The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-01-26
SEEGER Bros. Extract teeth
without pain.
SOLDIER HERMIT.
Gen. Pleasonton's Life of Utter SecIuslor
in a Washington Hotel.

Gen. Pleasonton's Life of Utter SecIusion
in a Washington Hotel.
"Alone in great city; practically a
hermit amid the throngs of the Ma
tion's capital; living a life cf comfort
and contentment, but a life of Sc
clusion and exclusive retirement"
Such was the answer given in reply
to an inquiry Il few days ago regard
ing the welfare and whereabouts of
Ma ior General Alfred PleasOnton. whose
name and fame a few years ago were
on the lips of nine-tenths of the Ameri-
can people, and the records Of whose
exploits as one OF the greatest cavalry
leaders of our late war would till vol
umes Of graphic history. Apparently
in the full possession of his mental
faculties, and with no serious physi-
cal ailment, this man of genius, a sol
dier OF two great wars, and explorer
nearly fifty years ago of the then un-
unknown domain of OUT great Western
territOry-an Indian fighter of great
reuOwn. a traveller whose face and tig-
ure was at one time we'll known in
every court Of all the great powers Of
the Old World, a scholar, bon Yivant,
wit and most mpanionabic of all the
agreeable public men of his day-vol-
unfairly betook himself 10 his private
apartment in suug little hotel in the
very heart of Washington, ON May Is.
1899. and has not since been seen by
or talked with, all told. more than
dozen Of his fellow beings. And, with
two or three exceptions, those who
hoy +,1j-aI H. 20
that date have been of those necessary
TO him in administering to his per-
sOnal wants.
There WAS a bill pending in congress
to retire him rs brigadier-gcneral.
He felt that 50 much as that recogni-
tlOn was his due at the hands Of the
country he had served so faithfully.
He had been maior-general in COM
mand of the cavalry corps of the Army
of the Potomac; he had fought the
first real cavalry fight OF the war at
Brandy Station, June L, 1864, and
then and there proved his superior
abilities as 4 daShing and almost in
vincIDle commander; had met and
thwarted the advance of the enemy
upon Gettysburg, holding Lees armies
in doubt and allegiance until Meade's
infantry came up to fight the decisive
battle Of the war. and had never been
found wanting when duty and pa
triotism required his presence either
in camp on in the field
The canvas back, the tcrrapin and
all the dishes he relished so highly in
days of yore have been abandoned.
But he has everything his appetite
may crave, anA, with good digestion
waiting upon it, he eats to live and
conteItediy remarks that he no longer
lives to eat. In other matter his
habits are regular, for, like clock-wOrk,
he gets all the daily papers, keeping
well posted regarding the affairs of
the world of which he is part and par
eel but which he holds away at arms
length, and with which he associates
as little as possible.
No one Of the few who see him ever
think of asking him q reason for this
most marvellous change in his man
ner Of living. for they know it would
be useless. In fact he has resented
several inquiries Of that kind in such
manner as to show that they are ex-
tremely distasteful to him. General
ROsecrans wrote to him about a year
and half ago asking about his health
and other questions that any oid-time
friend would be apt to ask, but he did
not answer the letter for months; and
it Is now nearly a year since "kOsey"
saw Kate"
The General was not ALWAYS access
sible, but oftentimes when in the hu-
NOR he could be and was one of the
| most entertaining and agreeable Of
/ men. Not many years ago | occa-
sionaily enjoyed the rare pleasure, on
bright moonlight summer nights when
all the town was asleep. Of inviting
the General to ride with me in an open
'victOria' about the quiet, cmbowcred
streets of the northwest part of this
beautiful city. With his ever-nresent
pipe OF cigarette in hand, he was wont
to discourse of men and events, of
science. art, poetry, or travel, adven-
ture, history and discovery-a treat
that was as rare as it was interesting,
/ as instructive as it was uncommon,
and only to be equalled, in my eXpe-
rience with similar talks, in which |
was the listener only, that | often en-
! joyed after the war during the ten
years of intimate service under and
associated with that other paragon
among soldiers, the late Maior-Generai
/ GOuyerneur X. Warren, of the corps
Of engineers and the famous COM
mander of the Fifth Army Corps.
/ Gen. PleasautOn was never married,
although in the long ago, when. as a
classmate describes him. che was the
handsomest youngster ia the army"
( he was assuredly a great catch and
must have been the object OF great
solicitude among the matchmaking
mammas Of those days. Hostiagtoa
/ star.