When Boone Hardin marched off to join Governor Shelby's Kentucky volunteers to fight the War of 1812, he had no intention of taking Zachary with him. But Zachary was a razorback hog with a mind of his own; he had always followed at Boone's heels; he would still do so, war or no war.

It was not exactly a wise decision to make, for a volunteer army on short rations is apt to be interested in a razorback only when it is hams and bacon, and Boone feared for the safety of his pet, until Governor Shelby himself took a hand in the matter. "How can the British and Indians stop us?" he told the men. "All Kentucky has turned out for this campaign. Even the razorback hogs!"

So Zachary became "the Governor's Pig" and the mascot of the army, even though Boone soon learned that one razorback hog can create more havoc than a regiment of hostile Indians an Britishers. And in the end it was really Zachary who showed a reluctant militia the way to a successful invasion of Canada.

Like many of Bruce Grant's historical stories, Zachary is based on fact, for a razorback hog really did go to war with a band of Kentucky volunteers during the War of 1812. The lively drawings are by Robert Frankenberg.

From the dust jacket