0rion Howe was just thirteen years old when he stole away from his Chicago home and traveled alone to Mississippi to join his father and younger brother's Union regiment. He received a Medal of Honor for his heroism on the battlefield at Vicksburg. Young Miles Moore was a drummer boy for the famous 54th Massachusetts Infantry, one of the early black regiments formed during the Civil War. He helped the wounded when his regiment bravely led the attack on Battery Wagner. Against the advice of his general, nineteen-year-old Confederate soldier Richard Kirkland risked his life to help wounded enemy soldiers on the battlefield. His act of compassion sparked a truce at Fredericksburg. In this book, you will see the faces and hear the stories of forty-nine young people, appearing for the first time in one volume. There are soldiers and spies, drummers and buglers, a future president, and six youngsters presented with the Medal of Honor. Some were boys, some were girls, some died, and some survived. But all were young, and all have a story to tell. Known, for his "accurate, well-researched historical fiction" (ALA Booklist), distinguished Civil War historian and author G. Clifton Wisler gives a face to the war that divided our nation. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Gr 4-8-Despite orders from both sides banning the enlistment of those under the age of 18, thousands of them fought during the Civil War. Wisler has gathered the stories of a few dozen such boys who entered military service as drummers, hospital orderlies, drivers, musicians, and often full-fledged fighting men. The introduction describes the various ruses that they employed to enlist and explains how the heavy casualties of the first few years of the war prompted officers to ignore the age limits and recruit male children as young as 10. Each soldier's story is told in a concise vignette of two or three pages, often personalized with his photograph, excerpts from his diary or his letters, and sometimes his postwar recollections. Their experiences were almost always the same: deprivation, disease, and fatigue; horrific encounters with death and destruction; and the nearly sudden loss of innocence. Their faces, staring from the vintage photographs, are riveting in their stark revelation that these are indeed children in uniform. Some of their stories have appeared in more comprehensive histories of the Civil War, but Wisler's inclusion of so many of them in a single volume makes readers keenly aware of the sheer numbers of youngsters who experienced such a painful and tragic coming-of-age. Readers who crave Civil War literature with young subjects will find their accounts irresistible. An excellent companion volume to Wisler's fictional Mr. Lincoln's Drummer (1995) and The Drummer Boy of Vicksburg (1997, both Dutton).-William McLoughlin, Brookside School, Worthington, OHCopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

G. Clifton Wisler is the award-winning author of more than seventy books. A former journalism and English teacher, G. Clifton Wisler is an active Boy Scout leader. He has recently completed a doctorate in Civil War history at the University of North Texas. Mr. Wisler lives in Plano, Texas Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Introduction	vii
Selected Civil War Sites	x
1. The Runaways	1
2. Stonewall's Spy	7
3. The Youngest Hero	10
4. The Heartbeat of the Army	14
5. A Reckless Charge	20
6. A Brother's Sacrifice	22
7. The Bloodiest Day	24
8. "A Perfect Rain of Bullets"	27
9. Two Brothers	31
10. The Angel of Marye's Heights	37
11. The Immigrants	41
12. The Ivy Leaguers	45
13. A Future President	47
14. The War at Sea	50
15. Mischief Makers	54
16. Boy Hero of the Confederacy	58
17. Caught in the Line of Fire	61
18. Left for Dead	63
19. Storming the Fort	65
20. Alias George Tell	67
21. Battle Cry of Freedom	70
22. Boys No Longer	77
23. Eighteen Wounds	83
24. "Put the Boys In"	85
25. Countrymen Once More	92
26. Yesterday Is Today	97
Notes	99
Glossary	105
Select Bibliography	107
Index	111

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