The Civil War was noted for many things including its troop mascots.  Mascots ranged from the sublime to the bizarre.  Many types of animals held the elite position of company mascot.  The animal mascots ranged from a camel to a chicken and every animal in between, even a bear.  Yes, a bear.  These animals enjoyed a charmed life as every man from trooper to general lavished them with affection and they rarely went hungry.  When these animals went to their "great reward" they were often buried with full military honors with the entire regiment turning out for the funeral.  The photo at right shows Capt. George Custer and his dog in 1862.  The loyalty of a faithful dog or the indifference of a chicken were rewarded equally as each man paid tribute to the favored animal.  Some mascots went into battle with the company while others stayed safely in the rear waiting the return of their owners.  Several companies became better known for their mascot than for their service record.  Although most mascots were dogs, some regiments had cats, a pig and even goats but the most famous mascots were of the feathered persuasion.  Companies on both the Union and Confederate sides used specific animals as emblems of the soldiers' loyalty and devotion to their cause.  The mascot had a way to bring about unity and identity and were a very effective way to raise morale.

The 3rd Tennessee Regiment (C.S.A.) had a gamecock named "Jake".  The bird was originally obtained with the thought of dinner on the men's minds but when he was placed in the coop with the other chickens he was such a fighter that his life was spared.  Soon the men found other gamecocks and Jake became a sort of prize fighter.  He entertained and made the men money by fighting rivals from other companies.  Fellow regiments got in on the action and Jake took on all comers.  His win-loss ratio is not known but he wasn't eaten so it must have been above average.  The spirited rooster was at the Siege of Fort Donelson and lived in the breastworks with the 3rd Tenn.  It was said that he would shriek at the incoming shells.  When the 3rd Tenn. was captured Jake accompanied his men to Camp Douglas Prison.  When the Confederate prisoners of war were marching into the prison, the Federal troops jeered at them to which Jake answered with a screech and the captured men followed his lead with a Rebel yell.  When the 3rd was mustered out, Jake went with them and was welcomed back with his men by most of Conersville, Tenn.  Jake died a short time later and was buried in a casket and given a well attended funeral.

Somehow the 43rd Mississippi Company A got a camel and they soon became known as the "Camel Regiment".  The beast was known as "Old Douglas".  He was obtained for the purpose of transporting the baggage of the officers' mess.  Douglas obediently carried his loads and usually did not get into trouble.  The camel could not be restrained on a picket line but he would not wander away.  He always grazed within sight of his company.  He quickly became friends with the other horses in his camp but outside horses were reluctant to meet him.  Old Douglas did spook the horses of a wagon train one time.  He blundered into the line of their march and caused a stampede which injured several men.  From that point on, the Camel was under orders to stop and stay out of camp.  Old Douglas was killed in action by a skirmisher during the Siege of Vicksburg.

The 9th Connecticut Infantry had a well trained pig that was called "Jeff Davis".  Jeff was taught to stand on his hind legs, hold a pipe and many other tricks.  He put on a good show during an inspection by the commanding general who was amused at his antics.

As you might expect dogs were the most popular mascots.  In the drawing (below right) Union Brigadier General Alexander Ashboth's dog "York" is depicted accompanying him into battle.  The dog stayed with him at the heels of his horse throughout the bloody struggle at Pea Ridge.

The common dog allowed the soldiers a way to express affection and tenderness under terrible circumstances so most were tolerated by the commanding officers.  Some dogs even learned how to please the officers.  The 5th Connecticut Infantry had a 15 lb. black and tan terrier.  This dog had a peculiar respect for the officers and could find who ever was in command wherever he went.  If the whole company was out, the dog kept close to the captain.  If only a platoon, he kept with the sergeant.  On dress parades, which he always attended, he left the company and went to the colonel and watched the parade pass.  Many dogs were killed in action; however, this dog stayed with the officers and survived the war.

The 7th Illinois Infantry color guard (photo at left) were as proud of their new Henry repeating rifles as they were of their mascot.  Some dogs were picked up along the way but a surprising number of the animals were brought from home by the soldiers.  Louis Pfieff joined the 3rd Illinois Infantry and brought his dog along.  Pfieff was killed at Shiloh.  His wife went to retrieve his body but she was unable to locate him.  She found the dog and it is said that he led her to a distant single grave where he had been keeping vigil for 12 days since his master's death, only leaving to find food.

The 35th Ohio Infantry had several dogs and the 34th Massachusetts Infantry had an "army of dogs".  Some of the 34th's dogs were no more than wild animals always staying out of camp until dark and then sneaking in to the cook house when no one was near.  Others became tame and would regularly fall in with the company.  Infantry men had mixed feelings about the dogs when they would howl at every bugle call.  Some dogs went into the thick of battle growling and barking ferociously.  One of these battle dogs thought it great sport to chase half-spent cannon shot.  His hobby led to his being wounded three times and he left most of his tail in Tennessee at the Battle of Stones River.

The 2nd Kentucky Infantry (C.S.A.) had a mascot named "Frank".  Frank the dog always accompanied his men into battle carrying his own small haversack around his neck with his own rations.  When his company was captured Frank was incarcerated along with them at Fort Donelson in Tennessee.  He spent six months in prison and when they were exchanged so was he.  He stayed with the 2nd for two more years and then he came up missing and was presumed killed in action.

