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Charley: The Story of the Youngest Soldier to Die in the American Civil War
In early April of 1861, the streets of West Chester, PA, echoed with the sound of a rattling snare drum. The orders it marked out could be heard for blocks around - about face, advance, retreat, company rest - but there were no troops in the city to hear it. The Civil War, though it loomed heavy on the minds of everyone in the nation, had not yet begun. Fort Sumter would remain in Union hands for another two weeks and the secession crisis in the south was yet still only a war of words. The bloody First Bull Run was still two months away and the Grand Army of the Potomac had yet to muster and march.
But on the one hundred block of Barnard Street, the children had already mustered. The children were already marching. And Charley King, a boy of only 11, was leading them by the beat of his drum. In a matter of days, the war would start in earnest. In just a few months, Charley would march with the 49th Pennsylvania Infantry into the heat of battle. And in just under a year and a half, he would become the youngest enlisted soldier to die in the American Civil War.
Charley marched with Company F, tapping out the cadence and relaying orders as they fought in the ill-fated Peninsula Campaign, traveled in the long slog through Maryland during Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North, and faced down enemy artillery in the woods north of Sharpsburg at Antietam Creek. The battle that took his life remains the bloodiest day in American history. Charley and twenty-two thousand other Americans were killed or wounded that day. It is unknown where Charley is buried. He and many of his fellow soldiers were laid to rest in mass graves near the battlefield. Today, he is memorialized in West Chester at Greenmount Cemetery where his mother and father are buried.
But on the one hundred block of Barnard Street, the children had already mustered. The children were already marching. And Charley King, a boy of only 11, was leading them by the beat of his drum. In a matter of days, the war would start in earnest. In just a few months, Charley would march with the 49th Pennsylvania Infantry into the heat of battle. And in just under a year and a half, he would become the youngest enlisted soldier to die in the American Civil War.
Charley marched with Company F, tapping out the cadence and relaying orders as they fought in the ill-fated Peninsula Campaign, traveled in the long slog through Maryland during Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North, and faced down enemy artillery in the woods north of Sharpsburg at Antietam Creek. The battle that took his life remains the bloodiest day in American history. Charley and twenty-two thousand other Americans were killed or wounded that day. It is unknown where Charley is buried. He and many of his fellow soldiers were laid to rest in mass graves near the battlefield. Today, he is memorialized in West Chester at Greenmount Cemetery where his mother and father are buried.
182 pages, Paperback
Published September 1, 2022
About the author
Brendan Lyons
45 books11 followersBrendan's love affair with writing started at a very young age. His earliest series, the original crayon and pencil versions of Nukular Wars in Space (originally entitled Nukular Wars in Spac, the 'e' was added later) sprouted from his early love of science fiction.
Ever the creative type, Brendan found what opportunities he could to put his ideas on paper. Choosing creative options on assignments, jotting down poetry, and making up songs with his friends, Brendan laid the groundwork for what would become his true passion.
Though he had attempted on multiple occasions to begin a novel-length work, he never found the inspiration to stick with it until his freshman year of college. While walking through the snow on an empty field on the Villanova University campus, he conceived the beginnings of The Traveler. The first two installments from the series (The Book of Iden) are available now with parts 3 and 4 in the edit stage.
Oh, and he didn't write 'They Loved Him to Death.' Goodreads has ignored his messages about that.
Ever the creative type, Brendan found what opportunities he could to put his ideas on paper. Choosing creative options on assignments, jotting down poetry, and making up songs with his friends, Brendan laid the groundwork for what would become his true passion.
Though he had attempted on multiple occasions to begin a novel-length work, he never found the inspiration to stick with it until his freshman year of college. While walking through the snow on an empty field on the Villanova University campus, he conceived the beginnings of The Traveler. The first two installments from the series (The Book of Iden) are available now with parts 3 and 4 in the edit stage.
Oh, and he didn't write 'They Loved Him to Death.' Goodreads has ignored his messages about that.
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