Visitors to the Vicksburg National Military Park will be able to learn about one of the more unusual members of the Confederate Army participating in the Siege of Vicksburg.

The Texas Camel Corps, a re-enactment organizations that teaches people about the use of camel by the U.S. Army in the 19th Century U.S. will be at the park Saturday and Sunday to commemorate the service of Old Douglas, a camel that served with the 43rd Mississippi Volunteers during the Vicksburg siege and campaign.

“This is the third time we’ve have the Texas Camel Corps at the park,” Ranger Raymond Hamel said. “(Corps owner) Doug Baum will be dressed in Confederate garb and he’ll have some of the pack equipment that was used by the camels during that period.

“They’ll be on display where the kids can see, touch and pet them.”

Camels were introduced to the U.S. in the 1850s, when then-Secretary of War Jefferson Davis had camels imported as an experiment to see if they would serve better than horses in the southwest, where U.S. Army was engaged in wars with American Indian tribes.

“Most of the camels were later set loose and roamed wild in the southwest,” Hamel said. “Old Douglas was one of the ones they kept, and he served with the 43rd Mississippi carrying its band instruments.”

He said Old Douglas was killed by a Union sharpshooter during the siege, and was eaten by the troops, who were low on food. He is remembered by a headstone among the Confederate dead in the Soldier’s Rest section of Cedar Hill Cemetery.

The camels will be available to the public at the Old Superintendent’s Quarters inside the park. The event is free, but visitors will have to pay the entrance fee to the park.