Chapter 1
The novel begins with the description of morning at an army camp.
As the soldiers awaken, enemy campfires are visible in the distant
hills. A soldier, described as "the tall soldier", walks
to a nearby river to wash his shirt. He hears from a reliable friend
that the men are going to attack the following day. He delivers the
news to the men back at the camp causing the soldiers to engage in
spirited debate over the authenticity of the rumor. One soldier,
known as ‘the loud soldier’ calls the rumor a lie and says he
doesn’t think the army will ever move. A youthful private hears
the news and retires to his tent to contemplate going into battle
for the first time.
The young soldier, Henry Fleming, has dreamed of battles his
entire life and remembers reading about great battles from the past.
He wonders if the glory and honor of past battles could exist in the
present. He recalls the days leading up to his enlistment in which
his frequent decisions to enlist were each time quashed by his
mother. One day, however, he decided to enlist. Rather than being
proud of her son’s decision as Henry had hoped, his’s mother
said, "Henry, don’t be a fool." and covered her head
with a quilt. After enlisting the following day, she gave him socks
and shirts, and warned him not to be too bold, and to stay away from
soldiers who drink and swear.
Henry also recalls his many monotonous days at camp in which the
army had done very little but try to keep warm. This is a far cry
from his expectations of army life. He starts to believe he is
"…merely part of a vast blue demonstration" which was
"drilled and drilled and reviewed, and drilled and drilled and
reviewed". The only enemies he knew were the confederate
sentries along the riverbank who would occasionally take a shot at a
union sentry and later apologize. This war, he concludes, is nothing
like the epic battles of past.
He then begins to question his bravery. He wonders whether he has
the courage to stand and fight as in his heroic visions of himself
in battle or whether he will run from the lines of his first battle
like a coward.
The tall soldier, Jim Conklin, and the loud soldier enter. Henry
asks Jim how he thinks the regiment will perform in its first battle
and asks whether anyone will run. Jim says that although some of the
boys may run, most will do their duty and will perform well. When
Henry asks Jim if he will run, Jim says he will stand and fight but
says that "if a whole lot of boys started to run, why, I
s’pose I’d start and run." Henry is reassured by Jim’s
honesty and his self-doubts are diminished.
Chapter 2
The regiment, in fact, does not move the following morning. The
rumor was false. Although the battle will not take place, Henry is
still consumed by feelings of doubt about his bravery. He decides
that the only way to prove himself is to go into battle and see how
his nerves respond. He is encouraged by Jim’s confidence. Henry
has known Jim since childhood and believes himself capable of
anything his friend could do. Henry is hesitant to discuss his
doubts with the other men in fear of being labeled a coward.
Eventually, the regiment receives orders to move. The men of the
regiment are in good spirits, singing and making jokes as they
march, but Henry is still burdened by his self-doubts. Even comical
incident in which a fat soldier is caught stealing a horse from a
house along the road brings Henry no relief from his depression.
When the soldiers make a camp for the night, Henry avoids
socializing with the other men and wanders off by himself in the
dark. He questions his value as a soldier and wishes he was home
working in the fields.
Wilson, the loud soldier, intrudes on Henry’s seclusion. The
two men discuss how they will perform in battle and Wilson seems
confident in his courage. He says: "I’ll do as well as the
rest. I’m going to try like thunder." Henry repeatedly asks
him how he knows he won’t run and Wilson will not concede even the
possibility that this could happen. Wilson ironically mistakes
Henry’s questions for over-confidence in his own courage and
angrily walks away. Henry is left more alone and dejected than
before and later goes to sleep in his tent.
Chapter 3
The regiment crosses a river on pontoon bridges and camps for the
night on the other side of the river. The following day, they march
a great distance, counting the miles on their fingers. The march
matures the new regiment and the men begin to appear less
unpolished. They begin to remove all expendable items from their
packs to lighten their loads.
One morning, Henry is awakened by Jim and rushes to join the
regiment which is running down a dirt road. He asks the men where
they are going. He eventually realizes that they are running toward
a battle and that he is about to be tested for the first time.
Escape is not possible because the men of his regiment surround him
on all sides. Although his enlistment into the army was voluntarily,
he becomes angry at the government for putting him into this
situation.
