"One of the graphic incidents related in Gen. Nelson A. Miles' new book 'Serving the Republic' is his rescue of the German girls from the Indians." -News Tribune (Tacoma), Feb. 1, 1912
"In 'Serving the Republic,' General Miles describes the part he played during the Spanish-American War culminating in the occupation of Porto Rico." -Lincoln Star, Dec. 17, 1911
"General Miles calls his book 'Serving the Republic'...he had many exciting experiences in Indian warfare and was active in the Indian War of 1876 and 1877...it is interesting to read all that General Miles has written about the Indians for whom he seems to have conceived a great respect." -St. Louis Star and Time, Aug. 17, 1913
"Full of exciting episodes." -The American Review, 1911
"Entitled to a place beside such military memoirs as Grant's, Sherman's, Sheridan's and Howard's." - The Dial, 1912
"Worthy of note most particularly because it acquaints us intimately with the Indian outbreaks." - The Outlook, 1911
What important contributions did General Miles make to the Indian Wars of the 1870s and in the invasion and conquest of Puerto Rico from the Spanish?
As detailed by General Nelson A. Miles in his 1911 book "Serving the Republic," his career as a soldier, covering fifty years, was certainly full of exciting episodes. As a young volunteer he took part in many of the battles of the Civil War and was four times wounded. Entering the regular military establishment at the close of the war, he rose to important commands in the Indian campaigns on the Western plains, and in the entire halfcentury of his military experience he was a shrewd observer of the conditions and limitations under which the American army was maintained.
Miles played a leading role in nearly all of the U.S. Army's campaigns against the American Indian tribes of the Great Plains. In 1874–1875, he was a field commander in the force that defeated the Kiowa, Comanche, and the Southern Cheyenne along the Red River. Between 1876 and 1877, he participated in the campaign that scoured the Northern Plains after Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's defeat at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and forced the Lakota and their allies onto reservations. In the winter of 1877, he drove his troops on a forced march across eastern Montana to intercept the Nez Perce band led by Chief Joseph at the conclusion of the Nez Perce War.
In introducing his book, General Miles writes:
"That part of our country's past history which treats of the expansion of our civilization in the territory west of the Mississippi, and the causes thereof, will come in for notice in the course of my narrative, as will also the more salient features of our present conditions, the possible trend of our country's future, and the responsibilities and possibilities which lie before us. I hope that what I have to say may promote confidence in the young men of to-day and inspire them with patriotism, since, of necessity, the destiny of our great Republic depends chiefly upon them and those who shall follow them."
About the author:
Nelson Appleton Miles (1839 –1925) was an American military general who served in the American Civil War, the American Indian Wars, and the Spanish–American War. From 1895 to 1903, he served as the last Commanding General of the United States Army before the office was abolished.
