Discussion Topic
The name of Henry's regiment in The Red Badge of Courage
Summary:
The name of Henry's regiment in The Red Badge of Courage is not explicitly mentioned in the text. Stephen Crane deliberately left out such specifics to focus more on the universal experience of soldiers in war rather than on particular details.
What is the name of Henry's regiment in The Red Badge of Courage?
Harry, also known in the story as "the youth", is part of the 304th New York regiment that includes the "tall soldier" Jim Conklin and the "loud soldier" Wilson.
The 304th regiment is first mentioned at the beginning of chapter 4, when an unnamed soldier states:
"Th' general, ses he is goin' take th' hull command of th' 304th when we go inteh action, an' then he ses we'll so sech fightin' as never another one reg'ment done."
In chapter 12, another soldier refers to the regiment as the 304th New York regiment.
"What reg’ment do yeh b’long teh? Eh? What’s that? Th’ 304th N’ York?"
In chapter 18, an officer insults Harry and Wilson when he calls the 304th regiment "mule drivers" and implies that it is the one regiment he could risk losing. Harry and Wilson try to prove him wrong in the next charge, but after after...
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they end up on the losing side, the officer again insults the regiment by calling them all "mud diggers." Harry and Wilson's anger subsides somewhat when they overhear a colonel single them out as the best fighters in the regiment.
The name of Henry's regiment is the 304th. Crane does not reveal its name until Chapter 18 when Henry and Wilson overhear a conversation between their general and another officer. The general is asking the officer what troops are left to fight. The officer replies,
The officer who rode like a cowboy reflected for an instant. “Well,” he said, “I had to order in th' 12th to help th' 76th, an' I haven't really got any. But there's th' 304th. They fight like a lot 'a mule drivers."
Henry and Wilson are astonished to hear their regiment called "mule drivers" but they run back to camp and tell the others to prepare to fight. By not revealing the name of the regiment until they are about to fight is the same technique Crane uses by not revealing Henry's name until after he has fought. It seems as if Crane does not consider a person's identity important until they face losing their identity in the line of duty.
them best of any.”
In the novel The Red Badge of Courage, what is the name of Henry's regiment?
Stephen Crane withholds the name of Henry's regiment until late in the novel, The Red Badge of Courage. Like many of the men, the unit is a faceless group awaiting their turn to die in battle (in this case, the Southern victory at Chancellorsville) like so many before them. Crane tells us indirectly that the troops are from New York in Chapter 2, since
The tall one fought with a man from Chatfield Corners and beat him severely.
(Chatfield Corner is a town in Saratoga County.) The men are without battlefield experience, so they are likely a volunteer outfit, rather than a veteran U. S. Army regiment. In Chapter 18, just prior to Henry's heroic stand,
Looking down an aisle of the grove, the youth and his companion saw a jangling general and his staff...
There they overhear the general demanding a subordinate officer for reinforcements.
"What troops can you spare?"
..."Well," he said. "I had to order in th' 12th to help the 76th, an' I haven't really got any. But there's the 304th. They fight like a lot 'a mule drivers. I can spare them best of any."
The general spoke sharply. "Get 'em ready, then... I don't believe many of your mule drivers will get back."
So, Henry Fleming is a member of the 304th New York Volunteers.
(According to several Civil War historians, Crane's inspiration for the 304th was either a unit from French’s Division, Couch’s Second Corps; or the Orange County Regiment (124th New York), of Sickles’ Third Corps.)