The Civil War Naval and Marine Forum recently had an article on the fate of the USS Monitor's ship's cat. It was taken from an account by Francis B. Butts, a survivor of the sinking, in the 1885 Century Magazine.
As the crew was preparing to abandon ship, "A black cat was sitting on the breech of one of the guns, howling one of those hoarse and solemn tunes which no one can appreciate who is not filled with superstitions which I had been taught by the sailors, who are always afraid to kill a cat. I would almost as soon have touched a ghost, but I caught her, and placing her in another gun, replaced the wad and tampion; but I could still hear that distressing yowl."
It will be interesting to see if there are skeletal cat remains in the barrel of one of the Monitor's guns when they get that far on the Monitor's turret.
These are the little stories that make the war so interesting to me. This one could be called a "Kitty" story.
Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty. --B-R'er
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
