TIP AND MAJOR: CIVIL WAR DOGS

Tip and Major were two dogs who belonged to a regiment called the 79th New York Cameron Highlanders.  This group was organized in 1858, and it had mostly Scottish and Irish immigrants in it.  At first, it was more of a social club than a military unit.  The St. Andrews and Caledonian Societies of New York, plus wealthy people such as Samuel M. Elliot and James Cameron provided the money for the group.  They named themselves after the 79th Cameron Highlanders of Scotland, and they also used the Erracht tartan used by that group, but they didn't have any connection beyond that to the 79th of the British Army.

When the Civil War started, the Highlanders were mustered into active duty, but first they had to recruit some more members, since they didn't have enough.  They soon started fighting in a bunch of battles, and by the end of the war, they had fought at First Bull Run, Secessionville, Manasas, South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg.

Tip and some of the Highlanders in camp.
Photo from Civil War Dogs and the Men Who Loved Them

Everybody in the regiment knew Tip, who was a medium-sized, scruffy-looking dog.  Or at least that's how he looks in the picture.  Tip was born in Beaufort, South Carolina.  I don't know how he ended up with some Union soldiers from New York, but he stayed with the Highlanders for the whole three years of their service.  He probably got his name because the tip of his tail was missing, but there was one report that he was missing part of a hind leg.

Tip was friendly to all the men in the 79th, but his special human was William Samo, of the drum corps.  Tip was very helpful to the soldiers because he liked to go out foraging, and he often came back with pigs, sheep, and chickens.  Whenever the Highlanders did a dress parade, Tip marched right along with the band and drum corps.

Some men from the 79th in dress uniform

Another dog that was with the 79th was Major.  Sometimes when a soldier was calling to Major, one of the human majors thought he was the one being called.  The Highlanders were afraid that Major might get lost, so they identified him as a member of the drum corps by painting a drum on one side of him, and "D C 79" on the other.

Cameron of Erracht Tartan

On September 2, 1863, Union troops captured the city of Knoxville.  In order to defend the city, the Highlanders regiment took over an earthworks fort that they called Fort Sanders.  The Confederates had called it Fort Loudon.  This fort was at the top of a hill, and there was a ditch in front to help protect it.  The ditch was about 12 feet wide and 8 feet deep.

General Longstreet, who was in charge of the rebel army, decided to make a surprise attack on the Union position.  So during the night of November 28th, he moved his troops up to about 150 yards from the Fort Sanders.  The rebels tried to be very sneaky about this, but the Highlanders found out what was going on anyway.  One of the men went out to walk a dog -- maybe William Samo and Tip -- where they knew Longstreet's men could see them.  The man and dog crossed the ditch on a plank, so that made the Confederates think there wasn't any ditch around the fort.

The Highlanders' General Stevens and his command staff

When they attacked in the morning, the rebels found out all about the ditch when they tried to cross it.  First they had to get through a whole bunch of telegraph wire that the men of the 79th had strung up there.  After that, the Union troops had to cross the ditch, which they had lots of trouble doing because there was ice and sleet in it, so it was really slippery.  While the men were in the ditch, the Highlanders started lighting fuses on shells and throwing them down there.

A few of the rebels managed to climb up to the fort, but in the end, they had to retreat.  Of course, this made the Highlanders very happy.  They only had 20 people killed and 80 wounded.  The rebels lost 813 troops who were killed, wounded, and missing.

Monument in Knoxville dedicated to the 79th NY Infantry
Photo by Brian Stansberry

On May 13, 1864, the original group of Highlanders mustered out because their enlistment was up.  There was a Grand Review in Washington on May 23, 1865, and the regiment took part in that.  Then they went back to being a state militia again.  During the war, the 79th had a total of 298 killed and 304 wounded or missing, out of an original enrollment of 2,200.

Some members of the 79th Highlanders 

I didn't see any information about what happened to Tip and Major, but they seem to have survived the war.  I like to think they lived out the rest of their lives sleeping in the sun on some nice farm someplace, because that's what all retired war dogs should do!

