Based on a wide range of sources, including materials only recently made available to researchers, this first complete, carefully documented biography of Miles skillfully delineates the brilliant, abrasive, and controversial tactician whose career in many respects epitomized the story of the Old Army.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This comprehensively researched biography serves as the definitive account of a major U.S. military figure. Nelson Miles (1839-1925) established himself between 1865 and 1900 as a successful "Indian fighter" as well as a military politician, becoming the Army's commanding general in 1895. However, his abrasive, contentious personality made him many enemies. According to Wooster, a professor of history at Corpus Christi State University in Texas, Miles's unbroken record of victories in the Plains Indian Wars reflected tactical skills, concern for logistics and an ability to inspire the men under his command. Miles was also a vociferous critic of the corruption, incompetence and brutality that accompanied the government's Indian policies. Too much a part of his milieu to transcend it, he was an archetype, symbolizing the best and the worst of the Old Army. Illustrations not seen by PW. History Book Club selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Wooster has written a detailed biography of the last commanding general of the U.S. Army. Miles's career was long and colorful: he began serving in the Civil War, went on to distinguish himself in many Indian campaigns, and finally participated in the Spanish American War. His often abrasive and stubborn ways kept him at odds with official Washington and lost him favor with Theodore Roosevelt. Details about his many battles, his role in capturing Chief Joseph and Geronimo, and his personal life make this informative and interesting reading. Wooster (history, Corpus Christi State Univ.) gives readers insights into the settling of the West and into the politics of the day. The work is well documented and researched and should have appeal to the serious student.
- Dorothy Lilly, Grosse Pointe North H. S. Lib., Mich.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Dorothy Lilly, Grosse Pointe North H. S. Lib., Mich.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Complete Story of the Last Great CW and Frontier General,
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This review is from: Nelson A. Miles and the Twilight of the Frontier Army (Paperback)
When I read this book, I really wanted to focus just on Miles and his contributions to the Indian Frontier since he virtually closed it out. I learned far more about Miles, a highly skilled and brave field commander who rose all the way to command of the Army by the Spanish American War, than I expected. I was aware of his tremendous ego but I learned more about his political intrigues, compulsion for rank, rivalries with other officers and attraction to crowds and newspapermen. Wooster takes you rather quickly through Miles' youth and astounding CW achievements and spends a good portion on Miles and the Indian Frontier. He outlines quite in impressive detail Miles constant maneuvering for command and reforms, his controversies with Generals and Presidents including Teddy Roosevelt. Miles was involved in the Sioux campaigns, Sitting Bull, Grey Beard, Cheyenne, Nez Perce and Geronimo and the Spanish American War. After reading the book you will have a mixed feel for Miles. Did he want to be in the midst of the action just to participate in an intense challenge or was it always to as a platform to achieve rank? His politics later in life were anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant but he later worked to get the Indians a better deal and he preferred the emancipation of the Philippines after the Spanish American War. He is an important read, he was even in over all command but not the field officer at Wounded Knee. Miles saw many of the most famous Chiefs at their peak and literally escorted them to their final homes, the reservations. Wooster writes an incredibly objective book on a person who contributed tremendously to our history from 1860 to 1910.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Man Who Irritated Most Everyone,
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This review is from: Nelson A. Miles and the Twilight of the Frontier Army (Paperback)
I like biographies because multiple historic events are generally experienced in an individual's life span. As a result we get to see individuals participate in and contribute to solutions that are of macro importance on the national stage. Nelson A. Miles is such an individual. A Civil War hero seriously wounded twice, first in the throat at Fredericksburg and next in the abdomen at Chancellorsville, he returns to participate in Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Five Forks, Saylers Creek and Appomattox. At the war's close he is Jefferson Davis' jailer at Fort Monroe.
His service during the Indian Wars is similarly complete. He participates in the Red River campaign against the Cheyenne, the Sioux War of 1876, captures Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce, Apache War Chief Geronimo and is present for the Wounded Knee Campaign. In 1895 he is promoted to Commanding General of the US Army just in time to lead America's war against Spain where he is responsible for the capture of Puerto Rico. But for as many supporters as he had to help him on his inexorable climb, he had just as many detractors. The General, it seems, enjoyed intrigue. Worse he had a big mouth, one large enough to match his ego. He made enemies easily. True, the old army had intense rivalries and frustrations but Miles always seemed to be on the outs with someone or some faction. Perhaps it was just his nature to fight. This is a well written biography that spans the pivotal events of the final 40 years of the 1800s. It is about a most querulous person, a man most appropriately described by Theodore Roosevelt as "the fighting peacock."
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
History through Biography,
By
This review is from: Nelson A. Miles and the Twilight of the Frontier Army (Hardcover)
Robert Wooster has picked an excellent subject (Nelson Miles) to show the transition of the US Army from the Civil War to WWI. General Miles was a man who seemed to be in the thick of things at just about every stage of the way. What was of particular interest for me in this book was the changes in the military brought upon by the end of the Civil War. Brevet officers full of past glory were suddenly fighting for junior officer posts and finding advancement almost non-existant. Through his stubborn perseverance, Miles slowly but surely rose in the ranks. Along the way he was involved directly or indirectly with the Civil War, the Great Sioux War, the capture of Chief Joseph, the capture of Geronimo, the Battle of Wounded Knee, and the Spanish American War. At times he seemed lucky, conniving, able, and inept. "General Miles and the Twilight of the Frontier Army" is a book that deals equally with both of its' title subjects. Wooster brings us both the glory of history and the drudgery of its' shadows. It leaves one with a rather melancholy feeling as a way of life drew to a close along with its' century.
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