Red Badge of Courage Courage Summary

Henry Flemming, the main character, is a vibrant young union soldier. He dreams
of the valor that war brings. When he enlists, all of these glorifying feelings vanish. He
notices the horrors and shock of war. At first, Henry fears that he will run from battle. He
talks to the older experienced soldiers and asks them if they are scared, they do not admit.
This just scares him even more. Before his first battle he sees his first dead body, a
gruesome thing.
The Tall Soldier, Jim Conklin, and The Loud Soldier, Wilson, are introduced.
Wilson gives Henry a letter before the battle to give to his family if he dies. The battle
starts and Henry doesnt start bad but after the second round of shots he is terrified and
flees the battlefield. He tells himself that it was an instinct.
When Henry starts back to the battle he runs into a group of wounded men who
ask him where his injury is, which makes him feel as they are figuring it out. Henry
wishes he too had a Red Badge of Courage. He sees Jim Conklin die right in front of him
and runs away. Henry encounters a group of soldiers and they strike him in the head with
a rifle butt. They end up being a Union Regiment. He ends up with his own regiment and
Wilson asks for his letters back. This makes Henry feel important. All of the men think
that Henry was grazed in the head by a bullet. Amazingly, his whole entire regiment got
lost in the battle so no one accuses him of running away. Henry loudly blames him
commander for the loss and the men that died, instead of the regiments fighting.
In the next battles henry courageously fights and gains respect of his fellow
soldiers. One fight the flag bearer dies and henry grabs the flag and rallies his troops. In
this battle he captures the confederate flag and the Union army has a victory. After the
battle he accepts all of his previous actions and considers himself as one who survived.