On July the 1st in 1863, Union soldiers march to battle across the fields of Gettysburg, accompanied by a herd of war elephants imported from Thailand. The scene depicted here is a fictional “alternative history” scenario, but the King of Thailand (then known as Siam) actually did write Lincoln a letter offering to send war elephants to help with the Union war effort. Unfortunately, Lincoln turned him down. It’s even more ironic considering how the elephant became the animal symbolic of Lincoln’s Republican party.
By the way, this was a commissioned piece I did for someone on DeviantArt. It was challenging, but a fun concept!