Child soldiers in the American Civil War Child soldiers in the American Civil War Between 250,000 and 420,000 boys under 17 were involved in the American Civil War, for both the Union and the Confederacy. It is estimated that 100,000 Union soldiers were under 15 years old. Given the large number of young men in the American Civil War, compared to the number of older men, one author stated that it “might have been called The Boys’ War.” When the surrender of Fort Sumter was announced, men and boys of all ages on both sides of the conflict were eager to enlist. Abraham Lincoln initially only called
Commemoration of the American Civil War The Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission Act, from the 107th, 108th, 109th 110th, 111th, 112th Congress all died in committee after being sent for review from other sub/committees. What all these acts have in common for the Civil War Sesquicentennial was to establish a commission to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, and a grant program. This Grant program would have appropriated $3,500,000.00 to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for grants for activities relating to the Sesquicentennial Civil War, but NEH is not directly sponsoring any Sesquicentennial projects. State humanities councils may sponsor their own sesquicentennial activities,