3. Charlie Goddard was born in Pennsylvania May 14, 1845 to
Catherine and Abner Goddard. He was the only child of nine that
survived childhood. Charlie’s father died at age 43 in September of
1852, shortly after moving to Winona, Minnesota.
4. Just fifteen when the call for troops went out, Charlie wanted to go
to war so badly that he lied about his age and claimed to be 18, the
minimum age for enlistment without parental permission; 17, if you
did. Despite his mother’s pleas for him to desert, he stayed with the
First Minnesota and went off to war.
