The Red Badge of Courage

No battle commences the next morning, but the wait only adds to and prolongs Henry’s anxiety. He continues to compare his own bravery to that of other soldiers. This habit alienates him from his peers, locking him in an internal debate.

The following morning, the regiment sets forth in a march. In the darkness, the march feels alien to Henry, “like one of those moving monsters wending with many feet” (13). During the march, a soldier stumbles, and his hand is injured underfoot. Rumors run up and down the line, and the cheerful bluster expressed by some of the men depresses Henry. A “rather fat” soldier attempts to steal a horse and is rebuked for it. At the end of the march, Henry rests and becomes homesick.

A loud soldier named Wilson sits next to Henry and notes that Henry’s attitude is “blue.” Wilson remarks that he’s eager for a fight but is tired of marching. He notes that up until now, the enemy has been at the winning end of the fight, but he expresses bravado about the fight to come. When Henry inquires into Wilson’s bravery, the loud man takes it as an insult and walks off. Further alienated, Henry goes to sleep, hearing the sounds of a card game being played outside his tent.

At night, the regimental march approaches the enemy, whose campfires come into clearer sight. After another night of camp, Henry’s anxiety grows. There is another exhausting march the next morning, and many of the men strip down to just their uniforms, abandoning their knapsacks. Comparing their ragged march to that of a group of veterans, Henry notes that veteran regiments tend to have more faded uniforms.

On the next morning, with little warning, the battle commences. Henry, in a state of confusion, runs with his fellow soldiers through a wood toward the fighting. His first thoughts are of escape, but he is surrounded. Over a hill, he sees a line of skirmishers in a distant clearing, firing into the woods beyond. Marching, Henry sees the body of a soldier. His imagination overwhelms him, and his pace slows before a passing lieutenant chides him back into formation. The men halt and begin to dig in but soon are ordered to withdraw and reposition themselves. This repositioning happens several times over, to the Henry’s frustration. Henry notes the different dispositions of the men. Some are like Henry and loudly complain about the aimless marching. Others seem content. At one point, Henry imagines that it would “be better to get killed directly and end his troubles” (22).

Soon, loud artillery explosions rock the landscape, and Henry hears rifle shots all around. The loud soldier named Wilson approaches Henry, admits that he expects to be killed at any moment, and begs Henry to take a few mementos to his family after his predicted death, handing them over in a small yellow envelope.

The soldiers are stopped in reserve of the advancing army at the edge of a forest and wait expectantly. Rumors of success and defeat run up and down the line. Henry learns that the man whose hand was crushed during the march left the line on account of his injury. Henry notices many mundane details as the battle comes closer and shells begin to burst nearby. The young lieutenant of Henry’s company receives a hand injury.

Soon, Henry witnesses the signs of friendly retreat on the field of battle, and rumor comes that a competent veteran company has been rebuffed. He sees in the face of these retreating men an “appalling imprint” and feels his own strong impulse to run.

Henry has a vivid memory of his hometown before the arrival of the circus. Then, a cry of “here they come!” goes up and down the line, and “across the smoke-infested fields came a brown swarm of running men who were giving shrill yells” (27). A pair of officers urge the soldiers to hold their fire until the enemy closes. Henry, momentarily bolstered by the noise, fires a wild shot. He feels a rush of contradictory emotions: fear, comradeship, ineffectuality, and murderous rage. Up and down the line, Henry sees not heroism but anarchy and, in one instance, animalistic cowardice. He focuses on a flag furling at the center of the battle.

The captain of Henry’s company lay dead, surrounded by the corpses of several other men of lesser rank. Henry witnesses many terrible injuries during the fighting, yet soon, the fighting dwindles, and he can see scattered remnants of the enemy retreating into the woods. Resting, he notices the sweat running from his body and the dead men all around him. He notices the sounds of battle everywhere across the landscape, and he wonders in astonishment, “Nature had gone tranquilly on with her golden process in the midst of so much devilment” (31).

Believing the battle has ended, Henry relaxes, feeling a fleeting sense of self-satisfaction. He shares a round of congratulations with the soldiers around him. Soon, however, a mass of enemy soldiers, larger than before, bursts from the opposite side of the clearing, accompanied by a new volley of shells. The men around Henry vocally despair, and as the bullets fly, Henry’s confidence is shaken. As smoke envelops the battlefield, Henry witnesses several of his fellow soldiers retreating. He follows them, running from the battle.

Henry becomes disoriented in his retreat. He loses his cap and his rifle. At other moments, he loses orientation. As he runs, his imagination becomes amplified, and his fear increases. Vaguely aware of the others retreating around him, he is astonished to see the esprit de corps on the faces of the artillerymen behind the line and of the fresh support brigade joining the battle. Still escaping the battle, Henry avoids a concerned-looking general who is watching the battle from afar. Passing by out of eyesight, he hears the general celebrating a victory in the ongoing battle: “They’ve held ‘em, by heavens!” (36).