- John Franklin Miller (California)
John Franklin Miller (
November 21 ,1831 –March 8 ,1886 ) was a lawyer, businessman, and general in theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War . He representedCalifornia in theUnited States Senate from 1881 until his death.Early life and career
Miller was born in
South Bend, Indiana . His nephew, also named John Franklin Miller, was later a congressman fromWashington . Both sometimes went by John F. Miller. Miller was educated in South Bend,Chicago , and inNew York , where he received a law degree in 1852 from the New York State Law School. He was admitted to the bar and established a law practice in South Bend, but moved the next year toNapa, California . There, he continued his career as a lawyer, as well as becoming the county treasurer. He returned to South Bend in 1855 and resumed his practice. Miller was elected to theIndiana State Senate in 1860.Civil War
With the
secession of eleven Southern states and the outbreak of the Civil War, Miller joined the Union Army. OnAugust 27 ,1861 , GovernorOliver P. Morton commissioned Miller asColonel of the 29th Indiana Infantry. After training, the regiment was assigned to Kirk's Brigade inAlexander M. McCook 's division in Buell'sArmy of the Ohio and marched toTennessee . Miller saw action on the second day of theBattle of Shiloh , as well as during the subsequentSiege of Corinth . Miller led his regiment through northernAlabama andTennessee and pursuedBraxton Bragg throughKentucky . Miller commanded abrigade underJames Negley during theBattle of Stones River in late December 1862.During the
Tullahoma Campaign , Miller commanded a brigade under General McCook in the XX Corps. He was severely wounded in a minor fight atLiberty Gap onJune 27 ,1863 , and was out of action for nearly a year while he recuperated. Miller was promoted to brigadier generalApril 10 ,1864 , retroactive to January 5. In May 1864, he was assigned to administrative duty as commander of the garrison atNashville, Tennessee . He returned to the field in December, commanding a sizable force of infantry and artillery at theBattle of Nashville . For his services at that battle, Miller was brevetted as a major general onMarch 13 ,1865 .Postbellum activities
Miller declined a commission as a colonel in the
Regular Army and resigned from the Volunteers onSeptember 29 ,1865 , to move back to California when PresidentAndrew Johnson appointed him as collector of customs of thePort of San Francisco , a post he held until 1869 when he declined another term. He turned to business interests, and served for 12 years as the President of theAlaska Commercial Company , which controlled the fur industry in newly acquiredPribilof Islands . Miller purchased the property which is now the site of the Siverado Country Club inNapa Valley in the year 1869.(Earth Metrics, 1989) At the time Miller bought this holding, it was entirelywilderness area. General and Mrs. Miller purchased the property in several parcels from different grantors, including the United States via a deed signed by President U.S. Grant and the State of California by a deed signed by Governor Newton Booth. Deeds conveying the various parcels to the General were dated in the years l869, l872, 1873 and 1881Miller returned to politics, from 1878–79 as a member of the second state constitutional convention. The California state legislature elected the Republican Miller as one of the state's two Senators in 1880. He was an outspoken proponent of several bills to limit the influx and influence of Chinese
immigrant s. He was chairman, Committee to Revise the Laws of the United States (Forty-seventh Congress) and served on the Committee on Foreign Relations (Forty-ninth Congress)..Senator Miller died in
Washington, D.C. while in office. He was initially buried in the Laurel Hill Cemetery in San Francisco, but was reinterred in theArlington National Cemetery onMay 5 ,1913 , alongside his wife Mary Wickerham (Chess) Miller, his daughter, and his son-in-law, Rear AdmiralRichardson Clover .ee also
References
*bioguide
* Earth Metrics Inc., "Environmental Site Assessment, Silverado Country Club, Napa County, California", May, 1989
* Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., "Civil War High Commands", Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
* Warner, Ezra J., "Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders", Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0807108227Persondata
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