Children In Camp, Nursery Walls Of Canvas

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
kids camp stoneman2.JPG

Camp Stoneman, a small group watching the band resolved itself into a woman and baby- and husband and son

Promise not to become too wordy but need a few! Have camped with small children, like an idiot. Only the very young achieve it with babies, no electricity, flashlights a plus, standing to walk a fusser out in mosquitos, bumping toes on logs and wondering where that bear might be after dragging away the garbage night before last.

kids camp stoneman1.JPG

Still slightly blown up from the original Camp Stoneman, LoC photograph, they are more evident here

I'm flattened with admiration, our ancestors, determined to keep families together. Sumter's first shots hurt no one but sank hearts North and South. Behind patriotic fervor lay fear. Fear takes many paths- one was the decision by some women, come proverbial heck or high water, to share war's fortunes as far as they might with spouses that could be lost, oh, so quickly. A choice for some, a necessity for others. Some women, unable to maintain a home without breadwinners also followed men to war. Children came with them.

There are deeper stories here, rank, privilege, place, side and time but this does not concern any of that. Children discovered in these camps is a fairly delightful and surprising event, 150 years later. It's ok, recognizing it with the wonder deserved in each case.

Continued........ another delightful surprise at Stoneman
 
kids camp stoneman 3.JPG

At the far end, top of the Camp Stone photograph, thanks to LoC's tif, high def download option, we find yet another family! Little girls!! A mother, a man maybe by the shape of his hat, a minister- and another woman holding a toddler! Aren't they wonderful? Must have looked at this photograph 20 time- and suspected the baby lower down. Never once caught a whiff of yet more children!


kids camp 31st pa.JPG

Very, very familiar photograph of a family, husband in the 31st Pennsylvania. There are 2 of thee- the first, th family is somewhat in turmoil typical to so many children. This- posed, and a shambles is et right. What I love is this woman's prized, china sugar bowl in front of her laundry basket. No matter what- war, a difficult encampment with little money. too many children to keep track of in a dangerous place- she is a woman with good china. Love that.

kids camp where1.JPG

kids camp where2.JPG

Another photograph I've looked at a hundred times- and missed the baby! Squirmy babies become almost invisible- and this is a very squirmy baby on Mom's lap. The rest of the photo ( which may be Arlington, I'm not sure ) is too fascinating so I've been sidetracked. This little family is delightful- but please try to think what on earth it was like, caring for a baby in that play house.

kids camp city point rawlins.JPG

General Rawlins- I want to say City Point? This little girl has on a white pinafore- white! Windowless cabin, and Mrs. Rawlins, not a fool, knowing her husband went into battle. Silent- but with him.

kids camp 3.JPG
kids camp 4.JPG

Also nearly missed the young boy- too young to be anything other than a son, someone's child, in the middle, here.

kids camp 5th us cav.JPG

5th US Cavalry, regular army, officers, someone's son. Visiting? No idea- it looks like one of their semi-permanent camps, which was not very permanent.

kids camp alex.JPG
kids camp alex2.JPG

Alexandria, hospital camp for soldiers recovering- love the face at the window. Traveling visitors? Residents while a father heals?


kids camp young soldier1.JPG

Two very young boys here- am not going to turn this into a ' boy soldier ' conversation. Sumter's business, soldiers gathered around- perhaps these boys were enlisted but have to doubt it.

Cont'd tomorrow. Too many to post carelessly.
 

Attachments

  • kids camp young soldier.JPG
    kids camp young soldier.JPG
    183.1 KB · Views: 184
You said under first picture
Promise not to become too wordy but need a few! Have camped with small children, like an idiot. Only the very young achieve it with babies, no electricity, flashlights a plus, standing to walk a fusser out in mosquitos, bumping toes on logs and wondering where that bear might be after dragging away the garbage night before last.

