The charge begins. Henry runs toward a clump of trees, expecting to meet the enemy at that location. As Henry runs, he hears the shouts of the enemy and sees men fall to the ground in agony and death. As the charge continues, the men begin to cheer; however, this pace takes its toll on the soldiers, and the charge begins to slow. The men hesitate.
Suddenly, “the roar of the lieutenant” brings the men back to reality. The lieutenant cajoles and curses the men into action. Finally, Wilson jumps forward and fires a shot into the trees hiding the enemy. This action arouses the other men, and they all commence firing.
Eventually, the regiment reaches a clearing, and the men take up positions behind a row of trees which border the clearing. Again, however, the men appear to lose their resolve. Once more, the lieutenant brings the men back to reality. He shouts directly at Henry when he says, “Come on, yeh lunkhead! Come on! We’ll all git killed if we stay here.” Henry takes the initiative and begins to run across the field.
The lieutenant and Wilson both join him, and they urge the rest of the men to follow. The men do follow, and as Henry runs, he finds that he is running near the color sergeant who is carrying the flag. Henry feels a great love and pride envelop him as he sees the flag. At that moment, the color sergeant is mortally wounded. As he falls forward, Wilson grabs the flag, and, with Henry’s help, they take the flag from the dead soldier whose body falls to the ground.
