George Henry Miles (July 31, 1824 – July 23, 1871) was an American writer. Miles wrote "

God Save the South "God Save the South" is a poem-turned-song written by American George Henry Miles, under the pen name Earnest Halphin, in 1861. It is considered by some to have been the unofficial national anthem of the Confederate States of America. The commonl ...

", under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Earnest Halphin, which is considered to have been the unofficial national anthem of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Biography

Miles was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

to William Miles and Sarah Mickle. His father was a merchant and former commercial agent of the United States to

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. George Henry was a dramatist and man of letters. He graduated from

Mount St. Mary's College Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles (known as Mount St. Mary's College until January 2015) is a private, Catholic university primarily for women, in Los Angeles, California. Women make up ninety percent of the student body. It was found ...

Emmitsburg Emmitsburg is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States, south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Founded in 1785, Emmitsburg is the home of Mount St. Mary's University. The town has two Catholic pilgrima ...

, in 1842, and then took up the study of law, commencing to practice later in his native city. The profession of law was ill-suited to his temper of thought and to his literary talents, which had early evinced themselves in a tendency to turn many neat verses. His first appearance in print was with an historical tale, ''The Truce of God'', which appeared serially in the ''United States Catholic Magazine'', followed shortly by ''The Governess'', and in 1849, by ''Loretto'', which won a $50 prize offered by the ''Catholic Mirror''. The following year, when but twenty-six years of age, with his tragedy of ''Mahommed'' he won the $1000 prize offered by Edwin Forrest. The law was now definitely abandoned for the drama. In 1859 he scored his first success with the tragedy of ''De Soto'', produced at the Broadway Theatre,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and during the same season his comedy, ''Mary's Birthday'', was performed. In 1859 ''Señor Valiente'' earned the distinction of being presented in New York, Boston, and Baltimore on the same night. During the season 1860-61 the ''Seven Sisters'', based on the theme of Secession, was produced at

Laura Keene's Theatre Olympic Theatre was the name of five former 19th and early 20th-century theatres on Broadway in Manhattan and in Brooklyn, New York. First Olympic Theatre (1800–1821) Although perhaps best known as the Anthony Street Theatre, the first theatr ...

, New York City. Other dramatic ventures were not so successful, and his most pretentious effort, ''Cromwell, a Tragedy'', remains unfinished. In 1851 Miles was dispatched to Spain by President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

on official business. He was again in Europe in 1864 and, on his return, published in the ''Catholic World'' a series of charming sketches, ''Glimpses of Tuscany'', and, in 1866, ''Christine: a Troubadour's Song'', and a volume of verse, ''Christian Poems''. In 1859 he had been appointed professor of English Literature at Mount St. Mary's, in which year he married Adaline Tiers, of New York, and moved from Baltimore to Thornbrook, a cottage near Emmitsburg, where he lived until his death. In addition to works of creative fancy, Miles delivered in 1847 a ''Discourse in Commemoration of the Landing of the Pilgrims of Maryland'', and, shortly before his death, contemplated a series of critical estimates on

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's characters. Only one, that upon ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', was published (in the ''Southern Review''), which won no mean measure of appreciation from contemporary scholars in England.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, George Henry 1824 births 1871 deaths Lawyers from Baltimore Writers from Baltimore People from Emmitsburg, Maryland 19th-century American dramatists and playwrights 19th-century American lawyers People_of_Maryland_in_the_American_Civil_War