The Lynchburg Listener
Eye witnesses
confirm that the newly arrived General McClellan received a telegram from
General Scott that read “The general-in-chief, and what is more, the Cabinet,
including the President, are charmed by your activity, valor and consequent successes.
... We do not doubt that you will in due time sweep the rebels from ...Virginia,
but we do not mean to precipitate you, as you are fast enough.”410
The citizens of
Lynchburg are proposing to have the words carved in stone and presented to the
General as part of a lengthy program of feasts and jubilations to be held in
his honour over the coming months to which they insist he attends in person.
The Butler Bugle
General Butler,
the Bugle’s proprietor and sole subscriber, has condemned the senseless
slaughter and damage to property that occurred at Fort Monroe by the rash
action of General Crouch who had descended from the sea with all the subtly of
a tsunami. What the former property of
Southern gentlemen who had taken refuge in the fort thought of such shenanigans
cannot be imagined.
Furthermore,
General Butler has advised General Crouch to stay put and fortify and wait for
General McClelland to bring reinforcements.
Quoting from General Scott “He has no brigade of elephants: he cannot by
any possibility get a brigade of elephants.”468 General Butler is satisfied
that General McClelland will make a speedy crossing of the mountains to join
General Crouch by way of Richmond. This
will permit General McClelland to take the mighty host of rebels assembled
before General Crouch in the rear where it will do them the most good.
Vainly Flair Quarterly
In this week’s edition
of the monthly periodical further speculation is made on the increasing trend
for Northerners to head south. It cannot
just be to escape the cold.
Washington DC Comics
An order is believed
to be about to be raised for the construction of a
large vessel that will be loaded with hay and other food suitable for elephants
for a long voyage, with tanks holding a sufficiency of fresh water, and
arranged with stalls so that the elephants can both stand & lie down in the
ship.
Official Correspondence of the President
To King
Mongkut, Siam.
I appreciate
most highly Your Majesty’s tender of…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.
Memo from Naval Docks
The transport
of elephants by sea can be somewhat problematic.
Even if the king's offer predated hostilities, Lincoln's response should have been "Damn straight, the boat will be there directly. My speeches indicate far-reaching foresight for future generations, and those generations shall include wargamers who will want elephants in kepis."
ReplyDelete-Paul
When I was doing my fact checking for this article I was surprised not to readily come across any images of ACW troops and elephants. I did come across a book titled "Elephants for Mr Lincoln". Except that the proposal was for baby elephants, it is not beyond the realm of possibilities that elephants could have been used "eventually". Their use was proposed as beasts of burden, not machines of war, but still...
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