- Joined
- Aug 25, 2013
- Location
- Hannover, Germany
In another thread I was joking about Robert E. Lee and his dog, a poodle - which was pure fantasy.
Now I looked around a bit and found out that Robert E. Lee indeed had a dog he liked a lot, but it was a terrier named Spec.
“Spec was a black-and-tan terrier. His mother was rescued by General (then Captain) Lee from a watery grave. While Captain Lee was stationed at Fort Hamilton, near New York City, he was one day crossing the Narrows towards Staten Island. He saw a small animal struggling feebly in the water and at once had his boat pulled alongside. When lifted from the water it proved to be a handsome little dog with cropped cars and a short tail. Evidently it had fallen or been thrown from a passing vessel. Captain Lee took her home where she was welcomed with delight by the children. She was named Dart, the name suggested, perhaps, by her skill in catching rats. Between her and the family cat, the rats which infested the house and stables were killed or driven away.
Spec was born at Fort Hamilton and became a great favorite with Captain Lee as well as with the children. The Captain would not allow his tail or ears to be cropped. Spec accompanied the family everywhere, even to church on Sunday. Inasmuch as the children gave more attention to Spec than to their devotions, it was decided that he had better be left at home; so the next Sunday he was penned in an upstairs room. But Spec found an open window—it was summer time—and after looking out wistfully for a while he decided to try a high jump. Notwithstanding the distance to the ground he landed without injury and joined the family just as they were entering the church. His persistence prevailed—after that he was not excluded from the sacred precincts. When his master returned from Mexico, after an absence of two or three years, Spec was the first to recognize him and was extravagant in his manifestations of delight.
A lady visitor one day remarked: “Everybody and everything—his family, his friends, his horse, and his dog—loves Colonel Lee.”
Spec would willingly have gone with his master to Mexico—or anywhere else. “'Tell him,” said Captain Lee, writing to Custis, “I wish he was here with me. He would have been of great service in telling me when I was coming upon the Mexicans. When I was reconnoitering around Vera Cruz, their dogs frequently told me by barking when I was approaching them too nearly.”
From: http://leearchive.wlu.edu/reference/books/wayland/13.html
Now I looked around a bit and found out that Robert E. Lee indeed had a dog he liked a lot, but it was a terrier named Spec.
“Spec was a black-and-tan terrier. His mother was rescued by General (then Captain) Lee from a watery grave. While Captain Lee was stationed at Fort Hamilton, near New York City, he was one day crossing the Narrows towards Staten Island. He saw a small animal struggling feebly in the water and at once had his boat pulled alongside. When lifted from the water it proved to be a handsome little dog with cropped cars and a short tail. Evidently it had fallen or been thrown from a passing vessel. Captain Lee took her home where she was welcomed with delight by the children. She was named Dart, the name suggested, perhaps, by her skill in catching rats. Between her and the family cat, the rats which infested the house and stables were killed or driven away.
Spec was born at Fort Hamilton and became a great favorite with Captain Lee as well as with the children. The Captain would not allow his tail or ears to be cropped. Spec accompanied the family everywhere, even to church on Sunday. Inasmuch as the children gave more attention to Spec than to their devotions, it was decided that he had better be left at home; so the next Sunday he was penned in an upstairs room. But Spec found an open window—it was summer time—and after looking out wistfully for a while he decided to try a high jump. Notwithstanding the distance to the ground he landed without injury and joined the family just as they were entering the church. His persistence prevailed—after that he was not excluded from the sacred precincts. When his master returned from Mexico, after an absence of two or three years, Spec was the first to recognize him and was extravagant in his manifestations of delight.
A lady visitor one day remarked: “Everybody and everything—his family, his friends, his horse, and his dog—loves Colonel Lee.”
Spec would willingly have gone with his master to Mexico—or anywhere else. “'Tell him,” said Captain Lee, writing to Custis, “I wish he was here with me. He would have been of great service in telling me when I was coming upon the Mexicans. When I was reconnoitering around Vera Cruz, their dogs frequently told me by barking when I was approaching them too nearly.”
From: http://leearchive.wlu.edu/reference/books/wayland/13.html