Henry C. Wayne

Henry Constantine Wayne (September 18, 1815 – March 15, 1883) was a United States Army officer, and is known for his commanding the expedition to test the U.S. Camel Corps as part of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis's plan to use camels as a transport in the West. Wayne was also a Confederate adjutant and inspector-general for Georgia and a brigadier general during the American Civil War.

Early life and career Henry C. Wayne was born on September 18, 1815, in Savannah, Georgia, the son of U.S. Supreme Court Justice James Moore Wayne. He graduated from West Point in 1838 and joined the artillery as a second lieutenant. Henry became a first lieutenant in 1842. From 1843 to 1846 he was the first military member to serve as Master of the Sword at the academy.

When the United States declared war on Mexico, Wayne joined the troops to fight. He was brevetted a major for his bravery at the Battles of Contreras and Churubusco. Wayne relayed this idea to Senator Jefferson Davis; and when Davis became Secretary of War on 1853, he urged Congress to pass a bill to experiment with the camels. Wayne was chosen to lead an expedition to the Middle East to purchase $30,000 worth of camels. The group sailed to London on the USS Supply to examine camels in zoos. They then journeyed to Italy and met Grand Duke Leopold II to see his 250 camels that were said to be able to do the work of 1000 horses. They then purchased thirty-three camels: three in Tunisia, nine in Egypt, and twenty-one in Turkey. for the destitute Ga. troops in the Confederate service." On December 16, 1861, Wayne was commissioned a brigadier general.

Personal life Wayne died at his home on March 16, 1883.

Awards and books Wayne received the First Class Gold Medal of Mammal Division by the Société impériale zoologique d'acclimatation of France in 1858 for his introduction of the camel into the United States. That same year, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society. In 1856 he wrote The Sword Exercise, arranged for Military Instruction.