B
BEFORE HE WAS KIDNAPPED, Stonewall Jackson — the dog, that
is, and Richmond (Va.) Howitzer Battalion mascot — would stand
with a pipe between his teeth during roll call each morning.
Animals have accompanied ser- of a mascot knows no rank, no social in France in 1415. Refl ecting on the
vicemembers to war for centuries, class, and no race. Battle of Marengo in Italy in 1800,
fi rst as a logistical necessity and Napoleon reportedly wrote, “I walked
later as a diversion, companion, and From pet to mascot over the battlefi eld and saw a poodle
source of pride. Animals were — Accounts of personal pets — most killed bestowing a last lick upon his
and still are — a reminder of home notably dogs — going off to war with dear friend’s face. Never had anything
and a sense of normalcy in the their masters date to antiquity. There on any of my battlefi elds caused me a
chaos of war. is one story of a dog fi ghting and like emotion.”
The history of the military mascot dying by his master at the Battle of However, animals on the battle-
does not just belong to common pets Marathon in Greece. Legend has it a fi eld moved from personal pets to
like dogs and cats but also to goats, wounded Sir Piers Legh was guarded unit mascots in the 18th century.
mules, birds, bears, deer, foxes, mon- by his mastiff through the Battle of One of the earliest regimental mas-
keys, pigs, and myriad others. The love Agincourt in the Hundred Years War cots was a goat belonging to the
6 0 M I L I T A R Y O F F I C E R A P R I L 2 0 0 9 PHOTOS: WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY; PREVIOUS SPREAD, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
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