The value of pets in the Civil War

[LincolnMan]

I found this entry in the November/December 2012 issue of History Magazine:

"Nearly every company, certainly every regiment, in the service,, has a pet of some kind or other. It matters not whether the object of their affection be dog, cat, possum, cow or horse, whatever it be, the brute is loved by all, and woe be to the outsider who dares to insult or injure one of these pets. More personal encounters have been brought on between soldiers about some pet or animal, than in any other way. Occasionally these pets become great heroes, in their way, and then they become general favorites with the whole army."

Then there is this touching account:

"Many canine companions risked their lives to locate soldiers or simply comfort them as they lay dying. After the battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, a dog belonging to a fallen Union soldier of the 3rd Illinios Infantry, Lt. Louis Pfeiff, stayed by his side, licking his mortal wounds until he was buried. Shortly afterward, the lieutenant's wife, Elizabeth, was informed that her husband had been killed in the battle and buried on the battlefield. She went to find the body to take it back to a family plot in Chicago, but when she arrived on the battlefield, no one could direct her to his grave. After searching among the thousands of burial sites for over a day, she was about to give up when she saw a large dog running towards her. The dog led her to a distant part of the battlefield and stopped before a single grave. A soldier opened the grave and sure enough, it contained the body of Pfeif. The dog had remained by his slain master's grave for 12 days, leaving his post only long enough to satisfy his need for food and water-a true soldier indeed."

[Rob Wick]

Bill,

I love my dog dearly and have had pets all my life, but there's something about those types of stories that strike me as apocryphal. Maybe it's just the cynic in me.

Best
Rob

[L Verge]

I can't recall the name of it, but we sell a book in the Surratt gift shop about the various animals and birds that were company mascots during the Civil War.

[LincolnMan]

I thought about the story of the dog who stayed by the grave of his master for 12 days-sounds incredible. I don't know if it is true or not. I have a yellow lab-Cody. I'm sure he would stay by my grave. He is sooo loyal-follows me wherever I go. Sometimes I nearly trip over him because he is always by my side. He sees me to the door when I leave the house in the morning to go to work-and is waiting for me by the door when I come home from work at night. I can see how soldiers became attached to their pets. They are loving and accepting. Is the story really true? Don't know-but the loyalty of the pet expressed in the story certainly is- for so many pets.

[Gene C]

Bill,

Great story. Thanks for posting it.

Fido

[LincolnMan]

Thanks for barking in Fido!

[L Verge]

There was just a recent story about a dog who goes to the grave of its master each day. The family brings him home at night; but as soon as he's let out without a leash, off he goes. The family has given up trying to stop him.

[LincolnMan]

Laurie: If you obtain the name of the book please let us know.

[L Verge]

I will check as soon as I get to work in the morning. I just recommended it to someone as a Christmas present for their grandchild, so you'd think it would be on the tip of my tongue.

[LincolnMan]

Thanks Laurie.

[Laurie Verge]

Bill,

The name of the book on mascots of the Civil War is Civil War Animal Heroes: Mascots, Pets, and War Horses by Charles Worman (a Surratt member). We sell it for $27.

[LincolnMan]

Thanks Laurie!

[LincolnMan]

This is from the same issue of The History Magazine:

Canines were admired by all ranks-including the commander in chief. During a review of the Union's 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment in April 1863, Abraham Lincoln doffed his stovepipe hat while greeting a "handsome brindled Staffordshire Bull Terrier" named Sallie as she marched past the review stand at the head of her regiment.

From an article:Dogs & Stripes by Michael Zucchero.

[RJNorton]

We cannot forget the cats, too. From Carl Sandburg's The War Years:


During his visit to City Point, the president happened to be in the telegraph hut on the day that Grant's army began the final advance of the Civil War. In the hut the president came upon three tiny kittens. They appeared to be lost and were wandering around and meowing. Abraham picked up one of the kittens and asked, "Where is your mother?" A person standing nearby said, "The mother is dead." The president continued to pet the little kitten and said, "Then she can't grieve as many a poor mother is grieving for a son lost in battle." Abraham picked up the other two kittens and now had all three in his lap. He stroked their fur and quietly told them, "Kitties, thank God you are cats, and can't understand this terrible strife that is going on." The Chief Executive continued, "Poor little creatures, don't cry; you'll be taken good care of." He looked toward Colonel Bowers of Grant's staff and said, "Colonel, I hope you will see that these poor little motherless waifs are given plenty of milk and treated kindly." Bowers promised that he would tell the cook to take good care of them.

Colonel Horace Porter watched the president and recalled, "He would wipe their eyes tenderly with his handkerchief, stroke their smooth coats, and listen to them purring their gratitude to him." Quite a sight it was, thought Porter, "at an army headquarters, upon the eve of a great military crisis in the nation's history, to see the hand which had affixed the signature to the Emancipation Proclamation and had signed the commissions....from the general-in-chief to the lowest lieutenant, tenderly caressing three stray kittens."

[LincolnMan]

Great story-did my heart good to read it again, especially during this holiday season.