John L. Clem

Considered the youngest ever to serve, John L. Clem ran away from home at the age of 9 years and 10 months to join the Union Army. At Snodgrass Hill, as a drummer boy in Company “C” 22nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry, he won the sobriquet "The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga," a nickname that graces his monument at Arlington National Cemetery. Also known as “Johnny Shiloh,” he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant after the war by President Grant. Clem served until 1915, when he retired with the rank of Major General, the last Civil War veteran on active duty. A monument was dedicated to the Licking County Veterans of All Wars on November 14, 1999, and its sculptor, Mike Major, was Ohio's first artist-in-residence.

Newark, Ohio · United States