Chapter: The brigade was halted in the fringe of a grove.  The men crouched
among the trees and pointed their restless guns out at the fields. They
tried to look beyond the smoke.

Out of this haze they could see running men. Some shouted information
and gestured as they hurried.

The men of the new regiment watched and listened eagerly, while their
tongues ran on in gossip of the battle.  They mouthed rumors that had
flown like birds out of the unknown.

"They say Perry has been driven in with big loss."

"Yes, Carrott went t' th' hospital.  He said he was sick.  That smart
lieutenant is commanding 'G' Company.  Th' boys say they won't be under
Carrott no more if they all have t' desert. They allus knew he was a--"

"Hannises' batt'ry is took."

"It ain't either.  I saw Hannises' batt'ry off on th' left not more'n
fifteen minutes ago."

"Well--"

"Th' general, he ses he is goin' t' take th' hull cammand of th' 304th
when we go inteh action, an' then he ses we'll do sech fightin' as
never another one reg'ment done."

"They say we're catchin' it over on th' left. They say th' enemy driv'
our line inteh a devil of a swamp an' took Hannises' batt'ry."

"No sech thing.  Hannises' batt'ry was 'long here 'bout a minute ago."

"That young Hasbrouck, he makes a good off'cer.  He ain't afraid 'a
nothin'."

"I met one of th' 148th Maine boys an' he ses his brigade fit th' hull
rebel army fer four hours over on th' turnpike road an' killed about
five thousand of 'em.  He ses one more sech fight as that an' th' war
'll be over."

"Bill wasn't scared either.  No, sir!  It wasn't that.  Bill ain't
a-gittin' scared easy.  He was jest mad, that's what he was.  When that
feller trod on his hand, he up an' sed that he was willin' t' give his
hand t' his country, but he be dumbed if he was goin' t' have every
dumb bushwhacker in th' kentry walkin' 'round on it.  Se he went t' th'
hospital disregardless of th' fight.  Three fingers was crunched.  Th'
dern doctor wanted t' amputate 'm, an' Bill, he raised a heluva row, I
hear.  He's a funny feller."

The din in front swelled to a tremendous chorus.  The youth and his
fellows were frozen to silence.  They could see a flag that tossed in
the smoke angrily.  Near it were the blurred and agitated forms of
troops.  There came a turbulent stream of men across the fields.  A
battery changing position at a frantic gallop scattered the stragglers
right and left.

A shell screaming like a storm banshee went over the huddled heads of
the reserves.  It landed in the grove, and exploding redly flung the
brown earth.  There was a little shower of pine needles.

Bullets began to whistle among the branches and nip at the trees. Twigs
and leaves came sailing down.  It was as if a thousand axes, wee and
invisible, were being wielded.  Many of the men were constantly dodging
and ducking their heads.

The lieutenant of the youth's company was shot in the hand.  He began
to swear so wondrously that a nervous laugh went along the regimental
line.  The officer's profanity sounded conventional.  It relieved the
tightened senses of the new men.  It was as if he had hit his fingers
with a tack hammer at home.

He held the wounded member carefully away from his side so that the
blood would not drip upon his trousers.

The captain of the company, tucking his sword under his arm, produced a
handkerchief and began to bind with it the lieutenant's wound. And they
disputed as to how the binding should be done.

The battle flag in the distance jerked about madly.  It seemed to be
struggling to free itself from an agony.  The billowing smoke was
filled with horizontal flashes.

Men running swiftly emerged from it.  They grew in numbers until it was
seen that the whole command was fleeing.  The flag suddenly sank down
as if dying.  Its motion as it fell was a gesture of despair.

Wild yells came from behind the walls of smoke.  A sketch in gray and
red dissolved into a moblike body of men who galloped like wild horses.

The veteran regiments on the right and left of the 304th immediately
began to jeer.  With the passionate song of the bullets and the banshee
shrieks of shells were mingled loud catcalls and bits of facetious
advice concerning places of safety.

But the new regiment was breathless with horror.  "Gawd!  Saunders's
got crushed!" whispered the man at the youth's elbow.  They shrank back
and crouched as if compelled to await a flood.

The youth shot a swift glance along the blue ranks of the regiment. The
profiles were motionless, carven; and afterward he remembered that the
color sergeant was standing with his legs apart, as if he expected to
be pushed to the ground.

The following throng went whirling around the flank.  Here and there
were officers carried along on the stream like exasperated chips.  They
were striking about them with their swords and with their left fists,
punching every head they could reach.  They cursed like highwaymen.

A mounted officer displayed the furious anger of a spoiled child.  He
raged with his head, his arms, and his legs.

Another, the commander of the brigade, was galloping about bawling. His
hat was gone and his clothes were awry.  He resembled a man who has
come from bed to go to a fire.  The hoofs of his horse often threatened
the heads of the running men, but they scampered with singular fortune.
In this rush they were apparently all deaf and blind.  They heeded not
the largest and longest of the oaths that were thrown at them from all
directions.

Frequently over this tumult could be heard the grim jokes of the
critical veterans; but the retreating men apparently were not even
conscious of the presence of an audience.

The battle reflection that shone for an instant in the faces on the mad
current made the youth feel that forceful hands from heaven would not
have been able to have held him in place if he could have got
intelligent control of his legs.

There was an appalling imprint upon these faces.  The struggle in the
smoke had pictured an exaggeration of itself on the bleached cheeks and
in the eyes wild with one desire.

The sight of this stampede exerted a floodlike force that seemed able
to drag sticks and stones and men from the ground.  They of the
reserves had to hold on.  They grew pale and firm, and red and quaking.

The youth achieved one little thought in the midst of this chaos.  The
composite monster which had caused the other troops to flee had not
then appeared.  He resolved to get a view of it, and then, he thought
he might very likely run better than the best of them.

 The new regiment is now halted just inside a grove of trees, facing out into a field covered in smoke. They talk about rumors and reports from battles, who has lost what and moved where. As always, there is a disagreement about what has actually happened, this time to a Union battery. Then the noise and altercation in the field in front of them grows louder, and the new troops grow silent. The Union troops in the field of smoke begin to run. A shell screams overhead the new regiment, landing in the grove and throwing up a shower of pine needles. Bullets begin to fly towards them as well. The lieutenant of the youth's company is then shot in the hand. He curses as if he had hit his finger with a hammer, which sounds quite funny to the rest of the troops. Curiously, the lieutenant holds his wound away from his uniform so as not to stain it. The Union troops in the field begin to run away and the battle flag falls. The veteran regiments flanking the new troops catcall and jeer the fleeing men. Henry Fleming's regiment is dumbstruck with horror; they witnessed a regiment's defeat right before they are called to fight. The officers try to get the running men to stop, using their swords, fists, and cursing to keep them back. They rage with fury at the retreating regiment. The commander of that brigade gallops about on his horse, weeping. He looks like "a man who has come from bed to go to a fire. The fleeing troops pay no attention to any of these officers as they run. This makes Henry sure he will run. Seeing the "mad current" of retreat swallow up the men's conscience, he is sure that he too will be driven wild and panic with battle. Yet, as the chapter ends, Henry resolves that now is the time he must see the "monster" that made them run, regardless if he runs himself