My great grandparents used to take my grandparents when they were young and drive a horse and wagon to camp during the summer in Yosemite in the real early 1900... My grandparents did the same with my parents, and I did the same with my children and grandchildren... Back in the 1800's and early 1900's people were a lot tougher than campers today who can not go anywhere without their creature comforts.

I really like the pictures you posted...

I have pictures of my grandfather being bathed in a wash tub with Half Dome in the background... Of course the picture also a well armed set of adults ready to fight off would be trouble on either two legs or four legs just like their civil war forbearers.
 
View attachment 125308
At the far end, top of the Camp Stone photograph, thanks to LoC's tif, high def download option, we find yet another family! Little girls!! A mother, a man maybe by the shape of his hat, a minister- and another woman holding a toddler! Aren't they wonderful? Must have looked at this photograph 20 time- and suspected the baby lower down. Never once caught a whiff of yet more children!


View attachment 125304
Very, very familiar photograph of a family, husband in the 31st Pennsylvania. There are 2 of thee- the first, th family is somewhat in turmoil typical to so many children. This- posed, and a shambles is et right. What I love is this woman's prized, china sugar bowl in front of her laundry basket. No matter what- war, a difficult encampment with little money. too many children to keep track of in a dangerous place- she is a woman with good china. Love that.

View attachment 125309
View attachment 125310
The horse in the first picture seems to be missing a leg.
Another photograph I've looked at a hundred times- and missed the baby! Squirmy babies become almost invisible- and this is a very squirmy baby on Mom's lap. The rest of the photo ( which may be Arlington, I'm not sure ) is too fascinating so I've been sidetracked. This little family is delightful- but please try to think what on earth it was like, caring for a baby in that play house.

View attachment 125307
General Rawlins- I want to say City Point? This little girl has on a white pinafore- white! Windowless cabin, and Mrs. Rawlins, not a fool, knowing her husband went into battle. Silent- but with him.

View attachment 125301 View attachment 125302
Also nearly missed the young boy- too young to be anything other than a son, someone's child, in the middle, here.

View attachment 125303
5th US Cavalry, regular army, officers, someone's son. Visiting? No idea- it looks like one of their semi-permanent camps, which was not very permanent.

View attachment 125305 View attachment 125306
Alexandria, hospital camp for soldiers recovering- love the face at the window. Traveling visitors? Residents while a father heals?


View attachment 125312
Two very young boys here- am not going to turn this into a ' boy soldier ' conversation. Sumter's business, soldiers gathered around- perhaps these boys were enlisted but have to doubt it.

Cont'd tomorrow. Too many to post carelessly.
 
View attachment 125308
At the far end, top of the Camp Stone photograph, thanks to LoC's tif, high def download option, we find yet another family! Little girls!! A mother, a man maybe by the shape of his hat, a minister- and another woman holding a toddler! Aren't they wonderful? Must have looked at this photograph 20 time- and suspected the baby lower down. Never once caught a whiff of yet more children!


View attachment 125304
Very, very familiar photograph of a family, husband in the 31st Pennsylvania. There are 2 of thee- the first, th family is somewhat in turmoil typical to so many children. This- posed, and a shambles is et right. What I love is this woman's prized, china sugar bowl in front of her laundry basket. No matter what- war, a difficult encampment with little money. too many children to keep track of in a dangerous place- she is a woman with good china. Love that.

View attachment 125309
View attachment 125310
Another photograph I've looked at a hundred times- and missed the baby! Squirmy babies become almost invisible- and this is a very squirmy baby on Mom's lap. The rest of the photo ( which may be Arlington, I'm not sure ) is too fascinating so I've been sidetracked. This little family is delightful- but please try to think what on earth it was like, caring for a baby in that play house.

View attachment 125307
General Rawlins- I want to say City Point? This little girl has on a white pinafore- white! Windowless cabin, and Mrs. Rawlins, not a fool, knowing her husband went into battle. Silent- but with him.