He begins to hear the booming of artillery shells. The men come
to the top of a hill and, looking down on the field, they expect to
see a battle scene. All they see, though, are skirmishers running in
all directions. The soldiers continue forward. They come across a
dead soldier lying on his back and continue around the corpse. Henry
develops the feeling that the men are walking into a trap, but says
nothing in fear that the men would mock his warning.
Without firing a shot, the men are constantly moved from place to
place and return in the afternoon to the same ground they had
occupied in the morning. This apparent indecision of the leaders of
the regiment angers Henry who is impatient and ready for his first
test in battle. He expresses his frustration to Jim who obediently
accepts the circumstances and calmly eats a sandwich. Henry starts
to feel like a quick death might be his best option but instantly
forgets this when he hears the sounds of a battle ahead.
As the entry of the regiment into the battle becomes imminent,
Wilson becomes outwardly unnerved. He turns to Henry and says he
believes he will die in the battle. He gives Henry an envelope of
letters for his family to be delivered on his death.
Chapter 4
The regiment is halted on the edge of a grove and the men point
their guns out at the fields. They have not yet seen the enemy.
Through the haze they see running soldiers who are shouting and
gesturing as the run. The soldiers share their limited information
about the battle and gossip about what is happening in the fields
ahead.
Bullets and artillery shells whistle through the trees overhead
and shower the men with pine needles and twigs. The lieutenant of
Henry’s company is shot in the hand and his profanity amuses the
men and helps relieve their "tightened senses". The
captain binds the lieutenant’s wound with a handkerchief. Another
regiment located in front of the men begins to retreat. Veteran
regiments on either side of the fleeing regiment jeer and taunt the
men for running. Henry notices the fear in the faces of the
retreating men and begins to think that he may also run when forced
to confront the still unseen enemy.
Chapter 5
The regiment continues to impatiently wait for the enemy’s
approach until finally someone yells, "Here they come! Here
they come!" The men prepare for battle. A general on horseback
rides up to the colonel of the regiment and yells, "you’ve
got to hold ‘em back". The colonel responds,
"…we-we’ll d-d-do--do our best, General".
Henry and the regiment then begin to fire. Henry is quickly
overcome with emotion. As he fires, Henry begins to feel
less like a single man and more like part of large war machine.
Being in battle makes him feel a brotherhood with the comrades with
whom he is sharing the experience. The constant firing causes a
blistering sweat and makes his eyes burn and his ears ring. He
begins to feel powerless and is angered that he cannot
single-handedly drive back the enemy.
Henry notices that the images of the men in battle have little
resemblance to the "heroic poses" he had envisioned. The
men are "bending and surging in their haste" and officers
bob to and fro roaring encouragements. One scared soldier runs from
the line. He is brought back by the lieutenant who must assist the
trembling man in loading his weapon. Several men are killed and
"…are dropped here and there like bundles".
The fighting stops and Henry and the men realize they have
successfully repelled the enemy. The regiment celebrates. Henry
observes the awkward contortions of the corpses around him and
watches the procession of wounded men walk away from the field. He
hears fighting continuing in the distance and is surprised to
realize that fighting could occur without him.
Chapter 6
Henry is pleased with his performance in his first battle and he
and the men relax and converse after the battle. The calm, however,
is shattered with the yell, "Here they come ag’in" and
the men prepare for battle in disbelief. Henry is thoroughly
exhausted and begins to think the men who were running toward him
and yelling energetically "must be machines of steel."
The soldier next to Henry suddenly runs away screaming. Another
man whom Henry had considered a brave man in the past also threw
down his gun and fled. The sight of these fleeing men makes Henry
think the whole regiment is retreating. He suddenly yells and
runs toward the rear in "great leaps." While crossing a
field he is knocked down by an artillery shell which explodes in
front of him. He returns to his feet and continues his retreat.
He approaches a canon with six gunners enthusiastically loading and
firing the weapon. Henry pities the gunners because they are unaware
of the enemy’s rapidly nearing position. He also observes a
brigade of allied troops briskly marching toward the battle as he
continues to fled. He is amazed by the heroism and apparent lunacy
of the men.
He approaches a general and his staff who are discussing the
battle. Henry thinks that the general might ask him for information
about the battle in which case he decides he will criticize the
general’s tactics. Instead he listens to the conversation. He
learns that his regiment has held its line and that no retreat has
taken place.
