The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-19
BOYS IN CONFEDERATE ARMY.
Many of the Soldiers Were Only Six
teen Years Old or Less.

New Orleans Times-Democrat.
Quite a large number of those who bat
tied in the Lost Cause enlisted at the age
of sixteen or under, and many of these yet
survive in the g~ray-haired men of to-day,
who gather at the annual reunions of the
veterans. Almost any old Confederate SOL
der, who will let his mind revert to the
personnel of his own immediate command.
will readily recall many-very ~many-war-
riors whose cheeks were yet as smooth
as a maiden's when the conquered BAN
ner was furled in final defeat, but who
had borne with knightly valor the part Of
heroes in a score of ierc-ely-contested bat
ties and skirmishes. They will recall, too,
the delicate features of many a bright
eyed lad who sank to final slumber on the
embattled field, while others yielded UP
their young lives in the tents, hospitals or
the private homes of patriotic and sympa-
thetic people. victims of the slow and in
sidious attacks of disease due to mill
tary exposure. From the Potomac to the
Rio Grande, from the Ohio to the Gulf Of
Mexico, the hills, the valleys. and the
plains are dotted with the grass-grown
mounds of the Confederates whose death
in their early teens but too truly illus
trated the brevity of the step which sepa-
rates the cradle from the grave.
bul llduy vi luen Yet survive, ana
some have attained prominence. We call
TO mind several who came from within
the radius of a few miles of Mississippi.
Captain James Dinkins, OF New Orleans,
whose literary contributions to the his
tory of that struggle attracted wide and
deservedly favorable notice, wore the Con-
federate gray at the age OF sixteen, as did
also w. H. Howcott, a wealthy and highly
respectable business man of this city.
Congressman Scott Fields, of Texas, and
Judge Land, of the Supreme Court of
Il nrrfGfnnn x-nrn 1EnufGa IN r,a-fs,1 49,
ness at that early age, as were also Judge
Robert Powell, of Mississippi. and Of we
err nop the immortal Private John
Allen" of Mississippi. The Hon. John II.
Rogers, judge of the Federal Court for
the Western district Of Arkansas, who
delivered the magnificent address at the
spring, and Federal Judge William Fitz-
gerald. of New Mexico, entered the Con-
federate army at fifteen years of age. All
these, with the exception of ~ex-Congress-
few square miles, and they constitute but
a small percentage OF the boys OF sixteen
or under who enlisted from that same ter
ritory.
We take it that there was no greater
ardor and patriotism evinced there than
existed elsewhere in the Southern States,
and in instancing this little section of
Mississippi we suppose we are fairly il
Illustrating the spirit and conditions that
prevailed all through the Confederacy.
Those who clearly remember those thrill
ing times will surely not have forgotten
with what vigilance the lads of from twelve
10 sixteen years old had to be watched 10
prevent them from running away from
their homes and going to the front. The
present minority leader of the House, the
Hon. John Sharp Williams, might a tale
unfold concerning his experience were he
disposed TO talk. He started for the army
before he had entered his teens, and his
guardian (his father had fallen at the bat
tie OF Shilohl had TO send after. and bring
him back by main force.
Give the Confederate boys the credit
that is due them. They constituted no
fewer than Is per cent. OF the firms line,
and they did their duty with a frmness
and yalor that would have reflected credit
upon the grim and battle-scarred veterans
! of the old guard.