Confederate War Vet Was 16

William Breckenridge of Jackson Township was 16 years old when he answered President Abraham Lincoln’s call for 75,000 Union troops to quell the secession in the Southern states. Young Breckenridge didn’t survive long.  He was captured and became a prisoner of war.  He died June 10 the same year at one of the 23 prisons in Richmond, VA .  His death was caused by an outbreak of measles.He was mustered into the military March 14 after training at Camp Chase, in Columbus.  He had told the enlisting officer he was 18 years old.  Knowing his true age, William’s father, John, came after him twice and brought him home but after the third time the youth left home to return to his unit his father allowed him to remain in the Union Army.