By Cammie Fulk
Each year the United States of America celebrates Memorial Day on the last Monday in May to honor all the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Let me introduce you to Sallie Ann Jarrett.
The year is 1861. The setting is West Chester Fairground in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The stars of this story are the men of the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, a pretty young girl, and a brindle pit bull terrier puppy. In preparation for conflict the 11th Pennsylvania boys practiced each morning at the fairground. For entertainment many of the townspeople would come out to watch them. One young lady became a favorite of the men. You see, she was quite lovely and came almost every day. Her name was Sallie Ann. On one particular day, one of the townspeople arrived with a basket. Inside the basket was a little, female Pit Bull puppy who was given to the regiment as a gift. You see, the love of dogs and the need for their companionship isn’t new to the twentieth century. Dog and man have supported one another for ages.
It was love at first sight. The men named her Sallie Ann Jarrett after their favorite visitor and their original commanding officer Colonel Phaon Jarrett. When the men were practicing, the pup would spin and play her way between them, but as she grew, she soon learned that her place was at the front with the commanding officer. She would practice her marching right at the front. When the 11th was called to action, Sallie went with them. Sallie was at the front with her family, the men of the 11th, at the battles of Second Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and others. When the 11th marched in front of President Lincoln in 1863, Sallie Ann Jarrett marched with her men, right at the front.
It’s reported that Sallie Ann gave birth to puppies. The puppies were sent back to Pennsylvania to families, but Sallie Ann stayed with the 11th on the battlefield.
At the Battle of Gettysburg, the 11th saw bloody action on the first day. When the regiment regrouped, they realized Sallie wasn’t with them. They feared she had fallen, like so many of her unit. After two more days of battle, when Lee’s army retreated the men of the 11th searched the battlefield looking for their fallen and Sallie Ann. They found her where the 11th had fought on the first day. When she got separated from her men, she returned to where they had fallen. The wounded men told how she would lie with first one soldier, then move to another to give comfort. Those who were close to death got her attention first, often dying with her snuggled into their side, providing comfort. When other Union soldiers had tried to approach her fallen friends, she had defended them ferociously.
Following Gettysburg, the 11th went on to fight, and Sallie Ann went with them. She was shot at the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse but recovered. But in February of 1865, Sallie Ann Jarrett was killed in battle. It is said that her men of the 11th buried her where she fell.
In 1890 a monument of a Union Infantry soldier standing on atop a pedestal was erected at Gettysburg to honor the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Veterans of the 11th demanded that Sallie Ann Jarrett be honored, too. And so, she was. On the front of the pedestal, facing the field and at the feet of her soldier lies a curled-up statue of a pit bull, Sallie Ann Jarrett.
Visitors to Gettysburg National Military Park often take pictures with Sallie and leave her treats, bones and even a blanket to keep her warm. If you visit the battlefield, be sure to go around to the front of this monument. Sallie Ann is watching over the field where her boys were fighting.
If you’d like to read more about Sallie Ann Jarrett the book The Eternal Soldier, The True Story of How a Dog Became a Civil War Hero by Allison Crotzer Kimmel is a children’s book telling her story.
Until Next Time…
Stay Paws-ative and enjoy your best friend!
Happy Tails to You!
Cammie
