Afterwards, the superior officers praise this courageous action. They rush forward, take up the flag, and rally their comrades to fight.
In the next battle, he and Wilson see the Union flag bearer fall. Henry wants more than ever to prove himself. However, in a lull between battles, he and Wilson overhear a general referring to their regiment as "mule drivers" and preparing to sacrifice them at the front line in the next scuffle. He fights wildly and afterwards is praised by his lieutenant for his actions. Yet another battle begins, but this time, Henry is ready. He loudly disses the general’s tactics and blames his strategy, rather than his regiment’s quality of fighting, for the losses suffered that day. Henry milks this superiority for all it’s worth to justify his guilt over running from battle. Henry then encounters Wilson, who asks sheepishly for his packet of letters back, making Henry feel superior to him. Seeing his head injury, the men assume a bullet grazed him. It seems that everyone got separated in the confusion of the battle. To his relief, no one accuses him of running away. Henry runs away, encounters another group of men, gets whacked on the head with a rifle butt by a rather freaked out member of his own army, and amazingly ends up back with his own 304th regiment. Henry then bumps into Jim Conklin, who dies a rather horrible death in front of him. One of the wounded men, a Tattered Soldier, keeps asking where Henry’s injury is, which of course makes our protagonist uncomfortable and nervous that he will be found out. Seeing their bloody injuries, Henry wishes that he, too, had a red badge of courage. As Henry heads back toward the sound of battle, he encounters a group of wounded men leaving the scuffle. He oscillates between a feeling of superiority and one of crippling guilt. Afterwards, he tries to rationalize his decision (to himself) by claiming it was simply a survival instinct. However, when a second round of fighting begins after a brief lull, Henry is terrified and heads for the hills. When the fighting finally starts, Henry doesn’t do too badly.
Meanwhile we meet two men, Jim Conklin or "the Tall Soldier" whom Henry has known for years, and Wilson or "the Loud Soldier." Wilson, afraid that he will die in battle, gives Henry a packet of letters to deliver to his family after the war. Shortly before his first battle, he sees his first dead body, a gruesome corpse. No one wants to say as much they all seem perfect examples of fearless men, which leaves Henry feeling even worse about his own apprehension. Talking with the other men, he tries to get them to admit that they are scared as well. He’s been in the army for a while now but hasn’t seen any action yet. Initially, Henry fears that he will run like a coward when faced with his first battle. The horrors, boredom, and complete injustice of war bring out all of Henry’s worst (and occasionally best) tendencies. He enlists in the Union army and quickly discovers sides of himself he never knew existed.
Henry Fleming is a teenager with romantic notions about the glories of war.