Seward daily gateway., 1925-05-15

In the campaign around Petersburg the young general participated in nearly every important action. Here he received his fourth wound and won another brevet as Major Gener- al, bestowed in the fall of 1865, for highly meritorious and distinguish | ed conduct throughout the campaign and particularly for bravery and val uable services at Reams Station. 1 His last service in the war was to pursue Lees forces to their surren- der at AppomattoX, winning Grants highest praise He was then given command of eastern Maryland and Virginia and at Fortress Monroe was given the custody of Jefferson Da. wis, after the plot which resulted in the assassination of Lincoln. Sev- unpleasant duties resulted from this task, which brought sharp criticism at the time from southern statesmen who charged him with having used unduly harsh measures to safeguard the prisoner, among which was the shackeling of MT. Davis.
 Jefferson Davis was not held and arrested for being President of the Confederate States, General Miles said in defending himself, "but was captured for his part in the great plot which aimed at the deaths of Lincoln, Seward, Grant and many other prominent government leaders. A reward of $1O0,00O was posted by President Johnson for Davis cap ture, and I was ordered to use every precaution in imprisoning him. He was later released under similar bond and died of old age twenty two years after"
 At the age of 26 Miles was mus tered out of the Volunteers, when l the war ceased, and was recommis- stoned Colonel in the regular estab- lishment. After commanding the de- partment of Maryland and Virginia, he was detailed to command the de- partment of North Carolina, and here showed his great ability in the tasks of peace-time reconstruc- tion, far more difficult than those of war.
 His Indian service began in 1870. He then embarked on campaigns which were to bring to 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 Ma jor General in the regular army.
 The name of Miles is woven into !: the romance of the West.
 He met, fought and defeated the Cheyennes, Comanches and Kiowas, l in the southwest. He chastised and subjugated the Sioux in the north west, driving Sitting Bull out of his country. He made a forced march of 160 miles in the winter of 1877, when the temperature at times drop ! ped to 40 degrees below zero, and capturd Chief Joseph and his Neg l Perces who had long caused the government trouble.
 l Crazy Horse. Lame Deer, Spotted Eagle, Elk Horn, Broad Road, Nat !. chez and other Indian chiefs quailed before his advances. Geronimo and his bloody Apaches, when chased and cornered by Miles, refused to capitu- l late unless they could do so to Miles personally. He conquerer the last great Indian uprising, in 1890, dur ing which Sitting Bull, was shot, and the other rebellious Indians meekly surrendered when they heard that it was the Big Chief Bear Coat" who was on their trail.
 It was interesting to note that serving under Miles at this time were Captain Anson Mills, later a | IdulOuS SCuCl di, onA q yOuu5 oSSoAA lieutenant who was afterwards to skyrocket to fame and the command of the army, Leonard A. Wood. Miles tactics in treating with the Indians had their mild as well as bloody phases. He advocated kind- 1 ness to them and always made it a ! point to place in charge of their agencies and reservations officers noted for their integrity, to guard 1 the Indians from thefts and other depredations. So successful was his system that it was quite generally adopted by the government upon his I recommendation.
 1 Nor is subjugation of the Indian T the only debt the government, and