
suddenly repudiated the entire Issue,
and the family, along with many:
others, was reduced almost to pov-!
erty. ' ' , w I
An Indian Fighter
Young Nelson himself was a fighter
and Indian vanquisher from his earli
est youth. While at school he was
i nover so happy as when leading his
Vomrados against imaginary "In
diansy who werCWWaVs7 uptierrnoat
in the young soldier's mind. His
elder brother, Daniel, who taught him
in school, used this military predilec
tion to calm the boy's prankish mo
ments. He was sore pressed to disci
pline. Nelson until he used military
terms. Being kept after school or
thrashed had little effect, but when
the teacher said "Nelson, you have
disobeyed the command of your su
perior officer, and are a prisoner of
war,"' the results were Immediate,
. General Miles was born at West
minster, lass., April 8, 1839, and re
ceived an academic education there
and In Boston. In later years ho was
awarded the honorary degree of
LL.t). by Harvard, Blown and Col
gate." When the Clyil War broke out,
mah civilians organized units with
their own funds, and later took com
mand of their townsmen in the army.
When the Roxbury Guards were re
cruited, the enthusiastic citizens of
that town promised a bounty of $20
for each man who enlisted. The
money was delayed, however, and
when- the company was completed
and the funds" still failed to material
ize. Miles took the only thousand dol
XiPx he had in the world and by bor-
t1. rwlng 12500 more, para me -men
i tho it- ftfintm Ha was never . reim
bursed .by, the forgetful town council.
Miles passed thru the bloody battle
of Antietam unscratched and won fur
ther commendation. At Chancellors
ville be again elicited the praise of
Hancock and was marked for promo
tion. Some years later ho was award
ed the Congressional Medal of Honor
the nation's highest distinction, "for
distinguished gallantry nt Chnncel
lorsville. It was at this battle that he
received his most serious wound, a
shot in the abdomen. It kept him out
of the battle of Gettysburg; but he
recovered in time to take part In
Grant's campaign against Richmond.
By some queer coincidence many
years after the war. Miles met the
Confederate soldier who fired the bul
let. The man was only150 yards
from his target, and only the fact that
the bullet struck M Ilea's belt buckle
saved the officer from death.
I aimed at your heart," the man
said, "but think the motion of your
. f i horse carried the ball a little low.
, After what has occurred during
I V""e thirty-six years I am glad I
ifelssed that shot."
i 4 i Sonn Became Famous
Although only 24 years old. Miles
had become famous in army circles,
and Grant. Meade. Burnside, McCIel-
llan. Hooker, Hancock and every other
field officer under whom he served
-urged his promotion. He continued
this record at the Wilderness, and nt
, Hpottsylvania he led his men with
such bravery that he soon received
'his commission as brigadier general.
?He was later honored with the brevet
. of major general, with the citation
f'for gallant and meritorious service
'at Sbottsylvania."
V18 iMt service In the war was to
- 'pursue Lee's forces to their surren
' ider at Appomattox, winning Grant's
.highest praise. He was then given
co remand of eastern Maryland and
Virginia and at Fortress Monroe was
given the custody of Jefferson Davis.
after the plot which resulted in the
awiiMtnation of Lincoln. Hcveral un
1 Piwint duties resulted from this
y task, which brought sharp criticism
. a; the time fcom southern statesmen
I,
who charged lim with Having usi d
unduly harsh measures to safeguard
the prisoner, among which was the
shuckt-g ofOlr. Davis.
"Jefferson Davis was not hold and
arrested for being president of the
Confederate states. "General Miles
snid in defending himself, "but was
captured for his part in tfij great plot
which aimed 9- the deaths of Lincoln,
Seward. Grant luid many other gov
ernment leaders. A reward of $100,
000 was posted President Johnson
for Davis' capture, and I was ordered
to use every precaution in imprison
ing him. He was later released under
a similar bond and died of old age
twenty-two years later."
At the age of 20 Miles wns mus
tered out of the Volunteers, when the
wnr ceased, and was rccommlssloned
colonel In the regular establishment.
After commanding the department of
Maryland und Virginia, he was de
tailed to command the' department of
North Carolina, und here showed his
great ability In the tasks of peace
time reconstruction, far more difficult
than those of war.
His Indian service began in 1870.
He then embarked on campaigns
which were to bring . to a close the
Indian wars which had lasted thru
all the history of the country. He
won the thanks of the legislatures of
four western states, and the ranks, in
succession, of brigadier and major
general In the regular army
He made a forced march of 160
miles in the winter of 1877, when the
temperature at times dropped to 40
degrees below zero, and captured
Chief Joseph nnd his Nez Perce who
had long caused the' 'government
trouble. i
Crazy Horse, Lame Deer, Spotted
Kngle, Elk Horn, Broad Road, Nat
chez and other Indian chieffj quailed
before his advance. Geronlmo and
his bloody Apaches, whan chased nnd
cornered by Miles, ro fused to capitu
late unless they could do so to Miles
personally. He conquered the last
great Indian uprising, in 1890, during
which Sitting Hull was shot, and tho
other rebellious Indians meekly sur
rendered whem they heard that it
was the "Big Ch0 Bear Coat" who
was on theiOirail. O
It is interesting to note that sewing
under Miles at this time were Captain
Anson Mills, later a famous general,
and a young second lieutenant who
was afterwards to skyrocket to fume
and the command of the army, Leon
ard A. Wood.
