Charley Skedaddle

Charley Skedaddle

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.

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.

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, ...