Did cats serve in the Confederate Artillery?

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Forum Host
Joined
Aug 25, 2012
It appears that the man power shortage force the Confederacy to lower it's recruiting standards to include cats. I am willing to listen to alternative views of this image.

art cat.jpg
 
It appears that the man power shortage force the Confederacy to lower it's recruiting standards to include cats. I am willing to listen to alternative views of this image.

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That's great, @major bill! What museum has this display? I've heard of library cats but not museum cats. Or is that a display figure and not a real cat?
 
Some CS arty were enduring a heavy bombardment at Resaca. They were all hunkered down in their holes, while a poor cat was crying with fright somewhere out there. Eventually one of them said, "Oh, I'll go get 'er!" He and the cat survived, and they named her Resaca. She stayed with them for the duration, riding on the caisson.
 
I believe the cat probably did "serve" in the sense that it gave them something to care for. We've all seen the pictures of our military during different war deployments, with a puppy or kitten riding shotgun in their shirt or pants pocket. I think it's beneficial and therapeutic for them, because so much of their time is spent engaging the enemy and possibly having to take a life. Amongst all the death and uncertainty that surrounds them, they have a small life that depends on them back in their barracks. That pet reminds them of their humanity. So yeah it probably was a moral mascot, as well as a rat executioner.
 
One of my sergeant killed the 6 foot long pit viper that lived under the boards at the entry of my tent. I was understandably upset at the death of my pit viper and let the sergeant know of my ire. He tried to replace the pit viper with a a half grown cobra in a jar. I very indignantly told the sergeant that an officer and gentleman would not share his tent with a lowly cobra and ordered him to let the vile cobra go. I do not believe a pet cobra would have reminded me of my humanity. I would have had to provide mice to the cobra and I had better things to do than catch mice to feed a cobra. Also the dead pit viper had kept the mice and rats away from my tent, after his demise I start to get mice in my tent. I would much rather share my tent with a pit viper than with mice and rats.
 
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