|
Maj. Gen. Henry W. Lawton, "General Walton"
1843-1899
 We never get to meet "General Walton" in the
Little Colonel Stories, but we sure get to hear a lot about him.
In fact, General "Walton" was one of the most
famous military figures of his time to have been so nearly forgotten
a century later. You would have had to come from Mars in 1900
not to have heard of him.
After a long and brilliant
career, beginning in the Civil War when he won the Presidential
Medal of Honor, continuing into the Indian Wars, where he was in
command of the unit that captured the Apache Chief Geronimo, to the
Spanish-American War where he achieved glory in the Cuban Campaign
in the same battle more famously known for Teddy Roosevelt's and the
Rough Riders' charge on San Juan Hill, General Lawton became the
only American General to die in battle during the conflicts spawned
by the Spanish-American War. At the Battle for San Mateo,
Philippine Islands, Lawton was killed by a sharpshooter under the
command of a Philippine insurgent general named Lucerio Geronimo. Irony
knows no limits.
And here is where the story
becomes so important for the development of the Little Colonel
books. It was only after the General's demise that his
wife and children, who customarily followed him wherever he went,
returned to the United States, now in relative poverty. Without the
General's income for support, and to pay off the debt for their home
in Redlands, California,
Mrs. Lawton & the children moved to Louisville (and a
house that is
a center for much of the story of
The Little Colonel's Holidays.)
A national subscription for the family of the fallen hero (by school
children donating pennies, no less) helped pay
off the debts and for a new home for the family (The
Beeches) in 1901. Because of the close knit circle of
friends and relations in Louisville and Pewee ("Lloydsboro") Valley,
Mrs. Lawton became a close friend of Annie Fellows Johnston and with
her charm and imagination, a significant character and contributor
to the stories.
Here is the classic dark cloud
with the silver lining. If General Lawton had lived, it's
unlikely that the Little Colonel books, had they continued at all,
would have in any way resembled what we know today. There
would be none of the adventures of Allison, Kitty, Ranald or Elise,
nor the guiding hand of Mrs. Walton throughout the volumes.
Historical speculation can go
wild here as well. At the extreme: Teddy Roosevelt,
by then a close friend of General Lawton, had remarked that he
would have chosen Lawton as his Secretary of War had he lived.
Roosevelt's second choice, William Howard Taft, actually became the
next President of the United States, much as a result of Roosevelt's
backing. Now what if... What if General Lawton had
lived. Is there a small chance that our beloved "Walton's"
could have become America's First Family? At the very least,
the next president would likely have been someone other
than Taft.
General Lawton
is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
along with his wife, and daughter Catherine/"Kitty" ( Section
2, Grave 841).
Impressions of
Maj. Gen. Lawton
(excerpt)
"Most people who attended the reception at the Galt
House last evening, given in his honor, saw but one side of the
man. To most of those who received from him a cordial
hand-grasp he appeared as a dignified warrior without frills or
flounces. And so he is, but there is another side to his
character. A Times reporter who spent more than an hour and a
half with him yesterday afternoon, ascertained this when one of
his young nephews came bounding into the room and exclaimed,
"Why, where's Uncle Henry?" "Uncle Henry" had just vanished.
He had gone to join a group of little fellows upstairs and help
entertain them. The nephew had missed him. Soon the youngsters
above were laughing right merrily, and over and over and again
one might hear the General's laugh.......
"As for the reception, Gen. Lawton
found there a distinguished company to welcome him in true
Kentucky style. It was a hearty, unmistakable welcome, and the
General seemed to regard it as such. But for all that, the
writer could not help saying to himself that the General seemed
a trifle bored at times, that he would rather have been back at
the nursery at the Culbertson's, playing with the boys."
The Louisville
Times, Thursday, November 10, 1898
click here for more articles on this visit to Louisville
Back to "The
Walton's"
This Site:
Home Page
What's New? Biography of Annie Fellows
Johnston,
Books on Line (Complete
Original Little Colonel Book Series)
The Little Colonel (link to U. Penn))
The
Giant Scissors
Two Little
Knights of Kentucky
The Little Colonel's
House Party
The Little Colonel's
Holidays
The Little Colonel's Hero
The Little Colonel
at Boarding-School
The Little Colonel in
Arizona
The Little
Colonel's Christmas Vacation
The Little Colonel, Maid of
Honor
The Little Colonel's
Knight Comes Riding
Mary Ware, The Little Colonel's
Chum
Mary Ware in Texas
Mary Ware's Promised Land
Check our home page for more titles by AFJ on other sites
The People & Characters:
The Little Colonel, Papa
Jack and Mrs. Sherman, The
Old Colonel, Two Little
Knights of Kentucky,
Two Little Knights of Kentucky(2),
Uncle Sidney & Aunt
Elise, parents of the Two Little Knights of Kentucky,
Grandmother McIntyre,
Aunt Allison, The
Waltons, Rob and Anna
Moore, Betty,
Joyce Ware,
Jack Ware, Mom Beck,
Walker, Katherine Marks,
Gay Melville,
The Lees of Arizona,
Small Parts
Their Final Resting Places
The Places: in Pewee (Lloydsboro) Valley:
Map,
Map 2,
Where it all began, The Locust,
The Beeches
Edgewood,
The Little Colonel's Cottage,
The Railroad Station,
"Lloydsboro Seminary",
Clovercroft, The
Post Office, Churches,
The Haunted House at Hartwell Hollow,
Confederate Home
Rollington,
Minor Places In Old Louisville:
The Culbertson
Mansion, "Home of a Hero" Elsewhere:
The Cuckoo's Nest (Indiana),
Lee's Ranch,
Camelback Mountain &
Hole-in-Rock (Arizona),
San Antonio and
The Little Town of Bauer (Boerne),
Texas,
The Gate of the Giant Scissors (France)
Letters from Annie
Fellows Johnston and "Mrs Walton"
Scrapbook
Links
Cooking with The Little Colonel
Guest Book
Email us about this site
We always appreciate your suggestions and insights, and will do our
best to answer your questions.. Much of the material included on
this site comes from devoted Little Colonel Fans like you.
Subscribe to our mailing list
Visit historic Old Louisville
on the web at the:
Old Louisville Guide
(Old Louisville and
Literature)
The Samuel Culbertson Mansion
Historic Inn
in Historic Old Louisville
(your host for this web site)
Home Page
Rooms Page
Annie Fellows Johnston
Room The East
Room The
President's Room
The Little Colonel Suite
The Knights of Kentucky
Suite
The General Lawton
Suite
History
Samuel Culbertson & the
Kentucky Derby
General Henry W.
Lawton
The Samuel
Culbertson Mansion
"Home of the Two Little Knights of Kentucky"
1432 S. Third Street
Louisville, KY 40208
(502) 634-3100
inn@culbertsonmansion.com
original material & research ©
1998-2007 LittleColonel.com
|
This web site is devoted to
