Marker for "Douglas The Camel" in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Vicksburg, Mississippi Old Douglas and members of the 43rd Miss

Douglas The Camel, or “Old Douglas,” was a

domesticated Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...

used by Company A of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry, part of the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. Because of Old Douglas, the 43rd Mississippi Infantry came to be known as the Camel Regiment. Douglas was not a veteran of the U.S. War Department program called the Texas Camel Experiment, which aimed to experiment with camels as a possible alternative to

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

s and

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two po ...

s, which were dying of

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...

in vast numbers.

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as ...

, who had ascended to the position of

United States Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

in 1853, was a strong proponent of the program, and used his political influence to make the experiment happen. During the same period of the Texas Camel Experiment other camels were being privately imported into Mobile, Alabama. According to newspaper accounts in Alabama and Mississippi planters sought to experiment with the camels in agriculture work. "Old Douglas" was purchased by William Hargrove and was initially given to Colonel W. H. Moore by 1st Lt. William Hargrove when he joined the Forty-Third Mississippi Infantry. Besides being a

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as ...

, Moore assigned Douglas to the regimental band, carrying instruments and knapsacks.

Active service

Though the men tried to treat Old Douglas like a horse, the camel was known to break free of any

tether A tether is a cord, fixture, or flexible attachment that characteristically anchors something movable to something fixed; it also maybe used to connect two movable objects, such as an item being towed by its tow. Applications for tethers includ ...

, and was eventually allowed to graze freely. Despite not being tied up, he never wandered far from the men. The Infantry’s horses feared Old Douglas, and he is recorded to have spooked one horse into starting a

stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...

, which reportedly injured many, and possibly killed one or two horses. Old Douglas’s first active service was with General

Sterling Price Major-General Sterling "Old Pap" Price (September 14, 1809 – September 29, 1867) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War. Prior to ...

in the Iuka campaign. He also participated in the 1862 Battle of Corinth. He remained with the regiment until the

Siege of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mis ...

, where he was killed by Union sharpshooters. Enraged at his death, the men swore to avenge him. Col. Bevier enlisted six of his best snipers, and successfully shot the culprit. Of Douglas's killer, Bevier reportedly said, “I refused to hear his name, and was rejoiced to learn that he had been severely wounded". Another commonly attributed theory is that Douglas was eaten during the Siege at Vicksburg by famished Confederate soldiers.

Reception

Douglas is currently honored with his own

grave marker A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

in Cedar Hill Cemetery, in

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vi ...

. He is, along with other camels used during the war, not overlooked by historians, nor by Civil War Reenactors. There is currently a group called the Texas Camel Corps, whose mission is to promote the stories of camels, like Old Douglas, used during the Civil War.

References

{{Reflist Camel mascots Individual camels 1863 animal deaths Military animals Confederate States of America