The Role Of Youth In The Civil War

The Contributions of Children and Youth to the American Civil War

Political figures, leaders in power, and symbolic individuals such as Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant, are generally perceived by many to be major factors in the outcome of the Civil War. However, ordinary people that played smaller, although still significant roles are often forgotten; in particular, children and youth, including college boys who campaigned and raised anti-slavery awareness as well as fought in the war, young boys who engaged in battle and physically and tactically aided adult soldiers, and young women who supported soldiers from home in the midst of dysphoria and distress. Therefore, had it not been for the American youth of the 1860’s, the outcome …show more content…
In a letter written to the secretary of the navy, President Lincoln writes, “The United States doesn’t need the services of boys who disobey their parents.” However, enlistment officers still turned a blind eye, needing the young boys to fill their recruitment quotas. Until March 1864, when Congress prohibited the enlistment of boys under sixteen, boys were a large part of the soldiers who made up the force. Although most boys were mainly assigned jobs as helping with daily routine soldier life, such as musicians and drummers, their presence was still vital. The sound of drumbeats or bugle calls played accurately, could carry important commands far beyond human voices. Young boys provided entertainment, made daily life at soldier camps as smooth as possible and were key in how leaders communicated with soldiers. They also served as mounted couriers or runners, hospital attendants, guards, chaplain assistant, water carriers, or even barbers. Sometimes however, eager young boys put down their drums or scissors and made decisions that could alter entire …show more content…
In fact, young women’s lives were perhaps the most drastically affected by the war. Their relatively comfortable lives were replaced with sights of havoc and bloodshed. Towns were raided, they feared rape from soldiers, and many wondered if their loved ones would ever come home. War was all around them, and they needed to become brave, strong, and emotionless, to make it through the war. One of the biggest contributions made by young women was the partaking in sanitation fairs. These fairs attempted to raise money, clothes, food, and other items to help soldiers in need, and raised more than $4.4 million dollars for the relief of soldiers in the war. Although men were the main administrators, women were the ones doing most of the work. Young women were also heavily involved in nursing and aiding soldiers in the sanitary commission. Like the practice of letting underage soldiers into the ranks, letting underage women in was supposedly restricted. However, ambitious young women were able to lie about their ages and scheme their way into the system, and it seemed to happen often. Sanitation fairs were not the only source for aid either, and the practice was going on all across the country. At colleges that also had women for example, such as Oberlin College, young women reportedly knit socks and bandages from scrap lint for soldiers at