Lovell Rousseau Lovell Harrison Rousseau ( August 4 , 1818 – January 7 , 1869 ) was a general in the United States and Union Armies during the American Civil War and a lawyer and politician in both Kentucky and Indiana . Early life and career . Born near Stanford , Kentucky , on August 4 , 1818 , Rousseau attended the common schools as a child . His father , David , brought his family across the Appalachians from Virginia , but he had a difficult time regaining economic equilibrium ( despite extensive holdings in undeveloped land and slaves ) . Lovell ' s elder brother had already left home , so when their father died of cholera attempting to move the family to a new home in 1833 , it fell to Lovell and his younger brothers to dig their father ' s roadside grave . At fifteen , he had become his family ’ s primary breadwinner . Soon afterwards , he was were forced to sell his family ’ s slaves in an effort to cover the family ’ s debts . Eager to earn a wage , he began working on a road - building crew , and travelled around the Midwest . Determined to rise , he studied grammar , mathematics , and French , and returned to Kentucky where he read law in Louisville , Kentucky for several months . In 1841 , he passed the Indiana bar and began practicing law with his brother , Richard Hilare Rousseau , and a partner , James I . Dozier , in Bloomfield , Indiana . Subsequently , both brothers married daughters of their partner . Richard married Mary in 1839 , while Lovell married Marie Antoinette Dozier in 1843 . Lovell successfully ran for the Indiana House of Representatives as a Whig candidate in 1844 , and in 1846 he was commissioned as a captain in the Mexican - American War and charged with raising a company of volunteers . He led them at the Battle of Buena Vista where he helped rally routing Indiana troops at a key point in the battle . When he returned from the war , he successfully gained a seat in the Indiana Senate , and continued to run a successful law practice . After relocating to Louisville , Kentucky , he served in the Kentucky Senate from 1860 to 1861 . Civil War . As the Civil War was becoming more and more likely , Rousseau took a bold and decided stand in favor of maintaining state government in Kentucky and helped keep it from seceding from the Union . He resigned from his seat in the senate in June 1861 and applied for a commission to raise volunteers . Against the opposition of many prominent figures in Kentucky , he succeeded in raising two regiments composed entirely of Kentuckians at Camp Joe Holt , across the Ohio River from Louisville in Jeffersonville , Indiana . They were known as the Louisville Legion . With the help of a battalion of the Louisville Home Guard , the regiments saved Louisville from being captured by Confederate troops . He was appointed colonel of the 5th Kentucky Volunteer Regiment in September 1861 and was later promoted to brigadier general of Volunteers attached to the army of General Ormsby M . Mitchel . Later , Rousseau was once again promoted to major general of Volunteers . He served valiantly at the Battles of Shiloh , Stones River , Chickamauga , during the Tullahoma Campaign and movements around Chattanooga , Tennessee . Although from November 1863 until his resignation in November 1865 , Rousseau had command of Nashville , Tennessee , he had also , on Sherman ' s orders , carried out a very successful raid on the Montgomery and West Point Railroad in July 1864 . House of Representatives and assault on Josiah B . Grinnell . Rousseau was elected an " Unconditional Unionist " to the United States House of Representatives in 1864 , serving from 1865 to 1866 . As a former military officer , he served on the Committee on Military Affairs . In June 1866 , relations between Rousseau and Iowa congressman Josiah Bushnell Grinnell became tense . The two had a series of debates over a bill intended to give more power to the Freedman ' s Bureau . Rousseau opposed it having seen and heard about rebellious and illegal actions by agents working for the bureau , whereas Grinnell strongly supported the bill as a former active abolitionist and aide to runaway slaves . The debates eventually turned into mudslinging , Grinnell questioning Rousseau ' s military record and insulting his performance in battle as well as a few comments on the state of Kentucky . On June 14 , 1866 , Rousseau approached Grinnell in the east portico of the capitol building after a session of congress . He told Grinnell that he had been waiting for an apology from him for the insults he made about him before the House . Grinnell pretended not to know what Rousseau was talking about , enraging Rousseau who struck him repeatedly with the iron handle of his rattan cane until it broke . He struck him chiefly in the face but a few blows hit Grinnell ' s hand and shoulder . Grinnell walked away with only bruises and did not have to be absent from congress at all . However , a committee was organized to investigate the incident which was composed of Nathaniel P . Banks , Henry J . Raymond , Rufus P . Spalding , M . Russell Thayer and John Hogan . Rousseau was reprimanded for his actions and soon later resigned . He was elected back the same year to fill the vacancy caused by himself and continued to serve until 1867 . Later life and death . After leaving the House of Representatives , Rousseau was appointed brigadier general in the U . S . Army with the brevet rank of major general , and was assigned to duty in Alaska on March 27 , 1867 . General Rousseau played a key role in the transfer of Alaska from the Russian Empire to the United States on October 18 , 1867 , today celebrated as Alaska Day . On July 28 , 1868 , he was placed in command of the Department of Louisiana . He died in this capacity in New Orleans , Louisiana , on January 7 , 1869 . He was interred in Cave Hill National Cemetery in Louisville , Kentucky and in 1892 his wife had his body removed from Cave Hill and re - interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington , Virginia . His monument at Cave Hill remains . References . Retrieved on 2008 - 08 - 16