Well, my thinking was more that any soldier in any army isn't only going to be trained with one weapon. I can't think of any reason why a foot soldier would be trained with a lance but not a sword. Especially when they were recruits, before they picked a specialization, it would make sense if they at least got given basic training with swords, lances, bows, etc. Magic and staves is another thing, of course, so I wouldn't dream of suggesting that she could pick up either of those and start using them, but it makes sense to my mind at least that a General with 30 years of fighting experience wouldn't be like "You expect me to fight with a sword? I wouldn't even know how!" just because that's how they are in game mechanics.