Chickamauga Bierce Analysis

In the story “Chickamauga” by Ambrose Bierce a young child enamored with the ways of war and battle has his innocence shattered by an adventure in the woods gone wrong. At the beginning of the story a young boy adventures into the woods pretending to fight an imaginary foe with his wooden sword. In the course of fighting his foe he comes across a real foe, a rabbit, and runs away frightened. This causes him to become lost and he eventually falls asleep. When he awakens it is night and he stumbles across strange figures shambling along which turn out to be wounded men. Not understanding the significance of these men, the boy pretends they are his force and leads them towards a light he sees. When he gets to the light he finds that a house