View attachment 125301 View attachment 125302
Also nearly missed the young boy- too young to be anything other than a son, someone's child, in the middle, here.

View attachment 125303
5th US Cavalry, regular army, officers, someone's son. Visiting? No idea- it looks like one of their semi-permanent camps, which was not very permanent.

View attachment 125305 View attachment 125306
Alexandria, hospital camp for soldiers recovering- love the face at the window. Traveling visitors? Residents while a father heals?


View attachment 125312
Two very young boys here- am not going to turn this into a ' boy soldier ' conversation. Sumter's business, soldiers gathered around- perhaps these boys were enlisted but have to doubt it.

Cont'd tomorrow. Too many to post carelessly.
 
I was amazed when I discovered that Ulysses Grant had his family visit and spend time with him in camp, and wondered at the dangers involved, which I eventually assumed were not as great as I first thought imagining the camps to be a safe distance from any significant battlefield. Even so...when I read he had taken his young son with him closer to the battlefield, I guessed this would have been considered appropriate at the time, young men maturing, and expected to mature, at a much faster rate then, than now.
 
You said under first picture
Promise not to become too wordy but need a few! Have camped with small children, like an idiot. Only the very young achieve it with babies, no electricity, flashlights a plus, standing to walk a fusser out in mosquitos, bumping toes on logs and wondering where that bear might be after dragging away the garbage night before last.

My great grandparents used to take my grandparents when they were young and drive a horse and wagon to camp during the summer in Yosemite in the real early 1900... My grandparents did the same with my parents, and I did the same with my children and grandchildren... Back in the 1800's and early 1900's people were a lot tougher than campers today who can not go anywhere without their creature comforts.

I really like the pictures you posted...

I have pictures of my grandfather being bathed in a wash tub with Half Dome in the background... Of course the picture also a well armed set of adults ready to fight off would be trouble on either two legs or four legs just like their civil war forbearers.

I should have said ' Only the very young and those made of finer stuff '. :angel: Isn't it wonderful, camping has been with us for generations? LOVE to see your days-gone-by photos- I've posted a few ' Yosemite '' photos here, from generations back and tourists. You're correct- expectations were different! Have to say, I'm still flattened by anyone taking off for a tent, baby in tow. Changing a diaper by lamplight, on a sleeping bag while trying not to wake everyone up is a challenge, then convincing said baby that 3 am is not 6 am is a further challenge with nowhere to pace up and down.

Your photos of ancestors being bathed with Half Dome in the background will become more heirloom-like as the years go by! Photos are like that, I think. Everyone can keep their antique rings and jewelry, give me our yellowed and fascinating photographs!
 
I think the danger would have been sickness in camp, not stray bullets. T. W. Higginson described one of his officers having his wife and baby in their camp on the Sea Islands.
 
kids camp arl.JPG

One of my favorites, at Arlington, another LoC. The little girl on the balcony is priceless- almost as squirmy as the baby in another photo.

kids camp bearded fam.JPG

Blurry, better image of this family below- discovered them fairly recently.
kids camp officers wife brand new big.jpg

Aren't they wonderful? I think LoC keeps adding, as does National Archives ( whole ' nother thread ). Guessing by what can be seen of the unit flag an expert could track this family down.

kids camp ladies 125 ohio.jpg

125th Ohio, and a photographer torn between creating a tidy photo and keeping families together- who belongs where?

kids camp mcgiver 2.JPG
kids camp mcgiver 3.JPG
kids camp mcgiver 1.JPG

Love the little boy, seems proud to be around all these officers.Note description includes him, " Staff of 5 ". How dear is that?

kids camp na new.JPG

This is puzzling. It's winter quarters, an officer with a hand on a boy's shoulder. Boy seems extremely, extremely young, even for some of the children we've seen enlisting without permission. Someone's family, we hope? his is National Archives, never bumped into it in LoC- Brady.

kids camp officers family.jpg

Another Alexandria, hospital camp photograph.

kis camp 1.jpg

For some reason, the identifier calls this an excursion- more likely to have been either Cold Harbor's camp or one of the others, based on the back ground. A photographer was there, who knows for how long. Photos of Grant, Rawlins, etc. are evidence time was not wasted- guessing when photographers visited camps they took as many photographs as subjects willing to be photographed.

