A wild Civil War story for you all

[AntivaxHunters]

While bullshit surrounds Twitter, there's still very good stuff on there. It's just more difficult to find.

And then is quite a gem 💎
Enjoy! 😁

[Hotler]

1. Thank you for your service John.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

2. 9 year old in the line of fire of artillery shells?? Child labor laws have advanced a tad, now the

children can die less violently in meat factories!

Parents, where?

Don’t salute military service??… of any child in a civil war hundreds of years ago.

Not ok then, not now.

[Hortensis]

17. Different realities. In those days parents lacking means

to support children could give them away to other families or employers with the agreement that they'd work to earn their support, which could be very minimal. Ships, including war ships, often had small children as crew members. Separated families often never saw each other again, and dreadful exploitation of the helpless was common. (So was decent people having to act.)

In fact, it was a very poor and harsh world compared to today's high level of prosperity and wellbeing. And everyone lived much closer to death then than now, especially babies and children. Though average life expectancy was only 39, it was that low above all because so many died very young.

Different realities. I'll go ahead and respect the officers who treated this boy kindly and fairly for the times. There were plenty who wouldn't.

[Doc_Technical]

31. Powder Monkeys

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_monkey

[Hortensis]

32. Right. Drummer boys accompanying infantry into battle.

[stuck in the middle]

22. "Life is hard"

A Former Girl Soldier in Colombia Finds ‘Life Is Hard’ as a Civilian

The New York Times

April 27, 2016

CALDAS, Colombia — Mélida was only 9 when guerrilla fighters lured her away with the promise of food as she played on the floor. For the next seven years she was held hostage by the rebels, forced to become a child soldier.

Her family thought she had died in battle. Then Mélida suddenly returned to her village at 16, carrying a pistol and a grenade. Only her grandfather recognized her — from a birthmark on her cheek.

The very next day, the military surrounded her house, called by an informant seeking the bounty on her head.

“I found out my own father had turned me in,” she recalled.

snip---— (video at link)

(Gifted article, no subscription necessary)

Link to article

Leonor González Mina - Violencia (en vivo) - Teatro Colón

Fragmentos (english subtitles)

Museo Nacional de Colombia

[Playingmantis]

23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_soldiers_in_the_American_Civil_War FYI

Throughout the American Civil War, approximately 250,000–420,000 males under the age of 18 were involved in both Union and Confederate forces.[1] It is estimated that 100,000 Union soldiers were 15 years of age or younger.[2] By one estimate, approximately ten percent of Union soldiers were underaged (it is likely the Confederate army had a similar proportion of underage soldiers)

[txwhitedove]

27. I had already known this, but thanks for posting facts. Article

notes Clem "ran away from home", tried to join more than one Regiment, and then tagged along with one. They finally took him in, fed and paid him. Times were hell and desperate.

I remember seeing a young boy with a wagon tied to his bike, hauling water, etc, home the week after Hurricane Katrina in Bay St. Louis, MS. We had NO services, missing roads, houses, obstacles and destruction everywhere. I could tell his mama must have had babies at home. He was on a mission.

[stuck in the middle]

24. Some recent good news

The New York Times

June 13, 2023

Colombian Children Rescued in Jungle Had Been Fleeing for Their Lives

The father of two of the survivors said the family had feared the children would be recruited by a violent armed group.

snip——(more at link)

(Gifted article, no subscription necessary)

Link to article



The New York Times

June 27, 2023

The Unexpected Rescuers Who Found Colombia’s Missing Children

Colombia’s Indigenous Guard has long had to fight for a space in the national narrative. Today, it is at the center of the country’s biggest story.

snip——(more at link)

(Gifted article, no subscription necessary)

Link to article


The Beatles - Revolution

[Warpy]

33. 160 years, plus or minus a few

They had laws against child soldiers back then, but the kid was stubborn as hell and wouldn't leave. I guess they figured handing him a drum and keeping him in the rear would keep him out of the way and safer than just having him anywhere near the front. He was likely more mascot than anything else until he'd been wounded by shrapnel, issued a cut down gun so he could defend himself.

He most likely got a special enlistment when it finally happened, a kid who had been wounded twice having earned his place. Besides, he just wouldn't quit and go home.

