Scope and Content Note
The papers of Cyrus Robinson Miller (1874-1947) span the dates 1897-1940, with the bulk of the material concentrated during the period from 1897 to 1918. Miller was a naval cadet aboard the battleship Oregon and armored cruiser Buffalo and kept midshipman logs chronicling daily life aboard ship, including ports of call, visits by dignitaries, and crew activities. When war with Spain appeared imminent in 1898, the Oregon was ordered from the Pacific to the Caribbean. Miller recorded the ship's fourteen-thousand mile, two-month transit around Cape Horn, a voyage which demonstrated the usefulness of establishing a trans-isthmian canal. After arriving at Cuba, the Oregon participated in the Battle of Santiago, which Miller detailed in his logs and in a narrative inserted later, in landing troops at Guanica, and in lesser battle actions. He included photographs of the wrecks of the American warship Merrimac and Spanish warships Reina Mercedes and Cristóbal Colón, the harbor, channel, and Morro of Santiago; and the crews and ships of both fleets during battle.
Miller served as captain of the warship Cleveland during World War I. Included in his papers is the radio log of the Cleveland during its assignment to patrol the American coast from Cape Hatteras to Charleston, South Carolina, and later during its assignment to lead merchant convoys to mid-Atlantic rendezvous points. The log's entries concern maintaining silent running and nighttime blackout, convoy formation, crew health, maritime war alerts, and enemy submarine sightings.
Also included is a ditty regarding life aboard another ship under Miller's command, the troop transport ship Von Steuben, during the time it ferried soldiers to and from France during World War I.