When the Civil War broke out in 1861, teenagers from the North and South enlisted in anticipation of great adventure. Saying goodbye to their families, they marched off gloriously with their buddies.

They soon learned the horrors of war. Many returned home wounded and disabled. Some didn't make it back alive.

The minimum age for Union soldiers was 18; for Confederate soldiers, 16.

"Many 14- and 15-year-olds disguised their ages to join," said Tony Vittone, 16, of Unity.

Tony, an avid Civil War buff, has been re-enacting battles from that conflict since he was 12.

"We have battles," he said. "When there is a plume of smoke, it is my decision whether to die or to act wounded.

"If I die, you can hear the crowd gasp, 'That one's over.' If I am wounded, I get to scream, yell, beg for my life. It entertains the crowd."

When a battle is over, Tony loves to mingle with the audience.

"They have different reactions. Surprise. Depression. People say it was chilling and it made them sad because they got the feeling that it was real."

And even though he does not experience the actual horrors many young Civil War soldiers endured, Tony goes off to "war" almost every weekend between March and November.

Jim Campi, policy and communications director of the Civil War Preservation Trust in Washington, D.C., said: "Young re-enactors like Tony bring energy and enthusiasm to the battlefield preservation movement.

"Tony and his colleagues in Battery D make the events of the 1860s come alive and capture the imagination of the thousands who visit re-enactments and living history events every year.

"All too often, the public perception is that young people don't care about history, that they can't see what relevance it has to their modern lives. But individuals like Tony turn that stereotype on its head.

"Re-enactments and land preservation for battlefields share a common goal, to make the past more interactive and dynamic than even the most engaging book can hope to do."

Tony's mom, Pip, recalls taking Tony to Gettysburg when he was a toddler.

"It was like he took to the Civil War right then," she said.

As a fourth-grader at Latrobe Elementary School, Tony experienced his first re-enactment. A uniformed Union soldier visited the school for a presentation.

By age 12, Tony knew he wanted to do re-enactments.

"I purchased a Kepi [Civil War hat] with a red band in Gettysburg," he said. "The red band signified an artillery unit."

Surfing online, Tony found the Kanawha Artillery Battery D unit in Saint Marys, W.Va., and the rest is, well, history.

Last weekend, he portrayed a Confederate soldier at the Pennsylvania Arts & Crafts Colonial Festival at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds.

Tony wore an early war uniform consisting of Richmond Depot trousers, a six-button commutation jacket and North Carolina militia hat and brogans, heavy, high-top shoes. He worked on an authentic cannon, which was cast in 1835 by Cyrus and Alger Co. in Boston.

When not working on the cannon, Tony can be found with black powder rifles.

"They are real rifles," he said. "We do everything to load a live round, but we don't put the mini-ball in and we don't ram it with the ramrod."

Although his life is never in peril, Tony finds the experience of re-enacting to be quite authentic.

"We bring period food -- hard tack, salt pork, seasonal fruits natural to Virginia and southern states, such as peaches, apples, berries," he said. "We pick up vegetables along the campaign, often growing in battlefields such as Antietam.

"I love sitting around the campfire and talking to the guys about history and battles. We carry knapsacks on our backs. That's all the gear we bring -- no air mattresses, cots or coolers. We sleep on the ground next to a fire."

There is often confusion about why the war occurred. Tony tried to set the record straight.

"It's important for people to understand why the Confederacy fought. It was not about slavery. It was about states' rights. They fought over tariffs. Virginians thought they should have the right to secede from the Union. The federal government didn't agree.

When President Lincoln called for troops, that was the point of no return."

Tony also is a champion of battlefield preservation. He is concerned that the next generation won't have the chance to see those fields.

"The fields are being eaten up by housing developments and coal stripping," he said.

Tony is home-schooled by his mother.

"He's so mature," she said. "When I listen to him talk, I think, 'Oh my gosh, is this my son?' I think he's amazing."

So does Maj. John Haddox, of Saint Marys, W.Va., who commands the Kanawha Artillery Battery D Division.

"Tony is beyond his years," Maj. Haddox said. "He is knowledgeable about the Civil War and makes us proud.

"The Civil War is becoming a dying art. Tony keeps history alive, and for a kid of his age ... he does a very good job."

After school, Tony helps his father, Tony Sr., in the family business -- Vittone's Music in Greensburg.

Tony appeared in a re-enactment at the West Newton Community Festival last weekend.

He will appear in another Sept. 20-21 at the Christian W. Klay Winery in Chalk Hill, Fayette County. For more information, call 724-439-3424.

For information on battlefield preservation, go to www.civilwar.org.

For more information on the Kanawha Artillery, go to geocities.com/kanawhacannon or call 304- 684-3208.