8th GA Regiment Surgeon - Dr H V M Miller

Biography:

Homer Virgil Milton Miller was born on April 29, 1814, in South Carolina. He was the son of Gen. Andrew Miller, who moved to Rabun County, Georgia in 1820. H. V. M. Miller married Harriet Perry Clark in 1835. (Harriet P. Clark was born September 19, 1818; died January 8, 1894).

The origin of Homer Virgil Milton Miller's unique name is as follows: During the War of 1812, two young men became close comrades and friends. When they parted it was agreed that their sons should bear the same names. Both were scholars, and curiously they selected the names of the great poets. Major Clem Powers, of Effingham County, named his three sons Homer, Virgil and Milton. Meantime his friend [Gen. Andrew Miller] had one son born to him, and he was named Homer Virgil Milton Miller.

Dr. H. V. M. Miller lived in Rome, Floyd County in a home called "Coligni." His office was on Broad Street. Dr. Miller won the soubriquet of "The Demosthenes of the Mountains" in his innumerable political encounters.

The Eighth Georgia Volunteer Infantry's Company E, the "Miller Rifles," was named in honor of Dr. H. V. M. Miller, one of the most distinguished physicians in the South.

Confederate Service Record Summary: Surgeon June 6, 1861. Attended to the mortally wounded Col. Francis S. Bartow at the Battle of First Manassas, July 21, 1861. On sick furlough in Rome, Dec 6, 1861. Transferred to Medical Dept. of South Carolina and Georgia May 1, 1862. Received pay at Greensboro, Ga. Sept. 19, 1864. No later record.

Dr. H. V. M. Miller was the first Senator from Georgia after the War in 1868, defeating former governor Joseph E. Brown.

Dr. Miller died May 31, 1896, in Atlanta, and is buried in Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Rome. See photos of his headstone and Miller family plot below, courtesy of Jeff Cumins.

[Biographical information from: "A History of Rome and Floyd County," by George M. Battey, Jr., revised edition 1994 (originally publ. 1922), Cherokee Publishing Company; and from "Floyd County, Georgia Confederates," Volume 8, by Shirley F. Kinney and James P. Kinney, 1992.]

Cemetery Photos:
Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Rome, Floyd County, Georgia
Photos generously provided by Jeff Cumins