Object Details
- Exhibition Label
- Prior to planning and leading the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico during the War of 1898, Nelson Appleton Miles had served in the U.S. Civil War (1861–65) and the Indian Wars of the 1870s and 1880s. He led campaigns against Native Americans, including those defeating Geronimo (Chiricahua Apache) and Chief Joseph (Nez Perce). After the Battle of Greasy Grass in 1876, Miles pursued the Lakota into Canada. When they returned to the U.S. in 1881 and surrendered, he captured Sitting Bull.
- As Miles sailed along the southern coast of Puerto Rico in 1898, the sight of the U.S. ships reminded him of his experiences fighting American Indians. Later, in 1901, he recalled, “One familiar with the western plains of a quarter of a century ago might well have been reminded of a pack of large gray wolves cautiously and noiselessly moving in the shades of night, or the dim light that ushers in the dawn, upon their prey.”
- Antes de planear y dirigir la invasión estadounidense a Puerto Rico durante la Guerra de 1898, Nelson Appleton Miles participó en la Guerra Civil de EE.UU. (1861–65) y las Guerras Indígenas en las décadas de 1870 y 1880. Miles lideró campañas contra los nativos americanos en las que derrotó a Gerónimo (chiricahua apache) y al Jefe Joseph (nez percé). Tras la Batalla de Greasy Grass en 1876, persiguió a los lakotas hasta Canadá. Cuando estos regresaron a EE.UU. en 1881 y se rindieron, Miles capturó a Toro Sentado.
- A medida que Miles bordeaba la costa sur de Puerto Rico en 1898, la vista de sus barcos le recordó sus luchas contra los indígenas en EE.UU., y en 1901 recordó: “A quien conoció las planicies del oestehace un cuarto de siglo esto le recordaría una manada de enormes lobos grises avanzando con cautela y sigilo en las sombras de la noche, o en la tenue luz que anuncia el amanecer, para atacar a su presa”.
- Data Source
- National Portrait Gallery
- Artist
- David Francis Barry, 6 Mar 1854 - 6 Mar 1934
- Sitter
- Nelson Appleton Miles, 8 Aug 1839 - 15 May 1925
- Date
- c. 1895
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- Medium
- Albumen silver print
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 48 x 39.8cm (18 7/8 x 15 11/16")
- Mount: 55.7 x 45.5cm (21 15/16 x 17 15/16")
- Mat: 71.1 x 55.9cm (28 x 22")
- Type
- Photograph
