General Charles Lee (1732-1782) , one of the most controversial figure of the American Revolutionary War, was a great friend of dogs.
Indeed, while he was considered a personality hard to like , an opinionated man, who always criticized everyone (often rightly, but the harsh way, how he did it was quite unpleasant), he seemed to be a much nicer person, when it came to his love for his dogs.
But Lee, who received the classic education of the English upper classes (including wealthy upper-middle class), visited several countries in Europe and considered the most cosmopolitan officer in the Continental Army, was regarded rather an eccentric man with strange customs for the puritan colonists.
Once he shocked Abigail Adams with the idea, she should greet Mr Spada, his pomeranian, as she would greet a human.
“The General was determined that I should not only be acquainted with him, but with his companions too, and therefore placed a chair before me, into which he ordered Mr. Spada 3 to mount and present his paw to me for a better acquaintance. I could not do otherwise than accept it.”
-she wrote to his husban, John Adams on 10 December, 1775.