The Civil War Had a Senior Citizen Regiment and Other Amazing Obscure Facts

The Civil War Had a Senior Citizen Regiment and Other Amazing Obscure Facts

Khalid Elhassan - March 30, 2022

The Civil War Had a Senior Citizen Regiment and Other Amazing Obscure Facts
Civil War child soldier John Clem. Fine Art America

23. Underage Civil War Children Sometimes Had to Struggle With the Morality of Lying About Their Age in Order to Enlist

In 1864, thirteen-year-old Aspinwall Fuller ran away from his home in Baltimore to join the fight. It was quite common: boys bored out of their skulls with the drudgery of work or chores saw the Civil War as an opportunity for adventure and excitement. Many lied about their age – which was easy to do in an era when proving age was difficult. Others, more conscientious and not wanting to lie outright, wrote the numeral 16 – the minimum age for enlistment at the time – on a piece of paper and stuck it beneath their shoe.

There was a certain moral logic behind that. That way, underage would-be recruits reasoned they could truthfully swear on a Bible that they were, literally, “over 16“. Whether through lies, stratagem, or a recruiter who simply did not care, Fuller managed to enlist in the Union Navy. He served from 1864 to 1867. As an adult, he became a marine engineer, and in 1887, became president of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association – a position he held until his death a year later.

Read too: John Clem – The 12-Year Old Civil War Hero.

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