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Compare And Contrast Soldier's Heart And The Battle Of Bull Run

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What are some things that were the same in Soldier’s Heart and the article titled “The Battle of Bull Run?”
There are a few things that Soldier’s Heart and the article, “The Battle of Bull Run,” share with each other. To start, one thing that was similar in these two texts is that they include the importance of the Union army reaching Washington. For example, after getting defeated and wiped out by the Confederates, the Union retreated to Washington for safety and to wait in after setting up camp. This is significant because it allows the Union to plan their strategy and discuss the recent events. As it states in the article, “The Battle of Bull Run convinced the Lincoln administration and the North that the Civil War would be a long and costly …show more content…

This is similar to the scene where the soldiers shared rumors with each other in Soldier’s Heart. One rumor that the soldiers made up was that the new commander, McClellan, was “afraid to fight” and that “he was only trying to be easy on the men,” which caused President Lincoln to be unsatisfied with McClellan’s “lack of bite” (59). These two events share that the camp at Washington allowed the soldiers to contemplate their battle and recent days. Another comparison between Soldier’s Heart and the article, “The Battle of Bull Run” is the lack of communication and delay in the Confederate army. For example, in the text, it says “They [the Confederates] were still coming, but slower…” (49). Due to the lack of communication between the soldiers, this caused bemusement in their force and the retreatment of the men. “The Battle of Bull Run” also mentions the unorganized army in its text; “...the Confederate plans were several communication failures and general lack of coordination between units” (2). To add on, the article also mentions that after the Confederates had victory over the Union, their forces were “too disorganized to pursue” (3). With this in mind, even …show more content…

To begin, a contrast between the two texts have is the amount of detail of the battle at Bull Run. Soldier’s Heart contains delineate detail in its writing as the protagonist, Charley Goddard, fights in the Bull Run battle. In the book, Charley witnesses thousands of young and old men dying in front of his eyes, the sounds of steel, metal bullets cutting through the air, blood gushing and pouring out of the soldier’s bodies, and much more. The article, however, only reviews content about the Confederate victory over the Union and its chaotic battle plan, as well as significant figures of the Civil War (i.e. President Lincoln, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, General McDowell). It does not go into detail about how many men died at the Battle of Bull Run, nor the violence that took place. Another aspect that “The Battle of Bull Run” and Soldier’s Heart does not share is the dates. As expected from a non-fictional text, “The Battle of Bull Run” includes the dates in which the Bull Run battle occurred. For example, it mentions the date, July 21, 1861, as the day when the South and North clashed and fought, and July 22, 1861, as the day when the South crushed the North. Unlike “The Battle of Bull Run,” Soldier’s Heart does not mention any specific dates or times since it is more focused on the detail of the battle. Even though Soldier’s Heart and

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