"Stonewall Jackson" was a dog owned by the Richmond Howitzer Battalion.  He was a very smart dog and would line up for roll call clenching a pipe in his teeth.  The men taught him many tricks and soon he became so popular that he was the subject of several kidnapping attempts.  One of these plots was successful and in the end he was kidnapped and never found again.

Pictured here on the right is "Sallie" of the 11th Pennsylvania.  While serving in the Union Army, Sallie was wounded once and later separated from her regiment.  She did find her way back to her men only to be killed on the battlefield with a bullet wound to her head.  The men of the 11th Pennsylvania had Sallie's likeness placed on their regimental monument.

A large dog called "Tony" who was a beautiful Newfoundland lovingly cared for by the Chicago Light Artillery Battery A.  He was called the "battery dog".  Tony was a dog of action and gave no thought to the bullets zipping all around him.  He was on the battlefield at South Mountain and then wounded at Fort Donelson.  He saw action again at Shiloh.  He never got separated from his men so when he came up missing at Antietam the worst was feared.  Unfortunately, he was killed and found beside the body of W. J. Pollock, Co H., 20th New York Infantry.

In 1860, a Chippewa Indian called Chief Sky captured a young bald eagle.  The eagle had been named Me-kee-zeen-ce by the Indians. They were able to tame the eagle and later a farmer named Daniel McCann traded a bushel of corn for the bird.  S. M. Jeffers knew that the regiment initially known as the Eau Claire Badgers (At Eau Claire, Wisconsin) wanted a mascot.  Jeffers purchased the eagle from the farmer for $2.50 and presented it to the Eau Claire Volunteers as "the Chippewa recruit".  The eagle's name was changed to Old Abe in honor of the president.  Old Abe of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (later known as the "Eagle Regiment") was undoubtedly the most recognized and famous mascot of all.  Old Abe served as a reminder to the principles for which the men fought.  He accompanied the men into battle tethered to a long wooden pole that was proudly carried by the "eagle bearers".  Old Abe was so accustomed to living with the soldiers that caretaker, Pvt. James McGinnus, often turned it loose to fly above the men as they drilled or marched.  He was also allowed to walk around camp and he could be found in tents stealing food or sometimes pilfering an officer's prized chicken.  It is said that he even got into bottles of brandy now and again.  Lt. Burnett Demorest who also oversaw the eagle claimed that his favorite food was freshly killed rabbit.

Old Abe was well known by the Confederates who referred to the eagle as that "Yankee buzzard".  The eagle, according to regimental histories, would "any time he wished to watch the action from aloft, Old Abe would soar above the conflict just out of musket range".  His battle record was incredible.  He was present at 36 battles.  Old Abe made it through the war without ever losing a single feather and never spent a day on the sick list.

When the hostilities ended, he became Wisconsin's special ambassador at national events and fundraisers.  On June 22, 1864, he attended a reception and was welcomed by the state's secretary, Gen. Lucius Gairchild.  The spectators cheered and Old Abe, still quite the showman, stretched out his wings and puffed himself up to bask in the glory of his recognition.  Old Abe was then presented to the governor.  Old Abe was a tough old bird and lived to the age of 44.  Age did not do the bird in, the capitol building where he lived caught fire and burned, he was trapped inside.  He was soon rescued but had inhaled too much smoke and died in the arms of his keeper on February 27, 1904.  He was photographed, sculpted and overall immortalized in life.  After he died, he was stuffed by a taxidermist.

When the Federal army won the day at West Liberty, Kentucky, on October 23, 1861, their after action report included this list of the captured men and items "34 prisoners, 52 horses, 10 mules", and "one large bear".  The 12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment had a bear that was said to have weighed over 300 pounds.  Not to be outdone by the others, the Minnesota brigade also had a young bear that they claimed had "smelt powder" in twelve engagements and returned home unharmed.  And one Confederate drummer owned a squirrel who would dance to the beat of his master's drum.

In my research of this topic, the state of Wisconsin, and the Federal army overall, seems to have had the most mascots with its men in the field.  Several Federal regiments took badgers to war while another had a pet raccoon.  A Confederate unit from Arkansas had a wild cat and a Louisiana regiment took a pelican to war.  J.E.B. Stuart's First Virginia Cavalry had what was described as an enormous raccoon with a poor attitude tied tightly to the wheel of a captured gun.  At the Mule Shoe, Spotsylvania, one Federal company took a liking to an ox that had followed them for several days.  It was planned that he would be their mascot but this idea was not relayed to the company cook who killed, butchered and cooked the ox.  The men were not happy.

Confederate Brig.Gen. T.R.R. Cobb had a pet rooster who would crow on command.  Pvt. Tinker of the 42nd New York captured a pigeon at Kalorama Heights, Virginia.  The pigeon followed his men into every battle from Poolesville through the Wilderness and was even at Antietam and Harpers Ferry.  Gen. Lee's pet was a barnyard hen who laid him an egg for breakfast every morning during his invasion of Pennsylvania.  Her nest was under his cot.  The men of the Richmond Howitzers in addition to their dog, had a very big black crow.  The men had grown to love the crow so much that when it died it was given a somber military funeral including a salute from the guns of the honor guard.

References:
Echoes Of Glory
Touched By Fire
Time Life Books
Library Of Congress
Various internet sources
Lords Civil War Encyclopedia
Fighting Men Of The Civil War
U.S. Army Military History Institute
Civil War Curiosities Books One and Two