On October 6, 1777, two days after the Battle of Germantown, General George Washington sent an unusual message to his British adversary, General Sir William Howe. A dog that had strayed into American hands was found wearing a collar that appeared to identify Howe as its owner.
Washington chose to return the animal. The surviving draft of the note—written in the hand of his aide-de-camp, Alexander Hamilton—reads: “General Washington’s compliments to General Howe. He does himself the pleasure to return him a dog, which accidentally fell into his hands, and by the inscription on the Collar appears to belong to General Howe.”
The document does not identify the dog’s breed or name, although later accounts commonly describe it as a terrier. Nor does Washington’s note explain precisely how the dog was returned. What is clear is that, amid a difficult campaign and shortly after a bloody battle, Washington made a point of returning an enemy commander’s pet rather than retaining it as a curiosity or trophy.
The incident has endured because of its sharp contrast with the violence surrounding it. It illustrates the importance eighteenth-century military leaders often placed on personal honor, reciprocal civility, and the conventions of war. Washington’s brief note did not soften the conflict between the British and Continental armies, but it offered a memorable expression of restraint and courtesy in the midst of a brutal war for independence.
