Hugh Munroe is the younger brother of Lafayette Munroe, Alice Munroe, Sally Munroe, Dimity Munroe and Letty Munroe. He is one of the youngest male characters at the start of the novel, being born post 1852 (so aged nine at most). As such, he is one of the few male characters to not fight in the Civil War other than the babies born during the war.
After his brother Lafe's death in The Battle of Gettysburg (1863), he is his father's sole heir. Two of his sisters are married, but Dimity and Letty remain in his care.