The War Department bars the enlistment of men under eighteen without parental approval

The War Department published revised regulations concerning enlistment of young men to the Union Army.  From now on, no-one under the age of eighteen years was to be enlisted or re-enlisted without the "written consent of his parents, guardian, or master."  Recruiting officers were enjoined to take particular care in knowing the true age of the recruit presenting himself. Only when the form was completed could the enlistment proceed to an examination.  (By John Osborne) 
Source Citation
War Department, Thomas M. O'Brien, Oliver Diefendorf (eds), General Orders of the War Department, Embracing the years 1861, 1862, 1863  ...  (New York: Derby and Miller, 1864), 196. 
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    Lawmaking/Litigating
    How to Cite This Page: "The War Department bars the enlistment of men under eighteen without parental approval," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/39836.