The Faithful Dog: A Civil War Novel
Bärchen is Louis Pfeif’s hound. When Louis leaves for the U.S. Civil War, Bärchen refuses to remain home and escorts his master to war. Together, they survive train rides, long marches, bad food, no food, boredom, and skunk attacks. Sergeant Welhelmi, “The Bone Man,” becomes one of Bärchen’s favorite men after Louis, because he always brings the one thing Bärchen cannot resist—soup bones. At the Battle of Shiloh, Louis is killed. A grieving Bärchen will not leave his side, fighting off wild animals, as well as shirkers and thieves intent on stealing personal belongings from the dead of both sides. Not even Louis’s friends can get close to retrieve the body. They are forced to wait until Bärchen trots off to relieve himself. Taking advantage of his absence, they retrieve Louis and bury him nearby. Bärchen scents his master to a freshly dug grave and resumes his steadfast vigil until Mrs. Pfeif arrives two weeks later. Bärchen has caught her familiar scent and lopes into camp to find her and lead her to her husband’s grave.
Told from the perspective of Bärchen, the story fits the tone of a middle-grade reader. Writing from the point of view of an animal can be problematic, but Caruthers pulls it off. There are points where, by necessity, she switches to the human perspective to move the story forward. In those moments there is a bit of understandable head-hopping. The depth of emotion is a delightful surprise. As I read about Bärchen’s refusal to leave his master dead on the field, I found myself welling with sadness and compassion. The Faithful Dog is a wonderful read. I’m looking forward to more by this author.
