I surrender, I surrender...and "Grant" you permission to rub my belly!!!
General Robert E. Lee had a great love for all animals. He was quite fond of his white cat, "Polar Bear," who would often land on Lee's chess board while in play, but didn't seem to bother him in the least! Do you remember my post last week when I played chess with Caesar? Let's look at that picture again before I tipped over the pieces and had to "defend" my catnip-filled strawberry:
Since then, Caesar has been hanging around and gloating, as you will see:
Seriously, in both the Union and Confederate camps, a lot of animals were used as mascots to relieve boredom between battles and for companionship. One such mascot was "Tom Cat", a large black cat that was adored by the Confederate men at Fort McAllister in Georgia. The fort's walls were made from earth, mud, and sod from the nearby Ogeechee River, which successfuly absorbed the cannonballs fired by the Union army. It was reported that Tom Cat would run back and forth along these walls during battle, dodging the musket fire and cannonballs that flew overhead. On March 3, 1863, the fort was under intensive fire for seven hours and a stray bullet struck Tom Cat and killed him. He was the only casualty that day and his loss was felt deeply by the men. The official report of his death was reported to General Beauregard, and Tom Cat was buried with full military honors. Isn't that an incredible story? Below you can see the walls where Tom Cat used to run back and forth, and below that is his plaque.
Rest in "peace," Tom Cat, from all the Blog Dog Dan bloggers