Chapter 7
Henry is surprised that his regiment has held the line. His feels
guilty for retreating from the battle and he attempts to lessen his
guilt by directing his emotions toward the "imbecile line that
remained". He feels betrayed by the men who foolishly risked
their lives and now make his decision to save himself look cowardly.
He also begins to fear their inevitable taunts upon his return to
camp.
Henry seeks to alleviate his sorrows by wandering deep into the
woods until the sounds of musketry and cannons grow faint. The
serenity of his natural surroundings brings peace to the troubled
youth.
He sees a squirrel and throws a pine cone at it, sending it
running "with chattering fear." Henry takes consolation in
the fact that the squirrel ran way at the sign of danger like all
animals nature. He is also but an animal, he reasons, and he takes
the squirrels flight as a sign from nature that his retreat in
battle was natural and justified.
Henry travels further into the forest until he comes to an area
that resembles a chapel because of its "arching bows" and
"religious half light". Henry suddenly sees a dead man
seated against a tree and the youth turns and runs with a shriek.
Unable to escape the image of the man’s ant-covered face, he runs
as if he is being pursued by the dead man. He stops after becoming
winded but imagines that at any time a "voice would come from
the dead throat and squak after him…"
Chapter 8
Henry hears the sounds of the battle and realizes that his
fearful race from the dead man has brought him closer to the
fighting. The intensity and frequency of battle noises seems to have
increased and he begins to run toward the sounds. As he runs, he
recognizes the irony of running towards the same battle from which
he has so recently retreated. He now believes that the fight he had
fled was only a prelude to the real battle that is now underway. As
he proceeds, he passes several corpses and feels like an invader on
the ground which death has mercifully bequeathed the brave men.
He approaches a road on which a crowd of wounded men is slowly
and laboriously streaming away from the battle, groaning and cussing
as they progress. One wounded man has a shoeful of blood and hops
along laughing hysterically while another man has been shot in the
arm and is profanely blaming his commanding general for his injury.
Henry joins the men.
One of the wounded men described as the "tattered man",
settles towards the rear of the line near Henry after a
demonstrative sergeant ridicules his "tattered"
appearance. The tattered man begins expressing pride in the
performance of union soldiers and remarks, "Well they didn’t
run t-day, did, they, hey?" He later asks Henry where he is hit
and Henry stutters nervously for a moment and recedes into the crowd
without answering
Chapter 9
Henry continues to walk in the line of wounded soldiers but walks
in a location where the tattered soldier cannot see him. He remains
embarrassed to be in the company of the men who have received wounds
in battle. He envies the men and wishes he had a wound or "red
badge of courage" of his own.
He begins walking next to a soldier described as the
"spectral soldier" whose wounds are so severe that other
soldiers pity him and offer him advice. He lets them know that he
doesn’t want their help. Henry is shocked to realize that the
wounded man is Jim Conklin, his childhood friend from earlier in the
story. Henry is overcome with grief at the sight of his friend’s
horrible condition. Jim says he had worried about Henry during the
battle after he disappeared. The youth offers to help Jim but the
proud man and insists on walking without assistance. Jim is afraid
of falling down and being run over by artillery wagons and Henry
promises to prevent this fate for his friend.
The tattered soldier approaches Henry and tells him that and
artillery battery is approaching. He suggests that Henry help Jim
off the road as Jim will assuredly be dead in five minutes. Henry
grasps his wounded friend’s arm and leads him into a field. Jim
begins running away toward a clump of bushes. Henry and the tattered
man pursue him despite Jim’s demand to be left alone. Finally Jim
stops running when he reaches the bushes as if he has found the
place he wants die. He stands motionless for a moment until his
chest begins to heave and his body convulses. He falls to the ground
and dies. As Jim’s jacket falls away from his body Henry notices
that the side "looked as if it had been chewed by wolves."
Henry turns toward the battlefield and shakes his fist. He says
simply, "Hell---". The chapter ends with the most famous
line of the novel: "The red sun was pasted in the sky like a
wafer".
Chapter 10
The tattered man talks highly of Jim calling him a "reg’lar
jim-dandy" in an attempt to memorialize his dead friend. Henry
is too overcome with anguish to even speak and falls to the ground
"to brood." The tattered man explains that Jim is gone and
that they now have to look out for themselves. Henry notices his
companion is beginning to turn blue and he is afraid death with
strike again. The tattered man tells the youth not to worry. He
cannot die, he insists, since he has children who to depend on him.