I know it's hard for us to wrap our heads around, but that's how a lot of poor kids found their professions, they just showed up and wouldn't leave. Child labor was the norm and some children wanted to choose something besides dangerous mining and factory work.

Don't blame the parents, they likely had so many mouths to feed that when one disappeared into work, they were grateful, especially if the kids sent them some of his/her income.

[Liberty Belle]

3. I know a descendant of another Shiloh drummer boy and have seen the drum.

It has a peephole in it with Civil War scenes inside. That drummer boy was named Philo Case.

The descendant,now about 90, owns Hatfield Creek Winery in Ramona. Every Fourth of July and Memorial Day, he takes the drum out of his case and plays it. Amazing.

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/memorial-day-remember

[duhneece]

8. I shared with my niece in Temecula/Hemet

She’ll be interested

[The Wielding Truth]

30. What an interesting find.Thanks.

[keithbvadu2]

4. 1+

[Aristus]

5. That look says: "Yeah. You want to secede and keep your enslaved people?

I got something for your asses!..."

Tough little guy.

[LoisB]

6. Interesting story. I don't think I have heard this one before. Thanks for posting.

[Faux pas]

7. Wow!

Respect!

[niyad]

9. Thank you for this fascinating information.

[intheflow]

10. I'd heard of him before, for a library program I put together called Kid History.

What I find disturbing about this is, where were his parents or guardians? A 9-year-old runs away and his family didn't search for him? I'm guessing he was able to be so ruthless and such a fighter at such a young age because he was severely abused at home.

[bif]

13. Yeah, his parents should have gone on the internet and...

Oh wait! This was 1861.

[intheflow]

35. I read a little more and his mother was killed in a train accident.

But you act like no one ever reported a missing person before the internet, or most grieved parents would have joyfully reunited with their kid when the kid became famous, so they finally knew where to find him.

[Bluethroughu]

11. Johnny be good!

Wow.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. Child soldiers are an abomination.

Also some misinformation in that tweet; most sources agree he wasn't at Shiloh.

[CaptainTruth]

14. Damn, that brought a tear to my eye.

What a life, it could be made into a movie. I'd watch it!

[3Hotdogs]

16. Then there is the movie about the 12 year old who enlisted in the navy during We2.

When his age was found, he was court martial end and tossed in the brig.

[carpetbagger]

18. My grandfather went into the army at 15.

Got kicked out when they found out his age. The next week he enlisted in the Navy. When he died, we had to decide what to put on his grave marker, since he was army, navy, wartime merchantarine, and wartime coast guard.

[3Hotdogs]

21. Wow!

I’m sure you’re proud of him.

[Staph]

25. It was made into a movie!

Or, technically, into a two part show on the Wonderful World of Disney, back in 1963. "Johnny Shiloh" stared Kevin Corcoran, one of Disney's reliable and capable child actors. I remember watching it as a child.

[brewens]

15. The last Civil War widow died in 2020. We are probably down to a handful of people

that actually knew Civil War veterans. Some more might remember meeting one when they were a little kid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War_widows_who_survived_into_the_21st_century

[Tree Lady]

19. Pretty crazy she married a 93 yr old

and she was around 17.

[appalachiablue]

34. Some vets also wanted to pass along their pension which could have been of help, just sayin.

[Kennah]

20. General Clem

[Martin68]

26. I really don't know whether a child should be in combat.

If so, why do we have labor laws to protect children?

[robbob]

28. Nobody is saying children should be fighting in wars!

This is a story that happened. And a remarkable one at that. I don’t think anyone here is presenting this as a model of how we could restructure our combat units.

[intheflow]

36. The Civil War was 40-50 years before anyone thought seriously about child labor laws.

Back then, they thought "infants" (children under 8) were children, and then everyone older were just kind of mini-adults. This is before compulsory public schools became the law of the country, and many in some places the only schooling you could get had to be bought or was through a religious lens, and often both.

[Martin Eden]

29. Shiloh and Chickamauga were two of the most savage battles

Little "Johnny" Clem was a very valiant young man!

[Snackshack]

37. An entire life...

Devoted to the service of country and others. I don’t get the impression he viewed it in any other way.

I have read about him before. It is an amazing story. How at his age he was able to stand his ground inside the maelstrom of chaos war is and play his drum is incredible.