We've come a long way....it's hard to believe that a child that young would be allowed to view such a horrific occurrence as a hanging.
As bad as that was, boys around that age traveled with both armies during the war and witnessed more horrific scenes than that on the battlefields, sometimes becoming casualties of terrible wounds or worse themselves. We truly have come a long way indeed.
The audio of the drum beat played that day is haunting and must have added to the trauma the four about to be hung endured.