How a Civil War Drummer Boy Became the Youngest Medal of Honor Recipient

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How a Civil War Drummer Boy Became the Youngest Medal of Honor Recipient

Military.com
By Stephen Ruiz
March 03, 2025



As bedraggled Union troops retreated to their camp along the James River in Virginia in early July 1862, they endured a march that stretched more than 12 miles. Eager to lighten their load in harsh conditions, they disposed of their weapons and backpacks. The drummer boys who accompanied them did likewise -- all except one.

Willie Johnston, then 11 years old and all of five feet tall, refused to relinquish his drum. He held on to it through the entire march, and when the weary soldiers finally arrived at their destination, Willie -- the only one there with an instrument to play -- performed during a Fourth of July parade that Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, organized to improve morale.

Johnston’s dedication did not go unnoticed. His story was so inspiring that it reached all the way to President Abraham Lincoln and resulted in the drummer boy receiving the Medal of Honor on Sept. 16, 1863 -- two months after his 13th birthday. He remains the youngest recipient of the United States' highest and most cherished military award for valor in the country’s history.

"On the retreat, when strong men threw away their guns, knapsacks and blankets that they might have less weight to carry, this little fellow kept his drum and brought it safely to Harrison's Landing, where he had the honor of drumming for [the] division parade, he being the only drummer who brought his drum from the field," Johnston’s hometown newspaper, The Caledonian of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, wrote in its Oct. 31, 1863, editions.

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