War Novels: "The Red Badge of Courage"

by Pa Rock

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(Note:  This posting will hopefully be one of several which explore the use of literature as a way of transmitting the reality of war to students of history.)

I mentioned in this space on Veteran's Day that I am a veteran of four years of active duty service with the United States Army, though thanks to a long college deferment from the draft I never had to serve in the Vietnam War which was raging during those years - so I am what is commonly referred to as a "non-combat" veteran.  My major in college was history with a strong emphasis in American history, and I went on to teach history at the junior high, senior high, and undergraduate college levels, and while doing that I quickly discovered that although many students regard history as being fact-laden and dull, they do tend to perk up when the topics are war and politics, especially if those subjects are taught with some insights into the human situations that played through the history - if the subject matter has a personal feel.

As an illustration, think of how director Ken Burns ignited broad public interest in the American Civil War with his in-depth series that told the war from the perspective of the people who lived it - through personal accounts (journals and dairies) and photographs showing the actual sadness and savagery that resulted from the four years of blood-soaked battles.  Burns had to use the archives for his video retelling of the war from the human perspective, because all of the participants and observers had been dead for decades.

Many of the generals and political bigwigs of the Civil War era published books on their involvement and the war, but those tomes were almost always heavy with facts and light on the humanity exposed by the war -  the impact that it had on ordinary individuals and families.  That began to change when Stephen Crane came on the literary scene.

American poet, short story writer, and novelist Stephen Crane was born in late 1871, more that six years after the end of the American Civil War.   By the early 1890's he was an established writer and like many young men of the time had an interest in war and combat.  (Some of that mass popular interest presented as a sort of "envy" toward the Civil War vets and a desire by the young men to have their own glorious war - one of the factors feeding into the rush toward the Spanish American War.)

Crane read some of the available books on the Civil War and was disillusioned by what he saw as sterile factual accounts that neglected the human element.  He interviewed surviving veterans, visited battlefields, and developed a feel for what the experience had really been like, and channeled his research into a fictional war experience of a very conflicted young man.  Crane's protagonist, 18-year-old Private Henry Fleming of the Union Army, had joined up in the hopes of acquiring some glory and honor from the experience that would hopefully follow him through life.  His service might even result in one of the greatest honors of all, a war wound - also known as a "red badge of courage."

The author told the story from a third-person (outside observer) perspective, but he would occasionally reveal the thoughts of his main character, Henry, as a way to advance the story while giving the readers more insight into the complicated soldier and his situation.

The unit that Henry joined did not immediately engage in battle, and, in fact, remained encamped for several weeks, and that gave Henry time to think about things.  Would he be brave and thrive during battle, or would he be overwhelmed by his growing fears and be subsumed by cowardice?  Before the multi-day battle (based loosely on the actual Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville) ended, he lived both experiences amid very brutal and bloody circumstances.

Stephen Crane's novel of the Civil War was so original with its strong bent toward realism and naturalism along with a unique style of narration that American readers  were slow to engage with it after the book was first published in 1895, but it was a big hit in England -  which made American readers give it a second and more enduring look.  The novel has never been out of print since its initial publication.

"The Red Badge of Courage" is relatively short and would be a quick read if it did not give readers so much to stop and ponder.  After its publication, future books about war generally followed Crane's example of being compelling stories rather that collections of maps and facts.   For those who would like to develop a sense of what combat is really all about, "The Red Badge of Courage" is a good place to start - and, teachers, it will quickly captivate novice students of history and generate much discussion.