What an interesting story! I'm really impressed with the amount and quality of the documentation you found. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this story.
Thanks Bill. I was very surprised by all the “gold” I found freely in the National Archives, especially since I don’t have access to Fold3. Really enjoying researching and writing this one 😄
What a story Lori. 16 is so young to go to war. I think of the 16 year old boys in my life, and I just can't imagine sending them off to war. My father's brother at age 15, put his age up to 18 to enlist in WW2. I see photos of that young fresh faced boy and can't imagine the authorities didn't know he was underage. Such was the the desperation for fit young bodies to send away to battle.
The volunteer Missouri HomeGuard was different from the Union Army. They didnt have an age limit. Hosea joined the HomeGuards with his father. His father (my 3x great grandfather) kept him safe by making him a drummer for the 6 months that they both participated. What was astonishing to me was my 3x great grandfather joined the Union Army at 44 yrs, 6 months (just 6 months shy of being too old to enlist) a few years later to keep his son Hosea (who had then just turned 20) out of the war. The love of father runs deep. Thank for reading my story.
What an interesting story! I'm really impressed with the amount and quality of the documentation you found. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this story.
Thanks Bill. I was very surprised by all the “gold” I found freely in the National Archives, especially since I don’t have access to Fold3. Really enjoying researching and writing this one 😄
What a story Lori. 16 is so young to go to war. I think of the 16 year old boys in my life, and I just can't imagine sending them off to war. My father's brother at age 15, put his age up to 18 to enlist in WW2. I see photos of that young fresh faced boy and can't imagine the authorities didn't know he was underage. Such was the the desperation for fit young bodies to send away to battle.
The volunteer Missouri HomeGuard was different from the Union Army. They didnt have an age limit. Hosea joined the HomeGuards with his father. His father (my 3x great grandfather) kept him safe by making him a drummer for the 6 months that they both participated. What was astonishing to me was my 3x great grandfather joined the Union Army at 44 yrs, 6 months (just 6 months shy of being too old to enlist) a few years later to keep his son Hosea (who had then just turned 20) out of the war. The love of father runs deep. Thank for reading my story.
This is such a great story - and so much information available to explore- thanks! Great work.