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Boy Soldiers of the Civil War

Album Description

A new book examines why the Union Army had so many boy soldiers. This album aggregates photos and other primary sources about some of the boy soldiers. 

 Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era by Frances M. Clarke and Rebecca Jo Plant. Published by Oxford University Press, 2023.

 Related articles:

Smithsonian Magazine

Boys of the Civil War by J. Arthur Moore

  3 - 5   6 - 8   9 - 12   Social Studies/History   Civil War 

The Drummer boy

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200001355/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • D. P. Faulds, Louisville, 1865.

Grave of Elisha Stockwell

Teaching Notes

On Feb. 25, 1862 at the age of 15, Elisha Stockwell, Jr. enlisted in Company 'I' of the 14th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Stockwell was issued a .69-caliber Belgian rifle musket when he joined. He was wounded twice at the Battle of Shiloh, and he fought at Corinth. By the time he fought at Vicksburg, Stockwell was issued a .577-caliber Enfield rifle.  His rifle:   https://nationalzoo.si.edu/object/nmah_1417598

Grave of Elisha Stockwell

Grave of Charles Bickford

Teaching Notes

B Company, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment; born March 1844, date and place of death, May 3, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Virginia,

Grave of Charles Bickford

Link to grave of Charles King

Teaching Notes

Charles E. King enlisted in 1861 at age 12 in Co F 49th PA Vols as a musician; died of wounds in September 1862 at the Battle of Antietam

Link to grave of Charles King

The Buchanan County guardian., January 12, 1864, Image 1

Teaching Notes

Johnny Clem -- The Youngest Soldier in the Army of the Cumberland

Reference link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87058348/1864-01-12/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1861&index=0&date2=1875&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=Clem+Johnny&proxdistance=5&state=&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=Johnny+Clem&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

Reference note

Newspaper: The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864
Newspaper Link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87058348/1864-01-12/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1861&index=0&date2=1...
Image provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa
PDF Link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87058348/1864-01-12/ed-1/seq-1.pdf

[Unidentified boy in Union zouave uniform with drum]

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2012650030/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • [between 1861 and 1865]

Genre

  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Ambrotypes--Hand-colored--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Case: Berg, no. 1-3S.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2012; (DLC/PP-2012:127).
  • -  More information about this collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.lilj
  • -  Purchased from: George S. Whiteley IV, Atlanta, Ga., 2012.
  • -  Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
  • -  Forms part of: Ambrotype/Tintype photograph filing series (Library of Congress).
  • -  Exhibited: "The Civil War in America" at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 2013.
  • -  pp/liljwoch
  • -  pp/liljunion

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 34499 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.34499

[Two soldiers, John Burton and son with drum, in Union uniforms with wife and younger girl and boy] / Bowdoin, Taylor & Co. 204 King, Cor. Columbus Street, Alexandria, Va.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2018652606/

Reference note

Summary

  • Photograph shows identified and unidentified soldiers with family; the boys are possibly Benjamin Burton and John Burton, Jr.

Created / Published

  • [Alexandria, Va.] : [Bowdoin, Taylor & Co., 204 King, cor. Columbus Street], [between 1861 and 1865]

Genre

  • Group portraits--1860-1870
  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Albumen prints--1860-1870
  • Cartes de visite--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Notation on verso: "John Burton, for wife."
  • -  Related to cartes de visite of a younger John Burton and Benjamin Burton, taken in London, and Philip P. Hippert, which were processed as LOT 14043-2, nos. 783-785. The seller noted that these photographs were all from the same album. Preliminary research shows that Philip Hippert's mother was Margarita (AKA Mary Margaret) Burton Hippert of Germantown, Pennsylvania. The John Burton in this photograph is possibly a John Burton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who was married to Ann Jane Burton, although they had two daughters and no sons.
  • -  Tax stamp on verso.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2017; (DLC/PP-2017:171, formerly deposit D073)
  • -  Purchased from: Rick Carlile Military Books, Dayton, Ohio, June 2017.
  • -  Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
  • -  pp/liljpaper
  • -  pp/liljwoch

