Myles Standish was an English military officer and colonist. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on the ship Mayflower and played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its foundation in 1620. On February 17, 1621, the Plymouth Colony militia elected him as its first commander and continued to re-elect him to that position for the remainder of his life. Standish served at various times as an agent of Plymouth Colony on a return trip to England, as assistant governor of the colony, and as its treasurer.
This portrait was first published in 1885 and alleged to be a 1625 likeness of Standish, although its authenticity has never been proven.
Sir Horatio Vere was the commander of English troops in the Netherlands during the siege of Sluis in 1604, under whom Standish likely served.
The Embarkation of the Pilgrims, 1843, US Capitol Rotunda. Myles and Rose Standish are prominently depicted in the foreground on the right.
The Mayflower Compact, a painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
Plymouth Colony was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 and the third permanent English colony in America, after Newfoundland and the Jamestown Colony. It was settled by the passengers on the Mayflower at a location that had previously been surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement served as the capital of the colony and developed as the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. At its height, Plymouth Colony occupied most of the southeastern portion of Massachusetts. Many of the people and events surrounding Plymouth Colony have become part of American folklore, including the American tradition of Thanksgiving and the monument of Plymouth Rock.
The cover of John Smith's A Description of New England, published in 1616, which was the first text to use the name "New Plymouth" to describe the site of the future colony
Interview of Samoset with the Pilgrims, an 1852 book engraving
"Signing of the Mayflower Compact" by Edward Percy Moran, c. 1900
The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, a 1914 portrait by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe that is now housed in Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts
