In article <20020318133333.15862.00001794@mb-fy.aol.com>, lpurch6636@aol.com (LPurch6636) wrote: >I have been trying to find my G-Uncle ELIJAH HAMLER (NJ) since the verbal >family story that "he went, under-age, into the Civil War." The story also >says that he was a drummer. Well, I can find no record of him after the Civil >War. Does anyone know how to find their underage soldier ancestors from the >Civil War? Is there any web site for this specialty? I have looked up all the >usual information: Census Records where all the rest of the 9 members of the >family were living- everyone accounted for except Elijah; marriage records for >New Jersey; death records for New Jersey; property records for New Jersey; >Baptism records for New York (where the Hamlers tended to go for baptisms) and >New Jersey; Pennsylvanvia Census records; books on German migration in the >1800's with names... > >What happened with "under-age" soldiers in the Civil War? Did they have an >especially high rate of mortality? Is it likely that Elijah died? His older two >brothers who fought in the Civil War (from New Jersey) served in Virginia; but >they both came home from the Civil War. Elijah was born in 1846, making him 16 >years old when the war started. The Congressional Medal of Honor came about during or shortly after the Civil War. Numerious awards were to 15 yr old privates as well as Drummer Boys as young as 13. -- Ron