Remembering Sallie, the Intrepid Pup of Gettysburg

Someone went to the trouble of placing real dog biscuits on the memorial for the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and its beloved mascot Sallie Ann Jarrett, the only dog to have seen combat at Gettysburg.

Named after the regiment’s commanding officer (Col. Phaon Jarrett) and a local woman named Sallie Ann, the little terrier attended roll call each morning and bravely accompanied Union soldiers in battle. She also stood guard over the dead and wounded soldiers. When a fatal bullet found Sallie in 1865 during the Union advance at the Battle of Hatcher’s Run in Virginia, several soldiers immediately dropped their weapons during intense enemy fire to bury their canine companion where she fell.

When the last surviving veterans of the regiment posed for a group photo at the monument in 1910, they spaced themselves out to ensure Sallie would be included.

Proof you don’t have to be human to be a great leader.