Johnny Klem
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Clem, John.jpg
John Clem. Library of Congress description: "Sgt. John Clem, U.S.A.". John Lincoln Clem ( August 13, 1851 – May 13, 1937), was a United States Army general who had served as a boy in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He gained fame for his bravery on the battlefield, becoming the youngest non-commissioned officer in Army history. He retired from the Army in 1916, having attained the rank of major general, as the last veteran of the Civil War still on duty in the Armed Forces.
Johnny Clem was a soldier in the service of the United States for most of his life. He was born on August 13, 1851, in Newark, Ohio. His actual name was John Joseph Klem. Although Clem was only ten years old when the American Civil War began, he immediately tried to enlist in the Union army. He left his school classes to drill with the Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment. However, the Third Ohio, and many other units that passed through Newark, always rejected Clem because of his young age.
Some accounts claim that Clem first had been permitted to join the Twenty-Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Other sources claim that Clem joined the Twenty-Second Michigan Infantry Regiment when it marched through Newark. Since Johnny Clem was too young to join the army officially, officers of the Twenty-Second Michigan contributed money to pay him a monthly wage. Soldiers provided him with a gun and uniform and trained him to be a drummer boy. Clem was finally allowed to enlist in the United States Army in May 1863, when he was only twelve. In the meantime, Clem had already participated in numerous battles and had become quite famous.
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Johnny_Klem
