Camels
Tales of combative camels span millennia, from Herodotus to T.E. Lawrence (he of Arabia fame). As the ancient Greek historian tells it, back in the 6th century the Persians' humped creatures — which were used for carrying supplies — were promoted to the front lines in order to mess with the Lydians' horses: Cyrus "set the camels opposite the horsemen because the horse has a fear of the camel and cannot endure either to see his form or to scent his smell." Modern history has its share of cameliers, including the Australians, Britons and New Zealanders who comprised the Imperial Camel Corps, which fought in the Middle East during World War I. Camels, known as ships of the desert for all they can transport, were even imported by the U.S. government in the mid–19th century at the urging of Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.