Soldiers Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers

Chapters 4 and 5 describe Charley’s first combat experience. Paulsen states in the Author’s Note that although the battle of Bull Run is factual, the real Charley Goddard was not present there. Many of Paulsen’s descriptions, however, detail the strategies and realities of Civil War battles. For example, Charley’s unit forms two lines on an open meadow and waits for the enemy to come within close enough range to shoot. Paulsen describes orderly lines to create a contrast with the chaos of battle. Once the shooting begins, the sense of order is lost. Paulsen also shows that forming a line of battle was often ineffective. This method of fighting leads to the Union soldier’s defeat on the first day, yet the men are ordered to do the same thing again in the morning.

In contrast, the Rebels have a protected position inside a line of trees, which allows them to kill several Union soldiers without suffering many casualties. By contrasting the positions and strategies of both sides, Paulsen shows that men were made to fight without much regard for whether they had a high chance of survival. In Charley’s next battle, the Confederate soldiers are not as strategic. They line up in front of the trees rather than behind them, which allows Charley’s unit to be more successful in killing them. The situation works out in Charley’s favor, although Paulsen shows that this is a matter of luck rather than strategy on the Union commanders’ part.

Paulsen also includes graphic descriptions of the carnage of battle. Charley sees soldier’s drop on all sides, because of all the bullet flying, and finds it miraculous that he is not shot. He sees several dead bodies, both in the meadow and in the stream where he draws water. As he crosses the battlefield in the morning, Charley thinks of the bodies as like “broken toys or dolls” (37). This description echoes Charley’s youth, showing that his memories of toys are still fresh enough to come to mind at the sight of the corpses. Furthermore, Paulsen shows that the dead and severely wounded are not tended to. Although some men enter the field at night with lanterns, seemingly none of the bodies are removed from the field. Nelson’s stomach wound in Chapter 6 shows that men with severe wounds were often left to die since medics were too busy caring for those with better chances at survival. Paulsen’s imagery of the wounded and dead highlights the atrocity of battle.

Charley’s responses to the battles demonstrate both fear and courage. At first, Charley is in a state of shock; he forgets to fire his rifle when the command comes, vomits when the battle is over, and thinks it impossible that he will walk onto the meadow again in the morning to resume the fight. Despite Charley’s belief that entering the field means certain death, he does not desert. None of the other men run, so Charley feels he must stay as well.

The endless drills that he was forced to practice are shown to be effective when Charley cleans and reloads his weapon without thinking about it. When Charley marches across the field on the second day at Bull Run, he waits for the shots to come from the trees as they did yesterday, and is so afraid that he wets his pants without realizing it. Through these descriptions, Paulsen shows Charley’s fear. Yet, instead of seeing Charley as a coward, the reader sees that he is courageous. Even though he believes that marching across the field will lead to a painful death, he does it. He remains with his unit despite his fear, which suggests genuine bravery.

Chapter 6 creates a contrast between the intensity of experiencing battle and the mundane nature of waiting for the next one. Paulsen shows that the life of a soldier oscillates between extreme boredom and extreme terror. Even though life is calm for a few months, Charley is a realist; he knows he will be required to fight again, and believes that death in battle is unavoidable. The battle in Chapter 6 differs significantly from Charley’s first experience. Charley’s unit is more successful at shooting the enemy, who is not hidden behind trees this time. Furthermore, Charley’s fear in this battle turns into aggression, evidenced by his rage and position at the front of the group when the unit runs towards the enemy. Paulsen’s descriptions paint Charley as an animal; his survival instinct takes over, and he wants to kill the Rebels before they can kill him.

Nevertheless, Charley shows capacity for emotion and grief. When Nelson is shot in the stomach, he cries quiet tears even though he does not know Nelson well. Nelson’s character shows that men with serious wounds did not have hope for survival. His decision to shoot himself rather than wait for a slow and painful death shows the reality of poor medical care and that some battle wounds were considered hopeless. Furthermore, Nelson serves as an example of how quickly one could make and lose a friend; he is a newcomer to the unit, yet dies in his first battle.