Major General Sherman Miles (December 5, 1882Beer, Siegfried: "Sherman Miles – vor und nach Kärnten 1919. Anmerkungen zu einer hauptsächlich nachrichtendienstlichen Karriere in der US-Armee", pp. 309–317 in Valentin, H.; Haiden, S.; Maier, B. (eds.): ''Die Kärntner Volksabstimmung 1920 und die Geschichtsforschung'', Verlag Johannes Heyn, Klagenfurt 2002. . – October 7, 1966) was an officer of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, who was Chief of the

Military Intelligence Division The Military Intelligence Division was the military intelligence branch of the United States Army and United States Department of War from May 1917 (as the Military Intelligence Section, then Military Intelligence Branch in February 1918, then Mil ...

in 1941, when the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

happened, bringing the United States into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Life

Miles' parents were General

Nelson A. Miles Nelson Appleton Miles (August 8, 1839 – May 15, 1925) was an American military general who served in the American Civil War, the American Indian Wars, and the Spanish–American War. From 1895 to 1903, Miles served as the last Commanding Gen ...

and Mary Hoyt Sherman Miles (niece to

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

General

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

). In 1901, he enrolled at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

at West Point, where he graduated in 1905.Cullum, George Washington:
Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. since its establishment in 1802. Supplement vol. 5 (1900–1910)
". URL retrieved January 12, 2011. In 1909, he married Yulee Noble, granddaughter of U.S. Senator

David Levy Yulee David Levy Yulee (born David Levy; June 12, 1810 – October 10, 1886) was an American politician and attorney. Born on the island of St. Thomas, then under British control, he was of Sephardic Jewish ancestry: His father was a Sephardi from Mo ...

, and had two children. He was a hereditary companion of the

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or simply the Loyal Legion is a United States patriotic order, organized April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Army. The original membership was composed of members ...

. During his military career, he held various posts as military attaché in Europe. In 1940, he became the head of the

of the U.S. Army in

George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...

's General Staff. Two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he was reassigned from that position to that of Commanding General of the First Service Command in Boston.

Early military career

Miles entered

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

on June 11, 1901, from where he graduated on June 13, 1905 and was commissioned as second lieutenant, 11th Cavalry. With the 11th Cavalry, he was sent in 1906 to Cuba by then

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

. Upon his return, he was transferred to the 3rd Field Artillery and promoted to

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

in 1907. From 1912 to 1914, he was military attaché on the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served as military observer in Russia until 1916. He returned to the U.S. and was detailed to the General Staff Corps. In 1918, after the

American entry into World War I American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

, he was an observer during the

Meuse–Argonne offensive The Meuse–Argonne offensive (also known as the Meuse River–Argonne Forest offensive, the Battles of the Meuse–Argonne, and the Meuse–Argonne campaign) was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along t ...

, the largest battle in the U.S. Army's history. As a General Staff member, he was temporarily promoted first to major in 1917, then to lieutenant colonel in 1918, and in 1919 to colonel.Cullum, George Washington:
Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. since its establishment in 1802. Supplement vol. 6B (1910–1920)
". URL retrieved January 12, 2011.

Interwar period

Immediately after the armistice, Miles was assigned to the U.S. peace negotiation team. As a field member of the "Coolidge Mission" led by Archibald Cary Coolidge, he traveled through former

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

to assess the situation and to make demarcation recommendations for the benefit of the U.S. negotiators at the

Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. On January 27, 1919 Miles led the delegation of the Coolidge Mission which, on the way to Carinthia, visited the city of Marburg (today Maribor in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

). Prior to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Marburg had a population comprising 80% Austrian Germans and 20% Slovenes.Osterreicheische statistik Herausgegeben von der K.K. Statistischen Zentralkommission. neue folge 1. band. Ergebnisse der volkszahlung vom 31. dezember 1910. Wien. aus der kaiserlich-koniglichen hof und staatsdruckerel 1917. in kommission bei karl gerold's sohn During Miles' visit, thousands of citizens of German ethnic origin gathered on the main city square, waving

German Austria The Republic of German-Austria (german: Republik Deutschösterreich or ) was an unrecognised state that was created following World War I as an initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking and ethnic German population ...

flags, many of which also decorated nearby buildings. Slovenian military units commanded by

Rudolf Maister Rudolf Maister ( pen name: Vojanov; 29 March 1874 – 26 July 1934) was a Slovene military officer, poet and political activist. The soldiers who fought under Maister's command in northern Slovenia became known as "Maister's fighters" ( s ...

killed between 11 and 13 German civilian protesters in a central Maribor square, during event known as

Marburg's Bloody Sunday Marburg's Bloody Sunday (German: , sl, Mariborska krvava nedelja) was a massacre that took place on Monday, 27 January 1919 in the city of Maribor (German: ) in Slovenia. Soldiers from the army of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (''l ...

