In addition to four-legged pets, officers and men
sometimes took a special fancy to feathered creatures.
Men belonging to a unit commanded by Confederate
Brig. General Cobb claimed to have taught a rooster to crow when given a
signal. At Fredericksburg, reported the Savannah Republic, every time Federals launched an advance the rooster
responded to prompting. As a result, “just before our sharp-shooters opened
upon them, the rooster’s clear, shrill clarion rang out on the sulphurous air.
This strange defiance, while it cheered and amused out boys, fell with a
depressing effect upon the ears of the enemy.”
