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
Names of the American Civil War American flag". Given that in the free states non-Yankee groups – Germans, Dutch-Americans, New York Irish and southern-leaning settlers in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois – showed majority opposition to waging the Civil War, other Confederate sympathizers have used the name "War of Yankee Aggression" or "Great War of Yankee Aggression" to indicate the Civil War as a Yankee war, not a Northern war "per se". Conversely, the "War of Southern Aggression" has been used by those who maintain that the Confederacy was the belligerent party. They maintain the thought that the Confederacy started the war when they initiated combat at