I deliberately avoided answering this query originally because I didn't think I had much to offer, but that in itself is part of the story about 1LT George B. Miller. Let me elaborate:

Frederick Dyer's "A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion" vol. 3, p. 1301 clearly states this regiment was organized in September 1861 at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. I don't have anything that says parts of this regiment were filled by men from other states such as Indiana, but that is entirely possible. That was the case with several Missouri regiments in 1861.

The entry for 1LT George B. Miller in Company H in the State of Missouri's "Annual Report by the Adjutant General for the Year 1865" states on page 302 that Miller was made a 1LT on 1 August 1861, at least a month before the 1st MO Cavalry Regiment was organized. He took his place as company commander of Company H (according to this same source) on 27 December 1861. I gather that George was in St. Louis between August and December, perhaps assisting the organization of new regiments, perhaps on the staff of the Department of the Missouri there in St. Louis, or some other duty. It is possible that he may have been on recruiting duty during that period, perhaps in Indiana, too. This record doesn't explain. In the remarks column of this source it states "Killed April 28, 1862." That is all I can glean from this source.

As John stated the online record from the Missouri State Archives states that 1LT G. B. Miller enlisted 1 August 1861 at St. Louis and was mustered in presumably Company H, 1st Missouri Cavalry 6 September 1861 under Captain Townsley at Jefferson Barracks. (The previous paragraph's resource--the Adjutant General's report--tells us that Captain Henry Townsley was made captain on 1 August 1861 and on 27 December 1861 was named commander of Company H 1st MO Cav with Miller as his 1LT and T. J. Brooks as the 2LT.) Back to G.B. Miller's card, as John has stated, all the card has more than the above for Miller is in the remarks section that he was "Killed 12 miles from Cassville, MO [Barry County] Apr. 30, 1862 by Bushwhackers."

In fact, all three of the H Company officers were named to their respective ranks on 1 August 1861 before the 1st MO Cav was organized. Perhaps it was in the process of being organized at that time. I don't have documentation that clarifies that.

In Broadfoot Publishing Company's landmark 100 or so volume set "Supplement to the Official Records" part 2, Records of Events, vol. 34 under 1st Mo Cav, under Company H on pages 453-4 it states in part: "Stationed at Cassville, Missouri, March-April 1862. Lieutenant [George] B. Miller was in command of Company H from December 5 to the time of his death and I was away on sick furlough and returned about May 15 and took inventory of stock on hand, reporting the same to Major [J. M.]Hubbard [of this same regiment] in writing. He was largely short in horses, carbines and revolvers, saddles, and other things and no memorandum whatever was found to...." continues on page 454 which I failed to copy. I am not certain which officer wrote this in the Company H records, either. I suspect the writer was George W. Hannah who was promoted to 1LT 29 April 1862, about the time of Miller's death.

We can conclude some things from this little bit of information and the similar lack of information. We can conclude that George Miller was not very good at keeping records, and that the other officers of Company H at the time he was commander were not very good at keeping them either. I suppose they were too busy fighting "Johnnies," as the records of the regiment also tell us. Notice the discrepancy about the actual date of Miller's death. If I were to guess, I would say Miller was killed 28 April 1862, taken from the regiment's records. We are also unfortunate that Company H's next commander was not on hand until May 15, so he could not shed light on Miller's death either. Major Hubbard of the regiment led a goodly part of it in fighting in nearby Newton County 26 April 1862, but was so busy fighting bushwhackers in this area that he was unable to compose his report of the 26 April fight until May 2, just to give you an idea.

Well, that doesn't say much for so many words, but you may get an idea what it was like in southwest Missouri during late April and early May 1862. The regiment was so busy that they couldn't even take time to correctly record Miller's death until a couple of weeks later.

Perhaps someone else can shed light on G. B. Miller's origins. I have nothing on that.

Bruce Nichols