The North had a much larger pool of men to draw from. There was really no need for 15, 16, 17 year olds to serve. Some may have lied about their age and enlisted of course. In Illinois [and, as it was required by the War Department, I assume all other northern states] they took a military census in 1862 to determine who was available to serve. Those records still exist and may be used for genealogy research. They are on microfilm at the state archives. I don't know how they took it because the resulting report lists the men in alphabetical order by community [often communities that no longer exist]. It lists name, age, nativity, occupation, remarks. Dorothy Falk told me about this valuable resource last winter. Cheryl Rothwell LoganCty@mindspring.com http://www.rootsweb.com/~illogan/loindex.htm Central Illinois Regional Coordinator, ILGenWeb --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.268 / Virus Database: 140 - Release Date: 8/7/01