Ami's SOA Dogs In Camp, Or Can You Spot The Dog?

A man holds a small dog in his arms while talking with a soldier outside Lovell General Hospital in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. (Here are details from the Library of Congress.)

1583766728410.png


1583767022117.png
 
Now this is a delightful thread! Thanks @LoyaltyOfDogs! I've always loved the story of Harvey (pardon me if it's already been shared).
Harvey was a Bull Terrier that traveled with the 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This regiment was nicknamed the "Barking Dog Regiment" because they had so many dogs attached. Harvey joined the unit in 1862 when his owner, Daniel M. Stearns of Wellsville, Ohio, joined the regiment. In November of 1862 Stearns was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and he proudly fitted Harvey with a special collar with a nameplate that read, “I am Lieutenant D.M. Stearn’s dog, whose dog are you?”


Was at the battle of franklin
in 1864
 
Now this is a delightful thread! Thanks @LoyaltyOfDogs!

. . . . . . . . Harvey joined the unit in 1862 when his owner, Daniel M. Stearns of Wellsville, Ohio, joined the regiment. In November of 1862 Stearns was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and he proudly fitted Harvey with a special collar with a nameplate that read, “I am Lieutenant D.M. Stearn’s dog, whose dog are you?”



Seems that Mr. Stearns was a well read man . . . . . . . . .

“I am his highness’s dog at Kew; / Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?” reads an epigram that Alexander Pope
wrote in the 1730s and had engraved on the collar of one of his puppies, whom he gave to Frederick, Prince of Wales."


Frederick was the heir to the throne, and came perilously close to having been King at the time of the War of Independence, had he not died after being struck by a cricket ball.

Way to go, Fred.

As it was, the succession passed to George III instead. That may not be such a bad thing if you take the long view, for this, inter alia, is what Fred's mother had to say about her offspring,

"Frederick’s mother once famously described him as ‘the greatest *** and the greatest liar and the greatest canaille and the greatest beast in the whole world’, adding ‘and I heartily wish he were out of it.' On another occasion, catching sight of the prince from a window, she said, ‘I wish the ground would open this moment and sink the monster to the lowest hole in hell.’ "

No member of the Royal Family attended Frederick's funeral - an anonymous contemporary epitaph had it thus,

‘Here lies Fred,’ ‘
Who was alive and is dead
... There’s no more to be said.’


Edit: Sorry about the asterisks which appeared automatically on posting - the verboten word in English usage means an equine animal, but in the American vernacular refers to buttocks.
 
Last edited:
View attachment 218617


Some of the dogs who accompanied soldiers in the Civil War are well-remembered today, thanks, in part, to their portraits. Dog Jack of the 102nd Pennsylvania Volunteers, who was the subject of several CDVs, for instance, or General Rufus Ingalls’s handsome Dalmatian, who appears in a series of photographs, are among the best-known.

Still others are remembered—though their own names may be lost to history—because of their association with a famous figure. Just as some high-ranking officers did, more than a few enlisted men chose to include dogs in their own portraits.

But many other dogs were also photographed during the Civil War with groups of soldiers in camp—or with sailors aboard ship. They appear in casual scenes of everyday life and also in formal portraits of companies or officers’ staff members. Some dogs are prominently posed front-and-center. More than a few sleep through the picture-taking, sometimes not quite showing their best sides to the camera. Others are content to be held quietly or to sit or lie unobtrusively in the background with their soldiers. Sometimes they’re accompanied by servants, children, nurses, family members or other individuals visiting the camp. A close look at details in a high-resolution image often reveals a dog hiding in plain sight in a landscape view or a dog whose soldier made a point of including him in the scene.

If not for these brief glimpses, these dogs might have entirely passed from history. This new thread can serve as a spot where we remember them and the other loyal dogs who accompanied soldiers in Blue or Gray. Below are a few pictures of these unsung canine companions. And, at the end of this post, are links to a few of the threads where photos of dogs in camp have previously been posted.

Dogs like this one joining an infantry regiment for dress parade showed their best soldierly bearing. (Does anyone know what this dog is carrying? A link to the high-resolution image is here.)

