Children

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 * //Children During The American Civil War//**
 * // By Kristen Villani //**

Similarities of Children
At the start of the American Civil War, children from both the North and South watched eagerly as their soldiers went to war. They gathered in their towns and villages to watch the local companies drill, and then watched as their regiments marched off. Those boys who were too young to enlist in the army formed mock militias, or “boy companies” with friends, combining the ideas of war and play; enthusiastically “drilling” with broomstick guns. The children were also fond of playing games, especially games in which they imitated their own lives and futures. For example, slave children acted out auctions and especially emphasized whipping games. Figures, such as Ulysses S. Grant and other generals were made into toys that children often played with. However, not all children lived in the endless days of play. Many teenage boys and Southern girls worked in ammunition factories or government offices. In the South, older children had to step up to play the father or brother role for the family. They had to look after siblings, cook, clean, and manage the farm or plantation. Children near the battlefields matured quickly, and most of their childhood went by, as their main issues in life were to stay hidden and alive, and to have enough food to survive. They witnessed the destructions of homes, the explosions of bombs, and saw people die on the battlefield. Boys from both sides helped to bury the bodies of the dead for money, and sold souvenirs to curious visitors. Soldiers in the war, especially younger ones grew scared and wished to go home, especially those in the dreadful conditions of prisons, where soldiers had to kill and eat rats in order to survive. The boys and girls who had watched the start of the war with such excitement and enthusiasm quickly wished for it to be over so they could see their fathers and brothers again. At the end of the four year war, families had been torn apart and many people had died. Those fathers and brothers who did come back to their homes found that their children could not even recognize them. The American Civil War brought change to the lives of children and families all around the United States.



**Child Participation**
Though most children were unable to enlist, they helped the soldiers and hospitals as much as possible. Boys and girls served as scouts or nurses. Younger children collected money, food, and supplies, and all children helped in hospitals by picking or scraping lint, which was used for bandaging wounds in hospitals. The children of the North, which was more populous and contained more provisions than the South, were able to help their troops more. They brought food, gifts, blankets, and hand knitted socks to soldiers, and held fundraising fairs to raise money. In addition to the help of the children, the North also had the Sanitary Commission, which helped and supported soldiers as well. Even though they were not actually on the battlefield, children worked “behind the scenes” to ensure that their soldiers were well fed and clothed during the war.

Children of the North
The children of the North went into the war excited to beat the “traitors” of the South, and to reunite the Union. They avidly participated in the war, and were eager to beat Jefferson Davis, whom they all hated. The children of the North suffered some economic hardships, such as smaller food portions, less clothes, and higher prices for goods, but they were much better off than the people of the South. Due to the greater population, not as many fathers and brothers were drafted or enlisted, so not as many children suffered loss in their families. Those children whose fathers did get drafted had tearful departures and assumed more responsibilities, such as taking care of their siblings. Aside from those children, most of the North watched and learned about the war from afar. They read books, stories, and magazines, and saw plays and paintings about the war. In school, the children continued to read about the war, and sang songs that demonstrated their patriotism. Most of the children of the North did not suffer the hardships of war that the children of the South experienced.

Children of the South
The children of the South suffered many more hardships than the children of the North. Though they too watched plays and saw paintings of the war, they were more directly affected. Because of the blockade on ships by the Union soldiers, there was a lack in resources. People starved and many were homeless on the streets. Starving children often conducted bread riots, in which they would rob bakeries of loaves of bread to satisfy their hungers. The Southern children had to adjust to numerous changes due to the war. Kids had to quit school over financial issues and teacher shortages. Children also lost any prior relationships with their slaves. In addition, they had to adjust to having the presence of Union soldiers in their villages. Those Union soldiers often burned villages, killed farm animals, and stole food and resources, leaving families with no food or clothing. In these invasions, some children were injured or even killed, and most ended up as refugees. Witnessing these events stole childhoods away from these children, who had to assume the roles of adults. The years of pleasure and fun slipped passed them, and all they had was stern reality.

[[image:hs-86rogers/kid_civil_war_6.jpeg align="left" caption=""Contraband Jackson, a servant in the Confederate army.""]] **Slave Children**
For slave children, the war was a sign of hope that they would soon be free. Due to the growing absence of white men on plantations, a looser discipline towards slaves evolved. Fearing that their slaves would be set free, many masters relocated them to isolated parts of the Confederacy, such as Texas. Even so, slaves plotted escape with their families, and when the time was right, they ran for the Union troops, where they were protected and sheltered. After reaching the Union troops, some slave children went to schools that were taught by missionaries of the North. While being sheltered by Union troops, slave children did what they could to help their families and the soldiers. Many of the slaves that escaped went to contraband camps near the Union troops. Many people died in the camps due to disease or over population, and children and women were often thrown out of the camps because they were thought of as useless. Consequently, many slave children roamed the streets begging for food. Though the war brought hope to the slaves around the United States, they suffered throughout it.

**Child Soldiers**
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Though the age requirement for enlisting was eighteen, many boys lied about their ages, names, and heights to get into the army. Around ten to twenty percent of the armies were underage boys; some younger than the age of ten. Their reasons for wanting to enlist were mainly patriotism, jealousy, and a chance to leave their boring lives at home in exchange for an exciting adventure. Underage boys usually got recruited by signing up to be drummer boys or other musicians of the army that didn’t involve fighting. Around sixty thousand total boys had been musicians in the armies by the end of the war. The duties of a drummer boy involved rendering calls for breakfast, assembly, and reveille. During drills, they were needed to provide the beat, and in addition, they carried water, rubbed down horses, cooked, gathered wood, and dug trenches. They could also act as guards or assistants for soldiers and generals. On the battlefield, they called out directions and helped remove the wounded, assisted doctors, and buried the dead. Though the boys were excited to start, the endless drilling, marching, and fighting quickly dampened their enthusiasm. Also, as time went on, many suffered hunger and fatigue, and they lost their childhood innocence in combat as they watched men being wounded and killed. Lack of equipment and food was not unusual, and most men were miserable, cold, and hungry. When caught by the enemy, the soldiers were thrown into a prison. Most prison conditions were awful; clothes were worn away, death came quickly for many, and there were lots of torture devices. Furthermore, the prisons were dirty, over populated, disease spread quickly, and there was a great lack of food. The child soldiers in the war were treated the same as adults, from drills to treatment in prisons. A soldier's life was not the exciting, heroic adventure that most imagined it to be; especially for those soldiers who were still children when they enlisted.

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