. Regarding Carinthia, the Coolidge Mission focused on where to draw the future border between the newly formed

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. The U.S. position before the Paris conference favored, like the British and French, a separation along ethnographic lines, i.e., a border along the river Drava (German: ''Drau''), which would have split the economic and geographic region of the

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

basin. The Yugoslavs also favored this solution. Miles became instrumental in reversing this position. In his field travels, he learned that many of the Slovene speakers in the region actually preferred to belong to Austria and had closer economic ties to the Klagenfurt area than to Slovenia. He proposed, instead, a border along the

Karawanks The Karawanks or Karavankas or Karavanks ( sl, Karavanke; german: Karawanken, ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps on the border between Slovenia to the south and Austria to the north. With a total length of in an east–west dir ...

further south. Through his reports, he was able to convince his superiors that the best way to settle the question was through self-determination. The U.S. team eventually convinced the British and French delegations in Paris, and finally it was decided that the area should remain undivided, and that the question of whether it should henceforth belong to Austria or to Yugoslavia was to be decided by a vote among the population of the area. In the plebiscite held on October 10, 1920, the population voted for Miles' border proposal.Fräss-Ehrfeld, Claudia:
The Role of the United States of America and the Carinthian Question, 1918–1920
, ''Slovene Studies 8/1 (1986)'', pp. 7–13. URL retrieved January 13, 2011.U.S. Department of State,
Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, vol XII
'. URL retrieved January 11, 2011.In Klagenfurt, a street was named after Miles in 1970. See ''Carinthia I: Mitteilungen des Geschichtsvereins für Kärnten, Vol. 194'', 2004, p. 741. Also in the city of

Völkermarkt Völkermarkt (; sl, Velikovec) is a town of about 11,000 inhabitants in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the administrative capital of Völkermarkt District. It is located within the Drava valley east of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt, north ...

in Carinthia, a street is named after Sherman Mile

When these post-war assignments terminated, he returned to the U.S. and reverted to the rank of major in 1920.Cullum, George Washington:
Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. since its establishment in 1802. Supplement vol. 7 (1920–1930)
". URL retrieved January 12, 2011. In the 1920s, he attended various military schools ( United States Army War College, Army War College 1921–22, Coast Artillery School 1925–26, General Staff School 1926–27) and was posted to various units in the

Coast Artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

and in the Field Artillery until the late 1930s. From 1922 to 1925 he was military attaché at Constantinople in Turkey, and was sent in 1924 to Teheran to investigate the murder of U.S. Vice Consul Robert Whitney Imbrie there.Zirinsky, M.:
Blood, Power, and Hypocrisy: The Murder of Robert Imbrie and American Relations with Pahlavi Iran, 1924
, in ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'' 18.3 (1986), pp. 275-292. URL retrieved January 12, 2011. Miles was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army in 1929 and to colonel in 1935 The March 1934 photo to the right, presents General Sherman Miles accompanying the Japanese statesmen Prince Iyesato Tokugawa, as Iyesato and his granddaughter as they honor America’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Memorial in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

, Washington, D.C. Prince Tokugawa (1863–1940) devoted his life to maintaining goodwill between Japan and the U.S. and other nations, and was so politically influential in Japan and internationally, that it was only after his death that Japan joined the Axis Powers in WWII. From September 1, 1938 on, he was commanding school troops at the

United States Army Field Artillery School The United States Army Field Artillery School (USAFAS) trains Field Artillery Soldiers and Marines in tactics, techniques, and procedures for the employment of fire support systems in support of the maneuver commander. The school further develo ...

at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.Cullum, George Washington:
Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. since its establishment in 1802. Supplement vol. 8 (1930–1940)
". URL retrieved January 12, 2011. On September 1, 1939, he was promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

and served as military attaché in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

for half a year before returning to the U.S., where he became a senior member of Army Chief of Staff General

's general staff in 1941. Miles was assigned as "Assistant Chief of Staff G-2", i.e., the head of the

(MID).Cullum, George Washington:
Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. since its establishment in 1802. Supplement vol. 9 (1940–1950)
". URL retrieved January 12, 2011. The MID greatly expanded during his time as G-2, but, as Miles put it, "always in a piecemeal manner".Finnegan, John Patrick:

', Center for Military History, U.S. Army 1998, CMH pub 60-13, here

. URLs retrieved January 14, 2011. Qualified cryptography personnel were scarce, and Japanese-speaking personnel were also hard to come by. Miles' suggestions to set up an

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

service were ignored until June 1941,''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'', Dec 2, 1940 issue, p. 94:
These are U.S. Army's six foremost Generals
, wrote even that "spies are considered un-American". URL retrieved January 14, 2011. when U.S. President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

appointed

William J. Donovan William Joseph "Wild Bill" Donovan (January 1, 1883 – February 8, 1959) was an American soldier, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat, best known for serving as the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the Bur ...

as Coordinator of Information. Donovan's unit would eventually become the OSS, but it was independent from the MID and needed time to mature, which made for a difficult collaboration (if not to say a rivalry) between the MID and the OSS from the beginning and continuing throughout the war.

