SC22109
1 Box (0.50 cubic ft.)
Open for research
Purchased by the New York State Library as part of the Lyall A. Squair Collection, 1998.
Loraine M. Wies, Intern, SUNY Albany, Rockefeller College School of Information Science and Policy, October 1999
Biographical Note:
John David Miley was born in Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois in 1862. He was an 1887 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and served at Fort Schuyler and Fort Columbus in New York and in the San Francisco area. In 1894 he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. In 1898, while serving as an aide-de-camp to Major General William Shafter, he assisted in the coordination of services for the many war correspondents assigned to cover Shafter's expedition into Cuba during their stay in Tampa while awaiting invasion orders.
Major General Shafter, in his early 50s and weighing over 300 pounds, encountered much difficulty in organizing and initiating the campaign into Santiago, Cuba from Tampa. Plagued by confusing and contradictory orders from Secretary of War Russell Alexander Alger, he arrived in Santiago with only a portion of his troops and supplies. On the day of the assault, General Shafter and Lieutenant Miley, along with other officers, visited the troops and surveyed the area. By the time the attack was to begin, General Shafter had taken ill and was unable to personally command the troops. Lieutenant Miley became the messenger between the front and General Shafter and served as coordinator of the assault. It was his command, under the authority of General Shafter, that the charge which ultimately resulted in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders securing San Juan Hill was initiated.
Following the expedition, Lieutenant Colonel Miley authored a book, In Cuba with Shafter. He died in Manila, Philippines in 1899. In 1900, the military reservation on Point Lobos in San Francisco was renamed Fort Miley in his honor.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Lieutenant Colonel John D. Miley are comprised of materials that provide a glimpse into the logistical operations of Major General William Shafter's expedition into Cuba in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. Included in the collection are the orders of battle by Rear Admiral William T. Sampson and the daily Squadron Bulletin of activities, casualties and accomplishments of the invading forces published from the U.S. flagship New York. Also included are communications between Officers and Command, Quartermaster summaries and listing of items used and troop movements made during the expedition. Mentioned in the Squadron Bulletin are Teddy Roosevelt's "Rough Riders". The terms of capitulation are also included.
Among Lieutenant Miley's duties was the coordination of information exchanged with war correspondents. To this end, he maintained a list of correspondents with permission to accompany the troops as well as a list of foreign military observers allowed to view field operations.
The collection also contains the discharge paper for George M. Dunn, signed by Theodore Roosevelt in two places.
Folder | Contents |
|---|---|
Correspondence | |
1-14 | Personal letters to Lieutenant Miley, April 1898-September 1899 |
15 | Personal letters to Lieutenant Miley, undated |
16 | Letters and invoice regarding purchase of saber |
17-18 | Telegrams regarding war correspondents staying in Tampa Bay Hotel |
19-21 | Letters written in Spanish, May 1897-July 1898 |
22 | Communications from Major General Kent to Adjutant General, |
23 | Letter to Adjutant General from Brigade General regarding confiscated prisoner's arms |
24-28 | Official letters and telegrams to Major General Shafter, May-June, 1898 |
29 | Copies of telegrams to Major General Shafter from Adjutant General Corbin, July 3-15, 1898 |
30 | Communications from General Garcia to Major General Shafter, July 1898 |
31 | Letters of recommendation regarding promotion of Lieutenant Miley, |
32-33 | Correspondence to Major General Shafter regarding foreign military observers, June 1898 |
34 | Letter to Commissioner Dahlgreen (naval attaché from Norway and Sweden) from J.D. Long, May 31, 1898 |
35 | Letters and telegrams to Major General Shafter, regarding war correspondents, May-June, 1898 |
36 | Letter to Major General Shafter from Brigade General C.F. Humphrey |
Orders | |
37 | Lieutenant Miley, Orders of Transfer, May 1898 |
38 | Assistant Adjutant General Micheer - Orders to expedite process, June 6, 1898 |
39 | Orders from Secretary Alger to investigate allegation of discrimination against Lieutenant Miley by war correspondent |
40-41 | Orders to commanding officers regarding foreign military observers |
42 | Listing of foreign officers with permission to observe field operations |
43-44 | Orders to Major General Shafter regarding war correspondents |
45-46 | Orders to commanding officers regarding war correspondents |
47 | List of newspaper representatives |
48 | Orders from Lieutenant Miley regarding regulations for war correspondents |
49 | North Atlantic Station - Order of battle from Admiral William T. Sampson |
50 | Expedition to Santiago de Cuba under the command of Major General William R. Shafter, USV |
51 | Transports, embarkation, landing, etc. of expeditionary forces |
52 | Quartermaster's report in connection to expedition to Cuba by Brigade General C.F. Humphrey, October 1898 |
53-54 | Quartermaster's Reports |
55-56 | Financial accountings |
57 | Notes on conference between General Shafter and General Garcia at Asserradero on June 20th |
58 | Squadron Bulletin, June 20-July 3, 1898 with reference to "Rough Riders" |
59 | New York Journal, Hearst; Siboney, Cuba: Vol. 1, July 10, 1898 |
60 | Dictation by Major Webb, January 16, 1899 |
61 | Note on message from Admiral Sampson |
62 | Copy of terms of capitulation of Spanish forces (English and Spanish) |
63 | Narrative on Malolos, Filipino insurgent capital |
Miscellaneous | |
64 | Discharge paper for George M. Dunn, signed by T. Roosevelt - Original in SC22110, Box 53; photocopy of original in folder |
65 | Autograph Letters, Manuscripts, Documents; Carnegie Book Shop, N.Y.; Catalogue #310 |
66 | Master Carpet Diploma, Free and Accepted Masons granted to J.D. Miley, Map of Cuba (linen) – Missing (6/04) |