While the Forty-second New York Regiment was
encamped at Kalorama Heights, Virginia, Private Tinker captured a pigeon and
made a pet of it. According to the Rebellion Record, the pigeon regularly
followed when men of the Tammany regiment moved to another position.
“Occasionally flying away at a great distance, it always returned and when
weary, would alight on some wagon of the train.
Tinker’s pet reportedly went to Poolesville,
Washington, Fort Monroe, and Yorktown. Staying with the regiment throughout the
bloody days of the Wilderness, the pigeon is also credited with having been at
Antietam and Harpers Ferry.
