Chapter 4 Summary

Private Otto Flickner, a canoneer with the First Minnesota Battery, is well away from the line of fire where he encounters a man who has accused him of being a coward. Otto says he wants to fight the man for the words but the man won't get up. Otto cites the words of one of the commanders and says that he isn't a coward, he's just disheartened. The men are all well behind the lines of fighting and all have walked away from their posts, their fellow soldiers and their commanders, fearing for their lives when faced with the onslaught from the Confederate Army. Otto sees that one of the men has a dog and the dog seems to be badly wounded. The man then tells Otto how he came to be in possession of the dog. The man says that he'd been...