An innovative study of underage soldiers and their previously
unrecognized impact on Civil War era America. The smooth faces of
boy soldiers stand out in Civil War photography, their spindly
physiques contrasting with the uniformed adults they stood
alongside. Yet until now, scholars have largely overlooked the
masses of underaged youths who served as musicians, carried wounded
from the field, ran messages, took up arms, and died in both the
Union and Confederate armies. Of Age is the first comprehensive
study of how Americans responded to the unauthorized enlistment of
minors in this conflict and the implications that followed. Frances
M. Clarke and Rebecca Jo Plant offer military, legal, medical,
social, political, and cultural perspectives as well as demographic
analysis of this important aspect of the war. They find that
underage enlistees comprised roughly ten percent of the Union army
and likely a similar proportion of Confederate forces-but these
enlistees' importance extended beyond sheer numbers. Clarke and
Plant introduce common but largely unknown wartime scenarios. Boys
who absconded without consent set off protracted struggles between
households and the military, as parents used various arguments to
recover their sons. State judges and the US federal government
battled over whether to discharge boys discovered to be under age.
African American youths discovered that both Union and Confederate
officers ignored their evident age when using them as conscripts or
military laborers. Meanwhile, nineteenth-century Americans
expressed little concern over what exposure to violence might do to
young minds, readily accepting their presence in battle. In fact,
underage soldiers became prevalent symbols of the US war effort,
shaping popular memory for decades to come. An original and
sweeping work, Of Age convincingly demonstrates why underage
enlistment is such an important lens for understanding the history
of children and youth and the transformative effects of the US
Civil War.
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