23. Underage Civil War Children Sometimes Had to Struggle With the Morality of Lying About Their Age in Order to Enlist
In 1864, thirteen-year-old Aspinwall Fuller ran away from his home in Baltimore to join the fight. It was quite common: boys bored out of their skulls with the drudgery of work or chores saw the Civil War as an opportunity for adventure and excitement. Many lied about their age – which was easy to do in an era when proving age was difficult. Others, more conscientious and not wanting to lie outright, wrote the numeral 16 – the minimum age for enlistment at the time – on a piece of paper and stuck it beneath their shoe.
There was a certain moral logic behind that. That way, underage would-be recruits reasoned they could truthfully swear on a Bible that they were, literally, “over 16“. Whether through lies, stratagem, or a recruiter who simply did not care, Fuller managed to enlist in the Union Navy. He served from 1864 to 1867. As an adult, he became a marine engineer, and in 1887, became president of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association – a position he held until his death a year later.
Read too: John Clem – The 12-Year Old Civil War Hero.
