DISCHARGE CERTIFICATE DOCUMENT SIGNED AT HARPER'S FERRY, 22 JULY 1862, ENDORSED WITH SIGNATURE OF COMMANDER OF HARPERS FERRY COLONEL DIXON S. MILES: "I CERTIFY, ON HONOR, THAT JOSEPH A. BENNETT A PRIV

by [Civil War]

$250 · Offered by Biblio

[n.p., 186*]. Broadside, 8" x 10". Printed document completed in ink manuscript. Old folds, clean. Signed at end by Capt. Albert Hunter; endorsed on verso "Deduct $2 85/100 from fare to Balto - Discharged, D.S. Miles, Col. 2d Inf.." Very Good. Dixon Stansbury Miles [1804-1862] was a veteran or the Indian Wars and the Mexican War. Promoted to Captain in 1836, he fought in the Seminole Wars in Florida from 1839-1852. He was promoted to Major in the Mexican War for "gallant and distinguished conduct" in the defense of Fort Brown, Texas. He fought at Monterrey and the Siege of Veracruz, after which he was appointed Brevet Lieut. Col. for "gallant and meritorious conduct in the several conflicts at Monterrey, Mexico." During the Civil War he was given command of the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, where his garrison held Confederate General Lee's supply line through the Shenandoah Valley. Despite a gallant war record, he ended his life in infamy. He was killed in battle in September 1862, after having foolishly positioned his troops. Wikipedia writes, "Some historians have concluded that Miles was struck by artillery deliberately fired by his own men, but there is no conclusive proof. The resulting surrender of 12,419 men was the largest number of U.S. soldiers surrendered until the Battle of Bataan in World War II. The court of inquiry into the surrender denounced Miles for "incapacity, amounting to almost imbecility." Albert Maxwell Hunter [1833-1911] of Adams County, Pennsylvani

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