US Army Camel Corps
See This ref.:
http://theblogofteresa.com/us-camel-corps/
it did not turn out well, having been an idea of jefferson davis' pre civil war, it was disbanded after the war...
quote from ref:
"The route taken to Fort Tejon passed through lands controlled by the Mojave Indians who often attacked civilian transports, but avoided any military soldiers. As Bishop was now a civilian and the camel experiment was now officially a civilian experiment, no soldiers were with the camel and during one such trip a large force of Mojave Indians threatened Bishop’s men. Bishop ordered them to mount the camels and charge the attackers. The surprise charge of the men on such strange beasts did in fact rout the Mojave Indians and went down in history as probably the only camel charge in the west, which ironically was performed by civilians as opposed to the military."
hollywood even immortalised them in a 1976 movie:
Hawmps