The tattered man begins discussing his wounds. He becomes
delirious and confuses Henry with a friend named Tom Jamison. He
again asks Henry where he is wounded. The question angers Henry and
he walks away from the dying man leaving him wandering aimlessly in
the field. He now envies the men who have died and believes it will
be impossible to hide his shameful secret from society. Henry has
had a bad day.
Chapter 11
The roar of battle is becoming louder and Henry sees massive
column of wagons, teams, and men retreating from the battle. He sits
to watch the column pass and is comforted to see others retreating
like he had done. He feels almost vindicated. His despair returns
when he notices another column of infantry going toward the battle.
He admires the brave men marching into battle and feels inferior to
them. He decides that he could never be like them. The sight of the
men inspires him, though, and he begins imagining himself fighting
heroically in battle. He realizes this is impossible because he has
no gun and little hope that he could ever find his regiment again.
He also could not bear the inevitable mockery he would face if he
ever did find his regiment.
His mental anguish has exhausted him. He is hungry, thirsty, and
soar but he still remains near the battle to find out who is
winning. Although he tells himself he wants a union victory, he is
actually hoping for a defeat. If the enemy inflicts heavy losses, he
reasons, the soldiers would be forced to run just like he had done.
He would be just another soldier who had been forced to retreat.
Henry’s hope for defeat begins to trouble him and makes him
feel he is "the most utterly selfish man in existace." He
begins to imagine union corpses on a field and feels himself their
murderer because of his secret desire for a defeat. He realizes it
is useless to think the "mighty blue machine" would lose
and fears he will be considered a coward for the rest of his life.
He once again wishes he were dead.
Henry turns his attention to returning to his regiment. He tries
to invent a convincing lie to explain his disappearance but is
unable to come up with a story he can rely upon to fool the men. He
imagines to cruel stares and taunts of the men of his regiment and
fears his name would become synonymous with cowardice.
Chapter 12
Henry is awakened from his self-pity by the rapid retreat of the
column of men he had just observed marching nobly into battle.
"They charged down upon him like terrified buffaloes." He
quickly finds himself surrounded by retreating men and desperately
questions them about what is happening. The soldiers run by without
answering until Henry grabs a soldier by the arm. The man tells
Henry to let go and frantically tries to get away but the youth
continues to question him. The soldier swings his rifle and strikes
Henry squarely on the head causing him to sink to the ground
writhing in pain.
After several attempts to stand, Henry finally struggles to his
feet and begins walking towards safety. Bleeding and swollen, he
continues at a slow pace to avoid disturbing his wound and struggles
to keep his head up. He begins to think of home as he walks. He
remembers his mothers cooking and recalls a shaded pool he often
visited as a child with his friends.
A kind soldier then grabs Henry by the arm and offers to assist
him. The men begin to "walk like a drunken man and his
friend" to find Henry’s regiment. As the men walk through the
winding paths of the forest, they talk of the battle and other
events of the day. Henry’s weariness from his wound prevents him
from participating much in the conversation. They soon discover
Henry’s regiment and the kind soldier departs after wishing Henry
good luck. As the mysterious soldier walks away, whistling as he
walks, Henry realizes he has not even seen his face.
Chapter 13
Henry walks slowly toward the fire that his mysterious friend had
earlier pointed out. He fears the ridicule of the men but does not
have the strength the make up a lie.
He at first plans to go off into the darkness to hide but his
hunger and fatigue cause him to continue toward the camp.
He is confronted by the guard of the camp and is pleased to
realize it is Wilson, the loud soldier. Wilson is very glad to see
him and says he had feared Henry for dead. Henry tells Wilson he had
been separated from the regiment and had been involved in fierce
fighting "o’er on the right". He also says he was shot
in the head.
The corporal, named Simpson arrives and he and Wilson tend to
Henry’s wounds and give him hot coffee. Simpson inspects Henry’s
head and says his injury appears nothing more than a graze and
perceptively says of the bullet has "raised a queer lump jest
as if some feller had lammed yeh on th’ head with a club." He
warns that Henry will be very soar in the morning and leaves after
bandaging his wounds. Wilson then gives up his own blankets to make
Henry a bunk and the youth falls asleep to the sounds of sporadic
musketry in the distance.
