Where Every Day Was Father's Day, Camp Dad, 1861-1865

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
dad sold wife kids in camp.jpg

Someone may know who is this family. That mothers packed up children and brought them to the war, to be with soldier fathers seems indicative of how precious each was to the other. We're left with quite a few images like these. Thanks to LoC we get to see these moments from a country at war when every day was Father's Day.

baby in camp horse flag.jpg

We can't imagine what's behind this image, a couple ensuring Dad was available as long as possible. That tiny house, a baby and housekeeping in the middle of a war? He was needed.

It hasn't been possible to track down most of these fathers. Somewhere must be each photographer's journal, diary or log where we'd find them. Somewhere also you just know are the letters, diaries or journals of That Day A Photographer Came To Camp. One of our experts may know more ( which would not be me ).

kids camp stoneman2.JPG

Snip from an LoC image of a band review, Camp Stoneman. As usual, a squirmy baby is blurred but still there, apparently an older son knew how to sit still.

I'm not sure we can understand what these separations were like unless you're a member of our military. Serving their country, a parent left behind children who missed them and were painfully missed. It was unsurprising seeing some of these, parents determined to preserve some sense of family where they could. Children spending time with fathers in camp my not have been common and no, you don't find them in front line camps. That families pitched a tent between war and separation at all means fathers got to be fathers, at least for awhile. It's a nice thought.

kids camp 5th us cav.JPG

5th US Cavalry, officers and one officer-dad.

ladies 125 ohio.jpg

125th OVI- one of my favorites because father and son on the left not only look very much alike, Dad looks pretty pleased about it.

And Alexandria's Camp Misery wasn't so awful of you had the kids there, too.
officers wife2.jpg

For a second think about what we're seeing. Camp ' Misery ', Alexandria, so called before women got their hands on it was for walking wounded, men recovering from wounds. Dad was still alive, wounded, but he's here.

ow officers wife block house.gif

It's blurry and no ID which blockhouse, more children in camp meant one, more day with Dad.

There are more, thought I'd leave them for members to post their own favorites. And Happy Father's Day.

camp baby crop.jpg
 
Had to laugh at the phrase..”Camp Misery, until the women got their hands on it”. Yup. Even separate from the Sanitary Commission, women were a great influence on camp life when they were around. I wonder how many soldiers went and got cleaner than they’d been bothered to get once they heard the woman folk were coming?
 
Had to laugh at the phrase..”Camp Misery, until the women got their hands on it”. Yup. Even separate from the Sanitary Commission, women were a great influence on camp life when they were around. I wonder how many soldiers went and got cleaner than they’d been bothered to get once they heard the woman folk were coming?


Right? Sorry the top of head is missing so much memory, will look it up and you'd love it- descriptions of how appalled those relief workers were when soldiers who'd been there wrote for HELP are wonderful! There were some mad females rolling up their sleeves. LoC and a few other sites have photos of the camp from ' after ', neat rows of white buildings and neat, clean cots inside, etc. I can't find ' before ' images but plenty of descriptions. Women really did wade in to a lot of chaos and made sense of what had been shambles.
 
View attachment 311947
Someone may know who is this family. That mothers packed up children and brought them to the war, to be with soldier fathers seems indicative of how precious each was to the other. We're left with quite a few images like these. Thanks to LoC we get to see these moments from a country at war when every day was Father's Day.

View attachment 311957
We can't imagine what's behind this image, a couple ensuring Dad was available as long as possible. That tiny house, a baby and housekeeping in the middle of a war? He was needed.

It hasn't been possible to track down most of these fathers. Somewhere must be each photographer's journal, diary or log where we'd find them. Somewhere also you just know are the letters, diaries or journals of That Day A Photographer Came To Camp. One of our experts may know more ( which would not be me ).

View attachment 311954
Snip from an LoC image of a band review, Camp Stoneman. As usual, a squirmy baby is blurred but still there, apparently an older son knew how to sit still.

I'm not sure we can understand what these separations were like unless you're a member of our military. Serving their country, a parent left behind children who missed them and were painfully missed. It was unsurprising seeing some of these, parents determined to preserve some sense of family where they could. Children spending time with fathers in camp my not have been common and no, you don't find them in front line camps. That families pitched a tent between war and separation at all means fathers got to be fathers, at least for awhile. It's a nice thought.

View attachment 311950
5th US Cavalry, officers and one officer-dad.

View attachment 311951
125th OVI- one of my favorites because father and son on the left not only look very much alike, Dad looks pretty pleased about it.

And Alexandria's Camp Misery wasn't so awful of you had the kids there, too.
View attachment 311952
For a second think about what we're seeing. Camp ' Misery ', Alexandria, so called before women got their hands on it was for walking wounded, men recovering from wounds. Dad was still alive, wounded, but he's here.

View attachment 311953
It's blurry and no ID which blockhouse, more children in camp meant one, more day with Dad.

There are more, thought I'd leave them for members to post their own favorites. And Happy Father's Day.

View attachment 311949
These are wonderful! Thank you for sharing!
 
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