Civil War Animal Heroes: Mascots, Pets and War Horses

For centuries animals have gone to war involuntarily, and our Civil War was no exception. A countless number of four -legged and winged creatures served as soldiers’ and sailors’ pets, sharing the hardships of military life on land and sea. A few gained national prominence as regimental mascots, the most famous being Old Abe, the bald eagle which campaigned with the 8th Wisconsin Infantry. Pets provided a valuable service in relieving homesickness and other stresses of war. Dogs were the most common but cats found favor within the Union and Confederate navies for their role in combating the hordes of rats and mice which infested ships. But tales of such other creatures as squirrels, raccoons, bears, and even a camel are found within this book. Some accounts are humorous, but others are tragic. Useful as pets were as morale builders, they weren’t the essential resource which horses and mules were for cavalry, artillery, and transportation units as well as for officers’ mounts. It has been estimated that more than two million horses and mules served during the war. Their tales too sometimes are tragic. Best known of officers’ mounts are Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Traveller and perhaps “Stonewall” Jackson’s Little Sorrel. The skeleton of Old Fly of the 1st Indiana Cavalry is exhibited in an obscure museum in Indiana. The stories of these animal heroes were drawn largely from memoirs, regimental histories, and Civil War letters. They offer insight into a little studied aspect of this very uncivil war’s history and should be of interest not only to students of that conflict but to animal lovers as well.