“On Shiloh’s dark and bloody ground. The dead and wounded lay; Among them was a drummer boy, Who beat the drum that day.” – Will S. Hays, Composer

In May 1861 John Clem tried to join the Union army. Not yet 10 years old, Clem’s service was refused by the 3rd Ohio. Clem tried to join the 22nd Michigan, where the unit’s officers adopted him as a mascot and drummer boy. He won fame at the Battle of Chickamauga. Rather than surrender to a Confederate Colonel, Clem shot him and escaped back to Union lines. Clem was promoted to sergeant, the youngest soldier ever to become a non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, and became known as the ‘Drummer Boy of Chickamauga.’