Cont'd, same reason. It doesn't pay, getting careless when going through these old treasures.
 
I think the danger would have been sickness in camp, not stray bullets. T. W. Higginson described one of his officers having his wife and baby in their camp on the Sea Islands.


I never thought of that, and whoa! Given what we know of the high mortality in camps from disease, North and South it does seem risky having one's children there, doesn't it?
 
View attachment 125304
Very, very familiar photograph of a family, husband in the 31st Pennsylvania. There are 2 of thee- the first, th family is somewhat in turmoil typical to so many children. This- posed, and a shambles is et right. What I love is this woman's prized, china sugar bowl in front of her laundry basket. No matter what- war, a difficult encampment with little money. too many children to keep track of in a dangerous place- she is a woman with good china. Love that.

There is a companion to this photo with everyone relaxed.

icw photo.JPG

You can see the brother and sister playing with the baby. The woman and children don't realize they are being photographed. The men are all looking at the camera, including the African American man who you see in the background.

The black man is in first picture as well, right behind the sitting soldier on the right.
 
icw.JPG


I used this photo as the logo for my The Immigrants' Civil War series. The photo was taken at the camp of the 31st Pennsylvania Regiment 2nd Pennsylvania Reserve. The regiment was primarily recruited in Philadelphia in the first two months of the war. The 31st was not an “immigrant regiment”, but it included men like Private John R. Query of Company E. Query had emigrated from County Antrim in Ireland in 1850 when he was a little boy. From a Protestant Irish family, he enlisted as a teenager in a company called the “Scotch Rifles.” As a “Scots Irish” he may have felt comfortable in the culture of the company. Query did not survive the war, dying of wounds suffered at Gettysburg.

Company C of the 31st had the distinctly Irish name of the Hibernia Fire Engine Target Company. Men with names like Casey and O’Brien fought in it. A company from Lancaster in “the Dutch Country” included many men with German surnames.
 
Great thread, JPK Huson.

Remember reading about Mrs. Selfridge running her farm in Texas, where one of her sons, who might have been in his late teens, came home from the war to recuperate. He had measles and the all the younger children at home eventually came down with it. Probably wasn't all that unusual, so even if the kids didn't get close to the battlefield, the diseases may have come home to them.
 
While in winter camp in Orange County, Virginia General Lee had to send the families home because officers were spending so much time with their family they were neglecting their duties.
I believe Ulysses S Grant did the same prior to the siege of Petersburg, ordering all women out of camp so the men could focus on the fighting. It still amazes me they were allowed in, but no doubt the men appreciated it...
 
What a sad and horrible time, this War! The disruption of families, ripping asunder whole communities, and placing the most innocent into scenes which could give them nightmares the rest of their lives.
 
I'll have to show these photos to my wife this evening. Reenacting for us is a family activity, so it'll be interesting to see actual examples of wives and children in the camp during the war itself.
 
Dug this thread out because the child's toy depicting an army camp reminded me how many children may have found it familiar.

Has anyone ever come across a letter or journal or later reminiscences written by someone who had been a child living in a camp during the war? Love to hear how they remember it, and what they thought.
 
Aiken's Landing, wish I could discover whose HQ ( if anyone's, Union officers are in this photo ) the house was, might have a chance at discovering who the children may be. 5 1/2 kids- 3 on porch, two ( I think ), on the ground by the stairs and the woman in an apron seems round in the right place to be expecting another.

aiken 5 kids full.JPG


aiken 5 kids.JPG
 
Back
Top