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 56859 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.56859
  • ppmsca 56860 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.56860

[Unidentified boy in Union uniform with drum]

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2015645477/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • [United States], [between 1861 and 1865]

Genre

  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Ambrotypes--Hand-colored--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Case: Berg, no. 1-3S.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2014; (DLC/PP 2014:202)
  • -  More information about this collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.lilj
  • -  Purchased from: Caleb Bisacky, September 2014.
  • -  Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
  • -  Forms part of: Ambrotype/Tintype photograph filing series (Library of Congress).
  • -  pp/liljunion
  • -  pp/liljwoch

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 38625 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.38625

[Unidentified young drummer boy in Union uniform]

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2011645299/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • [between 1861 and 1865]

Genre

  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Tintypes--Hand-colored--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2010; (DLC/PP-2010:105).
  • -  More information about this collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.lilj
  • -  Exhibited: "The Last Full Measure : Civil War Photographs from the Liljenquist Family Collection" at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 2011.
  • -  pp/liljwoch
  • -  pp/liljunion

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 41000 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.41000
  • ppmsca 31000 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.31000

[Unidentified young drummer boy in Union uniform]

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2015647718/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • [United States], [between 1861 and 1865]

Genre

  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Tintypes--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Case: Leather; geometric design.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2016; (DLC/PP-2016:144)
  • -  More information about this collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.lilj
  • -  Purchased from: Paul Brzozowski, Fairfield, Connecticut, April 2015.
  • -  Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
  • -  Forms part of: Ambrotype/Tintype photograph filing series (Library of Congress).
  • -  pp/liljunion
  • -  pp/liljwoch

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 39546 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.39546

Little Harry the drummer boy

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200001642/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • H. M. Higgins, Chicago, 1864.

Notes

  • -  Music associated with the Union side

[Drummer boy Robert H. Hendershot of Co. B, 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment in uniform with drum] / J.B. Smith, Marble Block, Utica.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.56833/

Reference note

Summary

  • Photograph shows identified young soldier who enlisted at 13 years of age.

Created / Published

  • [Utica, New York] : [J.B. Smith, Marble Block], [1862]

Genre

  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Albumen prints--1860-1870
  • Cartes de visite--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2017; (DLC/PP-2017:171, formerly deposit D073)
  • -  Purchased from: Cowan's Auction, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 2017.
  • -  Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
  • -  pp/liljpaper

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 56833 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.56833
  • ppmsca 56834 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.56834

[Unidentified young soldier in Confederate infantry uniform]

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2012648954/

Reference note

Summary

  • Photograph shows young soldier, possibly a drummer boy.

Created / Published

  • [between 1861 and 1865]

Genre

  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Tintypes--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Case: Leather; Eichmeyer design.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2011; (DLC/PP-2012:127).
  • -  More information about this collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.lilj
  • -  Purchased from: Regimental Headquarters, Falmouth, Va., 2012.
  • -  Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
  • -  pp/liljconfed
  • -  pp/liljwoch

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 33306 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.33306

[Unidentified young boy in soldier's uniform]

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2016652792/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • [United States], [between 1861 and 1865]

Genre

  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Ambrotypes--Hand-colored--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Case: Leather; geometric design.
  • -  Seller indicated that the photograph was from a family in Massachusetts.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2016; (DLC/PP-2017:171, formerly deposit D072)
  • -  More information about this collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.lilj
  • -  Purchased from: Dawn Oliveri, March 2016.
  • -  Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
  • -  Forms part of: Ambrotype/Tintype photograph filing series (Library of Congress).
  • -  pp/liljwoch

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 50619 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.50619

Boy soldiers of the confederacy,

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/05013951/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • New York, Neale Publishing Co., 1905.

Notes

  • -  Also available in digital form.
  • -  LAC ael 2021-12-16 update (1 card)

Scene on board of a frigate

Teaching Notes

The boy on the gun is probably the powder monkey or a cabin steward. 

