James Miller, late Brigadier-General in the United States army, was
born in the town of Peterborough, Hillsborough county, New Hampshire,
April 25th, 1776. His grandfather, Samuel Miller, came from the
North of Ireland, about the year 1720, and settled in Londonderry,
New Hampshire, accompanied by his wife, (whose maiden name was Mary
Shearer,) and their eldest child. They had seven children; five sons,
Matthew, James, William, Samuel and John; and two daughters, Mary and
Jane; all of whom, except Matthew, the eldest, were born in America.
The four younger sons subsequently removed from Londonderry to
Peterborough and settled on a tract of wild land, which, as tradition
states, had been purchased for them, and paid for in linen cloth and
thread manufactured by their mother, a woman of great energy and
industry. The purchase comprised an extent of four hundred acres,
and includes some of the best land in Peterborough. The eldest son,
Matthew, remained in Londonderry with his parents.
Of the four who went to Peterborough, James, the father of General
Miller, was the twin brother of William, and for many years they
improved their land in common and divided the produce. He married
Catherine Gragg, the first child baptized in Peterborough. She was
the daughter of Hugh Gragg, who also came to America from the north
of Ireland, and settled in Groton, Massachusetts, but subsequently
removed to Peterborough, when his daughter Catherine was a child of
about eight or nine years of age. James Miller and his wife, Catherine
Gragg, had four sons, Hugh, Samuel, James and Jacob; and three
daughters, Jane, Mary and Catherine: of these, James, the subject of
this memoir, was the third son. His earlier years were spent at home
with his parents. Although he was of a robust constitution, and had a
muscular and powerful frame, he was never a very valuable assistant in
the agricultural labors of the farm, if we may be allowed to judge from
the appellation by which he is said to have been familiarly designated
in the family, and perhaps in the neighborhood, that of “_lazy Jem_.”
The facilities for education in that part of the country were at that
period very limited, but they were then, as now, free to all so far as
the town or district schools were concerned. He attended one of these,
such portions of the year as it was kept open; and it so happened that
his earliest military as well as literary instruction was received
there. One of the persons employed for a time as teacher of the school,
had been a sergeant in the army of the Revolution, and had still so
much of his former military taste remaining, as to render it quite
as much a matter of pride and gratification to him to drill the boys
(provided with wooden guns for the purpose) in the manual and company
movements, at intervals between school hours and on holidays, as it
was to preside over their literary progress in doors. He was, withal,
a strict disciplinarian, and the event now to be related would not, in
all probability, have happened during his administration. In the time
of one of his successors in the school, the boys, incited perhaps by
traditionary accounts of similar schoolboy doings in the old country,
determined to gain a holiday, which had been refused them, by “barring
out” the master and holding adverse possession of the school-house
until their demand was complied with.
The plan was carried into effect by those who, from residing at a
distance from the school-house usually remained at noon-time, (while
the master and another portion of the scholars were temporarily
absent,) aided by such as they had persuaded to stay with them and take
part in the conspiracy. The door was accordingly shut and barricaded
by those in the plot, but a window, which (in the scarcity of glass
and window-frame, incident to a new settlement) was fitted only with
a wooden shutter, could not be closed against the “executive” and
“conservatives,” without at the same time excluding _daylight_; a
deprivation to which the young conspirators felt a distaste very
similar to that attributed by Homer to the Grecian Ajax. It was,
besides, highly desirable that an avenue for negotiations between
the parties should be kept open, through which, at the proper time,
the terms of an accommodation might be settled. The defence of this
important and assailable point was committed to young Miller, although
one of the youngest of this juvenile band: and when at the exhortation
of the master, (who, after all, was possibly at heart as little averse
to a holiday as any of his pupils,) an assault on the fortress was made
by the advocates of “law and order,” so resolutely did he maintain his
post, that the _storming party_, headed by an older cousin of the young
defender, were effectually kept at bay. A parley was now held, and the
demand for a holiday having been acceded to on the part of the teacher,
coupled with a stipulation for the entire immunity from punishment of
all concerned, the door was once more opened and the affair terminated
in a manner agreeable, doubtless, to all concerned, since all shared
alike in the indulgence obtained.
He continued to attend the town schools during a portion of each
season, until the autumn of his eighteenth year, when, desirous of
greater facilities for education than his native town afforded, he left
home for the purpose of attending the academy at that time established
in Amherst, New Hampshire, some twenty-five miles distant from
Peterborough. His _outfit_ on the occasion was neither very splendid
nor extensive; consisting of a bundle of clothes, not at all burdensome
to carry, and the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents in money.
