Miles C. Littlefield was born around 1841 in Ellisburg, New York, to Lyman and Persis Littlefield. His father was a farmer who owned $8,700 of real estate and $2,100 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Ellisburg, and by 1860, he was working as a farmer.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on August 11, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company E of the 10^th New York Heavy Artillery on August 19. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 6 ½ inches tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. He was promoted to corporal on September 11, 1862. The regiment took part in the Battle of Cold Harbor and the siege of Petersburg. He expressed devotion to the Union. In January 1864, he drafted a poem describing a woman who “Bade me by my country stand / Ne’er to let the land of freedom / Be despoiled by traitorous hand.” He died of chronic diarrhea on February 5, 1865, in Ellisburg while on furlough.

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