Camels in the Civil War

JWheeler331

First Sergeant
Joined
Aug 4, 2010
Location
Louisiana
I have heard and read several places about Camels in the War. Of course I have heard about Old Douglas the Confederate Camel.

Does anyone have any photos of Camels being used during the war? I don't recall seeing an actual photo. I have see drawings but never a real photo.

Do any exist?
 
I hadn't heard of them being used in the CW but I know they were experimented with and could be found in the wild after the war. Camel teeth have been found in old rat middens in several western sites. I, too, would be interested to know if they were actually used during the CW.
 
"With the start of the American Civil War, the U.S. Army Camel Corps was disbanded. Troops and horses were needed on the east side of the country, while camels weren't. Most of them escaped into the desert, and thrived there for a while. In an attempt to preserve them, the Arizona territory actually outlawed camel hunting, a law that's often scoffed at by those who don't know the reason behind it.

But the camel story didn't end there. One of the soldiers, Frank Laumeister, saw business opportunities in Canada. He bought a herd, and in 1862 took them north to British Columbia. The Cariboo gold rush was in progress, and pack animals were needed."
Cariboo_camel.gif

Canadian prospectors and a friend.

http://drgrumpyinthehouse.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-eve-history-lesson.html

 
I just did a photo search of the photo in Post #1 of my above link. It is "The Camel Corps at Beersheba, 1915," from the Library of Congress (LC-DIG-ppmsca-13709-00037).

Wikipedia says the below photo is the only surviving photo of the U.S. Camel Corps. The photo is captioned, "A member of the legendary southwestern 'Camel Corps' stands at ease at the Drum Barracks military facility, near California’s San Pedro harbor."
US_Camel_Corp_1.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Camel_Corp_1.jpg
 
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I have heard and read several places about Camels in the War. Of course I have heard about Old Douglas the Confederate Camel.

Does anyone have any photos of Camels being used during the war? I don't recall seeing an actual photo. I have see drawings but never a real photo.

Do any exist?
If you know of someone or their child who receives Highlights magazine, there was an article about camels in the military in the 1800s, Civil War included, in it this month. I get Highlights for my class and it was in there.
 
With camels only living approximately 50 years, the 1915 photograph could have been one of the last Civil War era camels. I can not remember the numbers of Dromedary and Bactrian and hybrids camels that came over. The Hybrids are tamer, taller, stronger and in certain hybrids faster. Unlike mules camel hybrids are usually fertile.
 
I guess we should be starting a thread discussing whether Gettysburg would have had a different outcome if Lee had camels during Pickett's Charge or would the Camel Corps gone missing in action with JEB Stuart during the first two days of the battle.
 
Last time I was at Gettysburg I did see a Confederate company on Segways. I got to wondering if Lee had mounted his infantry on Segways would that have changed the outcome.
 
Last time I was at Gettysburg I did see a Confederate company on Segways. I got to wondering if Lee had mounted his infantry on Segways would that have changed the outcome.

Why, I believe so.....Warren would have laughed so hard he would have fallen off LRT and no one would have put Chamberlain in place in time.....
 
Interestingly enough, the Army's major experiments comparing camels and mules took place in 1859-1860 at the West Texas cavalry outpost of... Fort Davis, named after guess who. (Hint: It's in present-day Jeff Davis County).

And get this: You, too, can go on a camel trek out of Ft. Davis! Check it out:
http://texasmountaintrail.com/events/fort-davis-texas-camel-treks

Here's a fun photo of Doug Baum, the guy who leads those treks, back during the Ft. Davis sesquicentennial in 2004:

Expired Image Removed
 
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