River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-03-20
THREE FAMOUS GENERALS

Placing Under One Table Six Legs That
Never Ran From Foe.
Washington Letter in the st Louis Post-Dis-
patch.
AT leading hotel the other evening
three of the most distinguished eaval-
~ officers of the late war met and took
social drink They were Generals
Alfred B. Pleasonton, William II. Az
Grill and Thomas L. Rosser. The lat
ter is an exConfederate and is worth
probably half million dollars. The
other two were ON the other side and
are both poor. They are now here ask
ing to be put on the retired list. None
of them have seen service since the war.
AverilI and Pleasonton resigned soon
after peace was declared and Rosser's
term of service expired when he was
captured near Richmond shortly after
the surrender of Lee and Johnston.
This meeting between the three was
rather an interesting one. 1t is not
often that three such dashing. cavalry
commanders Of war that closed nearly
twenty years ago come together now in
social intercourse. All held the rank
of major general and all fought many
important engagements, and all were
brave and skillful soldiers, and all, / be-
ieve, were seriously wounded. Rosser
carries about with him nine scars-one
sabrecut over the right eye, one bayo-
net-gash on the forehead, a shot in the
foot, one in the knee, one in the left
arm, one in the left hip and others of
less importance. Averill was shot
through the thigh, which has made him
confirmed sufferer from rheumatism,
and he got sealp-wound that every now
and then becomes headquarters for a
painful attack of neuralgia. All of them
graduated at West Point.
Pleasonton Is the Oldest of the three.
There is no installing the education
and training he has had. They are
shown in every look and motion.
Though not large nor tall, he lis so erect
and precise that he would be taken any
where for a soldier and commander.
The general tells me he has lost some of
his faith in his blue glass theory, but
believes it will yet be adopted by the
scientific world. He is seventy-seven
years old and has always been a sort Of
a book worm, though he held some
sort of a command in the Pennsylvania
militia at one time during the war;
Averill looks almost as old as Pleasant
on, having suffered a good deal from
his wounds. He is a heavy, chunky
looking man with soldierly mustache,
and eyes about very unpretentiously.
His military record is very familiar to
everybody. Averill and Rosser are
now very fond of each other, and it is q
feast to hear them tell stories of the war
from their respective points of view.
Rosser has a really romantic history.
He is a romantic-looking man, to begin
with it. Over six feet tall, and of gil
ant-like frame, he towers over all the
ordinary run of men. He probably
weighs two hundred and seYenty-five
pounds, and there is not bit of waste
flesh about him-aII solid bone and
muscle. His money has been made in
rallroading in the northwest.
Fortune takes strange turns, and
here is one Of them What welcome
thing a weeks salary or Averill or
Pleasanton would have been to Rosser
in 1865. To-day they are knocking at
the door of congress, asking to be given
the retired list pay of about 50, 600 a
year, while Rosser is prospective
millionaire.