The Tragic History of the U.S. Child Warriors

The Tragic History of the U.S. Child Warriors

Khalid Elhassan - June 9, 2020

The Tragic History of the U.S. Child Warriors
A black child sailor with two Union officers during the Civil War. Heritage Auction

35. Ranking Child Sailors

The US Navy employed a ranking system for its child crewmembers, literally and officially labeled “Boy Sailors”. At the bottom of the heap were powder monkeys, the youngest and smallest crewmembers. Next came Boy 3rd Class, who typically served as stewards or in clerical capacity, often in port.

As they grew up and gained experience, the child sailors could rise to Boy 2nd Class, then Boy 1st Class. At age eighteen, they automatically became rated as ordinary seamen, receiving the same pay and becoming subjected to the same discipline as regular adult sailors.

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