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2015649042/

Reference note

Summary

  • Photograph shows a group portrait of seamen gathered around a mounted gun. The young boy seated on the gun is possibly the powder monkey.

Created / Published

  • [United States?] : [Publisher not identified] [between 1860 and 1870]

Genre

  • Stereographs--1860-1870
  • Photographic prints--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Purchase; Robin Stanford; 2015; (DLC/PP-2015:022).
  • -  Title from item.
  • -  Forms part of: The Robin G. Stanford Collection.
  • -  Digitized 2015 Funding from Center for Civil War Photography.

Repository

Digital Id

[Unidentified "powder monkey" boy in Union uniform leaning against a cannon on the steamer USS Pawnee] / John C. Taylor, No. 17 Allen Place, Hartford, Conn.

Teaching Notes

There are several LOC records for this photo with conflicting information.  The ship is identified as the USS Pawnee and the USS New Hampshire

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2022631029/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • [Hartford, Conn.[ : [John C. Taylor, No. 17 Allen Place], [between 1861 and 1865]

Genre

  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Albumen prints--1860-1870
  • Stereographs--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  No. 42.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2022; (DLC/PP-2017:171-6, formerly deposit D077)
  • -  Purchased from: The Civil War Image Shop, Milan, Ohio, February 2021.
  • -  Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
  • -  pp/liljpaper

Repository

Digital Id

[Tad Lincoln]

Teaching Notes

Commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1864

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2008680395/

Reference note

Summary

  • Photograph showing portrait of Tad Lincoln, standing, wearing a military-style uniform.

Created / Published

  • Washington, D.C.: Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries; [186-]

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Notation on verso: "'Tad' Lincoln."
  • -  Accessions box no. DLC/PP - 1972:018

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 19225 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.19225
  • ppmsca 19226 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.19226

[Private Charles H. Bickford of B Company, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment as a young boy]

Teaching Notes

  • Private Charles H. Bickford of B Company, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment; born March 1844, date and place of death, May 3, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Virginia,

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2010650360/

Reference note

Summary

  • Photograph shows identified soldier, as a child.

Created / Published

  • [between 1850 and 1855]

Genre

  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Ambrotypes--Hand-colored--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Case: Leather geometric scroll and flowers.
  • -  Name from inscription on handwritten note in case; additional information on note includes date of birth, March 1844, date and place of death, May 3, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Virginia, and name of sister, Georgeanna Hunt.
  • -  Digital photo with mat removed by Mike O'Donnell.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2010; (DLC/PP-2010:105).
  • -  More information about this collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.lilj
  • -  Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
  • -  Forms part of: Ambrotype/Tintype photograph filing series (Library of Congress).
  • -  pp/liljwoch
  • -  pp/liljunion

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 27242 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.27242
  • ppmsca 27243 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.27243
  • ppss 00260 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppss.00260

Sgt. Johnny Clem / Schwing & Rudd, photographers, Army of the Cumberland.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/2012650045/

Reference note

Summary

  • Photograph shows identified young soldier in uniform; he served in Co. C, 22nd Michigan Infantry Regiment from May 1, 1863 to September 19, 1864.

Created / Published

  • [1863]

Genre

  • Portrait photographs--1860-1870
  • Cartes de visite--1860-1870
  • Albumen prints--1860-1870

Notes

  • -  Title from item.
  • -  Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2012; (DLC/PP-2012:127).
  • -  More information about this collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.lilj
  • -  Purchased from: Dave Taylor's Civil War Antiques, Sylvania, Ohio, August 2012.
  • -  Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
  • -  Exhibited: "The Civil War in America" at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 2013.
  • -  pp/liljpaper
  • -  pp/liljwoch

Repository

Digital Id

  • ppmsca 34511 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.34511
  • ppmsca 34512 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.34512

Robert Henry Hendershot; or, the brave drummer boy of the Rappahannock.

Reference link: http://www.loc.gov/item/11021836/

Reference note

Created / Published

  • Chicago, Church and Goodman, 1867.

Notes

  • -  Also available in digital form.