Ten years old when he ran away from home and joined the second Michigan Regiment, the drummer boy won fame at the battle of Shiloh, where he put down his drum, picked up a gun, and shot a ...

Though initially rejected, his persistence won favor with the officers of the 22nd and he was allowed to tag along with the regiment, adopting him as a sort of mascot and unofficial drummer boy.

His story was so inspiring that it reached all the way to President Abraham Lincoln and resulted in the drummer boy receiving the Medal of Honor on Sept. 16, 1863 -- two months after his 13th ...