Lincoln didn't have war elephants

NH Civil War Gal

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Before the war, King Rama IV of Siam found out that the US did not have elephants. This, King Rama IV felt, was a tragedy and one that needed to be righted as soon as possible.

When the Civil War began, Rama IV jumped on the opportunity. He wrote to Abraham Lincoln, offering to send him as many war elephants as he required. These, King Rama IV explained, would not only help him crush the Confederates but could also be put to work on construction projects or just set loose in the forests.

Lincoln did his best to be polite. “I appreciate most highly Your Majesty’s tender of good offices,” he wrote back. “Our political jurisdiction, however, does not reach a latitude so low as to favor the multiplication of the elephant.”

It’s easy to imagine, though, that a few years further in, Lincoln was probably regretting not putting a few war elephants on the front lines.
 
Rama IV, also known as Mongkut, is considered today one of the greatest Siamese monarchs, responsible for protecting his country's independence through the Imperialist era, when all those surrounding fell to British or French rule. He is, incidentally, the King portrayed by Yul Brynner in "The King and I." (Which, along with the book that inspired it, is banned in Thailand today, as insulting and trivializing a national hero -- however much Westerners may love him ...
"Is a puzzlement!"
mongkut.jpg
).

Lincoln's full letter in https://civilwartalk.com/threads/lincoln-and-the-elephants.134225/
 
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Boy, I don't know. Just re-read information on how long was the train just carrying fodder supporting those animals needed to carry pontoons from a. to b.. Supporting elephants? Supply wagons would still be on the road to Appomattox.

You know how the air in Gettysburg was so foul post battle it actually killed people? Unburied horses and mules. Fire helped but it was simply impossible to deal with dead animals quickly enough. May have been a little tougher with elephants.
 
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