How Does A Soldier's Heart Change

In the Civil War, over one million casualties occur. In the book Soldier’s Heart by Gary Paulsen, Charley Goddard volunteers to serve in the Civil War. When he first enlists, he is fifteen and just a boy. By the time the war ends and he returns home, he becomes a man with a “soldier’s heart” meaning he is changed mentally because of the things he sees in the war. Over the course of the war, Charley has experiences that change him into a man. When Charley hears about a “shooting war,” he gets caught up in all the hype and hurriedly leaves his hometown of Winona, Minnesota to join the First Minnesota Volunteers at Fort Snelling. He is only fifteen, and should not join the army until he turns eighteen, but he lies about his age and gets in. One would expect that
When Charley first joins he finds life boring in Fort Snelling. The food tastes horrible and he does not even have a proper uniform. All they do is practice using their guns, and most the time they just shoot blanks to preserve the ammunition. That is until they start they journey southeast. Charley sees pretty girls and every person they walk by his cheering for them. Eventually Charley even gets to ride a luxury train with food that tastes much better than what he got at Fort Snelling. Everything seems fun and the soldiers think they will easily defeat the rebels. It does not take Charley long to determine the war will take longer than he thinks. The first battle Charley fights at is the First Battle of Bull Run. He sees men dying all around him and he just wants it to stop. He can see many bullets flying around him, but he somehow does not get hit. Charley feels to afraid to even shoot his rifle. When the commanders tell him to retreat orderly, he cannot stop himself from running to safety. Once he knows he is safe he vomits because of the horrors he sees. The next day when Charley is told to go back out, he becomes very scared. He expects the Rebels to