Sculpted by Gary Casteel
 
1863 Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Monument Replicas
 
Douglas the Dromedary, also known as Douglas the Camel and "Old Douglas," was purchased by planters in Mobile, Alabama, around the same time the Army was sending camels of its own to Texas as part of the U.S. War Department program known as the Texas Camel Experiment which was exploring camels as alternatives to horses and mules who were dying of dehydration in large numbers.  Jefferson Davis, who had been named the U.S. Secretary of War in 1853, was a strong supporter of the experiment.  However, camels ultimately proved ineffective for both the Alabama farmers on their plantations and for the Army’s purpose.
  
As for Old Douglas, he was given to Colonel William Moore of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry Regiment at the start of the Civil War and became a pack animal for the unit as well as a mascot.  Although Douglas got along well with the men of the unit, who became known as the "Camel Regiment," the horses of the unit were not as impressed.  The 43rd Infantry’s horses feared Old Douglas, and he reportedly spooked one horse into starting a stampede, which injured many, and possibly killed one or two horses.
 
Douglas refused to be tethered, but did not stray from the unit, so he was often outside of camp, grazing freely.  He came when called and would dutifully kneel down to be loaded with supplies for the regimental band when the command was given.  Douglas marched north with the 43rd during their fights at the battles of Iuka, Corinth and at Vicksburg.
  
Sadly, during General Ulysses S. Grant’s siege of Vicksburg, Douglas was shot and killed by a Union sharpshooter.  The Confederates were so enraged by the murder of their prized camel, that the 5th Missouri’s commander Lieutenant Colonel Robert S. Bevier enlisted six of his best sharpshooters to avenge Douglas.  Bevier later said of Douglas’ killer, “I refused to hear his name, and was rejoiced to learn that he had been severely wounded.”
 
Allegedly, Douglas was eaten by the starving Confederates at Vicksburg.  He is honored with his own grave marker in Cedar Hill Cemetery, in Vicksburg, Mississippi. 
 
This marker is located in Vicksburg's Cedar Hill Cemetery in the Confederate Soldiers Rest area.