SOME VERY FINE QUOTES

When you feel lousy, puppy therapy is indicated.
    --Sara Paretsky

Money will buy a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail.
    --Josh Billings



When a man's best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem.
    --Edward Abbey



When a man wantonly destroys one of the works of man we call him a vandal.  When he destroys one of the works of god we call him a sportsman.
    --Joseph Wood Krutch



I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls.  They always say because it's such a beautiful animal.  There you go.  I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her.
    --Ellen DeGeneres









There are things you get from the silent devoted companionship of a dog
that you can get from no other source.
    --Doris Day

Photo:  Hemera/Thinkstock

In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi-human.  The point of it is  to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.
    --Edward Hoagland



A dog will teach you unconditional love.  If you can have that in your life, things won't be too bad.
    --Robert Wagner



A dog is a dog except when he is facing you.  Then he is Mr. Dog.
    --A Haitian Farmer

Photo:  David Gannon/AFP/Getty

The dog represents all that is best in man.
    --Etienne Charlet

CERBERUS

There's a dog in Greek mythology that is very famous, and his name is Cerberus.  This dog was owned by Hades, the God of the Underworld, and he was pretty much like any other pet dog except for three things:

1.  He had a very special job to do as the Guard Dog of the Underworld.  
2.  He was extremely fierce and aggressive.
3.  He had at least three heads.

Hades and his faithful dog, Cerberus.
The Romans called Hades "Pluto."

The name Cerberus, or Kerberos, comes from the Greek word Κέρβερος and it can be translated "hellhound" or "demon of the pit."  The most usual description of Cerberus was that he had three heads, a serpent's tail, a mane of snakes, and a lion's claws.  A few writers said that Cerberus had 50 or even 100 heads, but these writers might have been counting the heads of all the snakes.

Cerberus had a very important job that he did for Hades, which was that he guarded the gate to the Underworld.  The ancient Greeks believed that when you died, that's where you went, and to get there, you crossed the River Styx.  But only dead people were allowed to go in, and once they got in there, they were not allowed to leave.  It was Cerberus' job to make sure that none of the wrong kind of people got in or out.

Everybody went to the kingdom of Hades when they died, and then it was decided if they would be punished forever or not.  The way this decision was made was by whether people had been good or bad during their lives.

Hades and his wife, Persephone, hanging out at home with their dog

In most stories, one of the heads of Cerberus looks to the past, another one to the present, and the third one to the future.  But a few writers have said that the three heads represent birth, youth, and old age.  


The mother of Cerberus was Echidna, who was half-woman and half-serpent.  And his father was a fire-breathing giant named Typhon.  Even the Greek Gods were afraid of Typhon.  Cerberus had two siblings, and one of them was Hydra, a creature with lots of serpent heads.  The other one was Chimera, a beast with the head of a lion.

Cerberus as a puppy

Now I am going to tell you about the Twelfth Labor of Heracles.  The Romans called him Hercules, so you might have heard that name more often.  But Heracles and Hercules are one and the same guy, and he was what is called a demigod.  Which means one of his parents was a god, and the other was a regular mortal.  In the case of Heracles, his father was Zeus, the King of the Gods.

Anyway, Zeus's wife, Hera, didn't like Heracles much, so there was this little incident where she drove him insane and caused him to kill his own children and maybe his wife, too.  Later on, he tried to make up for doing this horrible thing, and so King Eurystheus assigned Heracles twelve "labors" which were tasks that would have killed any ordinary person.  But Heracles was extra-strong on account of being a demigod.

The last of the labors was to capture Cerberus without using any weapons.  This was supposedly the hardest of all the labors, and the king did not think Heracles would come back alive.  But Heracles was very clever, and he found someone to show him a way to sneak into the Underworld.  Once he got there, he ran into all kinds of monsters, ghosts, and heroes.  And he had to wrestle somebody, but I don't know all the details.

