Doug Baum, a former zookeeper, maintains a ranch of camels that he hauls to living-history events throughout the South. I first met him back in 2009, when I visited Corinth, Mississippi. He brought a few of his animals to help reenact or tell the story of the US Camel Corps and Old Douglas. Most folks nothing about this curious historical footnote.
How a 2,000-pound camel came to see action in the War Between the States begs a wisp of whimsy, but remains grounded on Mississippi’s hallowed battlefields.
