BURIAL

OF

GENERAL NELSON A. MILES

MAY 19, 1925

Beside faithful comrades of bygone days , Lieutenant General Nelson a. Miles, has been placed to rest in his eternal bivouac on the slopes of Arlington National Cemetery.

Escorted by remnants of valiant legions that followed him through three epochs of warfare and now tenderly guarded by stalwart youth of a new Army, the veteran hero of Chancellorsville went on his last journey through a city bowed in sorrow at his passing.

With the boom of artillery and the sharp rattle of rifles which chorused a farewell, the General was laid to rest in his family sepulcher in Arlington while the President of the United States, other high officials of Government, the battalions representing every branch of the Nations Arms paid tribute.

In attendance were veterans of the Civil War and Indian Campaigns , people of other military and patriotic societies, besides hundreds of private citizens.

The procession to his grave was the greatest since the burial of the Unknown Soldier. Twenty four hundred men of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, members of Veterans Societies, President Coolidge and the Miles family, paraded in his honor.

General Miles remains were clothed in the dress uniform of an Army Lieutenant General, the gray steel coffin carried on an artillery caisson drawn by six black horses. Honorary pallbearers were retired Army and Navy commanders and on foot beside the caisson the entire distance to the tomb were officers of the service he had loved. The funeral began at 1:45 o'clock when a troop of the Third Cavalry drew rein at his home in the Rochambeau on Connecticut Avenue to escort his body to St. Johns Episcopal Church, Sixteenth and H Streets.

President Coolidge and distinguished person already filled the church and crowds of several thousand citizens, lines of troops with inverted rifles, filled the streets through which the procession passed. The Army Band was at attention in front of the church and played “Nearer My God To Thee”. In the church Rev. Dr. Robert Johnson , rector, recited the Episcopal faith simple burial service , and the earthly remains of General Miles were given to the National Military Service and the march to Arlington began.