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The Civil War: Younger Brother Ambushed Near Creek

By Capper's Staff
Published on October 30, 2012

During the Civil War, my husband’s great-uncle came home one night. The next morning, the younger brother put on his soldier brother’s coat and cap and took the brother’s horse to the creek for water. Coming back to the house, he saw wild turkey tracks. He thought he would follow them, hoping to get a turkey for dinner. He saw a purse laying on the ground and when he got off the horse to pick it up, two men began to shoot at him from the bushes. The cavalry horse was trained, so he stood still and threw his head down. The boy had no choice but to fight or be killed. He grabbed his brother’s gun, killed one man and crippled the other. He followed the bloody tracks of the crippled one to a neighbor’s house.

Mrs. J.F. McKeehan
La Monte, Missouri


Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then CAPPER’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from CAPPER’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.