America's Celebrity Child Soldier

Eleven year-old Johnny Clem formally became part of the Union Army on 1st May, 1863 - though he had already been participating as a Drummer Boy for the 22nd Michigan Infantry in the American Civil War for two years.
Clem's youthful determination and bravery propelled him into the spotlight of national fame - but he was far from the only child soldier in this tumultuous American era.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly peruse Clem’s memoir, ‘From Nursery To Battlefield’; reveal how President Ulysses S. Grant personally intervened to assist Clem’s further career; and consider how Clem’s image was used for powerful propagandistic purposes…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Boys of War’ (The New York Times, 2011): archive.nytimes.com/opinionat...
• ‘Why the Union Army Had So Many Boy Soldiers’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2023): www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...
• ‘Early Accounts of Drummer Boy Johnny Clem’ (Life on the Civil War Research Trail, 2023): • Early Accounts of Drum...
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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.
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