Just a note of interest:

I'm doing a bit of research on the Creek Indians, and read tangentially that Andrew Jackson fought, before his many later fights, in the American Revolution when he was only 13 years old.

Just thought y'all might find that as interesting as I did, if'n you didn't already know it.

I don't know exactly what era that will refer to (having done no US history), but the youngest ANZAC soldier at Gallipoli (I think he was at Gallipoli - maybe he just fought somewhere) was 14, so things hadn't changed by 1914... and let's not even think about young children and guerilla warfare at the moment...

the geneva convention, or some such organizaton, has a 'rule' about soldiers, -- 18 is considered the youngest for combat soldiers..
The US got in a bit of trouble not to long ago.. our armed forces, are purely volluntary, and the youngest age for enlistment is 17-- in theory (and in fact!) we have sent 17 year olds (ok, only a month or two shy of 18) into combat.. a no no!

Our standards of age and conduct are always changing.. why not that long ago, 18 was considered a legal age in US to buy a drink.. now its 21.. and some states allow kids as young as 14 to opperate a car!

The Fourth of July (Independance Day) celebration in 1946 was huge in our town. World War II was over and people were cheering like crazy as returned veterans marched by. Then came convertable cars, tops down and my Father pointed out to me a car with two men. The car had a banner across the side reading "Civil War." The two men, now in their early 90s, were Union veterans and had fought the Confereacy when they were about 12-years-old!

Independance Day

Did you have a dance?

Faldage, you're such a wit.

Yup, we did!
TEd knew what I meant.
Besides I think it seems more festive than Independence which seems ... denser.
Oh, Pooh, anyway.