- Joined
- Aug 25, 2012
Before the American Civil War both the North and South had a fair number of military academies for boys and teens. Besides the well-known military academies other youths wore military uniforms. These seem to fall into three main categories.
Category one: Militia companies that were for teens. These were often for 14 to 18 year-olds, or 16 to 18 or 21 year-olds.
Category two: Military type companies to keep younger teens out of trouble or to give younger teens discipline. Some were for those 12 and up some as young as 10 years-old. After 1860 Zouave uniforms were popular.
Category three: Groups of youths trained to march for a parade and with no intention of keeping the "company" active after the parade.
In a similar vain were two types that formed during the Civil War.
Type one: Home guard companies formed to help defend the state or replace the older militia companies who were off to war. Often these were 14 to 16 or 18 year-olds who could have performed semi military duty
Type two. Youths, often early teens or even pre teens who were caught up in the war spirit after the start of the Civil War. Often these played soldier more that conducted military training.
Regardless of the category or type many of these juveniles wore uniforms and often had images taken of themselves in uniforms. These images can be confused with the uniforms of real soldiers and it can appear that they were real soldiers when in fact they were what might be called military clubs for youths. Regardless the uniforms they wore were interesting and often colorful. I will post a few of these boy, youth, and juvenile uniforms from my home state of Michigan. Forum members are encourage to give known uniforms from their home state.
Category one: Militia companies that were for teens. These were often for 14 to 18 year-olds, or 16 to 18 or 21 year-olds.
Category two: Military type companies to keep younger teens out of trouble or to give younger teens discipline. Some were for those 12 and up some as young as 10 years-old. After 1860 Zouave uniforms were popular.
Category three: Groups of youths trained to march for a parade and with no intention of keeping the "company" active after the parade.
In a similar vain were two types that formed during the Civil War.
Type one: Home guard companies formed to help defend the state or replace the older militia companies who were off to war. Often these were 14 to 16 or 18 year-olds who could have performed semi military duty
Type two. Youths, often early teens or even pre teens who were caught up in the war spirit after the start of the Civil War. Often these played soldier more that conducted military training.
Regardless of the category or type many of these juveniles wore uniforms and often had images taken of themselves in uniforms. These images can be confused with the uniforms of real soldiers and it can appear that they were real soldiers when in fact they were what might be called military clubs for youths. Regardless the uniforms they wore were interesting and often colorful. I will post a few of these boy, youth, and juvenile uniforms from my home state of Michigan. Forum members are encourage to give known uniforms from their home state.