The Red Badge of Courage

The Red Badge of Courage Summary | Chapter I Summary

There was a rumor passing through the encampment of Union soldiers, who began to tremble with eagerness; they would be going into battle tomorrow. A soldier had heard it from a friend, who heard it from a cavalryman, who had heard it from his brother who was an orderly at division headquarters. Reactions to the rumor were mixed. Some didn't believe it because they had been camped for so long. Some were anxious to go, anything to stop the boredom of staying in one place. However, there was one private who wanted to be alone with this news and his own thoughts of it.

Henry had imagined this day for quite awhile. He felt a little bit in awe of the fact that he would be engaged in possibly one of the most events of all time. As a boy, he had imagined himself a hero in wars but always thought that those days belonged to the past. This war in his own country seemed a bit surreal to him. He had tried to enlist many times but his mother had discouraged him. She didn't see this action as one of bravery and patriotism but one that would remove her son from the farm, where he could be put to much better use.

The newspaper accounts and the village gossip fueled his need to join the army. One night, as he lay in bed, he heard the church bells ringing the news of some major battle, and he enlisted the next day. His mother shed two tears when he reappeared at the farm dressed in his uniform and continued to milk the cow in front of her. He had hoped for a grander sendoff; something to remember this momentous occasion in his life. But his mother was a practical woman not given to flowery rhetoric. She had knitted him some socks; warned him about the company he should keep; and told him to stay away from liquor and read his Bible. That's how she told him goodbye. It wasn't quite the display he had hoped for but when he turned around to look at her one last time, she was on her knees praying and quivering among the peelings of the potatoes she had been paring.

Henry stopped at his old school to tell his schoolmates goodbye. He was particularly pleased when a dark-haired girl seemed to be sad at the news of his leaving. He also caught her looking at him as he left and vowed to keep that memory.

On the way to Washington, Henry's regiment feasted at each stop and received the attentions of young girls and old men alike and the young private was beginning to feel like a hero already. His term of service began with many monotonous months in camp and so when the rumor of going into battle came he had mixed feelings. The veterans told him tall tales to scare him but he didn't believe in all they told him because recruits were prime targets for their pranks.

While Henry paced in his tent, the thought suddenly came to him that he might run away from battle. Panic and fear filled him and he tried to imagine the hideous possibilities. When his tent mates came in arguing the authenticity of the rumor, the private listened and finally asked whether they thought anybody would run. One of the men answered that usually someone does, especially it it's a first time. The private asked the older man if he had ever thought of running and the man told him that if the men around him started to run, he would probably run; but if they stood and fought, he would also stay. The young man felt some reassurance in the older man's words.