Children's Participation in the Civil War Was Common and Tragic

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Different to other American wars there was a high participation in the Civil war of children under the age of 18. The exact number is unknown but they probably made five percent out of all soldiers and they were involved in all aspects. Some had to fight in the battlefield while others - especially girls - served as scouts, or nurses for the injured people. And even those who didn’t participate directly in the war saw their lives changing because they had to take on the responsibilities of their family members who were actually in the war.
In 1861, President Lincoln announced that boys under eighteen could enlist only with their parents’ consent (“Child Soldiers” by Mintz, S., & McNeil, S.). Even though it was completely prohibited to enlist under the age of eighteen after the next year, many officers ignored this because of the heavy casualties. Those boys cheated with using fake names and ages to enlist, so that their parents would not be able to turn away their enlistment. If boys were not picked to participate in the training to be a soldier in the war, they were still allowed to do smaller, less valued jobs. Thousands of them participated as drummers, messengers or assistants for surgeons and nurses. The music children’s’ job was it to relay officers’ commands, signaling reveille, roll calling, or sounding for company drill and taps. A more important job was being a drummer boy. Those children lead the teams into battles, so they were an easy target for the enemies.
The reason for many of those children to enlist was to escape their normal “boring” life, jealous of older siblings, or the fear to become a slave like a southern boy who said: “I reather die then be com a Slave to the North (qtd. in “Child Soldiers”).” Many of ...

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...d or just wore ragged shirts or pants.
In 1865, when the war came to an end the southern children were sad about their defeat, and the northern children glad about their win. But they all had one fact in common: almost everybody lost at least one relative or friend and those children will never forget what they saw, heard and read. They are scared for their life. Only the fact that this bloody war had an end in their minds, the young children started a normal life with looking into the future not the past.

Works Cited

1. Mintz, S., and S. McNeil. "Child Soldiers." Digital History. (2013): n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. .
2. Clapp, Lida . "Lives of Children During The Civil War." n. page. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. .

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