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

Fiction | Novella | YA | Published in 1998

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-10

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Chapters 7-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary: “Town Life”

Charley’s regiment camps for three months as the weather grows colder and fall comes. Disease circulates quickly in the camp, and rumors spread that McClellan is afraid to fight. The men are physically sick, and morale is low. One rumor is that a whole regiment deserted, which turns out to be false; only four men deserted and were caught and shot. Another rumor, which turns out to be true, is that a young general named Grant defeated the Rebels in Tennessee.

Charley stays busy taking care of himself and his camp area. Men from cities get sick quickly because they don’t keep their camp clean. Food is scarce and unpredictable; sometimes bread is available or meals for purchase from nearby farmsteads, but otherwise the men must subsist on meager rations. Charley uses hard work—hauling wood, cleaning his rifle, and cooking—to persevere despite the cold and low morale. He stops taking interest in his fellow soldiers because he doesn’t want to get make friends when many will likely die. Several men think they will not fight in the cold weather, but Charley knows battle is inevitable because, “You did not have an army without a battle” (64).

One night when Charley is on guard duty, a Rebel soldier starts talking to him from across the river and proposes a trade: tobacco for coffee. Charley agrees, since coffee is plentiful for him now, and he can use tobacco to trade for other goods in the camp. They trade by tying their goods to a rock and throwing it across the river to one another. Charley catches a glimpse of the Confederate soldier and sees he is young, probably the same age as Charley or even younger. The youths converse and learn they are both farmers. They plan to trade again the next night, but an officer learns Charley was talking to the enemy and chides him. The following night, the Confederate guard on duty is someone new and fires at the oak tree behind which Charley is stationed.

Chapter 8 Summary: “Winter”

Even as Charley lives and works alongside the other soldiers, he feels alone and sure of his impending death. He is assigned to find beef for the sick and wounded, but no cattle are available and he must shoot and slaughter horses for meat. This task bothers Charley, and he is angry when the soldiers are summoned to march south. The troops march for a full day, and in the afternoon, hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance. They continue walking towards the artillery sounds on a beautiful, sunlit country road and Charley feels his fear building with each step. They approach a field and can see heavy fighting and smoke a mile away, but they stop and form a line in front of trees. Soon, a group of Confederate soldiers on horseback emerges from the trees and begins riding towards them.

Charley’s unit greatly outnumbers the Rebel soldiers. They wait until the men are within close range, and only need to fire a few volleys to take down the Rebels and their horses. For Charley, shooting the horses and hearing their screams is worse than shooting the men who ride them; he knows the Rebels are trying to kill him, but the horses are innocent bystanders in Charley’s eyes. As the Union soldiers rest for a moment, Charley thinks of coffee and wonders if the dead rebels might have some sugar in their bags. However, his reverie doesn’t last long as the men are called to action; a group of thousands of Rebel soldiers are approaching across the field on Charley’s left.

When the second group of Confederate soldiers are within range, Charley and the other Union soldiers begin firing. Although men all around Charley are shot, the entire unit holds its ground until they are forced to engage in hand to hand combat with their bayonets. The sun has set by now, so Charley has a hard time distinguishing between Confederate and Union uniforms. He stabs a Rebel soldier in the chest and, “attacked anything and everything that that came into his range” (84). The Rebels eventually retreat, and Charley finds himself covered in blood.

Thinking he must have been shot, a sergeant sends him to the medical tent. Charley is numb as he waits for the doctor and cannot feel any pain or sense how much time is passing. When Charley is finally examined, no bullet wound can be found; the blood covering Charley is not his own. The doctor enlists his help to construct a wind barrier, and the only materials available to build it are the bodies of dead soldiers. Charley and the doctor’s assistant pile the corpses to make a five by thirty-foot wall, and Charley falls asleep beside it, sheltered from the wind by the bodies.

Chapters 7-8 Analysis

As the weather changes from summer to fall, the soldiers’ morale declines. Charley’s unit camps for three months, and camp conditions are poor. People are constantly sick, and diseases spread easily through the camp. Paulsen makes a contrast between the way city folk and country folk respond to the camp environment. People from the city don’t know how to take care of themselves or keep their camp area clean, while Charley does. Charley uses hard work like taking care of his rifle and camp area to persevere. As morale worsens, rumors fly about the state of the war and the Union leaders such as Lincoln, McClellan, and Grant. Mentions of these historical figures add to the historicity of Paulsen’s account.

Paulsen shows how life as a soldier gradually transforms Charley. He withdraws from the other men, choosing to be alone rather than make friends who “died so fast” (65). Charley does not share the other men’s hopes that they will not have to fight in additional battles. He knows more battles will come and feels more assured than ever that he will die soon. In Chapter 8’s battle, Charley faces combat differently than in his first two battle experiences. Although he still feels fear, he seems resigned to his duty as a soldier. Immediately after defeating the first small group of Confederate soldiers, Charley’s thoughts turn to himself when he contemplates searching the bodies for sugar. After the trauma of battle, Charley thinks of everyday needs, and seems to compartmentalize his battle experience.

When a large group of Rebels approach minutes later and Charley must fight hand-to-hand with his bayonet, he is overtaken by self-preservation and a wild rage to kill or be killed. Paulsen describes him as a “madman” and repeats the word “joy” to describe Charley’s fighting (84). Charley’s actions here show that he is no longer the innocent boy he used to be; his bravery in staying and fighting couples with the instinct to survive and transforms Charley during battle. By the battle’s end, he is numb in a state of shock. Despite the atrocities he sees at the hospital tent and the traumatic experience of building a wall out of corpses, Charley is surprisingly calm. The changes in his character point to the damaging effects of war; not only does it end lives, but it also changes the lives and personalities of those who survive.

Paulsen uses repetition to show the similarities of each battle. Charley notes that every battle takes place on a meadow. It seems that the battles could easily blur together in hindsight, since each one is in a similar location and both sides employ similar strategies. Paulsen also ends each battle chapter with a phrase that numbers Charley’s battles. These final phrases such as “Third battle” (89) serve as foreboding conclusions to the battle scenes. The numbering pattern also suggests that more battles await Charley, and that he can only wait for the next one and hope to survive it.