Anyway, finally he found Hades, and he asked the god's permission to take Cerberus out of the Underworld.  Hades said it was okay for Heracles to do that if he could subdue the beast by using only his own strength.  Heracles roamed around the Underworld some more until he found Cerberus.  Then he grabbed him and held on really tight, even though the three-headed dog fought Heracles and bit him.  But in the end, Heracles was stronger, so Cerberus had to give in.  This might have been the case of someone using the "alpha roll" technique on a dog, but I'm not sure.  

Then Heracles led Cerberus to King Eurystheus, and the king was so scared when he saw Cerberus that he had to hide in a pithos, which is like a huge clay pot for storing stuff in.  The king told Heracles that if he would take Cerberus back to the Underworld, he would be released from his labors.  So Heracles took Cerberus back, and he didn't even kill him, which was a better deal than most of the monsters got that Heracles fought with.

An Etruscan vase from the 6th century B.C., Musée du Louvre
At the left side, you can see King Eurystheus in the pithos.

Besides Heracles, only two other living people managed to sneak past Cerberus into the Underworld.  One was Orpheus, who charmed him with music.  And the other was Aeneas, who got in after Sibyl of Cumae gave Cerberus some cake soaked in drugged wine.

Artwork by Ilias Sounas

So that is the story of the three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was mostly a very faithful Guard Dog of the Underworld, except when he got tricked a few times.  I think that Hades must have been proud to have a dog who was so loyal and did his job so well.

Now I will end this blog entry by sharing a funny definition of Cerberus written by Ambrose Bierce in The Devil's Dictionary:

CERBERUS, n. The watch-dog of Hades, whose duty it was to guard the entrance -- against whom or what does not clearly appear; everybody, sooner or later, had to go there, and nobody wanted to carry off the entrance. Cerberus is known to have had three heads, and some of the poets have credited him with as many as a hundred. Professor Graybill, whose clerky erudition and profound knowledge of Greek give his opinion great weight, has averaged all the estimates, and makes the number twenty-seven -- a judgment that would be entirely conclusive if Professor Graybill had known (a) something about dogs, and (b) something about arithmetic. 

Prom Hairstyles for Long Hair 2013

For high school students, a prom night becomes one of the most important events in their high school life because it is the night where female students turn into young adult women while male students turn into young adult men. Since the night is very important for both girls and boys, they certainly want to look gorgeous during the night. For this purpose, girls usually choose the best prom dresses. They usually go shopping some days prior in order to find the most suitable clothes.

As a matter of fact, in order to have a perfect performance for the prom night, the girls will also need to do their hair. Stunning dress and fine make up will be useless if they do not do their hair perfectly and appropriately. In order to have a perfect hair style, they should consider the length of their hair. If they have long hair, they should consider choosing Prom hairstyles for long hair. They should also match their hair do with the color and model of their prom dress because unsuitable hair style will ruin the whole performance.

Fortunately, many hairstylists have invented their time, energy, and money to create perfect hair dos for girls who want to go to a prom night. This condition is certainly advantageous for girls who are unable to find the right hair style for them. In conclusion, a perfect hairstyle will make all girls look gorgeous in their prom night. Therefore, if you are girls who are going to have a prom night soon, you had better consider fining the right hair style.

Long Scene Hairstyles 2013

There are many different types of scene hairstyles out there. Some of the most common scene hairstyles will be those that are longer. I have noticed that girls tend to get their hair longer then guys do. Guys will usually leave it longer in the front but cut it short in the back. Usually gel or serum is used to make it look really messy as well.

If you are going to take the route of having longer hair, you are going to have to take a little but more care of it. This is one of the biggest problems of having longer hair. It takes more work to take care of and do it up every day but it will usually result in a better looking cut as a result.

You are more than likely going to want to trim your ends on a weekly basis. Remember, with this hairstyle you want to make it looks choppy and razor cut it. In order to do this you need to trim your ends often. Try to get it layered and dye it many different colors.

