The Nine-Year-Old Who Ran Away to Enlist in the Union Army
In 1851, John Klem was born in Ohio. Young Johnny, who changed the spelling of his last name to Clem and adopted Lincoln as a middle name in homage to the president, is the Civil War’s best known child soldier. John Lincoln Clem, as he came to be known to history, ran away when he was nine-years-old after his mother’s death, to enlist in the Union Army. He was rejected by regiment after regiment, because of his age and small size. However, little Johnny was persistent. He latched on to the 22nd Michigan Infantry regiment when it mustered in 1862, and followed them around.
Eventually, the regiment’s members relented, and allowed him to tag along as a mascot and drummer boy. The soldiers even voluntarily raised money to pay him the $13 per month monthly wage of a Union private. In 1863, Johnny was finally allowed to officially enlist. At the Battle of Chickamauga, September 19-20, 1863, John Clem earned his place in Civil War lore and legend. During the two-day-battle, the twelve-year-old displayed conspicuous courage, after riding to the front atop an artillery caisson. The child soldier fought with his signature weapon, a sawed off rifle that had been trimmed to fit his diminutive size. Clem impressed his comrades with his bravery and steadiness under fire.
