Author: Stephen Crane / Year: 1871-1900 / Genre: War In the novel, Henry was one of the enlisted soldiers in the 304th New York Regiment. He flees from battle
in one of the skirmishes they had against the Confederates and to hide his cowardice, he attempted to
inflict a wound to himself which is referred to as the “red badge of courage.” He got the wound that he
wants to have when he joins a group of fellow soldiers retreating from the battlefield. One of them
accidentally hit his head with a rifle butt and wounded him. When he came back to their camp, the other
soldiers there quickly treated his wound believing that he got it during the battle. After this incident, he
again went back to the battlefield and was able to prove that he was really a capable solider.
