Little House on the Campaigner

[PVTJethro]

I was having a discussion with a friend and we were talking about Laura Ingall's family and she said that (my Friend,not Laura Ingalls:D)her Mother had two Brothers that fought at Shiloh. I've wondered ever since what Regiment(s) they served in. Minnesota?Michigan? or Maybe Wisconsin? I believe their name was Holbrook ( going by the T.V. Series ). Any thoughts on the Subject? I can just picture them sitting together for a Photo wearing uniform dress coats and maybe U.S. Army dress Hats. Any feedback would be appreciated. Clifford Earl Hyde

[Dignann]

Re: Little House on the Campaigner

Clifford,

A little digging around on the Internet brought back the following:

Joseph Carpenter QUINER was born 15 Mar 1834 in Ohio. He died 28 Apr 1862 in Savannah, George. Joseph married Nancy FRANK on 25 Dec 1856 in Concord, Jefferson, Wisconsin.

A private in the 16th Wisconsin Infantry, Co. B., during the Civil War. Enlisted 07 January 1862. Wounded on 06 April 1862 at Shiloh. Died of wounds on 28 April 1862 in Savannah, Georgia.

http://www.dahoudek.com/LIW/ingalls/aqwg04.htm

Eric

[Rob Weaver]

Re: Little House on the Campaigner

Laura's cousin on the adjacent farm in Pepin, Wisconsin (Uncle Peter's son) went to war too. The one she describes as having come back home "wild." He's described in the sugaring off chapter as wearing his army overcoat while working. Later on, at a family party, he shows off by blowing a bugle. I've always thought of his as a bit of a PTSD case. I can't find my copy of "Little House in the Big Woods" to get his name.

[SCTiger]

Re: Little House on the Campaigner

Later on, at a family party, he shows off by blowing a bugle. I've always thought of his as a bit of a PTSD case.

No, blowing the bugle isn't PTSD, that's the episode where he's running around the farm at night killing the animals with his bayonet and screaming "Waake up Johnnie Reb has overrun the camp, head to the landing!"

[Rob Weaver]

Re: Little House on the Campaigner

LOL - What I meant was that several of her stories include details which suggest that her cousin was still putting his army experience behind him, and possibly not being too successful in doing so. The characterisation of "wild" was what the other adults said of him. He seems aware of their somewhat condemning attitude, because he asks her: "Have you ever seen a wild man before?" (Or words to that effect.) Now given that Laura was born in 1867, and is supposed to be 3 or 4 in "Big Woods" (she telescoped her life several times in the series, so dates are difficult for the early books especially) that would make those stories come from 1870 at the earliest. Given that the incidents actually may have happened when the family returned to Wisconsin, they may have been a year or two later than that. It's just a sense I have that he had a little bit of trouble settling back into Big Woods society after having seen the elephant.

[PVTJethro]

Re: Little House on the Campaigner

Well, thanks guys, this is interesting. We had talked about Laura's Father, Charles not having served and i wondered why? religious beliefs maybe. Thanks for the feedback. Clifford Earl Hyde

[MissAnnaMae]

Re: Little House on the Campaigner

I checked the book "Laura: The Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder" and while it doesn't give any reason for why Charles did not enlist in the War, it did mention that his two brothers, Hiram and James, joined the 1st Regiment of Heavy Artillery in the Minnesota Volunteers during the waning months of the War and participated in Sherman's March. Charles' father, Lansford, went after the boys as he thought James at age 19 was too young to go to War. James persisted and his father let him go. Maybe Charles faced the same objections from his father and didn't press the subject??

[Rob Weaver]

Re: Little House on the Campaigner

My wife is up on the Ingalls family relationships, and we talked about this once. At the moment, I can't remember what her theory was. The Ingalls farms are adjacent, and they shared a lot of the labor. I think Charles stayed at home because he simply couldn't be spared. Also, he was newly married at the beginning of the war (I think). (Interesting reminder that even in the midst of war, life goes on.)

[MissAnnaMae]

Re: Little House on the Campaigner

Rob-
They were married in February of 1860. Their firstborn, Mary, came along in January of 1865.

Another interesting CW tie-in: Laura's maid-of-honor, Ida Brown, was reputed to be a relative of the abolitionist John Brown...

[Rob Weaver]

Re: Little House on the Campaigner

I couldn't remember if they were married in 60 or 61. (Wow- I can hardly remember when my own parents were married and here we are talking about people we've never met as if they were family!)

[KarinTimour]

Re: Little House on the Campaigner

From "Little Town on the Prarie"

".....Laura's seatmate answered that her name was Ida WRight but she was called Ida Brown. She was the adopted daughter of Reverand Brown and Mrs. Brown....."

---- page 128

"...Someone knocked at the door. Mrs. Tinkham hurried to it, and Rev. and Mrs. Brown came in. His rumbling voice filled the room with greetings to everyone and then he talked with Mrs. Tinkham about the home she had left in Massachusetts.

'Not much like this place,' he said. 'But we are all strange here.'

He fascinated Laura. She did not like him. Pa said he claimed to be a cousin of John Brown of Ossawatomie who had killed so many men in Kansas and finally succeeded in starting the Civil War. Rev. Brown did look just like the picture of John Brown in Laura's history book." pages 207-208

One of the fascinating things about this passage is that we've got documentation that in the 1870s they had pictures of John Brown in school books, and that Laura Wilder (at least) thought that his goal was to start the Civil War.

For a terrific discussion of the portrayal of John Brown and his role in history (and how it has changed in response to the current events at the time that each particular history text book was published), I recommend a fascinating book called Lies my Teacher Told Me: Everything your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen (ISBN 1-56584-100-X).

The author spent two years at the Smithsonian Institution surveying 12 leading high school textbooks of American history. From the back cover "what he found was an embarrassing amalgam of bland optimism, blind patriotism, and misinformation pure and simple, weighing in at an average of four-and-a-half pounds and 888 pages. In response he has written Lies My Teacher Told Me, in part a telling critique of existing textbooks, but, more importantly, a wonderful retelling of American history as it should -- and could-- be taught to American students."

His discussion of the ways that Abraham Lincoln and John Brown are taught in schools is worth the price of the book to those of us who care about these two men. And the preceeding chapter, which is entitled "Gone with the Wind..." well, if you're interested, go scope it out through interlibrary loan.

Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Sleeping Hats, Balaclavas
Come see me at September Storm -- I'll have the sock line with me.
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com