Who is Major General Quait from the novel, A Distant Trumpet?

Tall, gaunt, white-bearded Major General Alexander Upton Quait is an elderly but resourceful ascetic generally sympathetic with the plight of the Indians. He quotes Tacitus to his men in the original Latin, speaks Apache to White Horn and Rainbow Son and is so uniquely drawn that, according to one reviewer, he deserves to take his place alongside Leatherstocking, Huckleberry Finn, and Captain Ahab. In the eyes of Matthew Hazard, General Quait is one of the greatest soldiers and most remarkable men that the country has ever had.