Chapter 14
Henry wakes up after his much-needed sleep and gazes around the
camp at the men of the regiment. As the sound of bugles and drums
sound in the distance, the men begin to rustle and murmuring voices
break the air. Wilson greets Henry and clumsily tries to adjust his
bandages. When Henry sharply criticizes him for his poor treatment
of the wound, Wilson calmly responds by offering Henry some
breakfast.
Henry has noticed a change in Wilson. Formerly know as "the
loud soldier", Wilson has become more mature and dignified.
When the two men discuss the regiment’s chances, Henry reminds him
of his boasts from before the battle. Wilson says, "I believe I
was a pretty big fool in those days." As the conversation
continues, the men discuss the battle. Henry tells his friend of
Jim’s death. Henry also learns that the regiment has lost over
half of its men. Wilson says he had originally thought that these
men were dead but that most had returned the previous night just
like Henry. The chapter ends with Henry’s reply: "So?"
Chapter 15
The chapter begins as the regiment is waiting for orders to
march. Henry remembers the packet of letters Wilson had given him
before the battle of the previous day after sobbing and insisting he
would surely be killed. Henry calls to Wilson to embarrass him by
reminding him about his cowardice but he reconsiders. Henry is
fearful that Wilson will question him further about his injury and
decides to wait until then to bring up the letters. Wilson’s
embarrassment at his conduct, he reasons, will end his questioning.
Henry begins to feel superior to Wilson because of his friend’s
dishonorable display of fear.
Henry is now confident that his secret is safe and self-pride is
fully restored. He thinks of the previous day and determines he is
now experienced in battle. He decides that being in battle might not
be as bad as he once thought and that his fear in the days before
the battle was unfounded. After all, he decides, he had been in
battle, survived, and had not even publicly displayed the cowardice
Wilson had. He remembers the fear in the eyes of the other men who
retreated and feels that unlike them, he had retreated with
"discretion and dignity". His new confidence prevents any
apprehension about the impending battle.
Wilson approaches Henry and asks him to return his letters. Henry
does so slowly hoping to come up with a clever insult but is unable
to. He congratulates himself for going easy on his friend. Henry
then begins looking forward to telling his family tales of the great
glory he is sure to achieve with his new inflated ego.
Chapter 16
At the beginning of the chapter we learn that the regiment has
relieved a command that had been fighting from a line of trenches.
After remaining in the trenches for quite a while, the men begin to
complain about the indecision of their generals.
The men later begin marching in the woods and Henry becomes
inexplicably enraged. He says, "B’jiminey, we’re generaled
by a lot ‘a lunkheads. He continues with a long denunciation of
the commander of the forces. After Wilson defends the leadership of
the regiment, Henry continues to insult the generals. Henry is
surprised at the words that are coming out of his mouth but cannot
control himself. A man near Henry says, "Mebbe yeh think yeh
fit th’ hull battle yestirday, Fleming." That shuts him up.
He suddenly becomes quiet and his ego comes crashing back down to
earth.
The men continue their march through the woods until they are
halted in a clearing. They hear gunfire in the woods and the
regiment prepares its weapons for battle. The complaining of the men
and Henry in particular continues. The men defame their generals as
they await the appearance of the enemy. The lieutenant scolds the
men for their "jawin’" and tells them to focus on the
battle which is quickly approaching. Enemy fire then starts from a
thicket in front of the men and they stand anxiously ready for the
advance of the rebel attackers.
Chapter 17
As Henry is awaiting the arrival of the enemy, he develops an
intense hatred for them. He blames the enemy for having to fight
before he has fully recuperated from his wound. "Yesterday,
when he had imagined the universe to be against him, he had hated
it…
to-day he hated the army of the foe with the same great
hatred." His hatred grows stronger as the enemy gets closer.
The regiment begins to fire. Henry takes a position behind a tree
and fights fiercely, pulling his trigger as if he were "dealing
a blow of the fist with all of his strength." The enemy is
repelled and the regiment ceases fire. Henry is still energized and
runs after the retreating enemy firing until his comrades tell him
the enemy is out of range.
Henry returns to the line and collapses. The men are astonished
at him. He is a hero for real now. The lieutenant says, "By
heavens, if I had ten thousand wild cats like you I could tear the
stomach outa this war in les’n a week!"