World War II

The attack on Pearl Harbor ended Miles' career in the General Staff. Casey, Richard Gardiner: ''A delicate mission: the Washington diaries of R.G. Casey, 1940–42'', , p. 214: "25 December 1941 ... Amongst the various heads that have been rolled in the dust has been that of General Sherman Miles (U.S. Military Intelligence)... General Raymond Lee (late U.S. Military Attaché in London) has taken Sherman Miles' place." MID very much relied on intercepted Japanese radio messages. The decoded "

Magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

" messages were top-secret and circulated only in a very select circle of ten people comprising the General Staffs of the Army and the Navy, the Secretary of War, and the President.U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack,
Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack
U.S. GPO, 1946, here

p. 180, "Policy with respect to dissemination of Magic". URLs retrieved January 18, 2011. No coherent analysis of these messages was done. The warnings that the General Staff sent to Hawaii failed to stress the urgency because MID themselves did not consider the contents of the "Magic" intercepts received prior to the attack as particularly significant at that time.Congress of the United States, 79th Congress, 1st session:
Pearl Harbor attack: Hearings before the Joint Committee on the investigation of the Pearl Harbor attack
', U.S. GPO 1946; testimony of Gen. Miles on November 29, 1945: p. 794ff. In addition, communication channels in the U.S. military were convoluted due to the split commands of Army and Navy, each with their own intelligence branch,Congress of the United States, 79th Congress, 2nd session:

', U.S. GPO 1946; here in particular ttp://www.ibiblio.org/pha/pha/congress/part_5.html#252 Part V: Conclusion and recommendations p. 253. and the last message to Hawaii before the attack was delayed and was decoded at Hawaii only after the attack had already begun.U.S. Army Pearl Harbor Board:
Report of the Army Pearl Harbor Board
', U.A. Army, 1944, her

, p. 138ff, "December 7, 1941 Message". URLs retrieved January 18, 2011. Ten days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Miles was sent on an inspection tour through South America to survey installations there and to make recommendations for military assistance to the Latin American countries;Conn, Stetson; Fairchild, Byron:

', Center of Military History, U.S. Army 1960, CMH pub 4-1;

, p. 200ff. URL retrieved January 17, 2011. Brigadier General Raymond E. Lee became Acting Assistant Chief of Staff G-2 .Mercado, Stephen C.:

, ''Studies in Intelligence Fall/Winter 2001'', issue 11, pp. 33–43. CIA, 2001. Mentions on page 40 and in footnote 25 that Raymond E. Lee was Acting ACoS G-2 on December 26, 1941. URL retrieved January 17, 2011. On January 28, 1942, Miles was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

and then reassigned as commanding general of the First Corps Area Service Command (later re-designated as the First Service Command) in Boston. The Service Commands, sub-entities of the Army Service Forces, were supporting services for the fighting forces.Millet, John D.:
The Organization and Role of the Army Service Forces
', Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1954, CMH pub. 3-1. Here

, p. 370. URLs retrieved January 12, 2011. Miles served in this position for the duration of the war and retired from the Army on February 28, 1946. Upon his retirement, Miles received the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

, the Army's highest non-combat decoration, in recognition of his wartime service.After Marshall's reorganization of the General Staff, Maj. Gen. George V. Strong was G-2 from May 5, 1942 to February 6, 1944; then Maj. Gen. Clayton Bissell held that post until January 1946. C.f. Hewes, James E. Jr.:
From Root to McNamara: Army Organization and Administration
', Center of Military History, U.S. Army 1975, CMH pub 40-1

p. 389, and " ttp://www.history.army.mil/books/root/chapter3.htm#b3 Chapter III: Changes in the Marshall organization, p. 107. URLs retrieved January 13, 2011.

Later life

After his retirement from the Army, Miles served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

from 1947 to 1952.Hayden, I.N., Grove, L.R.:
Public officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1951–1952)
', p. 237. URL retrieved January 13, 2011. In 1948, he wrote the article "Pearl Harbor in Retrospect" in the July 1948 issue of ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', in which he gave his perspective on the events just prior to the attack.Miles, Sherman:
Pearl Harbor in Retrospect
, ''The Atlantic'', July 1948. URL retrieved January 13, 2011. After the death of his wife Yulee in 1953, he married Edith Lawrence Coolidge, widow of Harold Jefferson Coolidge, Sr., in 1954. He died at the hospital in Beverly, Massachusetts after long illness and was buried at

Burial Detail: Miles, Sherman (Section 3, Grave 1873)
– at ANC Explorer in the Miles Mausoleum on October 12, 1966.

Memberships

General Miles joined the

as a Second Class Companion and, upon his father's death, became a Companion of the First Class.

Military awards

Army General Staff Identification Badge

References

* - ''Public Domain - United States Government''

External links

Sherman Miles
at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website
Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Sherman 1882 births 1966 deaths United States military attachés Military personnel from Washington, D.C. United States Army War College alumni United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni United States Army Field Artillery Branch personnel Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) United States Army generals United States Army personnel of World War I United States Military Academy alumni United States Army generals of World War II