Chapter XXIV Summary

The colonel appeared out of nowhere and he was running along the back of the line with other officers following him. He was shouting that they had to charge. Their tone indicated that they anticipated some rebellion among the men but they found none, for they all knew that it would be certain death to stay in that place. Their only hope was to push the enemy away from a fence where they had dug in.

Henry moved to the front with the flag and urged his comrades to follow. He himself felt that at that moment he was capable of greatness, even a tremendous death. He thought of the bullets now only as things that could stop him from reaching his destination, nothing more. As he ran, he thought of the moment of contact between the two sides and the...