About 20 years ago, I was a Boy Scout in Chester County, Pennsylvania, looking for a worthy cause to take up for my Eagle Scout Project. I wanted to do something with historical impact because I loved history and planned to teach it after college. One of our scout leaders, a man named Bob McGonigal, was also a member of the Sons of Union Veterans Bradbury Camp, which is located in West Chester, Pennsylvania. For anyone who doesn’t know, the Sons of Union Veterans is the successor organization to the Grand Army of the Republic. He brought us the story of Charley King, a 12-year-old boy who joined the Union Army as a drummer boy, became a drum major, and was killed at the Battle of Antietam. He was the youngest soldier to die in the American Civil War.

The key to the story, though, was that there was no record of his body ever having been recovered and wherever he was buried was left unmarked. Mr. McGonigal suggested that one of us take up the cause of creating a monument for Charley as our Eagle Scout Project and I jumped at the opportunity. It was my job to prepare the grounds, help design the monument, and raise the money to pay for it all. A number of local organizations, including the local American Legion post, chipped in to help make the dream a reality. Without that support, the monument never would have been erected. But in June 2005, we were able to complete the project.

Charley's story has stuck with me ever since and, more recently, I decided to revisit it and see if anything new had come to light (after all, his burial place is unknown). That research resulted in my forthcoming book, a piece of narrative history based on the journals of soldiers in Charley’s regiment. Writing the book was a continuation of my mission to bring Charley's story to the world and make certain his contributions, as well as the contributions of his fellow soldiers, are never forgotten.

The book is called Charley: The True Story of the Youngest Soldier to Die in the American Civil War and can be found online and in bookstores across the country.
Charley on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1955041067
Publisher Page: https://www.brooklinebooks.com/9781955041065/