Chapter 18
The men remain in the woods and hear the sounds of battle all
around them. One of the soldiers, Jimmy Rogers, had been shot
through the body in the fighting. The men watch his thrashing and
twisting in the grass with profound sympathy.
Wilson believes a stream is nearby and he and Henry walk through
the woods looking for it. They are unable to find the stream and
their route back to the regiment brings them to a place offering a
good view of the battlefield. They watch the battle unfold and
observe a roadway crowded with retreating infantry. They watch a
general and his staff, all on horseback, nearly trample a wounded
man crawling beneath them. The mounted men stop directly in front of
Henry and Wilson.
Henry and Wilson recognize the general as the commander of their
regiment. He tells his staff the enemy is forming for another
charge. Trying to decide who to send against the enemy’s charge an
officer says, "..there’s th’ 304th. The fight
like a lot a’ mule drivers. I can spare them best of any."
Henry and Wilson are astonished to hear their regiment slandered by
the officers. The general says he doesn’t think many of the men of
the regiment will survive the attack.
Henry an d Wilson rush back the regiment to tell the men of the
impending charge. The men listen with anticipation to the news and
the officers soon begin hurriedly organizing their men for the
battle. As the men prepare to march, Henry and Wilson share an
"inquiring glance". They had not told the men about the
officers’ remarks about the regiment or that few men were expected
to return. Neither man saw any hesitation in the other’s face. The
chapter ends with a soldier’s nervous comment: "We’ll get
swallowed."
Chapter 19
The line slowly begins to move. Henry spots a distant clump of
trees where he expects to meet the enemy and runs toward it. When
the advancing regiment enters a clearing, enemy fire begins from the
woods and thickets ahead. The regiment leaves behind it a trail of
bodies as it enthusiastically and confidently advances. Henry has
unknowingly taken the lead of the cheering regiment and continues
running for the clump of trees. The men soon begin to tire and their
pace slackens.
They stop running and when the smoke clears, they observe their
fallen comrades who are moaning and shrieking in agony. Henry feels
as if he has run miles and is now in some unknown land. The men are
now dazed by the desolation of their regiment. They appear
"dazed and stupid".
The lieutinant yells, "Come on, yeh fools." Wilson
fires an "angry shot" into the woods and the action
awakens the men. They begin to move forwards stopping every few
paces to fire and load. The opposition increased as the men enter
another clearing and the men seek cover behind some trees. The
lieutenant again profanely urges to men to move. He grabs Henry by
the arm and yells, "Come on! We’ll get killed if we stay
here." Henry replies, "Come on yourself, then." and
the men race across the field closely followed by Wilson. The three
men press the regiment to follow and the mass of men begins to surge
forward.
Henry notices the flag bearer near him and feels a great fondness
for the flag. He feels it is a "creation of beauty and
invulnerability." The flag bearer is suddenly struck by a
bullet and falls to the ground. Henry grabs the pole of the flag and
Wilson grabs it from the other side. The men struggle to take the
pole from the clinched fist of the dead sergeant. Once successful,
they turn again toward the field.
Chapter 20
The two men notice that much of the regiment is slowly retreating
into the woods. Herny and Wilson have a small scuffle over the flag,
each wanting to prove his courage. Henry pushes his friend away. The
men in the woods regain their composure and advance toward the
clearing. They are met with a merciless barrage of enemy fire causes
them to waver and retreat back into the woods.
Henry looks back at the men and becomes enraged. He remembers the
officer’s insulting remarks about the regiment with disdain but
fears the comment is true. He says, "We are mule dirvers,
are we?" He regrets that he will not be able to make the
officer eat his word. With the flag erect, he begins calling the
members of the regiment by name frantically commanding them to move
forward. The lieutenant, shot in the arm, also orders the men to
fight.
Henry sees a brown mass of enemy troops advancing toward them.
The enemy opens fire and Herny’s retreating regiment becomes
disoriented and confused in the smoke which engulfs them. Henry
walks into the mob of fellow soldiers and the officers labor to
arrange the men in a proper circle to face the enemy. The men pear
through the smoke and realize the enemy is directly upon them. Both
sides open fire. The two sides continue firing at close range until
the enemy grows weak and retreats, leaving only twisted corpses in
their place. The regiment begins to cheer and dance with joy. Their
confidence in themselves is restored. The chapter ends with the
statement: "And they were men".
