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Woulda made the war much betterer
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Author:  torgeot [ Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:39 am ]
Post subject:  Woulda made the war much betterer
http://www.civilwar.org/education/histo ... ng-of.html

Quote:
Lincoln Rejects the King of Siam's Offer of Elephants
FEBRUARY 3, 1862

In one of the more humorous events of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln politely rejected an offer of elephants from the King of Siam. While the letter from Rama IV (aka Mongut) was addressed to former President James Buchanan, it was up to Lincoln and his Secretary of State William Seward to politely decline this offer from afar. As Lincoln points out in his reply, steam power had overtaken the need for heavy animal power of this kind.

This friendly exchange has elicited many fanciful "what-ifs." What if the Union or Confederate army had use of battalions of war elephants during the Civil War? Could there have been herds of angry pachyderms at Pickett's Charge or emerging from the forest lines at Shiloh?


King Rama IV of Siam (Wikimedia)
To the King of Siam
February 3, 1862

Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States of America.

To His Majesty Somdetch Phra Paramendr Maha Mongut,

King of Siam,

&c., &c.

Great and Good Friend: I have received Your Majesty's two letters of the date of February 14th., 1861.

I have also received in good condition the royal gifts which accompanied those letters,---namely, a sword of costly materials and exquisite workmanship; a photographic likeness of Your Majesty and of Your Majesty's beloved daughter; and also two elephants' tusks of length and magnitude such as indicate that they could have belonged only to an animal which was a native of Siam.

Your Majesty's letters show an understanding that our laws forbid the President from receiving these rich presents as personal treasures. They are therefore accepted in accordance with Your Majesty's desire as tokens of your good will and friendship for the American People. Congress being now in session at this capital, I have had great pleasure in making known to them this manifestation of Your Majesty's munificence and kind consideration.

Under their directions the gifts will be placed among the archives of the Government, where they will remain perpetually as tokens of mutual esteem and pacific dispositions more honorable to both nations than any trophies of conquest could be.

I appreciate most highly Your Majesty's tender of good offices in forwarding to this Government a stock from which a supply of elephants might be raised on our own soil. This Government would not hesitate to avail itself of so generous an offer if the object were one which could be made practically useful in the present condition of the United States.

Our political jurisdiction, however, does not reach a latitude so low as to favor the multiplication of the elephant, and steam on land, as well as on water, has been our best and most efficient agent of transportation in internal commerce.

I shall have occasion at no distant day to transmit to Your Majesty some token of indication of the high sense which this Government entertains of Your Majesty's friendship.

Meantime, wishing for Your Majesty a long and happy life, and for the generous and emulous People of Siam the highest possible prosperity, I commend both to the blessing of Almighty God.

Your Good Friend, ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

Washington, February 3, 1862.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
Annotation
Author:  chris_d [ Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Woulda made the war much betterer
Seriously. Laser Eyes Robot Lincoln was a visionary in so many ways. Just, i guess, not in the face of the obvious strategic advantages that a flock of elephant would provide the Union Army. He does make reference to the advanced state of the mechanical United States(while conveniently neglecting to mention that he himself was indeed robotic and could do the work of twelve elephant, which really i guess was probably a state secret anyhow), but even with that tech advantage, one cannot help but feel that the decision not to breed elephants in the United States, was a lost opportunity, for all of us.
Author:  torgeot [ Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Woulda made the war much betterer
yup. 'Tis a shame. I would love to see some 'Phants running around Texas. I was shocked when I was a lad to see fucking camels in Kansas, loose, just loping around with their stupid camel faces along the interstate. That too didn't take but was an awesome idea. Again, take an animal and put it where it should not be and it is just a wonderful idea.
Author:  Snaxocaster [ Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Woulda made the war much betterer
Jefferson Davis attempted to breed camels in the southwest as well, though I believe that was after the war. Apparently they took well to the environment but he didn't have enough of them to create a sustainable population. Again, a damn shame.

While they may have posed some strategic difficulties- having to provide for and transport the elephants- still, a herd of elephants could have provided an immense (literally) tactical advantage for the Union army. Elephants have made fine mounts for the discerning cavalryman since before Hannibal's time.

Clutch had the right idea:
Image

This would be period-correct for armaments:
Image

And while this looks like it's WWI-era, the concept is, I feel, sound:
Image

And certainly elephant cavalry, Indian elephants being suited to hot, muggy climes, would have helped keep the South in its place during Reconstruction.

Even outside of their implications for the Civil War, it's really a huge missed opportunity. We would have several generations of truly American elephants by now.
Author:  Bass_Destroyer [ Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Woulda made the war much betterer
Wow, Lincoln missed out on a great opportunity there.
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