The “credit system” was, in those days almost a matter of necessity,
and although he had no personal acquaintance in Amherst, except with
one or two of the students at the academy, he found no difficulty
in making an arrangement for his board in the family of one of the
townspeople, and his tuition at the institution. He remained at the
academy for several months, and then left for the purpose of recruiting
his finances and paying off arrearages by teaching; and having done so,
was enabled himself to go to school again, and then open a new account
with his boarding house and learning. He went on in this manner,
alternately pupil and teacher, receiving knowledge by instalments, and
disbursing it very fairly as it accumulated, until after years (when,
having spent a short portion of the time as a student at Williams
College,) he was qualified to commence the study of law, which he
pursued in the office of the late James Wilson, Esquire, then of
Peterborough, and latterly of Keene, New Hampshire, a gentleman at that
time of extensive and successful practice in the law. Having completed
the requisite term as a law student, he was admitted to practice in the
state court, at the spring term for Hillsborough County, 1803.
He removed to the town of Greenfield, adjoining Peterborough, and
continued the practice of the law there until, in the year 1808, he
received from President Jefferson an appointment as major, in the
Fourth Regiment of United States Infantry, the highest appointment
made from New Hampshire under the act of Congress for increasing the
army. He was in a great measure indebted, for this appointment, to
the favorable opinion and influence of the late Governor Pierce of
New Hampshire, himself a distinguished officer in the revolutionary
army. James Miller had previously held a commission under the state
government, as captain of artillery. His commission as major of the
Fourth Regiment of United States Infantry, bears date the 3d of March,
1809, taking rank from 8th of July, 1808. In June, he joined his
regiment, then commanded by Col. John P. Boyd, at Fort Independence,
in Boston harbor, in the spring of 1809, where he remained (with
the exception of a short interval, spent on duty at Springfield,
Massachusetts, and on a march from there with a detachment of troops
to Newport, Rhode Island,) until the spring of 1811, when he embarked
with the fourth regiment, for Philadelphia--having shortly before been
commissioned as lieutenant-colonel of the fiftieth regiment. The troops
arrived at Philadelphia, on the 16th of May, and on the following day
proceeded on their march to Pittsburgh, where they arrived on the 21st
of June.
In consequence of hostile indications on the part of the Northwestern
Indians, prompted by the master spirit Tecumseh, government had
determined on a military expedition into the Indian country, and
Colonel Miller was, with his regiment, ordered to prepare with all
possible dispatch to proceed to Vincennes and join the forces under
General Harrison. The first steamboat ever launched on the western
waters was then on the stocks at Pittsburgh, and of course afforded
matter for much observation and comment. On the 2d of August, the
troops embarked in keel boots for Vincennes. They reached Newport,
Kentucky, the distance of five hundred and twenty miles, in seven days,
and there landed and remained until the 30th of the same month, when
they again embarked and descended the river to Jeffersonville, Indiana,
in order to meet General Harrison.
At the request of General Harrison, Colonel Boyd, then in command of
the regiment, left the expedition and went with General Harrison across
the country to Vincennes, leaving Colonel Miller in command of the
troops, with orders to proceed by water.
They descended about three hundred miles to the farther Wabash, and
then made their way up that river one hundred and seventy miles more to
Vincennes.
The ascending the Wabash was at that time exceedingly toilsome and
harassing; the river was very low, and they had eleven large boats from
fifty to seventy-five feet long to pass over the bars and shallows
of the river, which were of very frequent occurrence. It sometimes
required the united efforts of an hundred men to lift or drag a single
boat over a rocky shallow. On the 17th of September, the day of the
great solar eclipse, they were engaged in passing the grand rapids of
the Wabash.
To encourage and animate the men, Colonel Miller himself frequently
went into the water to assist at the boats, as did every other officer,
and for several successive days, had not the opportunity of a change
of dry clothes. It was to this exposure and fatigue that Colonel
Miller was probably indebted for the severe illness with which he was
subsequently attacked.
The boats, with the troops, reached Vincennes on the 19th and
there joined the militia under General Harrison. The combined force
immediately commenced drilling for Indian warfare, and on the 27th
of September, marched for the Prophet’s town, in the vicinity of the
Tippecanoe ground. On the 2d of October, the army reached the spot,
seventy miles from Vincennes, where they halted to build Fort Harrison,
which was subsequently so bravely and successfully defended against
the Indians by Lieutenant, _now_ Major-General Zachary Taylor. The
next day after his arrival at this place, Colonel Miller was seized
with a violent bilious fever, which at once completely prostrated him,
from the effects of which, and the treatment and exposure which he
necessarily had to undergo, he has never entirely recovered.
