Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1893-01-12
a SOLDIER HERMIT.
General Pleasonton's Life Of Utter seel,
sion In q Washington Hotel.

1
sion In q Washington Hotel.
B aAlone in great city; practically a
hermit amid the throngs Of the nations
capital; living life Of comfort and con-
tentment, but q life Of seclusion and e1-
elusive retirement.
Such was the answer given In reply to
an inquiry a few days ago regarding the
welfare and whereabouts Of Major Cen
eral Alfred Pleasonton, whose name and
fame q few years ago were on the lips
OF nine -tenths Of the American people,
and the records of whose exploits as one
of the greatest cavalry leaders Of our
late war would fill volumes of graphic
history.
B Apparently in the full possession Of all
his mental faculties, and with no serious
physical ailment, this man Of genius, a
soldier of two great wars, and explorer
nearly fifty years ago Of the then un-
known domain Of our great western ter
ritory-an Indian fighter of great re-
nown, a traveller whose face and figure
were at one time well known in every
court Of all the great powers Of the Old
World, q scholar, bon vivant, wit and
most companionable Of all the agreeable
public men of his day-yoluntarily be-
took himself to his private apartment in
snug little hotel in the very heart of
Washington on May Is, 1890, and has
not since been seen or talked with by,
all told, more than dozen Of his fellow
beings. And, with two or three excep-
tions, those who have seen or talked
with him since that date have been of
those necessary to him in administering
to his personal wants.
There was q bill pending in congress
to retire him as brigadier general. he
felt that. so much as that recognition
was his due at the hands of the country
he had served SO faithfully. He had
ibeena major general in command Of the
cavalry corps of the Army of the Poto-
mac; he had fought the first real cavalry
fight OF; the war at Brandy Station, June
12, 1858, and then and there proved his
superior abilities as a dashing and al
most invincible commander; had met
and thwarted the advance OF the enemy
upon Gettysburg, holding Lees armies
in doubt and allegiance until Meade's in
fantry came up to fight the decisive bat
tie of the war, and had never been found
wanting when. duty and patriotism re-
quired his presence either in camp or in
the field.
The canvasbaek, the terrapin and all
the dishes he relished go 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 remarks
that he no longer lives to eat. In other
matters his habits are regular, for, like
clockwork, 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 asso-
ciates,a as little as possible.
No'one of the few who see him ever
thinks of asking him q reason for th;:-
most marvellous change ir / ,.s:.',''--
of living, for they k1
useless. In fact. .ha has. rs
ins..;;T::ss inc :ss OF that kind in sac,
as to show that they are ,,@:re
tasteful to him. Gene
wrote to him about ysa
ago asking about his hee -
questions that any old tim t.lz...' :. ~.ru
be apt to ask, but he did not answer the
letter for months. ashington Star.