Chapter 21
With no fear of firing, the depleted regiment continues ahead
until they reach the furthest point in the union lines. A veteran
regiment which is resting in the shade trees taunts Henry’s
regiment with such ridicules as "Where th’ hell yeh
been?" and "Why didn’t yeh stay there?" One man in
Henry’s regiment responds by challenging the men to fist fight but
most hang their heads "like criminals".
Henry looks behind him and realizes that both the time and the
distance traveled in the charge were much less than they had seemed.
Henry looks with disdain at his exhausted comrades and begins to
think the taunts were deserved. Henry thinks of his own performance
and takes pride in his efforts.
The officer who had earlier insulted the regiment approaches and
scolds the colonel of the regiment. He tells the colonel that the
regiment "stopped about a hundred feet this side of pretty
success" and calls the men of the regiment "mud
diggers".
Wilson is angry about the officer’s comments and complains to
Henry. Henry is much calmer than his friend and suggests the officer
must not have seen the fighting. He also says to Wilson that they
can both be proud of their performances in the battle. Wilson
agrees.
Several men from the regiment then come running up. They tell the
two men that they had overheard the lieutenant and colonel
discussing their courage in the battle. They heard the colonel say
Henry and Wilson "deserved to be major generals." The men
are pleased with the news and think of the colonel and lieutenant
"with great affection".
Chapter 22
The enemy comes out of the woods again and attacks a regiment on
an adjacent hill. Henry watches the men of both sides repeatedly
charge and retreat in "riotous surges".
The enemy lines soon nears Henry’s regiment and the men open
fire. Henry, still the flag bearer is a "deeply absorbed
spectator". The enemy soldiers take cover behind a fence and
fire, inflicting heavy casualties on the Henry’s regiment.
The men remember being called "mud diggers" and
courageously defend their positions. Henry envisions his dead body
lying on the field and believes this would be "absolute
revenge" against the colonel for his comments. He looks around
at his comrades and watches many fall to the ground as the enemy
overwhelms the regiment with fire from their position. He takes
comfort in the fact that Wilson and lieutenant, though dirty and
covered in powder, are unscathed. The regiment is growing rapidly
weak.
Chapter 23
The colonel and several other officers rush to the back of the
line and yell "We must charge ‘m". The youth agrees that
a charge is their only hope but feels the men would have to be
driven to charge. To his surprise they begin energetically racing
forward.
Henry stays in front of the charge proudly displaying the flag
and encouraging his comrades to continue forward. The men advance
with confidence and courage. Henry runs fearlessly toward the enemy
viewing the bullets "only as things that could prevent him from
reaching the place of his endeavor."
Most enemy soldiers run rather than face the advancing onslaught
of the regiment. One part of the enemy line, however, remains. Henry
notices the enemy flag above the remaining foes and thinks of
capturing it. The enemy soldier carrying the flag is hit and
courageously struggles to take the flag to safety. Wilson quickly
goes over the fence and takes the flag from the wounded man.
The fighting ceases and the men of the regiment proudly celebrate
their victory. The men question four enemy soldiers taken prisoner.
One prisoner, wounded in the foot, curses his captors. A younger
captive calmly discusses the battle with the men. A third tells the
men to go to hell. The last of the prisoners silently displays his
shame over his capture.
Henry and Wilson sit side by side in the grass and congratulate
each other.
Chapter 24
The sounds of the battle grow weaker and finally cease. With the
battle over, the men are ordered to retrace the steps of their
charge to join the other regiments of their brigade. Once joined
with the other soldiers, the column of men travels toward the river
where they had been the previous morning.
Henry slowly settles from the mindset of a tenacious warrior back
into his "accustomed course of thought". He reviews his
performance in battle in his head with pride and is particularly
glad that his bravery was witnessed by the other soldiers. Henry’s
experience has matured him. His inflated confidence from before the
battle has disappeared. He begins to think of his flight in his
first battle with shame. He also comes to regret abandoning the
tattered soldier after Jim’s death. He feels he can never escape
the shame from these acts. His recent experience, he decides, has
changed him into a person who could no longer commit these acts of
cowardice and self-pity. All of his actions are now put into
perspective and Henry is now a man. He smiles to himself at this
realization.
The book ends as Henry and the other soldiers march along the
road in the rain.
