In 1861, 9-year-old John Clem ran away from home and joined the Union Army, serving as a drummer boy in the 22nd Michigan Infantry. That much is known for sure. After that, the historical record becomes murky, as the legend of “Johnny Shiloh” overshadowed the truth.
In fact, Clem was never at Shiloh because his unit wasn’t mustered into service until months after the bloody battle. In addition, his birth name was Klem. How and why it changed, no one seems to know.
When it comes to writing about underage boys serving in the Civil War, separating fact from fiction is a tall order. Historians Frances M. Clarke and Rebecca Jo Plant have slashed through the fog of war to present a data-driven document that is both enlightening and unnerving in detailing the incredible numbers of youth who marched off to war in a divided country.
Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era
By Frances M. Clarke and Rebecca Jo Plant
Oxford University Press, 2023, $34.95
Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era dispels the myths and dives deep into the hard reality of how both sides ignored minimum enlistment ages and admitted countless boys into military service. By their reckoning, the authors determined that at least 10 percent of Union troops were under the legal age of 21 (later 18 with an act of Congress)—far higher than the 1.6 percent estimated by previous historians. Confederate numbers were likely just as high, though more difficult to confirm due to a lack of records.
In a scholarly report, the book provides often disturbing insight into a society that
