The Civil War is sometimes called “The Boys’ War,” because so many soldiers who fought in it were still in their teens. The rule in the Union Army was that soldiers had to be 18 to join, but many younger boys answered “I’m over 18, sir,” when the recruiter asked.
Many of the youngest boys served as drummers; they weren’t supposed to be fighters, but they did a very important job during the Civil War. You’ve probably seen pictures of a boy walking beside the marching soldiers, beating his drum to keep them together. But this wasn’t the drummer’s most important — or most difficult — job.
In the noise and confusion of battle, it was often impossible to hear the officers’ orders, so each order was given a series of drumbeats to represent it. Both soldiers and drummers had to learn which drumroll meant “meet here” and which meant “attack now” and which meant “retreat” and all the other commands of battlefield and camp. (The most exciting drum call was “the long roll,” which was the signal to attack. The drummer would just beat-beat-beat — and every other drummer in hearing distance would beat-beat-beat — until all that could be heard was an overwhelming thunder pushing the army forward.)