Until the fort was built, he was sheltered in a tent, with a bearskin
and blankets for bedding. The weather for the first few days was very
warm, and then suddenly changed to cold, with snow and rain; to hasten
salivation, the physicians applied mercury very freely externally, as
well as administering it internally, with blisters on the neck and
limbs.
He had never been confined by sickness for a single day in his life
before. He received the kindest attention from General Harrison,
Colonel Boyd, and other officers, particularly from Colonel Davis, of
the Kentucky dragoons, who was afterwards killed at Tippecanoe.
When the army moved from Fort Harrison, on the 29th of October,
Colonel Miller had so far recovered as to be able to walk a few steps
with the assistance of a cane, but was utterly unable to accompany the
troops. For fifteen days he had been unable to move from his hard bed
without being lifted, a tent his only shelter; and the weather suddenly
changed from warm to cold, sufficiently to allow the snow to remain
on the ground for two days at a time. His regret at being compelled
to remain behind, is thus expressed in a letter written some time
after:--“I reflected that I had sailed, marched, and rowed in boats,
more than two thousand miles in search of, and with the expectation of
acquiring, in common with my brothers in arms, some military fame: to
be brought to the ‘right about’ and obliged to halt within a few miles
of the scene of action and consequent honor acquired by the glorious
victory obtained--I thought my lot a hard one.” From the 4th day of
May to the 18th of November, he had slept in a house but two nights.
Colonel Miller was left in command of Fort Harrison, with the invalids
of the army, and although thus debarred from participating in the
battle which ensued, and resulted in the victory of Tippecanoe, he was
fortunately able to be of essential service after the battle. For when
apprised of the result, by express from General Harrison, he dispatched
boats up the river, with hay in them for the reception of the wounded,
and fresh provisions for the troops, to a point where the army would be
likely to strike the river, on their return to Fort Harrison.
When the army left Fort Harrison, on its return to Vincennes, in the
following November, although still an invalid, Colonel Miller requested
to accompany them, and he was sent in command of the troops and boats,
by way of the river: although it was considered the most easy way of
traveling, he suffered much from exposure on the journey. He spent
the following winter at Vincennes, and during that time became an
inmate in the house and family of General Harrison, who with the most
affectionate kindness urged this hospitality upon him. In May, 1812, he
received orders to proceed with the fourth regiment to Dayton, Ohio,
and from thence marched to Detroit, having joined General Hull at
Urbana.
The communication with the state of Ohio being completely blocked
up, thereby preventing the transportation of supplies of provisions
for General Hull’s army, he saw it necessary to turn his attention
to that point, and accordingly detached from the army a part of the
regular troops, numbering about six hundred men, under the command of
Lieutenant-Colonel James Miller, of the fourth regiment United States
infantry, for this object. Colonel Miller was permitted to take two
field pieces with the detachment, one six pounder and one five and a
half inch howitzer, with their appendages and ammunition.
The detachment having drawn two days’ provisions, being organized and
everything prepared for the march, General Wayne was chosen to lead
the spies to reconnoitre the country; these were volunteer citizens of
Detroit well acquainted with the route.
At five o’clock P. M., on the 8th of August, 1812, the troops being
ready to march, and drawn up in line in the main street of Detroit,
Colonel Miller rode to the centre and in front of the line, and
addressed the troops in the following words:--“Soldiers, we are going
to meet the enemy and to beat them! The blood of your brethren, spilt
by savage hands on the 5th, must be avenged by their chastisement, and
by the chastisement of the enemy who employs them, more savage than
they! I shall lead you--I trust that no man will disgrace himself or
me--every man who is seen to leave the ranks, to give way, or fall back
without orders, shall instantly be put to death. My brave soldiers!
you have once faced the enemy in a hard conflict, and beaten them,
and gained glory to yourselves and honor to your country! Let this
opportunity be improved to add another victory to that of _Tippecanoe_,
and new glory to that which you gained on the _Wabash_. Soldiers, if
there are any now in the ranks of this detachment, who are afraid to
meet the enemy, they are now permitted to fall out and stay behind.” At
which the words, “I’ll not stay,” ran through the ranks with a “huzza.”
The detachment then moved off in order and high spirits, and exhibited
so much ardor to engage in the conflict, that the anxious citizens felt
perfect confidence in the success of the enterprise. The detachment
arrived at the river Rouge, six miles from Detroit, about sunset. There
being no bridge and the water very deep, they were conveyed over in
scows, and as two only were within reach, it was ten o’clock before
the whole had crossed over. The weather being somewhat rainy and very
dark, it was determined to encamp there for the night. They therefore
stationed their guards and picquets, and permitted the men to rest on
their arms till daylight. Accordingly, at daybreak, they commenced
their march, with Colonel Miller at the head of a column of cavalry,
accompanied by his aids, in the road and in a line with the heads of
the columns of musketry. In this order the detachment marched from
the encampment, near the river Rouge, on the morning of the 9th. They
proceeded through the white settlement, which was about five miles, and
entered the woods.
