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 By D. Michael Ryan, company Historian and drummer with the Concord Minute Men and Associate Dean of Students at Boston College."Concord, January 17th 1775, then we chose our officers and settled the Company of Minute Men under the command of Capt. Charles Miles." So began life's zenith for Charles Miles, third generation of a Concord founding family and an under-appreciated figure in the events of 19 April 1775.
Like his father, Charles farmed (100 acres), gained a solid reputation and became active in Town affairs. In addition to working on highways and bridges, in 1754 he was elected a hogreeve. Due to the religious upheaval, his first marriage (1756) was by a Justice of the Peace but with church reconciliation the second marriage (1759) was performed by Rev. Bliss. Following terms as a surveyor and constable, Charles took an active role in establishing a regular school (#3) in the Nine Acre Corner district.
By 1771, Miles was prominent enough to be commissioned a militia lieutenant and when Concord organized its minute companies (1775), the first volunteers consisted mainly of men from the South Quarter who selected one of their own to command - Charles Miles. The new captain seriously went about his business requesting that the Town supply arms for those in need, provide for a drum and address/fine men for delinquency in duties. When word of approaching British troops was received, Miles mustered his company near the Wright Tavern. Included with the muster roll was a handwritten note by Sergeant David Hartwell, "Concord, April 19th 1775, then the battel begune...". On the high ground above North Bridge where the colonial force reformed, Miles joined the officers' conference. When it was decided to march into Town, the lead was supposedly offered to a Concord captain who said he "should rather not go". As Miles commanded the senior minute company, speculation is that he might have uttered the reply.
In succeeding weeks, Miles's company responded to alarms in Concord and Cambridge. His son Charles (later a militia captain) would serve as a private in a Concord company at Roxbury in March 1776. Although his minute company would dissolve and members join new militia units, during June 1776, Miles would raise another company including 61 Concordians which would march 250 miles to reinforce Ft. Ticonderoga. Upon returning home, he would again be called to duty at Boston (1777) and Cambridge (1778).
Years later, Rev. Ezra Ripley noted that when Miles was asked his feelings when marching on the Bridge, he responded "that he went to the service of the day with the same seriousness and acknowledgement of God which he carried to church". Post Revolution years were difficult for Miles and a 1781 shoemaker's receipt book lists him as a butcher. Apparently business experimentations and gambling led to great indebtedness. In 1790, Miles passed away, according to Rev. Ripley, due to "heredity delerium". A Charles Miles would continue residing in the family house (still standing at #429 Williams Rd.) until grandson Charles (known to H.D. Thoreau) moved to Fitchburg around 1858 and the building sold at auction. Maps through the 1860s would carry the notations "C. Miles", "Miles Swamp" (off Marlboro Rd.), "C. Miles Run" and "Miles Mill". Thoreau would write in 1852 of the lavish flora abounding at "Miles Blueberry Swamp". But the legacy of Charles Miles would be that he lived in an extraordinary time (social, political, religious, military) in Concord history, was elected captain of the first minute company, led his men against the King's troops at North Bridge and would be one of only four Concord men wounded on 19 April. For these reasons alone, Capt. Charles Miles deserves a place of honor among the renowned names in the storied past of Concord Town.
Artwork: ArtToday and Hometown Websmith.
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John Miles, declared a Freeman at Concord in 1639, had by 1663 acquired over 400 acres of land in the South Quarter (Nine Acre Corner area). His son Samuel would construct a house on "faier haven way" (present Williams Rd.) in the early 1700s where his son Charles would be born (1727) and live most of his life. Religious controversy involved the family in 1745 when Deacon Samuel Miles and 19 other men left First Parish in a dispute over theology with Rev. Daniel Bliss. They formed the West or Black Horse Church.