Beschreibung:

Extraordinary archive of approximately 300 items, including more than 250 original letters written by General Nelson Appleton Miles (1839-1925), Civil War hero, Medal of Honor recipient, leader of major US Army operations during the Indian Wars of the 1870s-1890s, and last Commanding General of the United States Army. Letters are addressed to his wife, Mary Hoyt Sherman (1842-1904), niece of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Archive spans 1863- ca 1913, bulk 1867-1894 including all of Miles's correspondence to his wife. Miles successively commanded the Departments of the Columbia, Missouri, Arizona and Divisions of the Pacific and Missouri. Letters document his decades-long career spent in pursuit of iconic American Indian figures such as Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, Crazy Horse, and Geronimo, offering a historically significant and unabashedly candid firsthand account of the US military's prosecution of the late Indian Wars. Recognized as one of the most accomplished and capable soldiers ever to serve in the US Army, Gen. Nelson A. Miles was also known for relentless ambition. Unlike many of his fellow officers who boasted a West Point pedigree, Miles's military career began more humbly as a volunteer infantryman at the onset of the Civil War. From there his courage and leadership would fuel a meteoric rise through the ranks to Major General of Volunteers in 1865. He participated in nearly every major battle of the Army of the Potomac including Antietam, Fredericksburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg, and he received the Medal of Honor for "gallantry in holding an advanced position in face of repeated attacks" at Chancellorsville. Reflecting the high esteem with which he was regarded among his fellow officers during and after the war, the earliest documents in the collection are copies of letters of recommendation written on his behalf by Generals Caldwell, Barlow, Howard, Humphreys, Meade and Grant. Miles was appointed colonel in the Regular Army in 1866. The earliest letter in the collection written by Miles is dated Feb 21st, 1867, and is addressed to his future wife. Nelson Miles and Mary Sherman commenced a courtship that was solidified by marriage on June 30, 1868. Sixteen letters spanning 1867-1869 document the early days of their acquaintance and marriage. Though some have questioned whether Miles's marriage was based on a desire to further his career via Mary Sherman's politically and militarily connected family, these early letters and indeed all of his correspondence reveal a a man who appears to care deeply about his wife and family. Addressing her typically as "My Darling" or "My Own Precious Darling," Miles seemed to find in Mary a true friend and ally. Perhaps most importantly, the subsequent 200+ letters exchanged between them indicate that Mary was a cherished and trusted confidant. Miles's letters to his wife provide detailed discussions of his military campaigns and unvarnished opinions of the personnel involved in them. Beginning with letters written from Fort Harker, Kansas, in August 1869, nearly every letter in the collection thereafter documents Miles's service in the US Army: the 1874 Red River War against the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho; 1875 hostilities at Cimarron, NM, involving the Ute and Apache; the 1876-1877 Great Sioux War against the Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne; the 1877 Nez Perce War; the 1886 Apache Wars; the San Carlos, Arizona, Indian uprising of 1887; and the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 are all documented. In well over 1,000 pages of correspondence, Miles details his expeditions throughout the West. He describes Sitting Bull as "a man evidently of great influence and a thinking, reasoning being" (Oct 25, 1876) and Chief Joseph as "a very superior Indian, far above any others I have met in intelligence and ability, and a fine-looking mild-mannered man" (Oct 14, 1879). He describes the aftermath of the Battle of Little Bighorn, and the tragedy at Wounded