Saturday, October 29, 2011

Living link to the Civil War

My brother and I with our grandparents, spring 2010

My grandfather, whom I believe is 93 years old (and still in great health), has a neat recollection.  He remembers seeing a parade in NYC, where he grew up, composed of veterans of the civil war.  He was a boy at the time and I wonder how many people are still alive that have seen authentic civil war veterans?  It cannot be many.  How cool is that?

The war ended in 1865.  There are accounts of very young men serving in both the Confederate and Union armies.  These boys, some as young as 10, were drummer boys or message runners.  They were not usually enlisted for combat, but, sometimes that came with the territory.

For example, lets say we have a ten year old boy who served during the civil war.  If this boy grew up and fathered a child at an older age, perhaps at the age of 60, that child would be born in 1915.  It is now 2012.  That would make their child almost 100 years old.  I wonder if anyone is still alive today whose father was in the civil war.  It could be possible.

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