Ethan's Peach Tree - A Civil War Blog

The minimum age for recruitment into the Union army was 18, but recruitment officers weren't particular.  It's estimated that there were nearly 100,000 soldiers in the Union army that were not yet 16 years old.  The picture here is of William Black.  William was 11 years old when he enlisted.  He was shot in the left arm during battle.  At 12 years old, he is thought to be the youngest combat soldier to be wounded during the Civil War.

-SDJ-