Drummer boy ( military ) Drummer boys were children recruited as drummers for use on the battlefield . Until well into the 19th century , western armies recruited young boys to act as drummers . The drums were an important part of the battle field communications system , with various drum roll s used to signal different commands from officers to troops . Although there were usually official age limits , these were often ignored ; the youngest boys were sometimes treated as mascot s by the adult soldiers . The life of a drummer boy appeared rather glamorous and as a result , boys would sometimes run away from home to enlist . Other boys may have been the sons or orphans of soldiers serving in the same unit . The image of a small child in the midst of battle was seen as deeply poignant by 19th - century artists , and idealised boy drummers were frequently depicted in paintings , sculpture and poetry . Notable drummer boys . Nathan Futrell , ( 1773 - 1829 ) was said to have been the youngest drummer boy in the American War of Independence ; he joined the North Carolina Continental Militia at the age of 7 . André Estienne was a drummer with Napoleon Bonaparte ' s army at the Battle of the Bridge of Arcole in 1796 , where he led his battalion across a river while holding his drum over his head , and on reaching the far bank , beat the " charge " . This led to the capture of the bridge and the rout of the Austrian army . Despite being 19 years old , he became famous as " Le Petit Tambour d ' Arcole " ( ) , and is depicted in the Panthéon in Paris and on the Arc de Triomphe , also in paintings by Charles Thévenin and Horace Vernet . At the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 , Napoleon ' s troops spent much of the day trying to capture the fortified house at Hougomont , which was defended by British Foot Guards . Finally , a detachment of French infantry broke in through the gate , which the Guards were able to close behind them ; all the French soldiers were killed except for their drummer boy who was spared . On 19 April 1855 , at the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War , there was a bayonet attack by the British 77th Regiment of Foot on some rifle pits which the Russians were using to snipe at British positions . Accompanying the attack was an unnamed drummer boy of the 77th , who seeing a Russian boy trumpeter trying to escape , caught hold of him and beat him with his fists " in truly British fashion " until he surrendered . The boy presented the Russian trumpet to Sir George Brown and he was later rewarded by General Lord Raglan , the British commander . At the Siege of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , 12 year - old Drummer Ross of the 93rd Highlanders signalled the arrival of his regiment to the besieged garrison , by climbing the spire of the Shah Najaf Mosque and playing the regimental march on his bugle , while under heavy fire from the rebel forces . On 28 November at the Second Battle of Cawnpore , 15 - year - old Thomas Flynn , a drummer with the 64th Regiment of Foot , was awarded the Victoria Cross . " During a charge on the enemy ' s guns , Drummer Flynn , although wounded himself , engaged in a hand - to - hand encounter with two of the rebel artillerymen " . He remains the youngest recipient of the medal . Twelve - year old drummer boy William Black was the youngest recorded person wounded in battle during the American Civil War . John Clem , who had unofficially joined a Union Army regiment at the age of 9 as a drummer and mascot , became famous as the " " The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga " where he played a " long roll " and shot a Confederate officer who had demanded his surrender . An 11 year - old drummer in the Confederate Orphan Brigade , known only as " Little Oirish " , was credited with rallying troops at the Battle of Shiloh by taking up the regimental colors at a critical moment . In Costa Rica , the Drummer boy Juan Santamaría died in an act of self - sacrifice in the war against the US Filibuster William Walker and is commemorated as his country ' s National Hero . Decline . The use of drums beyond the parade ground declined rapidly as the 19th century progressed , being replaced by the bugle in the signalling role , although it was often the drummers who were required to play them . A widely reported incident at the Battle of Isandlwana during the Anglo - Zulu War of 1879 , spelled the end of boys being sent on active service by the British Army . Part of the British force returned to their camp at night to find that it had been overrun by the Zulu army a few hours previously . An eyewitness reported that " Even the little drummer boys that we had in the band , they were hung up on hooks , and opened like sheep . It was a pitiful sight " . Doubt has since been cast on this account , since the youngest drummer to be killed was 18 , and the youngest boy present was 16 . Despite this , Charles Edwin Fripp ' s famous painting , " The Last Stand at Isandlwana " , shows a small blond - haired boy amongst the adult soldiers .