Young Officers

[Haversack]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has pictures or records on young officers,north or south.The youngest on record that I have seen is Capt. Ezekiel Young of the 51st VA Inf.He was 19 years old upon enlistment and was Capt. of Co. I.I have also seen an image of a very young Federal officer,who could not be more then 17 years of age(which I think is pushing it a little).I would guess his age between 14 at the youngest and 17 at the eldest.Please let me know if any of you have any pics or other documentation of young officers such as these.

Thanks,

[GWHall]

Arthur McArthur Jr., born June 2, 1845, was commissioned as adjutant in the 24th Wisconsin on August 2, 1862 (age 17), Major on January 2, 1864 (age 18), and Lieutenant Colonel on June 8, 1864 (age 19).

[Haversack]

Thanks Andy!Thats interesting.

[NYCivilWar]

Can't tell what rank this Yank is (2nd from left), but he appears to be officer of the day.

Photo caption:Arlington, Va. Officers of Company F, 2d New York Artillery at Fort C. F. Smith

LOC CALL NUMBER
LC-B817- 7479

Don't know if this is what you're looking for, but oh well.

[Haversack]

Thanks,Kyle.That is exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking for.

[Pvt_Sullivan]

Shawn,

Now, if you are researching and building an Officer's Impression. Have at it and enjoy. I guess your question is because you are wondering if there were Officers in the Union Army at your current age... There were, not many but a few. One of the close ones would be Elisha Hunt Rhodes. He was the Commander of the 2nd Rhode Island at the end of the war. His letters were published as "All For the Union" and were featured in Ken Burns 'Civil War'. Good Luck...

[Haversack]

Thansk Peter.And you are correct...I am trying to build up an officers impression.You dont see too many young(or authentic)offiers in my area,so I figured I would build an officers impression so that I can be as authentic as possible when doing an officer impression at events.

[lukegilly13]

Shawn,
If you have trouble finding information, the above book is avaible at the E&H's library. Try getting Rob to go with you and help get Ol' Jack to twist the archivist's arm....there are tons of records there on microfilm and some original documents.....
I can't remember as it has been about 5 years since I saw them...but somewhere there is a document listing the local confederate volunteers and their birthdays...If I remember correctly there is a 16 year old NCO from Abingdon (Stephen something????)..
Now it's hard telling how/why he was placed as an NCO....but it would be neat to track him and see if he ever worked his way up.

[Ryan Halsey]

Ol Ezekiel Young, my great great great grandfather..... Shawn, if you wanna see my Grayson County VA records, I have alot of relatives that were under 16. I have some veteran pictures as well. We should get together an officers impression. Many people dont agree with me being a Corporal and Sergeant because of my age (16).

[Haversack]

Yeah,bring those records and photos next time oyu come down or I'll look at them when I come up.

[bhutton]

Hello,

Thomas Francis Galwey 8th Ohio lieutenant age 17, his memoirs an book published in 1961 'The Valiant Hours' claims he enlisted at 15 as a private, promoted to corporal then sergeant later lieutenant and brevet captain.Served 3 years Army of the Potomac

[Marylander in Grey]

Gentlemen,
Look into T. J. Jacksons Staff. and go for it I would love to see some young officers at events.

[DRCubby]

Ellis Hamilton, Co. F 15th NJV

2d Lt. Co. E at 17
1st Lt. Co E. at 18
Capt. Co. F at 19
Died of Wounds Seminary U. S. Army Gen. Hosp. May 16, 1864.

http://www2.scc.rutgers.edu/njh/CivWar/LifeDeath/Ruth/Intro_Ellis.htm

[KeystoneGuard]

From the Keystone state...

"Galusha Pennypacker (June 1, 1844 – October 1, 1916) was a Union general during the American Civil War. He is to this day the youngest person to hold the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army, at the age of 20, the only general who was ineligible by age to vote for the president who appointed him."

Young officers are hard to come by at events. I know first hand because at the age of 16 I started my quest as a corporal. It is a tough accent now as I am sure it was during the war. One gets questioned very much so as to their knowledge and why they are a Lt. Colonel at the age of 23.:wink_smil Someone's got to be the paper pusher, ha ha.

[LeftCoastYank]

I think folks sometimes loose sight of the fact that soldiers in the Civil War, both enlisted and commissioned, tended to be pretty young. Also, because of both armies' pressing need for trained officers, those who had graduated - or even attended - a military academy tended to gain rank very fast.

And to the fellow who gets raised eyebrows being a 23 year old Lt. Col: I once figured out that the average age of the West Point Class of 1861 was about 23. The ages ranged from about 21-27.

Dave Schwartz,
A fed who likes to crunch numbers

[DocReynolds]

There was one young officer...probably not the best to emulate....Edward Livingston Price, Col. of the 145th NY at age 19...His commission had been revoked a few times (once by Hooker)...His regiment was disbanded 31 December 1863 due to the less than stellar officer corps. Price himself was found to be missing from the regiment when it was sent to Tennessee (as part of the XI and XII Corps move West following Chickamauga); guilty of using an enlisted man as a servant (without adjusting his pay); and basically doing little to make him memorable as a leader...(He may also ahve been involved with supplying liquor to the men, although the Captain of Co. B did that as well as drink with the men)...All the officers were cashiered, but the enlisted personnel were assigned to other units to complete their enlistments.

Pete Bedrossian
150th NY/3rd NC