The country, from the river Rouge to Brownstown, is generally flat, and
lies a little above the surface of the river Detroit. Indian huts and
fields are interspersed through the woods; at that time the fields were
covered with corn, which was grown to seven and eight feet high.
When the advanced guard had arrived at the farther edge of this
wood, the spies advanced into the Indian opening; they were fired
upon by a party of ten Indians, who were on horseback, and had
concealed themselves behind the house of the celebrated chief,
_Walk-in-the-water_.
The spies fell back. A citizen from Detroit, who accompanied them, was
killed, and fell from his horse. The guard advanced quickly towards
the house, and the Indians immediately fled without receiving much
injury, though the guard fired upon them while they were uncovered by
the house. The Indians bore away as a trophy, the citizen’s scalp whom
they had shot; and the facility with which the scalp was taken, was
astonishing. There scarcely appeared to have been time for the Indian
to reach the spot where the man fell, before the guard arrived and
found the scalp taken off, and the Indian gone. When the firing was
heard by the columns, the order was given by Colonel Miller to march on
with haste, but only some scattered Indians were discovered, who had
been sent out by the British to watch the movements of the Americans,
and to give information of their approach towards Brownstown, where the
enemy, as it appeared afterwards, then lay in ambush to receive them.
The position which the enemy had chosen, lay in an open oak wood, just
at the declivity of a rising ground, over which the Americans had to
pass. He had thrown up a breastwork of trees, logs, &c., behind which
he lay concealed in force, and in order of battle. His works were
thrown up in form of a _courtine_ with two flanks. The line of the
_courtine_ lay across the road and perpendicularly to it. The banks
formed an angle with the _courtine_ of about one hundred and twenty.
The _courtine_ was lined with British regular troops, two deep of
the forty-first regiment of foot, under the command of Major Muer of
that regiment, who had long been in command at Malden. The flank of
the _courtine_, on the enemy’s right, and American left, was lined
with Canadian militia and Indians, commanded by _Walk-in-the-water_
and _Marpot_. Most of the militia were dressed and painted like their
“brethren in arms,” the savages. The left flank of the courtine was
lined entirely by savages, under the command of the celebrated Indian
warrior Tecumseh, of the Shawnoese nation.
The number of the British regulars and militia amounted to about three
hundred; about two hundred regulars. The Indians amounted to four
hundred and fifty, making the enemy’s forces about seven hundred and
fifty men. The position and strength of the enemy were entirely unknown
to Colonel Miller and to the army at this time.
At twelve o’clock M. the detachment arrived at a large opening which
contained four or five Indian houses, gardens, and orchards, and the
army halted to take some refreshment, and to bury the man who had been
killed; there they lay one hour. The village was deserted, and nothing
of any consequence left in the houses.
At one P. M., the troops resumed their march, and soon reached the
woods, near Brownstown, where some guns were heard by them. In a few
seconds a volley was heard from Captain Snelling’s advance guard, and
another instantly returned from a great number of pieces. The troops,
by this time, were in preparation for battle, when Colonel Miller
rode towards the centre at full speed, halted, and with a firm voice
ordered the columns to “form the line of battle,” which was executed
with that order, promptness and zeal, which he had expected; after the
first volleys, the firing became incessant in front. Captain Snelling
stood his ground till the lines were formed, and moved to his relief.
He stood within pistol shot of the enemy’s breastworks in a shower of
balls from the regular troops in his front, who showed themselves after
the first fire, and set up the Indian yell.
When the first line appeared before the breastwork, they received the
fire of the whole front and a part of the flanks. At this instant,
Colonel Miller discovered that the enemy outflanked him, when the
second line and flank guards were brought upon the flanks of the front
line of the enemy.
The savages, in unison with the British troops, set up a horrid yell,
and a severe conflict ensued.
The incessant firing of individual pieces soon changed to volleys,
and while silence prevailed for an instant, the discharge of the six
pounder burst upon the ear. At this instant, Colonel Miller was thrown
from his horse which took fright at the discharge. He was supposed
to be shot; those near him flew to his aid; the savages who saw him
fall sprang over the breastwork to take his scalp, but were repulsed.
Colonel Miller instantly remounted and returned to continue his orders.
The fire from the Indians, who were screened by their breastworks, was
deadly.
