Can you imagine seeing soldiers march out to war? Do they look the same age? You probably can’t tell because of the uniforms. Today soldiers are at lest 18 years old. Back when the Civil War was being fought, some soldiers weren’t even ten years old!

Normally back then, children seventeen and younger weren’t allowed to fight in wars with out their parents permission. But some did. Why? Well only because back in the 1800s being in a war was an adventure. But why didn’t they ask their parents? They were pretty sure their parents would say "No!" So instead of using their real names they used fake ones.

Signing up for a war didn’t guarantee a person becoming a soldier. Soldiers were picked. After they were picked to be a soldier, they went strait to training. The boys or men who weren’t picked still had a chance to be in the war as a drummer boy, person who sorted mail, and a person who dug trenches, and the last job a person who shined shoes.

The most important job besides being a soldier was the drummer boy. Being a drummer boy took more guts than being a soldier because you were in the front of the army, a perfect target for someone to aim at. The main job of a drummer boy was for him to play the same old music on his drum. The drummer boys soon got tried of their jobs because they were playing the same old music over and over again. The soldiers got tired of it too. One soldier was so tired of it he made up a song to complain about it. One line from the song was " I’m sick of the fifer (like a flute) more sick of the drum."

Boy soldiers that were not ten years old still got guns. They got guns and gunpowder because no matter what their age was they were still part of the army. It was a little different for the backs. They still got guns but not any gunpowder. They didn’t get any gunpowder because most people thought blacks were considered not equal to some people.

The younger soldiers were not treated any different then the older ones because they were smart enough to sing up for the army so they must do their best to do their work.