Lincoln's Elephants

[Kurt G]

Disclaimer; The following historical information is a complete fabrication.
" The King of Siam offered to send elephants to Buchanan , but it was Lincoln who politely declined the offer . Due to slow communications a shipment of elephants arrived in the U.S. The army considered using the elephants , but realized they would be vulnerable to Confederate artillery and concentrated small arms fire .
It was decided to use them as mobile signal corps stations . After some success in this , Confederate forces began to target the elephants . It became necessary to arm the signal corps members and provide infantry escorts as well . The program was soon disbanded because it had become too cumbersome . The elephants were returned to civilian life."
We've had some threads on "Lincoln's elephants" on the forum and they inspired me to do this project . The scale is 1/32 (54mm) . The elephant is white metal and the various fittings are made out of epoxy putty , sheet lead and plastic card . The figures are by Shenandoah , some stock and some modified . The plants are by AK Interactive .

 

[rebel brit]

Wow.... brilliant idea for a diorama.
As usual great painting and positioning of the figures to create an amazing scene.

 

[Booner]

A really nice piece of whimsy. So well done that it could be true!

 

[James N.]

If the Confederates could have a documented camel, then why not a Union pachyderm?

 

[Zack]

Hannibal's trek across the Appalachians.

 

[Zack]

Lincoln Rejects the King of Siam's Offer of Elephants

In one of the more humourous events of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln politely rejects an offer from the King of Siam to provide breeding pairs of elephants for use in America.

www.battlefields.org

"I appreciate most highly Your Majesty's tender of good offices in forwarding to this Government a stock from which a supply of elephants might be raised on our own soil. This Government would not hesitate to avail itself of so generous an offer if the object were one which could be made practically useful in the present condition of the United States.

Our political jurisdiction, however, does not reach a latitude so low as to favor the multiplication of the elephant, and steam on land, as well as on water, has been our best and most efficient agent of transportation in internal commerce."

Lincoln was clearly lacking in vision.

 

[Harms88]

Lincoln Rejects the King of Siam's Offer of Elephants

In one of the more humourous events of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln politely rejects an offer from the King of Siam to provide breeding pairs of elephants for use in America.

www.battlefields.org

"I appreciate most highly Your Majesty's tender of good offices in forwarding to this Government a stock from which a supply of elephants might be raised on our own soil. This Government would not hesitate to avail itself of so generous an offer if the object were one which could be made practically useful in the present condition of the United States.

Our political jurisdiction, however, does not reach a latitude so low as to favor the multiplication of the elephant, and steam on land, as well as on water, has been our best and most efficient agent of transportation in internal commerce."

Lincoln was clearly lacking in vision.

Or to misquote The King and I:

Lincoln was "not scientific enough for" elephants.

 

[shooter too]

Disclaimer; The following historical information is a complete fabrication.
" The King of Siam offered to send elephants to Buchanan , but it was Lincoln who politely declined the offer . Due to slow communications a shipment of elephants arrived in the U.S. The army considered using the elephants , but realized they would be vulnerable to Confederate artillery and concentrated small arms fire .
It was decided to use them as mobile signal corps stations . After some success in this , Confederate forces began to target the elephants . It became necessary to arm the signal corps members and provide infantry escorts as well . The program was soon disbanded because it had become too cumbersome . The elephants were returned to civilian life."
We've had some threads on "Lincoln's elephants" on the forum and they inspired me to do this project . The scale is 1/32 (54mm) . The elephant is white metal and the various fittings are made out of epoxy putty , sheet lead and plastic card . The figures are by Shenandoah , some stock and some modified . The plants are by AK Interactive .

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I believe that the "side to side" gait of the War 'a phants would have interfered with proper signaling back to Hooker at Chancellorsville.

 

[Pete Longstreet]

Interesting story and great work as always

 

[7thWisconsin]

That´s great!! I had a steam powered wagon gun that I used for ¨weird west¨ Civil War games. I painted it artillery grey (the same color as guns and limbers). It had a very official look to it!

 

[Nathan Stuart]

These images conjure up the imagination. It's a novel, though entirely impractical, idea to think of using elephants during the Civil War.

Apart from the need to control these large animals in combat conditions and during troop movements, they would be high maintenance in any logistical system.

Their noise and size would make them conspicuous targets for enemy fire, especially from artillery. I could imagine a wounded and distressed elephant wreaking havoc amongst its handlers and any surrounding friendly troops.

 

[donna]

Wonderful figures. Just love the elephant.

 

[Kurt G]

Wonderful figures. Just love the elephant.

Thank you , Donna . I really enjoyed this project . Some times it's nice to let your imagination go a little wild .