Samuel Miles
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, active in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
.
Born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 799,874, making it the third most populous county in Pennsylvania . The county seat is Norristown.The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part...
, Miles was the son of James Miles and Hannah Pugh. Miles enlisted in Isaac Wayne's company, part of the Pennsylvania militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. He was wounded at the Battle of Fort Ligonier; later commanding the garrison at that fort. He was discharged and then reenlisted in Thomas Lloyd's company as a sergeant and was promoted to captain-lieutenant for the expedition to Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania....
. He accepted a commission as captain in 1760 and commanded troops on Presque Isle
Presque Isle State Park
Presque Isle State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on an arching sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, west of the city of Erie, in Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The peninsula sweeps northeastward, surrounding Presque Isle Bay along the park's...
. After the war ended, he went into business as a wine merchant and married Catherine Wister, daughter of John Wister of Grumblethorpe
Grumblethorpe
Grumblethorpe, in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the home of the Wister family. It was built as a summer residence in 1744 by Philadelphia merchant and wine importer John Wister. It eventually became the family's year-round residence when they withdrew from the city during the Yellow...
, Philadelphia, PA. He also entered politics, and was elected to the house of assembly in 1772. He was an early advocate for American independence.
Miles raised a militia company in the early days of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. When the war began, he was made colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
of the Pennsylvania State Rifle Regiment , a state unit later adopted into the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
. He was taken prisoner by the British at the Battle of Long Island
Battle of Long Island
The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn or the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, fought on August 27, 1776, was the first major battle in the American Revolutionary War following the United States Declaration of Independence, the largest battle of the entire conflict, and the...
. Miles was released as part of a prisoner exchange in April 1778 that included British Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell. He had been appointed brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
of Pennsylvania state troops while a prisoner. Upon his release he served as quartermaster for the State of Pennsylvania serving under Timothy Pickering. In the summer of 1781 General Washington counted on Miles to secure
boat transport for the army as it made its way south from New York to Yorktown .
After the war, Miles had a distinguished career as a politician and public servant. He was made judge of the Appeals Court, served as an alderman and mayor of Philadelphia from 1790 to 1791. He was reelected as mayor but declined. He was elected trustee for the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, resigning in 1793. He was also a member of American Philosophical Society and very active in the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia . The town of Milesburg, Pennsylvania
Milesburg, Pennsylvania
Milesburg is a borough in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,187 at the 2000 census...
, was laid out by him and is named after him.
As a businessman in 1783 he operated an early sugar refinery with Colonel Jacob Morgan at 77 Vine Street in Philadelphia . Joining with financier Robert Morris, he helped underwrite the voyage of the ship - The Empress of China
Empress of China (1783)
The Empress of China was a three-masted, square-rigged sailing ship, initially built in 1783 for service as a privateer. After the Treaty of Paris brought a formal end to the American Revolutionary War, the vessel was refitted for commercial purposes...
- the first American vessel to visit the Chinese mainland. In 1791 with John Patton he was co-founder of Centre Furnace in State College, Pennsylvania
State College, Pennsylvania
State College is the largest borough in Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Centre County. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 42,034, and roughly double...
.
Miles is also noted as being the first faithless elector
Faithless elector
In United States presidential elections, a faithless elector is a member of the Electoral College who does not vote for the candidate they have pledged to vote for...
, when he was pledged to vote for Federalist
Federalist Party (United States)
The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...
presidential candidate John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
, but voted for Republican
Democratic-Republican Party (United States)
The Democratic-Republican Party or Republican Party was an American political party founded in the early 1790s by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Political scientists use the former name, while historians prefer the latter one; contemporaries generally called the party the "Republicans", along...
candidate Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
. This was the first contested election in USA and an angry voter wrote to the Gazette of the United States, "What! Do I chuse Samuel Miles to determine for me whether John Adams or Thomas Jefferson shall be President? No! I chuse him to act, not to think!" Miles cast his other presidential vote as pledged for Thomas Pinckney
Thomas Pinckney
Thomas Pinckney was an early American statesman, diplomat and veteran of both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.-Early life in the military:...
.
As a new member of the Democratic-Republican party he ran for Congress twice (1798) losing to political newcomer Federalist Robert Waln (1765–1836).
His portrait, painted by noted American artist Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Charles Stuart was an American painter from Rhode Island.Gilbert Stuart is widely considered to be one of America's foremost portraitists...
, is housed in the Washington, DC Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
. The portrait of his wife, Catherine Wister Miles, was also completed by Gilbert Stuart. Another portrait of Samuel Miles, completed by Charles Willson Peale, is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.