The Real "Little Drummer Boy"

John Lincoln Clem was truly a manchild for the ages.

When President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for volunteers in late spring 1861, one of those trying to answer was a bit out of the ordinary, a young boy just shy of his 10^th birthday named John Lincoln “Johnny” Clem. His service was refused by the newly formed 3rd Ohio, but completely undeterred Clem later tried to join the 22nd Michigan, where his per…