The Return of a Private (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Hamlin Garland
- First Published: 1891
- Type of Plot: Domestic realism
- Time of Work: 1865
- Setting: Near LaCrosse, Wisconsin Territory
- Principal Characters: Private Edward Smith, Emma Smith, Widow Gray, Jim Cranby, Saunders
- Genres: Short fiction, Domestic realism
- Subjects: Rural or country life, Poverty or poor people, Civil War, Farms, farmers, or farming, Veterans, Patriotism
- Locales: LaCrosse, WI
The Story
“The Return of a Private” begins on a train from New Orleans carrying Northern veterans back to the Midwest. They are among the last to leave the South; sickness and wounds delayed their departure until August. Only four or five are left to get off the train at LaCrosse. One of them, Private Edward Smith, still suffers from fever and ague. It is two o’clock in the morning, and rather than spend their money for a hotel room, Smith and two compatriots decide to bed down in the train station. The two other veterans arrange their blankets so that their sickly friend...
[The entire page is 1631 words long]
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