He was just 12 years old. When he played the drums, anyone within earshot said his musicianship was brilliant.

Charley King was one of our own, a Pennsylvania boy from West Chester. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, he begged his parents to join the Union army. Like the responsible mother and father that they were, they said, “No Charlie, you’re too young to be shooting guns and fighting in wars.”

Charley must have replied, “I don’t want to shoot nobody. I wanna be the drummer boy.” The typical 12-year-old boy in 1861 was unlike so many of that age today. He routinely worked on farms or in factories from dawn to dusk until child labor laws were enacted and kids could then be kids until they got to be 18.

Like me, you might wonder why any army would have a defenseless drummer boy marching in front of the attack. According to the website, “Main Line History,” the drummer helped establish communications and kept order among the units in the field. He needed to be proficient with different drum rolls that called for the assembly of troops, the gathering of officers for strategy sessions, and the order for retreat while under fire.

The captain of the Chester County company convinced Charley’s parents to allow him to enlist by convincing them he would never leave the boy’s side. Yet, when Charley marched off with the 90-man 49th infantry unit, they got as far as Harrisburg when, his father was there to say, “I will not permit my son to accompany you any farther. He is to come home after you receive orders to move into more dangerous areas.”

Charley resisted his father’s orders. When the unit received orders to begin to move south, Officer Sweney, who grew up in a musical family, convinced Charlie’s father to allow him to stay in the unit because his drum playing ability was superior and necessary for the vital safety of the men.

Born in 1849 and the youngest of eight children, Charley was exceptional at all of the required drum rolls. His position on the field was right next to a high-ranking officer in order to relay the commanded orders to the troops. He was often awakened at night and told that the army would be assembled for battle in the morning. When not drumming, he helped at anything requested of him including carrying stretchers to areas where soldiers were wounded or dead.

Charley’s musicianship was so good he was promoted to Drum Senior when the 49th regiment was camped outside of Washington, D.C. The money he was paid was sent home and deposited in a bank account under his name.

The Confederate army under Gen. Robert E Lee had defeated Gen. George McClellan’s Union troops and the Rebels’ next stop was near Sharpsburg, Maryland at the Antietam Creek which historically has been called the Battle of Antietam, the deadliest battle in American military history where nearly 23,000 men were killed, wounded, captured, or missing.

Charley’s infantry had been assigned as a support unit. Early that afternoon, Gen. Hancock ordered the 49th to back up 20 paces and look out for Confederate infantry regiments. Sure enough, one appeared in the thicket. A skirmish was fought with minor casualties to the 49th.

One of those minor casualties was Charley King. He was shot through the body and fell into the arms of a soldier from the 6th Maine regiment. The bullet had passed through Charley’s lungs. He survived a day or two before he died.

When the battle was over and both armies had moved along, Charlie’s father came to see if his son was safe. The man found the only the grave, described in a report as “where his son’s remains had been deposited.” Today, no record exists of Charley’s grave at the Antietam National Cemetery.

The story of 12-year-old Charley King has become a folk tale through the years and many believe he was called by a higher power to live a brief yet significant life. Before the war, he was a lively young lad who brought delight to his parents and siblings whenever he would beat on his drum during summer evenings from the back porch of their house. During his brief enlistment, he had made a lasting impression upon the men in his regiment.

His story makes me think that there’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity. A boy and his drum were placed in harm’s way during wide open field battles with no weapon ever held in his hands and yet, Charley played on. But what child, before he had reached his teenaged years, should have been subjected to the brutal carnage of death and dismemberment that this boy must have witnessed on the day before he had taken his last breath?

The story of “The Little Drummer Boy,” the Christmas carol, is reported to have been written about a poor child who had no gift for the baby Jesus, so he played his drum instead. His music was a gift of the heart. Charley’s playing of his drum had been a gift and an inspiration to his family and to the men of the Union army. It’s been written that the men of the 49th carried the burden of Charlie’s death right up until the final shot of the war was fired in 1865.

They say that on the evening of every Sept. 17, the anniversary of the Battle of Antietam, the sound of a drum roll drifts over the battlefield and a small boy with his drum tied to his waist marches off into the horizon. If you listen, you might hear a familiar tune written 79 years after Charley King’s death.

“Shall I play for you - Pa rum pum pum pum - me and my drum.”

Rich Strack can be reached at richiesadie11@gmail.com