Another thing you are going to have to do is wash your hair every day. It is very important that you keep your hair as clean as possible. Getting that left over junk out of your hair can be tough so make sure you scrub your hair hard!

The last thing that you need to do is keep your color in strong. This is probably the most important step of this little mini guide. The thing that makes this hair so cool is the color that you can get from it. Dye your hair as soon as it fads so that it stay in well and looks the best that it really can.

Hopefully this article has given you so ideas on how to style your hair. If you are still interested, you can visit my blog which will show you a few more long scene hairstyles.

Emo And Scene Hairstyles for Women

Emo hairstyles are a new style of trend that is becoming very popular amongst today’s youth and younger generation. It is a style of haircut that is unique but popular all at the same time. More and more kids are starting to get emo and scene style haircuts nowadays.

The difference between the two types of styles is that emo haircuts tend to be darker. The emo trend is supposed to represent emotion and black and darker colors represent these types of emotions. If this is right for you, try getting this style of haircut.

The scene style of haircut is similar to the emo style but it has a few differences. The number one main different with scene is that it is much more colorful and changing. This style of haircut is meant to be bold and standout a lot. People will usually use bright pinks and other similar colors.

Nowadays a lot of people tend to mix the two trends together and you will see a mixture of these styles around. Kids will even use the terms together and count them as the same thing.

These new styles of haircuts are popular for both girls and boys. If you think that you need a new style change then you may enjoy getting a new haircut. A nice new haircut can boost your confidence and self-esteem. It might just be that nice thing you are looking for in your life.

If you are thinking about getting these styles of haircuts then go to a professional and get them to do it for you. After that you are ready to dye your hair and get creative with your new look.

If you need some suggestions on what style of scene hair or emo hair to get, visit my website for some ideas.

Chick Hairstyles for Short Hairstyles 2013

Short hair is by far the easiest to maintain but there are fewer styles to choose from when compared to long hairstyles. But all is not lost as how you have it cut, blown dry, curled, or straightened, can make a world of difference to the way you look. If you are fortunate enough to have a patient hairdresser who is also game to trying out something new each time, you can be sure that heads will turn every time you give yourself a hair makeover.

Using a straightener or a curling iron innovatively can result in a hairstyle that will be the envy of even celebrities. Like for example the really chic straight hair that breaks into large lovely curls just below eye level that frame your face. Or you could part your hair to one side and layer the top portion of your hair that should be given a professional 'messy' cut to suggest a carefree demeanour that also means business.

Then there is the fringe with waves to die for resting just over the eyebrows, or a side fringe running into a mass of short wavy curls just about resting on the shoulders. A short layered cut at chin level with the ends blown dry to turn outwards would give you a very chic and professional look. If you want to go in for a breezy look, try the really short haircut with thick tight curls all over the head.

You could go for a shoulder length hair cut with neat layers, and emphasize the layers by alternating between brushing inwards and outwards while blow drying. Or keep it really short with a centre parting, and very straight before dissolving into a riot of soft curls and spiral waves. This hairstyle looks great with the right highlights. For blonde hair, use burgundy highlights, and on light brown hair, blonde highlights.

The highlights look great on short hair cut in spikes too. This will definitely make you look very adventurous and doesn't require much maintenance. You could always take the really brave step of going for a buzz cut and still carry it off well with the right clothes and accessories. There is really nothing you cannot do with short hair if you set your mind to it.

The best hairstyles do not come from blindly copying from a celebrity but rather something that will also reflect the shape of your face, your skin tone and colour, your personality, your attitude to life, the clothes you wear, and even the type of work you do. If your job is in the corporate sector, you may not be able to play around with your hair as much as you could if you were in the entertainment sector.

But if you do a bit of research and discuss your options with your hairdresser, you will soon find out what will suit you the best. In any case, don't hesitate to try out something new as you just might find a new gorgeous hairstyle. Let your imagination fly!