cover image General Howe's Dog: George Washington, the Battle for Germantown, and the Dog That Crossed Enemy Lines

General Howe's Dog: George Washington, the Battle for Germantown, and the Dog That Crossed Enemy Lines

Caroline Tiger. Chamberlain Brothers, $18.95 (162pp) ISBN 978-1-59609-032-3

After the American defeat at the 1777 Battle of Germantown, a fox terrier belonging to the British general William Howe appeared in Washington's camp and was sent back to Howe by Washington under flag of truce, the whole affair climaxing in an exchange of polite notes. Journalist Tiger makes this minimally consequential Revolutionary War anecdote the crux of a desultory exploration of the two generals' lives, the chivalrous rules of eighteenth-century warfare and the exalted status dogs enjoyed among gentleman-farmers like Washington, who named one of his favorite hounds ""Sweet Lips."" Tiger's easily distracted account rambles along like a canine's afternoon outing, pricking up its ears when a dog comes into sight, but otherwise nosing around in whatever it comes across, from Howe's dalliances with his mistress to Washington's abhorrence of profanity in the ranks. She pads it out with a pair of appendices listing the 110 ""Rules of Civility"" Washington memorized in childhood (Rule 94 admonishes ""If you soak bread in the Sauce let it be no more than what you put in your Mouth at a time"") and the United Kennel Club standard for the treeing walker, a hound breed Washington helped develop.