matthew mckeon
Guest
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2005
Lee's beloved Traveler is well known, as well as "Tad" Lincoln's pet goat. But several well known Civil War leaders had often exotic pets.
Benjamin Butler owned a English bull dog named Bee-Bee, that was said to resemble the general closely. William Rosecrans owned an Irish setter named Clancy, with whom Rosecrans would sometimes carry on extended, if one sided conversations. Clara Barton owned pairs of cats, including two tabbies* she had trained to fetch her smaller first aid bag. Braxton Bragg had a pet reptile,that drank from a bowl of milk, commonly said to be a rattlesnake, but was probably a simple garter snake. Charles Sumner had a parakeet, and George McClellan had a parrot that squawked "reinforcements!" at least through the Maryland campaign, although the parrot's cry is generally considered to be a rumor made up by Edwin Stanton. Maybe the most unique was Stonewall Jackson's series of antfarms, which he studied with intense focus for hours, often muttering "perfect, perfect" to himself.
*Yum Yum and Ragamuffin("Rags")
Benjamin Butler owned a English bull dog named Bee-Bee, that was said to resemble the general closely. William Rosecrans owned an Irish setter named Clancy, with whom Rosecrans would sometimes carry on extended, if one sided conversations. Clara Barton owned pairs of cats, including two tabbies* she had trained to fetch her smaller first aid bag. Braxton Bragg had a pet reptile,that drank from a bowl of milk, commonly said to be a rattlesnake, but was probably a simple garter snake. Charles Sumner had a parakeet, and George McClellan had a parrot that squawked "reinforcements!" at least through the Maryland campaign, although the parrot's cry is generally considered to be a rumor made up by Edwin Stanton. Maybe the most unique was Stonewall Jackson's series of antfarms, which he studied with intense focus for hours, often muttering "perfect, perfect" to himself.
*Yum Yum and Ragamuffin("Rags")