James Miley was from Prescott when he enlisted in the Lyon Light Guards—what became Company A of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry—on October 23, 1861. He was killed in action on June 21, 1863, at the Siege of Vicksburg in Mississippi.
Miley was born in Ireland in approximately 1830 and was listed as a laborer in the 1860 federal census of Prescott. He left a wife and three small children.
The following notice is from the July 18, 1863, issue of The Prescott Journal:
JAS. MILEY of Co. A was shot in the head and instantly killed. He had just returned from Prescott, where he had been on furlough. This is the only man our regiment have had killed. Miley was a good soldier, ever ready to do his duty cheerfully.
The Civil War and Northwest Wisconsin 