Whs Kind to I ml inns
Miles tnrtics in treating with the
Indinns had their wild as well as
bloody phases. He advocated kind
ness to them nnd iriways made it a
point to place In charge of their agen
cies and reservations officers noted
for their integrity, to guard the In
dians from thefts and other depreda
tions. So successful was his system
that It was quite generally adopted by
the government upon his recommen
dation. Nor Is subjugation of the Indian
the only debt the government, and
especially the settlers of the west,
owes to General Miles. With charac
teristic foresight, he saw that in time
the great western plains would be
settled by westward-moving colonists,
and years before reclamation by Irri
gation was thought of, he hud report
ed on the feasibility of this project
to the government, and recommended
spreading the nourishing waters on
the arid land. General Miles always
prided himself on being "the father
of Irrigation and reclamation."
In 1894 Miles was called to subdue
the historic Chicago railroad strike.
He handled tho crisis with such tact
and executive ublllty that he won fur
ther renown.
President Cleveland rewnrded the
general's distinguished services by
appointing him commanding general
of the United States army. He was
then GO years old. During his tenure
in office he represented the army as
observer in the Turko-Greclan war,
and at Queen Victoria's diamond jubi
lee in 18l7.
When the war with Spain broke out
Miles found he had bp vera I influential
foes in the administration, and It is
said they prevented his taking active
command in the field In Cuba. How
ever, ho was sent to close the cam
paign ut Santiago, and then went to
Porto Rico.
At the age of 60 he was raided to
tho rank of lieutenant general, the
sixth army officer to bear that rank.
Political, enemies were now rife In
the army. Miles was In opposition to
the administration. He was declared
to have taken the stand that as com
mander of the army he was the su
preme military power of the country
and was therefore unwilling to take
orders from the administration. For
getting, it was said, the powers of the
president as commander-in-chief, the
fiery war horse was constantly ouar-
reling Vi:'1 P'shh'Ut a secre
taries w war.' He quarreled with
President Cleveland and his secretary.
Lament; with McKinley und Secretary
Atfcr, and with Roosevelt nnd Root.
Ho was 1 offU-inlly rtprimumU-d for
publicly endorsing Admiral Dewev's
report in the Schley case, und becu&o
of strained relations with Roosevelt,
he was sent, shortly before retiring, to
make n tour of the world to Inspect
armies of other powers. On his 64th
birthday., having reached the a 10 of
retirement, but yet never an old man.
General Miles was retired from office
without the appreciation nnd praise
customary toward retiring comman
ders. He retained his fighting spirit how
ever nnd maintained his military con-
Good Digestion
Aids the Complexion
THE WORLD'S GREATEST
helps millions of housewives make
pure and nutritious bakings '
SALES TIMES THOSE OF ANY OTHER BRAND
tUH'tlotiN by becoiAig adjutant gen
eral of the MaHHaunuselts militia,' in
which he served for niuiiu time. He
devoted considerable time to writing
several books und a number of maga
zine articles, both before and after
retirement. "Serving the Uepublie."
"and "1'ersonul Recollections," his
two books, describe his career from
New Kngland to the time of his re
tirement, und are full of Civil War
detuil and "wild west" adventures.
General Miles liMirried Mlw Mary
Hoyt Sherman, neice of the famous
Civil War leader, in l.StJS, while serv
ing with western troops. Two chil
dren, a son and u daughter were burn
to them. The son. Colonel Sherman
Miles, established an enviable record
in the Wotrid War. and whs later wnt
to Constantinople as an observer for
the United States when the Turkish
army defeated the CJ reeks In 1822 and
re-entered Kurope The daughter,
Ceeolie Sherman .Miles, married Col
onel Samuel Keber, L'. S. A.
General Miles survived his wife
many years, preserving his great vi
tality through his advancing years.
His en fringe was erect, his eyes re
mained clear afid ever sparkling with
humor, and his memory, retained the
clearness of his youthful days.
In recent years much of his time
was devoted to golf und walking. Al
most every day the weuth was fair he
could be found on the public links
j along the Potomac, or at one of the
(country clubs in the vicinity of Wnsh
i iiigton.
STAR MEAT MARKET
SATURDAY SPECIALS
Choice Beef Pot Roast . . .15c
Choice Shoulder Pork Roast 25c
Good Bacon ..' 30c
Beef Stew A2l2c
Choice Chickens and Rabbits
Free Delivery Phone 273
See Our Window Display and be Here Sat
urday Morning at 8 Sharp. No Approvals
or Layaways on Sale Dresses
RUSSELL'S
Phone 31
nil B
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Candy Stripe and Plain Colors
in AH Silk Broadcloth Dresses
In this big purchase comes washable All Silk Bro a d c 1 0 1 h
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all sizes and colors in the assortment, and re
member, they are all silk and
washable, worth $17.50
mere are
$11
tiiriiiienjDresse
A wonderful opportunity came to us to purchase a big
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VOILES-ENGLISH BROADCLOTH, SILK BROAD
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prised at the value we offer you on
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English Broadcloth Dresses
Remarkable Values at $3.98
In this big sample line were 50 plain and
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price on them. Wash
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for
$3.95
Surprising Dress Values in
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All the newer things shown this season are
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$17.50
$11
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No more desired or scarce Dress in the mar
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dresses ... ..;
$17.50
Coats 6'ff Many Reductions from Regular Dress Stock
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