As we approach Independence Day, we wanted to offer a few historical tales of dogs from the American Revolution. Below are a few examples provided by the Jamestown Settlement & American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. Check out their full article HERE.
George Washington:
Canine Naming Connoisseur & Gentleman Combatant
Washington was a lifelong dog lover and owned numerous dogs of many breeds. He gave them very interesting names such as Captain, Duchess, Drunkard, Juno, Jupiter, Pilot, Rover, Searcher, Sweet Lips, Truelove, Tippler, Taster and Vulcan. An avid foxhunter, Washington built kennels at Mount Vernon and worked to create a new American breed of foxhound, one that would be taller and faster than its English cousins.
Washington’s fondness for dogs, as well as his keen sense of gentlemanly honor, was evident after the battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania, in October 1777. During the confusion of the fighting, British General William Howe’s dog, Lila, ended up with the Continental Army. Identifying its owner from a tag on the collar, Washington returned Lila to General Howe under a flag of truce “with his compliments.”
British Barkers
Numerous advertisements taken out in the loyalist press in New York City during its occupation suggest that many lower-level British officers (or units) also kept dogs of various breeds as companions or as guard animals...
In 1777, the Sergeant Major of the 6th Regiment promised a significant reward of ten shillings for information on this elderly dog. Lord Cornwallis is said to have owned two Great Danes named (appropriately enough for a General) Mars and Jupiter. Banastre Tarleton and his British Legionnaires apparently enjoyed fox hunting, since in 1778 he requisitioned a barrel of oatmeal “for the Fox Hounds.”
Continental Canines
Numerous officers in the Continental Army also were attached to their canine companions – perhaps none more so than the bizarre General Charles Lee, an eccentric, British-born officer who at one time was second in command to Washington. Lee was notorious for his “strange passion for dogs,” who accompanied him wherever he went – even on the battlefield. One of his favorites was a Pomeranian named Spado or Spada.
In 1775 Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John, that at a dinner party Lee insisted she shake hands with “Mr. Spada,” who was seated in a chair! Abigail was very fond of her own dog Juno, writing to her granddaughter, “If you love me … you must love my dog.”
Baron von Steuben was accompanied throughout the Revolution by his beloved and much indulged Italian Greyhound, Azur, a large dog with an enormous appetite. The Marquis de Lafayette is credited with introducing Basset Hounds to America when he presented a pair to George Washington. It seems that dogs begin to show up everywhere – but references to “Revolutionary” cats are very rare!
