William Starke Rosecrans (1819-1898) was a soldier, statesman, landowner, and more. Once a poor Ohio farm boy, “Old Rosy’s” life changed when he was accepted into West Point. This led to a career as an Army engineer until 1854, when he retired to go into mining. To say that Rosecrans un-retired in 1861 to fight in the Civil War would be an understatement: he was a brigadier general in the Union Army and commanded troops in several key battles. He even came close to becoming Abraham Lincoln’s VP – so they say. But a notorious rivalry with Ulysses S. Grant drove Rosecrans back to civilian life, and in 1869 he bought 13,000 acres of Rancho Sausal Redondo and public lands, built a home near the present-day intersection of Rosecrans and Vermont avenues, and pursued railroad and mining interests. He returned to Washington in 1880 for two terms in the House (D-CA), then served as Register of the Treasury from 1885 until 1893. He spent his final years at his SoCal ranch. When he died, Gen. Rosecrans was locally eulogized for his substantial influence in promoting San Pedro over Santa Monica as the port of Los Angeles – a contentious battle in its own right.
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