Pity poor Douglas the camel, killed on a battlefield during America’s Civil War. The dromedary – a mascot for the Confederates – was shot by a Union sniper then apparently eaten by his starving comrades.
During the siege of Vicksburg, the two armies came so close they were sometimes in hand-to-hand combat. But at night the fighting ceased and brothers from opposing sides would exchange family letters before returning to fire at each other again the next day.
A 16-mile tour of memorials to the combatants on both sides, including visiting graves of the 17,000 soldiers buried there, was just one of the fascinating excursions during a week of sailing the Mississippi on American Queen, the largest steamboat ever built.
