(Minute)Man's Best Friend

Fiction

https://greytarticles.wordpress.com/fiction/azor-a-fictional-story-based-on-fact/

The Winter of Red Snow (Dear America) by Kristiana Gregory 

in this fictionalized diary of an 11-year old girl in Valley Forge, Azor is depicted as a lovable dog who the main character seems to befriend (I haven’t read the whole thing just snippets to give context)

Non-academic sources:

https://nationalpurebreddogday.com/the-war-of-independence-and-an-iggie-was-there/

note: This page is quite clearly by a group which supports purebred breeding of dogs. This is being saved purely for information and is not an endorsement.

Academic sources and Books

Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times by  Joel Richard Paul

Three mentions, most applicable quoted below

Page 443: “There is some disagreement about Azor's breed, which some sources refer to as an Italian greyhound. However, that seems unlikely since Azor was described as much larger than an Italian greyhound would ordinarily have been”

In Pursuit of Liberty: Coming of Age in the American Revolution by Emmy E. Werner

two mentions, most detailed quoted below

Page 56: “Azor, the baron’s dog, was reputed to have an excellent ear for music. 'Bad singing set him howling and barking, while he listened with apparent pleasure to a good song,' remembered Pierre“

The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army by Paul Lockhart 

 “And then there was Azor, the Baron [de Steuben’s] dog, who stayed at his master’s side from Paris until after the end of the War for independence. By all accounts, Azor was a large dog with a gargantuan appetite; Duponceau described him as an 'Italian greyhound.' Steuben loved and indulged Azor without reservation. A few years later, while he and one of his aides traveled by coach down a muddy New York road, Azor–who had been trotting alongside–took advantage of a pause in the journey to leap through the coach’s open window and right onto the laps of the two men. The Baron and his aide were wearing brand-new uniforms that Steuben had just purchased at great expense only a couple of days before. Azor’s huge paws tracked clods of mud all over the Baron’s immaculate white breeches as he nestled himself in the man’s lap. Steuben was fussy about his appearance, but he just couldn’t bring himself to be angry with his dog. Instead, he laughingly tugged on Azor’s ears and called him a ‘damned rascal.’“

Primary sources

Autobiographical Letters of Peter S. Duponceau