Charley Skedaddle Essay -- American History

Charley Skedaddle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charley Skeddaddle is a story that takes place during the Civil War (1861-1865) in the North. The main character is Charley Stephen Quinn. He was a young boy growing up in New York City without parents. Charley’s older brother Johnny died at the Battle of Gettysburg. We learned about Johnny through Charley’s memories. He lives with his older sister Noreen, who recently became engaged to be married. Charley was involved in a street gang called the Bowery Boys.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charley has had a rough life and has difficulty learning to accept his brother’s death. He wants to get revenge against the Confederate soldiers and this motivates him to join the Union army. He is inspired when he sees a military parade and a friend of his brother, or so he believes. That would be a perfect solution to his problems at home and a way to punish those responsible for his brother’s death. He had admired Johnny greatly and felt the only answer was to sneak into the army. Charley could not enlist because he was only 12 years old. He was determined to be a hero like his brother.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since Charley was too young to be a soldier he became a drummer-boy for the army. He trained and worked hard to be a good one. He may have been physically ready for his first battle, but emotionally he was not. I don’t think he really knew what killing a person involved. All of his life he watched the people he cared about be taken away from him. First, it was his parents, ...