Confederates belonging to Company B of the
Forty-third Mississippi Regiment were the envy of their comrades. From an
unknown source they managed to secure a camel and used it to transport baggage
of the officer’s mess.
Most horses were afraid of the strange creature,
so its driver was under orders to stop just outside the camp/ In a forced march
toward Luka, Mississippi, just prior to the battle of Corinth, the camel
blundered into the line of march and spooked horses so badly that there was a
stampede in which several men were injured.
Members of Company B referred to their curious
critter simply as “the camel,” and apparently never conferred a name on it. To
them, it seemed just as well when “the camel” was killed by a minie ball during
the siege of Vicksburg.
