The Red Badge of Courage: Ch. 13-14

Still worried that he would be labeled as a coward, Henry walks gingerly toward his camp but is greatly startled when another soldier, Wilson, tells him to stop. It is here that the reader is informed that Henry actually did sustain a wound, a minor graze to the head, but still a wound. This suggests that throughout the day's events, Henry was so worried about his initial retreat that he didn't even pay too much attention to his wound. Ironically, it was a fear for his life and well being that caused him to retreat from the front lines. Although the injury was small, it was to the head, a very important are of the body. This suggests that Henry did after all receive a red badge of courage from his time in action that day. After being removed from the thick of battle, Henry finally calms down and attains a sense of self security again when Wilson tends to his wound.

Due to both physical and mental exhaustion, Henry feels terrible when he wakes up the next morning to fighting in the distance. The day is described as gloomy and misty, creating a dark mood and perhaps foreshadowing unfortunate events that are to take place that day in battle. Henry had acquired the lingering feeling of death the day before when he encountered the group of severely wounded soldiers in the field, and this feeling continues to haunt him. Being one of the first people to wake up, Henry sees all his comrades asleep and sees them all as corpses. Only when they rise does the entity of death temporarily leave the air around Henry's surroundings.