Army Officer Nelson Miles Writes NY Publisher, Horse Breeder About Visit For Sale

Single page TLS, 8 ¼ x 10 ½, from NELSON APPLETON MILES, on Headquarters Department Of the Missouri, Chicago, Ill, stationary, February 19, 1892, to his contemporary ROBERT BONNER, a newspaper publisher and horse breeder. Miles was one of the most important army officers of the 19th century.

Miles writes an unusual but friendly letter as follows:

“Passing our house with some friends on Sunday I called as I had to go away on that evening to meet an engagement with the members of the Chamber of Commerce at Rochester, N.Y. I was very sorry not to meet you again but hope you may be in Chicago before very long. My friends, Mr. Colgate Hoyt and Mr. Henry Rouse, had great curiosity to see Maud D and Sunel, and it was to please them that I requested permission to see your wonderful animals. I had that pleasure before by your kindness.

“I hope this may find you very well, and if I can get a copy of my address at Rochester on the subject of Coast Defenses I will send it to you, as it is a matter which interests all public-spirited men.

MILES (August 8, 1839-May 15, 1925) served in the Civil War, the final stages of 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 transformed into the current Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.

Miles enlisted in the Army and was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the 22nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He was later commissioned as a lieutenant colonel of the 61st New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment and promoted to Colonel after the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862. He participated in many major battles including Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville (during which he was shot in the neck and abdomen), the Overland Campaign, Appomattox Campaign during which he was injured four times in the battle. He received the Medal of Honor on July 23, 1892, for his 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.

He played a leading role in nearly all the Army’s campaigns of the American Indian Wars of the Great Plains of the Mid-West.

ROBERT BONNER (1824-1899) was a prominent New York City publisher of the New York Ledger and a famous breeder of trotting horses in the late 19th century.

Folds, toning. The shadow marks are on the verso and are not visible from the front, although they show in the scans – and they don’t impair the legibility of the text.

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