Lincoln accepts the king of Siam's offer of a breeding pair of war elephants. How does the civil war change?
Lincoln accepts the king of Siam's offer of a breeding pair of war elephants. How does the civil war change?
Charles Richardson
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Elijah Powell
The North loses more money in feeding the elephants than they could ever be worth. Alternatively, Lincoln has them shot and made into rations.
Ayden Lee
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Logan Murphy
Realistically yes, but this is Jow Forums so fuck that. Elephants with punt guns strapped to their sides, stuffed with grape shot, minie balls bouncing off their iron class armor, scattering the rebel lines while the crewmen shoot down with repeaters. Special flying columns of Reb light guns designed specifically to reposition and engage elephants under fire.
Fuck, imagine what Sherman could have done to Georgia with 50 war elephants.
Mason Murphy
>gigantic fleshy targets
Hmm I wonder what would happen to them on a battlefield with firearms
Robert Watson
This. The war is over long before they could prove useful, particularly if the plan was to breed them.
Alternatively the plan to use war elephants is used by Lincoln's enemies as further evidence of his dangerous incompetence. Lincoln presses the Army to be more aggressive in hopes that a major victory will erase the embarrassment. Continued failed offensive campaigns further hurt national morale and prevent Lee from launching his own offensive campaign. One that in our timeline led to the Union victory at Gettysburg, which was instrumental in increasing Lincoln's approval ratings. Lincoln losing the 1864 election to a Democratic Copperhead (McCellan losing the nomination due to stronger anti-war sentiment). A tense peace is negotiated with the Confederacy, though for how long is anybody's guess.
Robert Smith
Elephants take something like 2 years to have a baby, so ten years after he got the elephants, he might have enough to use in a military capacity.
Landon Turner
Was gonna say, give em all to Sherman and watch the gaping butthurt ensue.
Charles Lewis
"War is hell, boys. Except for that time we got a bunch of pissed off elephants on line and ran them through Atlanta. And I mean through. Through walls, barricades, Rebs, you name it. That was great."
Carter Wood
I remember a webm on /gif/ of a rampaging elephant in India and this one braniac trying to control it with a stick. Needless to say it was a gore thread.
Pretty sure they still wouldn't be useful in the civil war, but an elephant is no joke.
Isaac Ross
Actually Mongkut did not offer war elephants. What he did offer was domesticated elephants to be used as beasts of burden for logistical use.
Jonathan Cox
Hannibal 2.0
Joshua Mitchell
>Elephant charges at line infantry formation
>gets completely ventilated by hundreds of musket balls
"Look Emmet! I shot me a Yankee pachyderm!"
Camden Morris
Even worse than with hannibal. The problem with war elephants is that they're too smart and free willed. No amount of training makes them actually want to charge a line of dudes with shields and spears, making them easy to manipulate and hard to employ. Throw guns and artillery into the mix and you'll be lucky if they just route and don't turn around and charge your own lines.
Juan Myers
General John Sedgwick survives the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse after seeing firsthand that Johnny Reb COULD hit an elephant at that distance.
Connor Clark
>feed them a fuck ton of leaves and fruit
How much do they cost
Jonathan Rodriguez
kek
Adam Lee
The north was already set to win given they had literally every advantage except for home field and amount of military colleges. Elephants wouldn't have done much and probably been killed off by whatever cannons stood in their way...possibly even scaring them and causing them to trample union soldiers while trying to run away.
Landon Sanders
War Elephants were never a good idea, they instantly figure out that they are in danger and go berserk
Gabriel Campbell
/thread
Carson Roberts
Andrew Perry
You have to remember that this is the 1860's and they don't have fruit year round. They would have to spend a bunch of money stripping bark from trees or importing oranges or some shit to keep them alive
Ryan Allen
A counter point would be that a more aggressive Union would focus on the Western and Lower Seaboard Theatres, possibly leading to a Siege of Vicksburg and Battle of Mobile Bay occurring earlier than in reality.
Leo Johnson
They turn on Yankee lines and plow through them, just like at Zama. War elephants aren't good weapons unless you're fighting people who don't have guns and have never seen them before
William Davis
False. War elephants are a good idea when the enemy has never seen an animal larger than a lion and thinks you're sending literal monsters at them.
Ryan Ward
I just imagine them immediately taking cannon fire and getting their shit pushed in.
Jack Brown
If only life was that good