In 1861, too young and too small to enlist, Alman Beneway left home and followed Indiana infantry regiments for almost a year before he found a company that would enlist him as a drummer boy. This history, based on his memoirs and other primary sources, follows Al and his regiment through the south to Chickamauga, where he is captured while helping wounded soldiers, and his 14 months as a prisoner of war, until he rejoins his regiment in 1865.

Would you ever run off to join the army, leaving your family behind? That's what nine-year-old John Lincoln Clem does in 1861. Determined to fight for his country, Johnny sneaks onto a train filled with men from the 3rd Ohio Union Regiment. Taken in by the older soldiers, Johnny becomes a drummer boy, and later, takes up his own musket. As the war rages on, Johnny experiences the brutalities of battle as well as the rampant illness and gnawing hunger in between. But the most dangerous part of Johnny’s journey is yet to come. Based on a True Story books are exciting historical fiction about real children who lived through extraordinary times in American History. This title has Common Core connections.

The fictionalized diary of a twelve-year-old boy who joins the Union army as a drummer, and ends up fighting in the Civil War.

Li'l Dan, a slave on a Southern plantation, loves to play his drum. When a company of Union soldiers announce that the slaves have been set free, Dan has no place to go, so he follows the soldiers, who make him their mascot. But Confederate soldiers attack, and Dan discovers that he is the only one who can save his friends. The only children's book ever written and illustrated by legendary American artist Romare Bearden, Li'l Dan, the Drummer Boy was just recently discovered. Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. has written a personal introduction to the book, describing his own memories of the artist while Bearden created this memorable tale. On an accompanying CD, Dr. Maya Angelou, three-time Grammy Award winner for spoken word recordings, reads the text.

On December 7, 1864, just one week after the bloody battle of Franklin, Tennessee, William McGee, a drummer boy from Newark, New Jersey, was credited with leading a Federal force to a decisive victory over the Confederates in a clash just thirty miles from the carnage at Franklin. This 15-year-old Irish-American, on convalescent duty and acting as an orderly to General Lovell Rousseau, was recognized for the capture of two guns, several hundred prisoners, and the saving of Fortress Rosecrans in Murfreesboro from the famed Nathan Bedford Forrest. For his actions, young McGee would soon be awarded a Medal of Honor, written up in newspapers and books as a glorious New Jersey legend, be commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Army at age 18, and then, inexplicably at the height of his notoriety, virtually disappear from history for more than 100 years. This is the story of a lost war hero, a man-child with the world at his feet, whose fall from grace is accelerated by fame, lies, alcohol, bigamy, and murder.

Journey back to the tumultuous times of the American Civil War through the eyes of a young drummer boy. Henry Martyn Kieffer's memoir provides a firsthand account of the war, detailing the experiences, challenges, and emotions faced by child soldiers. Set against the backdrop of key battles and events, this narrative offers a unique perspective on the Civil War, making it a valuable addition to historical literature