When the regiment finally discovers a battle-taking place, Jim gives Henry a little packet in a yellow envelope, telling Henry that this will be his first and last battle. The regiment manages to hold off the rebels for the first charge, but then the rebels came back like machines of steel with re-enforcements, driving the regiment back. One man started to flee from the battlefield, then another, and another. Henry was confused, and in a trance as he saw his forces depleting. He finally got up and starts running like a proverbial chicken, which has lost the direction of safety. After running away from the enemy, Henry started rationalizing his behavior. At first he feels he was a stupid coward for running, then he feels he was just saving himself for later. He felt nature didn’t want him to die, even though his side is losing. He believes he was intelligent for running and hopes he will die in battle just for spite. The same time Henry met Jim, he also met a tattered man. In the next charge, Henry and the tattered man see Jim die a slow, and painful death. After Jim’s death, and a little talking, Henry, though not realizing it, leaves the tattered man alone on the battlefield, hurting inside, and dangerous to himself. In the charge ahead, Henry starts asking the soldiers why they are running. He grabbed a comrade by the arm and asked the man "why- why" not letting go of the mans arm, so the man hit Henry over the head with the butt of his rifle, giving Henry his first red badge of courage. Dazed, Henry stumbles around the battlefield struggling to stay on his feet, until a man comes around and helps Henry to get back to his regiment. "The sun, suddenly apparent, blazed among the trees. The insects were making rhythmical noises. They seem to be grinding their teeth in unison. A woodpecker stuck his impudent head around the side of a tree. A bird flew on light-hearted wing. Off was the rumble of death. It seemed now that natur...
