NELSON APPLETON MILES
MILES, NELSON APPLETON, son of a Massachusetts farmer; merchant's clerk; soldier in the United States volunteer army, 1861-65, from lieutenant to major-general of volunteers, and in the United States regular army, 1865-1903, from colonel to lieutenant-general; was born in Westminster, Worcester county, Massachusetts, August 8, 1839. His father, Daniel Miles, was a farmer and lumber merchant, selectman of the town of Westminster, an earnest, patriotic citizen and a conscientious man of high character and marked integrity. His mother, Mary (Curtis) Miles, was a daughter of Francis and Lidia Curtis, descendant of William Curtis who arrived on the ship Lion, September 16, 1632, and settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts. His grandfather, Joab Miles, was the grandson of the Reverend Samuel Miles (1664-1728) rector of King's Chapel, Boston, whose father, the Reverend John Miles, a Baptist minister, came from Swansea, Wales, to the Plymouth colony in 1663, landed at Weymouth, settled at Rehoboth, Massachusetts, where he was pastor, married Ann Humfrey, was a soldier in the King Philip war, established the first Latin and grammar school in Boston, and died February 3, 1683.
Nelson Appleton Miles was brought up on his father's farm, worked in the fields and forests in the summer and attended the district school in the winter months. He was fond of out-of-door sports and had a special interest in nature and animal life.
He attended the Westminster academy for a short time and when sixteen years old went to Boston to take a place in the china and crockery store of John Collamore & Company. There he attended a night school, and a military school conducted by Colonel M. Salignac, where he acquired his first knowledge of military tactics. He also attended Comer's commercial college. At the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861, he recruited a company of volunteers which was assigned to the 22d Massachusetts regiment, commanded by Colonel Henry Wilson; and when the regiment was mustered into service, September 9, 1861, young Miles was mustered in as captain. He