View attachment 218768



View attachment 218618


Other dogs, like this eager pup in the foreground, who no doubt smelled the fresh loaves of bread, readily display their doggish enthusiasm instead of holding still for the camera. He’s just one of three dogs in this portrait of a quartermaster’s unit at Petersburg.

View attachment 218619

View attachment 218621


Maybe this blurry dog was suddenly distracted by some delicious aroma wafting out of the commissary. Or did he think he heard someone calling him for dinner?

View attachment 218622

View attachment 218623

Did this dog’s soldiers choose not to wake him for their picture?

View attachment 218624


A terrier has a commanding view of the landscape from his perch atop a caisson.

View attachment 218625

View attachment 218626

An artilleryman holds tight to his lanky flop-eared pup.

View attachment 218627

View attachment 218628

Here, a dog takes a seat in the wagon beside one of the regiment’s aides.

View attachment 218629

View attachment 218630


A soldier of Co. K, 3rd Massachusetts Artillery, cradles two small terriers in his arms.

View attachment 218631

View attachment 218632


What other dogs have you spotted in camp scenes? Please share them here!

The following are a few of the threads where we CivilWarTalk members have shared our delight in seeing these all-but-forgotten companions to the soldiers.


This list is by no means complete, so please update this thread with other links as you find them. Thanks!

View attachment 218767

I love this post, and the whole thread it generated! Entertaining and informative! It also doesn‘t hurt that I love dogs!🙂
 
With the observance of Women’s History Month during March, I’ve been thinking about Civil War women’s interactions with the dogs who accompanied soldiers. CivilWarTalk members have already posted in this thread, or others, some of my favorite photographs of scenes that include women and army dogs. You can see them at the following links:

https://civilwartalk.com/posts/1762901/

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-real-camp-followers-officers

wives.121716/#lg=attachment92642&slide=0


I don’t believe that the photograph below, another favorite, has already been posted, so I’m sharing it here. The setting is the Army of the Potomac headquarters post office at Falmouth, Virginia. Like many other dogs in Civil War photos, this one is oblivious to the camera. His attention is completely focused on the woman. Maybe he was her dog. He seems to be looking to her for direction of some sort.

1584491351349.png


1584491453943.png


Her hand looks like she might have been pointing a moment ago. Seeing her wry smile, I can’t help wondering whether she had just tried unsuccessfully to get the dog to turn around and show his better side to the camera.
 
Seeing her wry smile, I can’t help wondering whether she had just tried unsuccessfully to get the dog to turn around and show his better side to the camera.


I think you're right! " Look, Bonzo, over there! Good dog! " And he looks at your finger. Too funny. The kids always did the same thing though. " Look, see that trail of dirty laundry laundry? Please pick it up. " And they'd look at your finger, too.
 
It looks like a photo of Custer. He looks younger in photo.
Yes, Custer and a pup who is likely one of the many dogs he was known to keep and travel with. A book came out a little while ago about Custer, his wife, and their dogs. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds fascinating. Apparently, the author recounts the effort to re-home Custer's dogs, after his death at Little Bighorn, as one of the first, if not the first, large-scale dog-rescue initiatives in the U.S.
 
Have read in different accounts Custer had 80 to 100 dogs at times. He loved all kinds.

My goodness. Did he have a pack of foxhounds ?

Whenever I visit Dog Rehoming Centres I wish I could take them all home. It's a little fantasy I have when I see their heartbreakingly hopeful faces.

I'm too old to consider taking on any more dogs now, and I am just hoping that I last long enough to look after my current two until the end of their natural lives.

But if I ever did have another, I would name him/her "Custer" - thanks to you !
 
The magazine I get, "The Kentucky Explorer" had article on Custer a couple years ago. I remember them writing about all his dogs. When he was in Kentucky he also bought horses. I guess he liked all kinds of animals. I will try to find article. I keep issues but when we moved I did get rid of older ones.
 
I don't think we've seen this dog of the 3rd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery yet. He's sitting just beneath the chair of the officer second from the left. The photograph, at the Library of Congress, is identified as "District of Columbia, Officers of Companies A and B, 3d Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, before quarters at Fort Totten."

1585073587428.png
 
Back
Top