The Red Badge of Courage and Selected Sh - Stephen Crane [100]
9 (p. 14) the colonel on a gigantic horse: This officer is likely the commander of Fleming’s regiment. The image Crane creates is reminiscent of an image Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) describes in “A Horseman in the Sky,” a story in Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891).
10 (p. 16) come around in behind the enemy: Hooker’s plan called for a “double envelopment,” dividing his infantry forces into two wings that would attack Lee’s army from different directions. The right wing was to cross the river 20 miles west of Falmouth and then head back east to flank the Confederates, a 40-mile forced march in all. The left wing crossed the Rappahannock near Fredericksburg. Both groups were to converge on Chancellorsville.
11 (p. 18) “they’ve licked us”:The Confederacy had won the majority of battles up to this point, including the Union’s humiliating defeat at Fredericksburg in December 1862. Lee, however, did not have the men or resources to exploit these victories.
12 (p. 19) Napoleon Bonaparte: In the middle of the nineteenth century, Napoleon Bonaparte represented to the average American soldier not only military genius but also complete mastery of the battlefield. Here Crane highlights how little an infantryman knows about the tactics and strategy of a campaign.
13 (p. 20) “I’ll bid five.... Seven goes”: The men are probably playing a version of the card game whist. Bidding “seven” means the speaker will try to take all thirteen tricks.
Chapter III
14 (p. 21) very good shirts: Remember the care Fleming’s mother put into the making of his shirts. Their discarding here symbolically refutes her vision of what war demands of soldiers, which had previously helped to shape her son’s erroneous conceptions. Crane imitates a long literary tradition of veterans confronting a civilian reader with his or her misconceptions about combat.
15 (p. 22) not a brigade: The length of the regiment’s column not only indicates its inefficiency and inexperience but also symbolizes the disunity among the men, thus rendering the “blue demonstration” a mob.
16 (p. 23) skirmishers: Skirmishers moved in advance of the main body of troops to scout out enemy positions and strength.
17 (p. 25) “No skulking’ll do here”: Note how Fleming’s psychological skulking here goes against his mother’s admonitions about “shirking.”
18 (p. 25) cathedral light of a forest: This is the initial image that reflects Crane’s fusing of nature and spirituality in the novel. It anticipates the secluded grove that the deserting Fleming comes upon in chapter VII, “a place where the high, arching boughs made a chapel.” Chapter VIII opens with trees as they “began ... to sing a hymn of twilight.”
Chapter IV
19 (p. 29) ’G’ Company: Companies in a normal regiment were designated by letters from A through K, skipping over the letter J.
20 (p. 29) “Hannises’ batt‘ry is took”: Each Union infantry division had from two to four artillery batteries in support.
21 (p. 29) “when we go inteh action”: The date for the 304th’s first experience under enemy fire is May 2, 1863.The “304th New York” is Crane’s invention. The highest-numbered regiment from New York that participated in the battle of Chancellorsville was the 157th. The 304th’s battle episodes correspond to events experienced by several actual regiments, suggesting that Crane conflated a number of accounts into one cohesive narrative. We learn from the “cheery” soldier in chapter XII that Fleming’s regiment is “in th’ center,” which suggests that it belonged to either the Third Corps under the command of Major General Daniel E. Sickles or the Twelfth Corps under Major General Henry W Slocum. The 304th’s forced march up to this point is consistent with Slocum’s orders for his troops. Its redeployment in chapter XVI, however, corresponds with Sickles’s attempt to shore up the right wing on May 3. In chapter