This Day in History: USMC's Bulldog Mascots

On this day in 1927, the United States Marine Corps adopts a mascot: the English bulldog. Did you ever wonder why Marines are sometimes called “Devil Dogs” and why their mascot is a bulldog?

There’s more uncertainty surrounding the issue than you might think.

As the story goes, the phrase “Devil Dogs” came into use after the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood. It’s said that Marines fought so ferociously that the Germans called them “Teufel Hunden” or “Devil Dogs.” The Germans thought they were throwing out insults, but Marines took pride in the name.

Official portrait of USMC mascot Chesty XIV

“Teufel Hunden, German Nickname for U.S. Marines,” a recruiting poster soon blared. It featured a bulldog chasing a German dachshund and encouraging Americans to visit the “Devil Dog Recruiting Station.”

Yet the Belleau Wood story can’t be entirely accurate. The phrase first appeared in newspapers more than two weeks before that conflict began.

“The Marines, who have for generations been known as the ‘leathernecks’ the world over,” the Boston Globe reported on April 14, 1918, “are now being referred to by the Germans at the front as the ‘Teufel Hunden,’ the ‘devil dogs,’ . . . The nickname was welcomed by [recruiting] officials.”

But did the Germans really say that? “Teufel Hunden” is misspelled. Even spelled correctly, it’s not a phrase that would normally be used in the German language. Adding to the mystery, the first use of the phrase can’t be pinpointed.

Nevertheless, “Devil Dogs” stuck, becoming part of Marine Corps tradition.

The bulldog mascot soon followed, thanks to Brig. Gen. Smedley D. Butler, commanding officer at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia. Butler was working to encourage interest in the Marines after the war. He put together a “Quantico Marines” football team—and he purchased an English bulldog named King Bulwark, making it the Quantico mascot.

Obviously, a United States Marine Corps bulldog couldn’t be named “King,” so Butler renamed the dog Jiggs. But Jiggs was more than just a mascot. He was an actual Marine! On October 7, 1922, General Butler signed enlistment papers for Jiggs. The bulldog was a private, and he had duties.

Jiggs was much loved, appearing at events where he could bolster the image of the Marines. He even appeared in a movie, Tell It to the Marines, in 1926. When he passed away in 1927, he was buried in a satin-lined casket and laid to rest with full military honors. By then, he’d been promoted to sergeant major.

A few months later, on June 27, 1927, the bulldog was made the official mascot of the Marine Corps, in honor of Jiggs.

More bulldogs would follow, starting with Jiggs II. Indeed, for years afterwards, USMC mascots were named Jiggs or Smedley. Finally, in 1957, one of the dogs was named Chesty, in honor of Marine legend Chesty Puller. The bulldogs have been named Chesty ever since.

The Marines’ current mascot is Cpl. Chesty XVI, who recently received a Good Conduct Medal.

“[The Medal] recognizes faithful service, obedience to orders and a spotless record,” Secretary of the Navy John Phelan noted. “Corporal Chesty has earned it, four paws down.” Phelan thought General Puller would be proud. “I would like to think that if he were here today, he would look at this fine bulldog . . . grin that famous grin and say ‘Good work, Marine.’”

This was a change from Lance Cpl. Chesty XV, who had to be officially pardoned when he retired.

“Bulldogs are internationally recognized,” an American Kennel Club article concludes, “as symbols of courage. . . . Tough, fearless, tenacious, and muscular, Bulldogs exemplify the fighting spirit of the Marine Corps.”

Semper Fi, Marines!

Constitution4Kids.com

Primary Sources:

• Anna Burke, The Legacy of Chesty: How a Bulldog Became the United States Marine Corps Mascot (American Kennel Club; May 25, 2018)

• Blake Stilwell, Marine Corps Mascot Chesty XVI Gets Promoted on His Way to Outranking You (Military.com; Dec. 2022)

• Brig. Gen. Edwin Howard Simmons, USMC (Ret.) & Col. Joseph H Alexander, USMC (Ret.), Through the Wheat: The U.S. Marines in World War I (2011)

• Col. John G. Miller, USMC, “Devil Dogs” Belleau Wood (Naval History Mag.; December 1997)

• “Devil Dogs” is Name Given U.S. Marines by German Soldiers (Wash. Times; April 14, 1918) (p. 5)

• Ellen Guillemette, Bulldog Mascots in the Marine Corps (MCRD Command Museum)

• Germans call ‘em Teufel Hunden: Recruiters Report a New Nickname for Marines (Boston Globe; April 14, 1918) (p. 13)

• Hyde Flippo, German Myth 13: Teufelshunde - Devil Dogs and the Marines: Did German soldiers nickname U.S. Marines ‘Teufelshunde?’ (ThoughtCo.; updated Jan. 29, 2019)

• Irene Loewenson, Marine Corps’ top dog promoted to private 1st class (Marine Times; Dec. 13, 2022)

• Lance Cpl. Kyle N. Runnels, The birth of the Marine Corps mascot (U.S. Dept of Defense; March 1, 2012)

• Medal Monday: Honoring Major Smedley Butler (National Medal of Honor Museum; July 23, 2018)

• Patrick Gregory, The Army and the Marine ‘Devil Dogs’ of Belleau Wood (U.S. Army website; June 26, 2018)

• Pvt. Bruno (Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego)

• The USMC Devil Dog conundrum (U.S. Militaria Forum; Jan. 7, 2009)

• United States Marine Corps Mascot (VFW Post 3904)