'Johnny has gone for a soldier': Youth enlistment in a Northern County
This study constructs a social profile of the youngest soldiers from Franklin County, Pennsylvania. By developing a portrait of these boys, it provides a clearer picture of youth enlistment and the participation of young recruits and furthers our understanding of the boys who went to war. The cohort investigated consists of youths aged from ten to seventeen recorded as residents of Franklin County in the 1860 US census. These boys included the youngest legal soldiers in 1861, as well as those still too young to legally fight at war’s end. Eighteen was the minimum age for enlistment. There are marked differences of maturity between the youngest and the oldest, and this study will identify enlistment indicators for both the underage soldiers and those who enlisted legally. It is important, however, also to note what they had in common—they all became volunteer soldiers in the Union army.