How old did you have to be to volunteer legally for the Confederate Army?
From this article, it looks kinda like a “don’t ask, don’t tell” situation:
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/children_civilwar/child_soldiers.cfm
It appears the minimum age was 18 in the North…but they’re talking about 15-year-olds on the confederate side. Ugly situation, that war.
There must have been some official restriction. My grandfather was sent home after Stones River for being too young and went back after his birthday. I just don’t know which birthday.
My husband went into the Marines during the Vietnam era at the age of 17. I don’t remember if he had to get parental approval or if he bullshitted his way through.
The Civil War took so many casualties that I think they got to the point where even though the books said 18 years old, they just took anyone big enough to carry a gun. I noticed some of those paragraphs in the cite (and others I skimmed) talked of kids doing more non-combat stuff like helping with stretchers and other duties that didn’t involve shooting. However, if you’re on the front, the distinction is rather silly. You’d be better off being issued a weapon if the other guys are shooting at you.
Zoe: I turned 16 at Shiloh. If you could shoot good they didn’t care how old you were.
OK:
I enlisted just a short time after my 17th birthday. Required parental consent, but no bullshitting. 17 yr. olds in the military service weren’t at all unusual during that time.
The difference, I think, is that these days the military won’t accept an enlistee without a high school diploma and by default, most graduates are already 18, or very close to it. I dropped out of HS, but all I needed to enlist was to pass a test that was easy (IIRC), and get my mom’s signature.
Back then, the military was the “go to” place for guys that quit school, and it worked out pretty well for both parties. Thus a number of17 yr. olds in the service.
I’d guess that a Confederate soldier had to be below the age of 16 before getting sent home, but that’s just a guess.
I can tell you the Confederate draft law was for men 18-35. (The US draft was for men 20-35). I wouldn’t be surprised if the legal enlistment age was 18, for non-musicians, but that in practice that was ignored.