Discuss the representations of the American Civil War in
the stories of Ambrose Bierce.
Is there truth in the stories?
How do the stories affect their audience?
What representations of the Civil War does Bierce present? How does this affect the current audience?
How do the stories affect their audience?
What representations of the Civil War does Bierce present? How does this affect the current audience?
Ambrose Bierce was an American journalist and short-story writer
who was born on 24th of June 1842. He disappeared in late 1913 or early 1914 after
visiting some of the battlefields he fought at in his youth. He later wrote
fictional stories detailing the experiences of war. These stories convey
actions prevalent in the American Civil War amongst the narrative they are
weaved into.
Ambrose Bierce's stories convey truth mixed with fiction.
For example, One of the Missing uses the name of Brigadier General William
Tecumseh Sherman (General Sherman) and depicts the "Confederate
retreat" through the fictional character of Private Jerome Searing, who is
an "orderly" for Sherman's army. The story also depicts the "miles
of trenchlines"[1]
which it appears Bierce described as "A line of earthworks" and
"little banks of earth scooped out of the slight depression". Of
course, this would only be true if Union soldiers had taken over the
Confederate trenches. It seems likely. It appears that the Atlanta Campaign is
presented as a sort of building site as well as a battlefield.
Amongst One of the Missing, Bierce refers to his own injury
which occurred on the 23rd of June 1864 at Kennesaw Mountain in this sentence: "A smart wrap to
the head from a flying fragment of the splintered post, incurred simultaneously
with the frightfully sudden shock to the nervous system." Bierce, however,
was hit by a bullet, not a splinter of wood. Through this, he gives his
audience an idea of what it would be like to be shot or injured whilst at war.
[1]Angela
Tooley, The Dallas Road Community and the
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, National Park Service U.S. Department of the
Interior Kennesaw Mountain National
Battlefield Park, Experience Your America™
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