Another discharge of grape from the six pounder, caused the British
line to yield, then to break, and the troops to fly in disorder!
Tecumseh, and some Indians under his command, who had leaped over
the breastwork in the full assurance of victory, were driven back at
the point of the bayonet. The British and some Indians fled directly
down the river, and were pursued by Colonel Miller, and that part of
the troops which had opposed them. Tecumseh, with his Indians, fled
directly from the river westwardly, into the wilderness, and were
pursued. After the British had retreated about one mile, they came to
an opening, of about half a mile in diameter; here they attempted to
rally again, but on the approach of the Americans they again broke and
fled into the woods down the river. Colonel Miller immediately ordered
the troops to follow in further pursuit of the British.
After following them through the woods for nearly half a mile, they
came upon the beach of Lake Erie, and discovered the enemy all in
boats, steering towards Malden, and out of reach of their shot. They
had concealed their boats at this point, when they came over, for this
purpose, if they should be defeated. The troops returned to the battle
field, where they met the division which had returned from the pursuit
of Tecumseh.
When the troops were formed in line, Colonel Miller rode in front and
addressed them in the following words:--“My brave fellows! you have
done well! every man has done his duty. I give you my hearty thanks
for your conduct on this day; you have gained my highest esteem; you
have gained fresh honor to yourselves, and to the American arms; your
fellow soldiers in arms will love you, and your country will reward
you. You will return to the field of battle, to collect those who have
gloriously fallen; your friendly attentions to your wounded companions
are required.” Detachments were sent out with wagons to search the
woods, and collect all the wounded and dead, and bring them to the
ground then occupied by the troops. All the Indian houses, only three
or four in number, were prepared to receive them, and the surgeons were
industriously employed with them, during the whole night.
The troops encamped on the bank of the river, fronting the woods, the
river forming their back. The time from the attack on the vanguard
to the time of forming the line on the Indian fields, after the
pursuit was finally ended, was two and a half hours. During this sharp
conflict the conduct of each individual officer and soldier was so
uniformly and strictly military, that the commander was scarcely able
to make distinctions in his brief and modest report to General Hull.
The physical powers of almost every man were called into action, and
severely tried.
The troops then returned to Detroit, where they were apprised of the
declaration of war between England and the United States.
Colonel Miller, on hearing the above news, determined to make an
attempt to land on the Canada shore, with the fourth regiment, which
he still continued to command, accompanied by Colonel, now General
Cass, with a regiment of militia, together with a company of artillery,
under Captain Dyson; the whole, under the command of Colonel Miller,
embarked at a point about a mile above Detroit, crossed the river and
landed on the Canada side without opposition. Colonels Miller and Cass
had, on this occasion, the honor of planting with their own hands, on
the bank of the Detroit river, the first American flag carried into
Canada in the last war. After remaining but a short time in Canada,
they re-embarked to the American side. Colonel Miller, it appears by
official reports, took an active part in nearly all the principal
battles of the western frontier. In a dispatch from General Harrison,
at Lower Sandusky, he observes, “the detachment led by that brave
officer, Colonel Miller, did not exceed three hundred and fifty men,
and it is very certain that they defeated two hundred British regulars,
one hundred and fifty militia men, and four or five hundred Indians.”
Again, in a letter from Major-General Brown to the secretary of war,
after the battle of Bridgewater, he says, “to secure the victory, it
was necessary to carry this artillery and seize the height; this duty
was assigned to Colonel Miller, who advanced steadily and gallantly to
his object, and carried the height and the cannon.” He also observes,
“from the preceding detail, you have evidence of the distinguished
gallantry of that brave officer.” In the battles of Chippewa, Niagara
and Erie, he is alike distinguished. After the battle of Chippewa,
Colonel Miller was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General. Congress
presented him with a gold medal (_see_ Plate V.) with the unanimous
thanks of that body.
After the close of the war, General Miller retired to his estate at
Peterborough, New Hampshire, where he resided for some time, enjoying
the sweets of quietude and the pleasures of agricultural pursuits;
subsequently he received the appointment of collector of the port
at Salem, Massachusetts, where he is now living in the bosom of his
family. Although nearly deprived of the powers of articulation by
paralysis, he enjoys his other faculties with comfort to himself and
happiness to all around him.
The kindness and affability of General Miller made him a favorite in
the field, as well as in the domestic circle. Before his affliction,
it was indeed difficult to be long in his society without feeling
happier as well as wiser. He was blessed with a great cheerfulness of
disposition, which diffused its charms on all around him. He lives,
commanding universal veneration and attachment from his illustrious
services as a soldier, and his social virtues and generous hospitality
as a man.