Date: 2012-01-29
To: (Never be your) Beast of Burden
Miles today: 0.0

I'll never beyour beast of burden¢¦I've walked for milesmy feet are hurting¢¦(All I want is you to make love to me)Put me out On the streetPut me out With no shoes on my feet¢¦Put me out, put me outPut me out of misery.-the Rolling StonesOur friend Doug Baum, also known as ¢Camel Doug,¢ comes up from Texas on occasion to help preserve the memory of Old Douglas, the faithful burden bearer of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry. Although the historical record on Old Douglas is very limited (in fact, it is reproduced in its entirety below), this program never fails to be a crowd pleaser.On his most recent visit, Camel Doug and I had a chance to discuss the camel attributes that would make them ideal for accompanying an A.T. thru hiker. Camels have an amazing ability to efficiently use the resources their environment provides. Camels can travel long distances which allow them to take advantage of the maximum number of resources. For food, camels are omnivorous. They can eat almost anything - be it vegetation, meat, or bone; salty or sweet, a camel's stomach knows no limits. They can withstand a massive amount of dehydration which allows them to survive between watering holes, and then gorge themselves and rehydrate quickly. Their padded feet do little damage to a trail when compared to a horse or mule. But it is their temperament that truly endears the camel to man. Docile and sweet under a caring hand, but stubborn and angry if ill treated, the camel both wins your heart and your respect.But if the powers that be wouldn¢t allow a goat on the AT in 2011, I doubt I¢ll get an O.K. to use a camel this year, but you have to admit, it would be a hoot¢¦-NFor the history buff:The scanty historical record for ¢Old Douglas.¢FROM CONFEDERATE VETERAN MAGAZINE, VOL. 1, P. 267: Company B, of the Forty-third Mississippi Infantry, had a veritable camel, belonging toLieut. W. H. H------ [Lt. William H. Hargrove], and the use he was put to was to carry thebaggage of the officers' mess. The horses of the command were afraid of the camel, andthe driver was instructed to stop just outside the camp when it halted. But in a forcedmarch toward Iuka, Miss., the command had halted just after dark, and the camel anddriver got in the line of march before he knew it. The result was that a horse made a breakwith a fence rail attached to his halter, and running through the camp, he stampeded menand animals in every direction. Many men took [to] trees or any other protection, and thepanic spread through much of the brigade, and many men and animals were badly hurt,and one or two horses, I think, were killed. The camel was in the siege of Vicksburg, andwas killed there by a minie-ball from the enemy. But none of the Forty-third haveforgotten the stampede near Iuka, Miss., just before the Battle of Corinth.FROM CONFEDERATE VETERAN MAGAZINE, VOL. 11, NO. 11: ¢OLD DOUGLAS¢ ¢THE CAMEL BURDEN BEARER.J. W. Cook, of Helena, Ark., who belonged to Company A, Forty-Third MississippiRegiment, writes of an interesting attache of the regiment who could not speak for himselfeven had he survived the carnage of war: ¢Old Douglas¢ was an African camel and belonged to the Forty-Third MississippiRegiment. He was given to Col. William M. [actually ¢H.,¢ for Hudson] Moore, of theregiment, by Lieut. [William H.] Hargrove. of Company B. Col. Moore assigned Douglasto the regimental band, for whom he carried instruments and knapsacks. The camel's firstactive service was with Gen. Price in the Iuka campaign. He was sent to the wagon train,and stampeded all the teams. There was only one horse in Little's Division which wouldface Douglas at first, and that was Pompey, the little bay stallion belonging to Col. Moore,but it was not long till he was on intimate terms with all. His keeper would chain him tokeep him from wandering off, but Douglas would sit back and snap any kind of chain, thenproceed to graze at leisure, though never leaving the regiment or interfering with anythingthat did not interrupt him. When the regiment was ready to start, Douglas would be led upto the pile of things he was to carry, and his leader would say, 'Pushay, Douglas,' and hewould gracefully drop to his knees and haunches and remain so till his load was adjustedand he was told to get up. His long, swinging gait was soon familiar with the entirecommand, and ours was called the 'Camel Regiment.' Douglas was in the engagements of[Gen. Sterling] Price and [Gen. Earl] Van Dorn in Mississippi, and went with us to [Gen.John C.] Pemberton at Vicksburg, where he was killed by a skirmisher during the siege.His gallant owner had fallen in the second day's fight at Corinth. Douglas was a faithful,patient animal, and his service merits record in the Veteran."This Product Placement Ad supported by the guys at Outdoor 76 in Franklin NC...