Horatio Nelson started serving on a navy ship that could have seen action when he was 12. He did see combat at 16, was appointed lieutenant at 17, and had command of his own ship, thousands of miles from home, at 19. He had far more responsibility as a teenager than most adults today have at any point in their life. People were treated like full adults at a far younger age not too far into the past.
I would say woodchipper anyways if he was just a little bit older but an 8 year age gap isn’t even that weird compared to the alternative
Horatio Nelson started serving on a navy ship that could have seen action when he was 12. He did see combat at 16, was appointed lieutenant at 17, and had command of his own ship, thousands of miles from home, at 19. He had far more responsibility as a teenager than most adults today have at any point in their life. People were treated like full adults at a far younger age not too far into the past.