George Henry Miles
George Henry Miles (July 31, 1824 – July 23, 1871) was an American writer, dramatist, and lawyer. He wrote under the pen name Earnest Halphin, and is best known for God Save the South, which is often considered the unofficial national anthem of the Confederate States during the Civil War.
Miles was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William Miles, a merchant and former U.S. agent to Haiti, and Sarah Mickle. He graduated from Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg in 1842 and began studying law, practicing for a time in Baltimore. His true talent lay in writing, and his early works showed a gift for poetry and drama.
His first published piece was an historical tale, The Truce of God, serialized in the United States Catholic Magazine, followed by The Governess. In 1849, Loretto won a $50 prize from the Catholic Mirror, and the next year his tragedy Mahommed won Edwin Forrest’s $1,000 prize, encouraging him to abandon law for the theatre.
Miles’ stage career grew. In 1859 his tragedy De Soto had its premiere at the Broadway Theatre in New York, and his dramedy Mary’s Birthday was also performed that year. Señor Valiente was notable for being presented in New York, Boston, and Baltimore on the same night. During 1860–61, The Seven Sisters, a play about Secession, appeared at Laura Keene’s Theatre in New York City. Cromwell, a Tragedy, remained unfinished.
He had several international experiences as well. In 1851 he was sent to Spain on official business by President Millard Fillmore. He traveled to Europe again in 1864, then published Glimpses of Tuscany in the Catholic World, followed by Christine: a Troubadour’s Song in 1866 and a volume of verse, Christian Poems.
In 1859 Miles became a professor of English Literature at Mount St. Mary’s. That same year he married Adaline Tiers of New York and moved to Thornbrook, a cottage near Emmitsburg, where he lived until his death.
Miles also gave a Discourse in Commemoration of the Landing of the Pilgrims of Maryland (1847) and planned critical studies of Shakespeare; his essay on Hamlet appeared in the Southern Review and earned some acclaim.
He died in Thornbrook, Maryland, at the age of 46, leaving behind a legacy as a prolific dramatist and writer who left a lasting mark on 19th-century American literature.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:09 (CET).