And you thought last Monday was random...Today's post comes to you from the files of weird crap I've learned about history.
On this day, in 1855, Jefferson Davis (then Secretary of War) got approval from Congress to appropriate $30,000 for the purpose of buying camels for use in military and other situations.
On this day, in 1855, Jefferson Davis (then Secretary of War) got approval from Congress to appropriate $30,000 for the purpose of buying camels for use in military and other situations.
The thought was that the camels would handle the arid regions in the west better than horses or mules would. There's a rundown of the program on Wikipedia here if you'd like to learn more particulars about the US Camel Corp.
So why didn't I grow up watching Dragoons on camel-back prance around my home-town at Good 'ol Days? Well, the easy answer is they asked for the full measure of support from Congress in 1860. I'm sure that wasn't the only problem, since it took them five years to get through their initial trials, but that equates to asking your parents for a large chunk of money while they're trying to decide if they want to be married anymore. I suspect a lot of things didn't happen in 1860.
Now I kind of want to know if Jeff Davis was ever sad he couldn't get the Camel Corps to take off.
Picture from here under this license.
So why didn't I grow up watching Dragoons on camel-back prance around my home-town at Good 'ol Days? Well, the easy answer is they asked for the full measure of support from Congress in 1860. I'm sure that wasn't the only problem, since it took them five years to get through their initial trials, but that equates to asking your parents for a large chunk of money while they're trying to decide if they want to be married anymore. I suspect a lot of things didn't happen in 1860.
Now I kind of want to know if Jeff Davis was ever sad he couldn't get the Camel Corps to take off.
Picture from here under this license.
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