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The Tragic History of the U.S. Child Warriors

Khalid Elhassan June 9, 2020 34 min

17. An Uphill Struggle to Enlist

Willie Johnston. US Department of Defense

In 1850, William “Willie” H. Johnston was born in New York, where he lived until shortly before the Civil War, when his family moved to Vermont. When hostilities began, Willie’s father enlisted in the 3^rd Vermont Infantry Regiment in July, 1861. The eleven-year-old child accompanied his father, and sought to join as well. Willie was rejected due to his age, but he accompanied the regiment anyhow, and served without pay. In December, 1861, officials finally relented and allowed him to formally enlist, placing him on the muster rolls as a drummer boy.

The 3^rd Vermont took part in the Peninsula Campaign. Willie got his first taste of combat at Lee’s Mill, Virginia, on April 16^th, 1862 – a battle in which his father was wounded. A few months later, between June 25^th and July 1^st, Willie’s regiment saw heavy fighting during the Seven Days Battles, as Union forces retreated from the outskirts of Richmond under a series of heavy Rebel attacks. Willie’s conduct during the course of that retreat won him national fame.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.