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1st governor of Arkansas Territory from 1819 to 1824

Brevet Brigadier General James Miller (April 25, 1776 – July 7, 1851) was a senior officer of the United States Army who commanded infantry in the Canadian Theater of the War of 1812. After the war, he served as the first governor of Arkansas Territory from 1819 to 1824. He also served as the superintendent of Indian affairs for the territory. It was during his term as governor, and partly due to his influence, that the territory's capital was moved from Arkansas Post to Little Rock.

James Miller was born in Peterborough, New Hampshire, to James and Catharine (née Gregg) Miller. He attended an academy at Amherst, Massachusetts, and then Williams College. After Martha's death, he married Ruth Flint. Miller was a descendant of Thomas Flint, an Englishman who migrated to Concord, Massachusetts. He had a law practice in Greenfield, New Hampshire, from 1803 to 1808.

Miller joined the New Hampshire state militia and commanded an artillery unit, until General Benjamin Pierce noticed him and recommended that he be commissioned as a major in the regular army. Miller joined with the 4th Infantry Regiment in 1808. In 1811, Miller's unit went to fight Indians in Vincennes, Indiana, where he was promoted to colonel.

American general William Hull sent James Miller to retrieve a convoy of supplies. Miller set out with at least 280 regulars, at least 200 280 Ohio militiamen, 60 Michigan Legionnaires, 40 mounted spies and 2 artillery pieces. Miller encounters an enemy force of British regulars, Canadian militia, and pro British Native Americans under the leadership of Adam Muir. The opposing forces open fire on each other. Miller opens fire also with his artillery and launches a bayonet attack. After a long engagement, the British allied force retreated. Although the Americans were the victors, the Americans suffered substantial casualties including 18 killed and at least 64 wounded. Muir recorded 3 killed, 13 wounded and 2 missing from his 41st Regiment; 1 killed and 2 wounded from the Canadian Militia and 2 killed and 6 wounded from the Native American contingent. However, the Americans claimed they found 58 dead enemies on the field with 30 40 of them being Indians. The Americans also claimed the Ohio militia took 30 40 scalps of the Indians. Miller, believing his force was too battered, withdrew back to fort Detroit.

The American forces at Fort Detroit are besieged by the British. The Americans were well entrenched and in good defensive positions in the fort. James Miller was ill in the fort. But the British who had a smaller force used deception to make their force look bigger and tricked the more numerous Americans under general William Hull to surrender. James Miller was taken prisoner before being exchanged.

During the Siege of Fort Erie, the British suffered heavy casualties after making costly infantry assaults on the American entrenched fort. The Americans who were deeply entrenched in their fort's defenses suffered minor casualties. The American commander Jacob Brown then wanted to conduct hit and run sorties on the British to cause heavier casualties on the British, disable their artillery, and destroy the magazine supplies. James Miller was ordered to conduct one sortie while Peter B. Porter was to lead the other. Peter B. Porter would lead a raiding sortie of militia and regulars while James Miller would lead a raiding party of regulars. The American raiders would infiltrate British lines to conduct their mission. Porter secretly led his force traveling along a hidden road using the cover of the woods while Miller led his force secretly in a ravine. The American raiders attacked the British by surprise and full ferocity. In the chaotic attack, the Americans destroyed 3 batteries of cannons, blew up the magazine, and inflicted heavy casualties on the British. Afterwards, all the American raiders withdrew back into the fort. The British suffered 115 killed, 178 wounded, and 316 missing. The American raiders led by Porter and Miller suffered 79 killed, 216 wounded, and 216 missing. Even though the American sorties completed their objectives, it was still costly in terms of casualties for the Americans. Some time later, the entire American force at fort erie would evacuate to Sackets Harbor.

Appointed governor of Arkansas Territory by President James Monroe on March 3, 1819, Miller resigned from the army, but did not leave New England for his governorship until September. He traveled to Washington, D. C. first, where he learned that he would also serve as the superintendent of Indian affairs for the Arkansas Territory. He traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and acquired armaments for the territorial militia. He then traveled down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers with the armaments in tow, arriving at Arkansas Post on December 26, on a vessel flying flags reading "Arkansaw" and "I will try, sir!" Due to Miller's tardiness, Robert Crittenden, the secretary of the territory, had been running the state and filling necessary appointments which were validated by Congress. Miller focused his attentions on finding a suitable location for a territorial capital. Since a number of influential men, including Miller, in the territorial legislature had purchased lots in the Little Rock area, the bill moving the capital from Arkansas Post to Little Rock passed the territorial legislature. As superintendent of Indian affairs, Miller dealt with the considerable debate over Quapaw, Cherokee, and Choctaw land claims and the desire for American whites to take the land for themselves. To make matters more confusing for Miller, warfare between the Cherokee and the Osage erupted within the territory in 1821. From the beginning of his term, it was clear that he did not plan to stay in Arkansas, as his wife remained in New Hampshire. Miller left the torrid Arkansas summer for cooler New Hampshire in April 1821, was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society on June 28, 1821, returning the following November. In his absences, Crittenden ran Arkansas and made decisions regarding Indian affairs. In June 1823, he left Arkansas and did not return at all that year.

In the fall of 1824, Miller was elected to the House of Representatives in New Hampshire but never took office. Instead he was appointed collector of the Port of Salem, a post he served in until 1849. It is in this role that he is portrayed as the General in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Custom House, an Introductory to The Scarlet Letter. He died at Temple, New Hampshire of a stroke and was buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery at Salem, Massachusetts.

Miller County, Arkansas, and Miller State Park in Peterborough, New Hampshire, are both named after him. Fort Miller in Marblehead, Massachusetts, was renamed for him circa 1861.