Just because you’re trying to blast your enemy’s guts all over the battlefield doesn’t mean you can’t be polite about it. During the American Revolutionary War, Washington’s troops launched a surprise attack on the British. In the chaos of battle, the British general’s dog Lila crossed the battlelines and ended up in General Washington’s care. So, he sent the dog back along with a polite note.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: October 6, 1777--
It was the Battle of Germantown, which was a significant military engagement of the war. It began on October 4, 1777, and was a surprise attack of General Washington’s Continental Army on the poorly defended camp of British General Howe as part of the Philadelphia campaign. And despite having the element of surprise and superior numbers, things did not go so well for George.
The British counterattacked and drove the Americans back, inflicting twice as many casualties on the Americans as they suffered, and also took almost 500 of Washington’s soldiers as prisoners. It was Washington’s second defeat in a month and people were starting to say this guy kinda sucks maybe he shouldn’t be leading us and definitely not be our first president one day. Others were saying hey he’s trying and despite getting our asses kicked the Continental Army isstarting to act like a disciplined force under his leadership. It was early in the war, and the rebels were still figuring out how to fight the highly professional and disciplined British forces.
But what about the dog? As the Americans retreated, Howe’s dog Lila, a fox terrier, decided to follow the Americans rather than stay with the British forces. She eventually ended up in the care of General Washington, identified by a collar that had Howe’s name on it. Washington dictated a nice note saying thanks for kicking our asses here’s your fucking dog back, transcribed by his aid Alexander Hamilton. That’s the same Hamilton who died in a famous duel and centuries later a guy made a musical about it and I tried to get into it but God it was un-fucking-watchable. Anyway, the note along with Lila were sent back to General Howe on October 6, 1777.
Some later said oh that Washington was such a kind and honorable man to ensure that poor puppy was returned to her master. Yeah that’s probably bullshit. More likely is that he saw it as an opportunity to send a spy under a white flag to return the dog then report back on enemy positions.
Although who knows? Washington was an avid fox hunter known to be very fond of dogs, often inspecting the kennels to visit with his hounds. He also had three dogs as personal pets, named Sweet Lips, Venus, and True Love. I don’t know if those dog names are an 18th century thing or if George was just fucking weird.
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