War Dogs of the North and South

By Thomas R. Fasulo
37th Iowa Volunteer Infantry

The April, 1995 issue of Civil War Times carries an article called "Faithful Friend: Army Dogs in the War". The article covers several pages and has lots of photos of soldiers from both sides with their pets. But more importantly, this article reveals for the very first time that the Civil War *did not end* in April of 1865!

I quote from the article beginning at the end of page 50:

"At Cold Harbor, Virginia, in June 1864, Confederate Brigadier General Bryan Grimes came across a Saint Bernard protecting the corpse of a Pennsylvania colonel. Grimes named the dog "General" and took him back to camp with him. General won instant popularity with the 14th North Carolina Infantry and remained with the unit for more than two years."

There you have it! What our history books don't mention and what has been kept hidden from Americans for over 140 years. The Civil War didn't end in 1865! If Grimes found the dog in June of 1864 and the 14th North Carolina kept it for "more than two years" then this means at least one regiment, maybe more, maybe as much as a division of the Army of Northern Virginia fought on until at least the Fall of 1866 *if not longer*! Who is behind this conspiracy? Is this why the United States military occupied the South for so many years after the Civil War? Because there was still fighting going on? Hopefully we'll read more about this in the newspapers at our local supermarket check out line!

Another amazing fact found in the same article, and uttered there for the very first time in *any* historical work on the American Civil War, is that Robert Lee "was an abject coward." !!!!

Finally an historian has the guts to state that the reason the South lost the Civil War was because it's so-called "greatest general" was a coward who "would run to the rear to hide among trees". The mind boggles to learn that... Oops, wait a minute. The "Robert Lee" the article talks about was a dog that belonged to the Troupe Artillery . Well, anyway, this might open up some new discussion on the subject.

The article states that many dogs changed sides when the opportunity arose, showing that at least some dogs only had the moral integrity of a cat!

However, some displayed unbelievable loyalty! The best story was about a woman who journeyed to Shiloh to recover the body of her husband, a Union officer. However, when she arrived no one could direct her to his burial site. After searching among thousands of graves, she was about to give up when she saw a large dog coming toward her. It turned out to be the family pet which had gone to war with her husband. The dog lead her to another part of the field and stopped before a grave. A nearby soldier opened it at her request and it contained her husband. The dog had remained at his side when he was shot and after he was buried. It was 12 days after the battle that the woman had arrived and the dog had only left the grave to get water and food. She took both the dog and the body of her husband home with her.

The award for the most interesting pet of the war has to go to the 43rd Mississippi. They had a camel named "Douglas"! The kind with four legs and bad breath, not the kind you smoke. After reading this I immediately decided to end my Civil War impression as a Confederate private in Co. D, 1st Florida Volunteers, and to change it to Co. A, 43rd Mississippi. If anyone out there would like to join my unit just let me know. All you need is a camel. I'm not fussy about whether it has one hump or two. Oh, yes, one more thing. We'll keep it at your house.

I am always amazed at how "creative" I can be when I don't waste my time "vegging-out" watching TV. I spend a lot of my time at home working on the I HATE COMPUTERS and the Battle of Olustee WWW Sites. Fortunately, I can catch up on my sleep at work.

Private Tom "Who said the Civil War wasn't fun?" Fasulo
Battle of Olustee Home Page
http://battleofolustee.org/
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