Mexican War veteran William Miller's Confederate Army career was tied with Florida troops. Miller, born in Ithaca, New York, Aug. 3, 1820, moved to Louisiana with his family as an infant. He was educated at Louisiana College and studied law after college. During the Mexican War, Miller fought under Gen. Zachary Taylor. After the war, he settled near Pensacola, Florida. When the Civil War started, he had been operating a sawmill in Santa Rosa County. His first Confederate command was as a major in charge of six companies. This unit became part of the First Florida Infantry. That unit fought at Shiloh and was part of Gen. Bragg's Kentucky Invasion. Seriously wounded at Murfreesboro, Miller subsequently was made commandant of conscripts for Florida. Promoted to brigadier general Aug. 2, 1864, Miller was made commander of Florida's reserve forces. He later commanded the District of Florida and led Confederate forces during the Battle of Natural Bridge, in which the Federals were denied their attempt to seize Tallahassee. After the war, Miller moved to Washington County, Florida, and returned to the lumber business. He also had a large farm. Miller served one term in the lower house of the Florida legislature, being elected in 1885. He was elected to the state senate in 1886 and in 1903. He died in Point Washington, Florida, Aug. 8, 1909.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Miller_(Confederate_Army_officer)

Miller was born in Ithaca, New York, but moved to Louisiana with his family while still a young child. He attended Louisiana College. He was a veteran of the Mexican-American War, serving in the army of Zachary Taylor and was awarded by the government for his service with 40 acres (160,000 m2) of land in Florida. He studied law, passed his bar exam, and engaged in a private practice in Santa Rosa County. He was engaged in the timber and lumber business in northwest Florida prior to the Civil War.

Miller formed an Infantry unit, Miller's 3rd Fla. Infantry Battalion and was its Lt. Col. He and his men eventually were consolidated with the 1st Florida Infantry Battalion, forming the (new) 1st Fla. Inf. Regement and became its first colonel in August 1862. Later that year, he fought at the Battle of Perryville, suffering a minor wound, and the Battle of Stones River, where he was severely wounded. He returned home to Florida to recuperate for several months. He was placed in charge of the Confederate Conscript Bureau for Alabama and South Florida.

On August 2, 1864, Miller was promoted to brigadier general and appointed to organize and coordinate the state's reserve troops as the new commander of the Florida District. He raised and commanded the 1st Florida Reserves, a regiment recruited to help defend the state, as most of the regular Confederate troops were serving elsewhere. His most prominent action came at the Battle of Natural Bridge in March 1865, where he served as the tactical field commander in defeating Union forces under John Newton. His men repelled three separate Union attacks during the 12-hour battle. The battle helped keep the state capital, Tallahassee, under Confederate control. It would prove to be the last state capital east of the Mississippi to remain in Confederate hands.

Miller and his men finally surrendered in Tallahassee in May 1865. 

After the war, Miller returned to his timber business and also established a farm. He eventually settled in Port Washington in Walton County, where he became the justice of the peace. Miller served two terms in the Florida House of Representatives and the State Senate.

He was initially buried in Point Washington Cemetery, but in 1922, he and his wife were exhumed and reinterred in St. Johns Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida.

http://civilwarflorida.blogspot.com/2007/09/brig-gen-william-miller.html

Brigadier General William Miller, the man remembered by generations of Floridians as the "hero of Natural Bridge."

General Miller, who made his living in the Northwest Florida timber industry before the war, was the original colonel of the 1st Florida Infantry. A veteran of the Mexican-American War, he commanded the 1st Florida during the bloody combat at Shiloh, Tennessee. Miller was still in command of the 1st Florida during the horrendous winter battle at Stones River, Tennessee. During the second day of fighting there, he was severely wounded while leading Confederate troops in an assault on the Union left flank. Disabled from command by his wounds, he spent months recovering until he was again able to resume some semblance of duty.

In 1864, General Miller was appointed to coordinate the organization of reserve forces in Florida. He was responsible for the coordination and training of the 1st Florida Infantry Reserves, a regiment raised for state defense. He also commanded a force of 1,000 impressed slaves who worked to improve roads, railroads and fortifications in North Florida during the final months of the war.

In March of 1865, Miller and his commanding officer, Major General Samuel Jones, directed the successful defense of Tallahassee and Thomasville, Georgia at the Battle of Natural Bridge. Both men were under fire during the battle.

After the war, Miller resumed his career in the timber industry and eventually settled in Walton County's Point Washington community. He died early in the 20th century and is buried in Pensacola.

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