Brave Sallie

Long before monuments and history books, a small brindle dog named Sallie marched straight into Civil War battle and refused to leave her soldiers.

Among the most relentless combatants of the Civil War was a brindle Staffordshire terrier named Sallie. As the mascot of the Union Army’s 11th Pennsylvania Infantry, she saw action throughout almost the entire war. Sallie accompanied Union soldiers into fierce combat at Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and other battles. She marched on the front lines, barking ferociously at Confederate soldiers.

On the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, after the 11th Pennsylvania took heavy casualties and retreated to Cemetery Hill, Sallie became separated from her regiment. The men believed she had been killed. Days later, she was found on Oak Ridge, still guarding the dead and wounded.

Sallie was shot in the neck at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. She survived, with the bullet eventually working its way out months later. But at the Battle of Sailor’s Creek in April 1865, Sallie was shot again. This time, her luck had run out. Despite heavy fire, her soldiers took the time to bury their beloved mascot.

In 1890, veterans honored her loyalty by placing a bronze statue of Sallie at the base of their monument at Gettysburg National Military Park. This statue is actually one of only two dogs represented in monuments at Gettysburg, and the only one that truly fought in the battle.

Just as those soldiers recognized Sallie as a true member of their unit and cared deeply for her, Paws of War treats the animals our service members bond with overseas with the same respect, compassion, and commitment. When a soldier forms that bond in the middle of deployment, we believe those animals deserve the chance at safety and a future just as much as Sallie did.

Because we strive to leave no animal behind.