Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1893-02-16
WAR "REMINISCENCES
A SOLDIER HERMIT.
Gen. Pleasonton's Life of Utter SeciusIon
in q Washington Hotel.

Gen. PleasOnton's Life of Utter Sectuslon
in Washington Hotel.
alone in great city; practically a
hermit amid the throngs of the nations
capital; living life of comfort and con-
tentment, but life of seclusion and ex-
elusive retirement"
Such was the answer given in reply
to an inquiry a few days ago regarding
the welfare and whereabouts OF Mai
Gen. Alfred Ple1santon, whose name
and fame few years ago were on the
lips Of nine-tenths Of the American peo-
pie, and the records of whose exploits
as one Of the greatest cavalry leaders of
our late war would fill volumes of
graphic history. Apparently in the full
possession OF all his mental faculties,
and with no serious physical ailment,
this man Of genius 4 soldier of two
great wars, and explorer nearly fifty
years ago of the then unknown domain
of our great western territory-an In
dian fighter Of great renown, a traveller
whose face and figure was at one time
well kno.n in every court of all the
great powers Of the old world, a schol-
ar, bon vivant, wit and most compan-
ionable of all the agreeable public men
of his day-voluntarily betook himself
to his private apartment in a snug little
hotel in the very heart of Washington,
on May 10, 1890, 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
have seen or talked with him since that
6af 70 haA -
him in administering to his personal
wants
There was a bill pending in congress
to retire him as a brigadier-generaL
He felt that so much as that recogni-
tion was his due at the hands of the
country he had served so faithfully. He
had been a major-general in command
of the cavalry corps of the army of the
Potomac; he had fought the first real
cavalry fight of the war at Brandy Sta
ton, June IL, 1868, and then and there
proved his superior abilities as a DASH
ing and almost invincible commander;
had met and thwarted the advance of
the enemy upon Gettysburg, holding
Lees armies in doubt and allegiance
until Meades infantry came up to fight
the decisive battle of the war, and had
never been found wanting when duty
and patriotism required his presence
either in camp or in the field.
The canvas back, the terrapin and all
the dishes he relished so highly in days
of yore have been abandoned But he
has everything his appetite may crave,
and, with good digestion waiting upon
it, he eats to live and contentedly re-
marks 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 parcel, but which he holds
away off at arms length, and with
which he associates as little as pos
sible.
No one of the few who see him ever
think of asking him a reason for this
most marvellous change in his manner
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 extremely dis
tasteful to him. Gen. Rosecrans wrote
to him about year and a half ago ask
ing about his health and other ques-
tons that any old-time friend would be
apt to ask, but he did not answer the
letter for months; and it is now nearly
a year since ''Rosey' saw Kate"
The general was not always access
sible, but oftentimes when in the humor
he could be and was one of the most en-
tertaining and agreeable of men. Not
many years ago occasionally 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, empowered streets of the north
west part of this beautiful city. With
his ever-present pipe or cigarette in his
hand, he was won't to discourse of men
and events, of science, art, poetry, of
travel, adventure, history and discovery
"a treat that was as rare as it was in
teresting, as instructive as it was I'M
common, and only to be equalled, in my
experience 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 as
sociation with that other paragon
among soldiers and scholars, the late
Maj Gen Gouverneur X. Warren, of
the corps of engineers and the famous
commander of the Fifth army corps.
Gen. Pleasonton was never married.
although in the long ago, when, as a
classmate describes him, "he was Ithe
handsomest youngster in the army" he
was assuredly great catch and must
have been the object of great solicitude
among the matchmaking mammas of
those days.-Washington Star.