Myles Standish

Myles Standish (c. 1584 – October 3, 1656; sometimes spelled Miles Standish) is an English military officer hired by the Pilgrims as military advisor for Plymouth Colony.

One of the Mayflower passengers, Standish plays a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its start.

On February 17, 1621, the Plymouth Colony militia elects him as its first commander and continues to re-elect him to this position for the remainder of his life.

Standish serves as an agent of Plymouth Colony in England, as assistant governor, and as treasurer of Plymouth Colony.He is also one of the first settlers and founders of the town of Duxbury, Massachusetts.

A defining characteristic of Standish's military leadership is his proclivity to preemptive action which results in at least two attacks (or small skirmishes) on different groups of Native Americans—the Nemasket raid and the Wessagusset massacre.

During these actions, Standish exhibits considerable courage and skill as a soldier, but also demonstrates a brutality that angers Native Americans and disturbed more moderate members of the Colony.

One of Standish's last military actions on behalf of Plymouth Colony is the botched Penobscot expedition in 1635.

By the 1640s, Standish relinquishes his role as an active soldier and settles into a quieter life on his Duxbury farm.

Although he is still nominally the commander of military forces in a growing Plymouth Colony, he seems to have preferred to act in an advisory capacity.

He dies in his home in Duxbury in 1656 at age 72.

Although he supported and defended the Pilgrim colony for much of his life, there is no evidence to suggest that Standish ever subscribed to the Pilgrims' religious beliefs or joined their church.

Several towns and military installations have been named for Standish and monuments have been built in his memory.

One of the best known depictions of Standish in popular culture is the 1858 book, The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Highly fictionalized, the story presents Standish as a timid romantic.

It is extremely popular in the 19th century and plays a significant role in cementing the Pilgrim story in American culture.

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