Nelson A . Miles Nelson Appleton Miles ( August 8 , 1839 – May 15 , 1925 ) was a United States soldier who served in the American Civil War , Indian Wars , and the Spanish - American War . Early life . Miles was born in Westminster , Massachusetts , on his family ' s farm . He worked in Boston and attended night school , read military history , and mastered military principles and techniques , including battle drills . Civil War . Miles was working as a crockery store clerk in Boston when the Civil War began . He entered the Union Army on September 9 , 1861 , as a volunteer and fought in many crucial battles . He became a lieutenant in the 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry , and was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 61st New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment on May 31 , 1862 . He was promoted to colonel after the Battle of Antietam . Other battles he participated in include Fredericksburg , Chancellorsville , and the Appomattox Campaign . Wounded four times in battle ( he was shot in the neck and abdomen at Chancellorsville ) , he was awarded the honorary grade ( on March 2 , 1867 ) of brevet brigadier general in the regular army in recognition of his actions at Chancellorsville , and the honorary grade of brevet major general for Spotsylvania Court House . He received the Medal of Honor ( on July 23 , 1892 ) for gallantry at Chancellorsville . He was appointed brigadier general of volunteers as of May 12 , 1864 , for the Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House . On October 21 , 1865 , he was appointed major general of volunteers at age 26 . After the war , he was commandant of Fort Monroe , Virginia , where former Confederate President Jefferson Davis was held prisoner . During his tenure at Fort Monroe , Miles was forced to defend himself against charges that Davis was being mistreated . Indian Wars . In July 1866 , Miles was appointed a colonel in the regular army . In March 1869 he became commander of the 5th U . S . Infantry Regiment . On June 30 , 1868 , he married Mary Hoyt Sherman ( daughter of Charles Taylor Sherman , niece of William T . Sherman and John Sherman , and granddaughter of Charles R . Sherman ) . Miles played a leading role in nearly all of the 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 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 Montana and intercepted the Nez Percé band led by Chief Joseph . For the rest of Miles ' career , he would quarrel with General Oliver O . Howard over credit for Joseph ' s capture . While on the Yellowstone , he developed expertise with the heliograph for sending communications signals , establishing a line of heliographs connecting Fort Keogh and Fort Custer , Montana in 1878 . The heliographs were supplied by Brig . Gen . Albert J . Myer of the Signal Corps . In December 1880 , he was promoted to Brigadier General , Regular Army . In 1886 , Miles replaced General George Crook as Army Commander against Geronimo in Arizona . Crook had relied heavily on Apache scouts in his efforts to capture the Chiricahua leader . Instead , Miles relied on white troops , who eventually traveled without success as they tracked Geronimo through the tortuous Sierra Madre Mountains . Finally , First Lieutenant Charles B . Gatewood , who had studied Apache ways , succeeded in negotiating a surrender , under the terms of which Geronimo and his followers , agreed to spend two years in a Florida reservation . Geronimo agreed on these terms , being unaware of the real plot behind the negotiations ( that there was no intent to let them go back in their native lands . ) The exile included even the Chiricahuas who had worked for the army , in violation of Miles ' agreement with them . Miles denied Gatewood any credit for the negotiations and had him transferred to the Dakota Territory . During this campaign , Miles ' s special signals unit used the heliograph extensively , proving its worth in the field . The special signals unit was under the command of Captain W . A . Glassford . In April 1890 , Miles was promoted to Major General , Regular Army . That same year , the last major resistance of the Sioux on the Lakota reservations , known as the Ghost Dance , brought Miles back into the field . His efforts to subdue the Sioux led to Sitting Bull ' s death and the massacre of about 300 Sioux . This included women and children at Wounded Knee on December 29 , 1890 . Miles was not directly involved at Wounded Knee and was critical of the commanding officer . Overall he believed that the US should have authority over the Indians , with the Lakota under military control . Spanish - American War and later life . Miles commanded the troops mobilized to put down the Pullman strike riots . He was named Commanding General of the United States Army in 1895 , a post he held during the Spanish - American War . Miles commanded forces at Cuban sites such as Siboney . After the surrender of Santiago de Cuba by the Spanish , he personally led the invasion of Puerto Rico , landing in Guánica in what is known as the Puerto Rican Campaign . Miles was a vocal critic of the army ' s quartermaster for providing rancid canned meat to the troops in the field during what was known as the Army beef scandal . He served as the first head of the military government established on the island , acting as both head of the army of occupation and administrator of civil affairs . He achieved the rank of Lieutenant General in 1900 based on his performance in the war . Called a " brave peacock " by President Theodore Roosevelt , Miles stepped down from the army in 1903 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 64 . A year later , at the Democratic National Convention , he received a handful of votes . Upon his retirement , the office of Commanding General of the U . S . Army was abolished by an Act of Congress and the Army Chief of Staff system was introduced . When the U . S . entered World War I in 1917 , the 77 - year old general offered to serve , but President Wilson turned him down . Miles died in 1925 at the age of 85 from a heart attack while attending a circus in Washington , D . C . , with his grandchildren . He was one of the last surviving of those who served as a general officer on either side during the Civil War He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in the Miles Mausoleum . It is one of only two mausoleums within the confines of the cemetery . George Burroughs Torrey painted his portrait . Medal of Honor citation . Rank and Organization : Citation : Legacy . Miles City , Montana is named in his honor . A steamship , the " General Miles " , was likely named for him . His legacy as an Indian fighter has seen him portrayed by Kevin Tighe in the film " " and by Shaun Johnston in the film adaptation of " Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee " . Miles Street and the Miles Neighborhood in Tucson , Arizona are named in his honor .