Bull Run

“I remembered well what shells do to living flesh, and felt in a melancholy mood.”

Colonel Oliver Brattle has fought in war before, so he knows the reality of it. The contrast between his emotional state during the attack on Fort Sumter and that of his reveling neighbors foreshadows the coming violence at Bull Run. The author opens with this chapter to show the reader that despite people’s initial positive attitudes about a war between North and South, it will lead to many deaths.

“The church society gave the men Bibles, each inscribed with ‘Fight the good fight.’ Girls whose beaus hadn’t joined shamed them by giving out flowers to soldiers.”

This passage shows the pressure society puts on men to fight and be brave. While many men enlist because of romanticized feelings or ideology, many others join with less fervor because it is expected of them. Men are not allowed to express their fears or hesitations about going to war, and women add to this tension by holding idealized views of soldiers and the battlefield.

“I was eleven years old and desperate to kill a Yankee before the supply ran out. It seemed that all Georgia had joined except me.”

Toby’s desire to kill a Northerner shows his innocence and naiveté. He does not explain why he wants to kill, only that he is scared of being left out of the war. For Toby, the war is something exciting that he does not want to miss, showing that he does not yet understand how terrible war is and is merely energized by the public’s passion for going to war.