Henry C . Wayne Henry Constantine Wayne ( September 18 , 1810 – March 15 , 1883 ) was an United States Army officer , and is known for his commanding the expedition to test the U . S . Camel Corps as part of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis ' s plan to use camels as a transport in the West . Wayne was also a Confederate adjutant and inspector - general for Georgia and a brigadier general during the American Civil War . Early life and career . Henry Wayne was the son of U . S . Supreme Court Justice James Moore Wayne . He graduated from West Point in 1838 and joined the artillery as a second lieutenant . Later in that year Wayne participated in the Aroostook War over the boundary of Maine . In 1841 , he became the assistant instructor of artillery and cavalry at West Point where he remained for two years . Henry became a first lieutenant in 1842 . When the United States declared war on Mexico , Wayne joined the troops to fight . He was brevetted a major for his bravery at the Battles of Contreras and Churubusco . U . S . Camel Corps . After the Mexican - American War , Henry Wayne befriended George H . Crosman . Crossman brought up his idea of using camels for transportation of people and supplies in the West . Wayne relayed this idea to Senator Jefferson Davis , and when Davis became Secretary of War on 1853 , he had Congress pass a bill to experiment with the camels . Wayne was chosen to lead an expedition to the Middle East to purchase $ 30 , 000 worth of camels . The group sailed to London on the USS " Supply " to examine camels in zoos . They then journeyed to Italy and met Grand Duke Leopold II to see his 250 camels that were said to be able to do the work of 1000 horses . They then purchased thirty - three camels : three in Tunisia , nine in Egypt , and twenty - one in Turkey . When the group arrived back , they experimented with the animals in the deserts of the western United States . Forty - one more camels would arrive later to join the corps . Congress , on the request of the Department of War , proposed a bill to buy 1 , 000 more camels , but the start of the Civil War quickly ended the debate . The experiments were also ended with the start of the Civil War , and the remaining camels were either sold or released into the wild . Civil War service . Wayne resigned his commission after receiving the results of Abraham Lincoln ' s victory for president . He joined the Confederate Army and was appointed the adjutant and inspector - general of Georgia by Governor Joseph E . Brown , where he was responsible for putting the army of Georgia into order in companies , regiments , and brigades . On December 16 , 1861 , Wayne was commissioned a brigadier general . Through his orders , the men of Georgia guarded the crossings of Chattahoochee River . After being ordered to Manassas , Virginia , Wayne resigned his commission as a brigadier general and he instead just stuck to his duties as adjutant and inspector - general until the end of the war . Awards and books . Wayne received the " First Class Gold Medal of Mammal Division by the Société impériale zoologique d ' acclimatation " of France in 1858 for his introduction of the camel into the United States . In 1856 he wrote " The Sword Exercise , arranged for Military Instruction " .