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“Jesus Christ is the firstborn from the dead; glory and kingship be His for ever and ever.” Revelation 1:5
Historian's Corner
Kelly Grimaldi, Historian, Albany Diocesan Cemeteries
The Little Drummer Boy of a Different Sort
Most 12- year- old boys these days are pre-occupied with sports, video games and anything motorized that goes fast. The closest a pre-pubescent, 21st century American boy can come to experiencing war is through games, paintball and movies. But for young boys during the Civil War Era, war was not an abstract thought carefully orchestrated on the big screen or in play – it was real and it dominated their lives for four terrible years. All around them death hung in the air. There was no time to be young and carefree with life perched so precariously on the brink of death. Cannons, muskets, bayonets and disease became an inescapable reality for one young boy whose story was never told. I’d like to tell it now.
Bernard (Barney) Ross enlisted in the 3rd Infantry of the New York State Volunteer Army on April 19, 1861 to serve two years. He was only 12 years old when he joined his regiment as a drummer boy. Too young and small (the muster roll indicates he was only 4 foot 10 inches tall) he was charged with the task of keeping the beat of his drum in time with the march of heavy boots belonging to men not a whole lot older than him. It is not clear to me why his parents would let their first-born son enlist in the army at age 12 but I suspect it had to do with the small stipend that he would earn for his service. His parents, Simon and Mary Ross had seven other mouths to feed and for a poor Irish immigrant family, Barney’s small stipend could have made the difference between eating and starving. It may have given Simon and Mary some measure of comfort knowing their boy enlisted as a musician who would not be placed directly in a combat situation. Perhaps they really believed he would be safe but most likely it was a gamble they had no choice but to take. Barney, by modern standards, would have been a 6th grader - just an innocent child marching off to war.
Before he could be discharged in May of 1863, Barney witnessed the death of 122 men in his company alone. The carnage he saw would make even the goriest movie or video game of today seem mild. Instead of returning home when given the opportunity, he reenlisted for another 3 year term. He saw intense action in Morris Island, South Carolina and against Fort Sumter and Charleston before marching straight into the hell of Cold Harbor and eventually into trench warfare in Petersburg. It was during the Siege of Petersburg that disease silenced his drum and confined him to a hospital bed on July 3, 1864 where he laid suffering from a fever that nearly claimed his life. There was nothing “cool”, awesome or romantic about Barney’s ordeal. The relatively harmless war games played by today’s 12 year olds are a far cry from the action Barney saw. Dramatic knife fights, shootings and hand to hand combat played on video screens were something this young man experienced up close. Blood soaked uniforms, gaping mortal wounds and agonizing screams of pain were not entertainment on a movie screen – these things were Barney’s reality.
Not much is known about this poor child after he returned to his family’s home in Albany in late 1864. Census data of 1880 finds Barney, age 33, unmarried and still living at home with his aging parents. Six years later he was dead. His grave in Historic St. Agnes Cemetery is marked with a deteriorated marble stone that has fallen over and is barely legible. It is among the hundreds of gravesites for Civil War veterans that are in the process of being restored. It is the very least we can do for the little drummer boy who served the Union cause. He suffered beyond our imagination. And while the Civil War did not take Bernard Ross’s life, one can assume that 12 year old boy who left home on April 19, 1861 never really returned. We will never know the extent of the physical or psychological damage the war had on Barney. His innocence must have faded like the sound of his drum among the firing of cannon and the screams of the dying.
Kelly Grimaldi may be reached at 518-463-0134 ext 110 or KellyAnn.Grimaldi@rcda.org
Past Historian Articles:Current
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6-2010
Artwork by Joe Mele.
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