Jefferson Davis' South-Western Desert Camel Corps
- Thread starter Wolfhound
- Start date
David S Poepoe
Banned
I'm guessing it would have required a lot more camels. I believe after the Corps was ended they were let free and there are a few stories of wild camels roaming about the Southwest.
Perhaps the 1st and 2nd Camel Corps chasing down Geromino.
Undoubtedly, there is the possibility of a John Wayne movie here.
Now all we have to do is have they operate with the Elephant Corps that the King of Siam sent to Abraham Lincoln.
Perhaps the 1st and 2nd Camel Corps chasing down Geromino.
Undoubtedly, there is the possibility of a John Wayne movie here.
Now all we have to do is have they operate with the Elephant Corps that the King of Siam sent to Abraham Lincoln.
LOL It reminds me of that classic blooper, where the announcer of a radio program of music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir announced the performers as the "Moron Tabanapple Choir."
Basically you have to somehow derail the Civil War. The camel experiment was actually quite successful...enough so that Jefferson Davis's successor as Sec. of War asked Congress for funds to purchase another 1,000 of them...but it came on the eve of the outbreak of the war. The needs of the war, plus the fact that Jefferson Davis became President of the CSA, thus tainting the camel experiment by association, caused the War Department to abandon the idea. No further camels were purchased.
There was local opposition in Texas and the southwest to the idea, as well, mainly from horse traders who thought camels would put them out of business and who waged a media campaign against them in local newspapers. Many people also objected to camels on the grounds that they didn't get along well with horses, and were stubborn and aggressive. When the war came, most of the camels were in Texas, and they were seized by the State government, who turned them over to the Confederate government. The Confederates did make limited use of them during the war, but the opposition within Texas was too strong, and they mostly sat unused. When the war ended, the U.S. War Department seized them again and then, in 1866, sold them off to circuses, zoos, and private individuals.
But I think the local opposition could have been defeated if the Civil War had been derailed somehow. If Davis and his successor had been successful in getting funds to purchase 1,000 camels, a viable population could have been established and, in time, regiments of camelry could have been formed which would have been very useful in the southwest against the Apaches. We might well see one or two of these survive to even fight in North Africa during World War II, conducting daring raids on German installations, going where vehicles would never dare to go.
wormyguy
Banned
Now, I doubt that the Germans would put their installations where vehicles would never dare to go.
I didn't say they would. But you can surprise the enemy by suddenly appearing out of places where vehicles would never go.
Of course if the Apaches captured enough that they had a breeding population they could move around the desert more easily. It would then be a case of joining them to beat them.
well, the CS Camel Corps do survive in HOW FEW REMAIN don't they ?
Hmmm, Gen Crook's forces hunting down Geronimo on camels instead of horses ? The 9th & 10th Cav mounted on camels ? Hmmm, the Texas Rangers would be too opposed to the idea of using camels, eh ? Would there have been a market for camel meat down in the US southwest, like there is for camel bush tucker up in the Top End of Australia ?
Hmmm, Gen Crook's forces hunting down Geronimo on camels instead of horses ? The 9th & 10th Cav mounted on camels ? Hmmm, the Texas Rangers would be too opposed to the idea of using camels, eh ? Would there have been a market for camel meat down in the US southwest, like there is for camel bush tucker up in the Top End of Australia ?
LOL It reminds me of that classic blooper, where the announcer of a radio program of music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir announced the performers as the "Moron Tabanapple Choir."
Moron! te-he! Titty fart! Tee-he-he!Er... oops. Mormon, Mormon!
Yeah they did which I though was quite a nice touch.
Although they are never mentioned after the fist book since we really never get a look at warfare in Sonora and Chihuahua during the GW. But I always assumed the confederate camel corps were always in operation there.
Hi Jolly for President!
I bet the "Camelry", to steal Turtledove's slanguage, would see action against Mexican bandits (*Pancho Villa?) , if the late 19th C warlord chaos in Mexico is not totally butterflied away by the POD.
They might see use in scouting and cargo well into the mechanized era in certain theaters.
I bet the "Camelry", to steal Turtledove's slanguage, would see action against Mexican bandits (*Pancho Villa?
) , if the late 19th C warlord chaos in Mexico is not totally butterflied away by the POD.They might see use in scouting and cargo well into the mechanized era in certain theaters.