What was the Battle of Gettysburg like for the animals who were there?
Four animals lived through the same three days in July 1863 from four different places: a Union cavalry horse who arrived on the first day, a Confederate artillery horse who waited behind the guns on the third, a farm dog who spent the whole battle under the floorboards of a farmhouse, and a homing pigeon who saw everything from above. In this episode of Our Next Collar, they describe the same afternoon. None of the descriptions match. All of them are true.
History remembers the famous. Their pets remember the person. On Our Next Collar, a brown tabby cat named Prince MoRee can reach the animals of history, and they tell what they really saw. This is the Witnesses format: several animals, one event, and the discovery that the same day was many different days depending on where you stood. True, surprising, and great for curious kids and the grown-ups listening with them.
This episode is fully scripted and has passed the Talking With Pets accuracy review. The recording is in production. The audio player and the full transcript will appear right here the day the episode goes live. Join the founding list below and we will write to you when it does.
From the episode
Roxie: (to the room) None of you saw the same thing.
Beauregard: We were not in the same place.
Jasper: I saw the shape. Not the soldiers.
Liberty: I saw the soldiers. Not the shape.
Molly: I heard all of it. I saw none of it.
Roxie: And you're all describing the same afternoon.
The three days in July 1863, Buford's cavalry, Little Round Top, the guns firing for nearly two hours, and Pickett's Charge across a mile of open ground are real. The four voices are ours.
Sources and further reading
- The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1 to 3, 1863: the armies, the three days, and about 51,000 combined casualties. National Park Service, Gettysburg National Military Park. nps.gov/gett
- July 1: Buford's cavalry, roughly 20,000 Union troops engaged against about 30,000 Confederates, and the retreat to Cemetery Hill. Standard accounts of the first day.
- July 3: the Confederate bombardment of about one hundred fifty guns for nearly two hours, and Pickett's Charge, 12,500 soldiers, about 6,000 killed, wounded, or captured. National Park Service. nps.gov/gett
- The civilian experience: about 2,400 residents of Gettysburg in 1863, many sheltering in place; civilian accounts of the sound of the bombardment. Gettysburg Foundation. gettysburgfoundation.org
- Signal communications at Gettysburg: the Union Signal Corps used flag and torch stations and telegraph, not pigeons; organized military pigeon messaging in the United States came later. Privately kept homing pigeons were a common hobby of the era, which is why Jasper is a soldier's personal bird.
- Gettysburg as turning point: after July 1863, no major Confederate offensive into Union territory. National Park Service. nps.gov/gett
All historical claims above were checked in the Talking With Pets accuracy review, most recently the full editorial pass of July 2026.
What happened at the Battle of Gettysburg?
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1 to 3, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, between the Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Union forces fell back through the town on the first day and held the high ground; the flanks were fought over on the second day, including Little Round Top; and on the third day a two-hour artillery barrage was followed by Pickett's Charge. Combined casualties were about 51,000 over three days. Source: National Park Service.
What was Pickett's Charge?
On July 3, 1863, about 12,500 Confederate soldiers crossed roughly a mile of open ground toward the Union center at Cemetery Ridge. Approximately 6,000 were killed, wounded, or captured, and Lee's army retreated south on July 4. Gettysburg is often called the turning point of the Civil War, because the Confederacy never again launched a major offensive into Union territory. Source: National Park Service.
Were the animals in this episode real?
The animals are documented-class composites, and the episode says so. Cavalry and artillery horses at Gettysburg are documented, civilian animals caught between the lines are documented, and privately kept homing pigeons were common in the era. Liberty, Beauregard, Molly, and Jasper are composite witnesses built on that record rather than four named historical animals.
Is a battle episode appropriate for kids?
Yes, and it is handled with care. The episode stays with what the animals saw and heard rather than graphic detail, and its emotional center is a farm dog who waited under a floor for three days and came out to sit next to her family. The battle's weight is honest, the telling is gentle, and the lesson is about how the same event looks different from every position.
What is Our Next Collar, and is it good for kids?
Our Next Collar is an educational history podcast for curious kids ages 6 to 10 and the grown-ups listening with them. A brown tabby cat named Prince MoRee reaches the pets of history, and one of them tells the true story of the person they knew. Every episode lists its sources and says plainly which parts are real and which are ours, which makes it a quiet lesson in how to weigh sources. It is a podcast from Talking With Pets.
Our Next Collar Ā· the true stories only the animals saw.
Chaco, Roxie, Moose, Prince MoRee, and Armando are getting the pilot ready. Join the founding list and we will write to you when the first episodes go live. Listen with someone you like.