Lives+of+Children+during+the+War

=toc The Young and Brave= //Children of the Civil War//

Intro
From the beginning of society, children have played an important role.In the [|1800s] many young American boys and girls stepped up and served for their country in the Civil war. Some of them were drummers, other helped out at the camps, and the brave few went into battle to fight in the front lines. Union and Confederate alike, young troops joined to take the future into their hands and do their share of service.

Enlisting
During the civil war, in 1861, Lincoln passed a law that stated people under eighteen years of age could not become soldiers. Though they could not serve without their parents' consent, many found ways to get around this rule. Some ran away from home, while others used fake information. The young age of these soldiers did not hinder their passion for war, as said by one Confederate soldier, "I'd rather die than become a slave to the Noth."

Children at the Battlefield
After the Battle of Fredericksburg, a drummer boy of fifteen years, named Charles Bardeen writes about his expirence to his mother from Massachussetts:

Dear Mother, My first battle is over and I saw nearly all of it…. Saturday the hardest fighting was done. I saw the Irish Brigade make three charges. They started with full ranks, and I saw them, in less time than it takes to write this, exposed to a galling fire of shot and shell and almost decimated…. I saw wounded men brought in by the hundred and dead men lying stark on the field, and then I saw our army retreat to the very place they started from, a loss incalculable in men, horses, cannon, small arms, knapsacks, and all the implements of war, and I am discouraged. I came out here sanguine as any one, but I have seen enough, and I am satisfied that we never can whip the South…. Let any one go into the Hospital where I was and see the scenes that I saw…. The sight of hundreds of prostrate men with serious wounds of every description was appaling. Many to relieve their suffering were impatient for their turn upon the amputation tables, around which were pyramids of severed legs and arms…. Many prayed alound, while others shrieked in the agony and throes of death...

The experiences that these children would go through during the Civil War. Here is onew account from the son of U.S. Grant (who was a soldier in the war):

After we had been in the field a year or two the call, ‘Fall in for your hard-tack!’ was leisurely responded to by only about a dozen men…. Hard-tack was very hard. This I attributed to its great age, for there was a common belief among the boys that our hard-tack had been baked long before the beginning of the Christian era. This opinion was based upon the fact that the letters “B.C.” were stamped on many, if not, indeed, all the cracker-boxes.

Children's Clothing (Video)
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Girls
Though males were commonly thought of as the "supirior gender", the young women of the Civil war did duty for their country. Most females helped out as nurses for the wounded. (Civil War Nurses). Younger children would serve as helpers.

John Clem
One of the many young soldiers who fought in the Civil war was John (Johnny) Clem from Newark, Ohio. At the age of nine he decided to enlisht in the army. First he went to one of the Ohio regiments, but he had no luck as nobody wanted to hire him as a soldier because of his young age. Next, he went to the 22nd Michigan regiment and asked the commander if he could join. Once again, he was turned away from employment. Desperate to help, he tagged along anyway and eventually was accepted as part of the regiment. Johnny became the camp's drummer boy and helped out with basic everyday tasks. Though he was not officially enrolled in the army, the commander of his regiment still paid him thirteen dollars, the same as a soldier was paid. During the time he was serving, he aquired a few nicknames. Among these were "the Drummer Boy of Chickamauga" and "Johnny Shiloh", after having fought in both battles. He also became an accomplished sergeant by the age of twelve and a major general.

He died May 13,1937 and was buried in the Arlington National Cemetary.