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

Charley fights in several “skirmishes” (90) in the passing months and now waits in a protected position behind a wall, looking down a gradual hill at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Once again, a meadow will serve as the battlefield. This time, the Union soldiers have an ideal position at the top of a hill behind fences and rock walls. Charley prepares his rifle and shoelaces, and waits as Confederate cannons fire from a distance, attempting to destroy Union artillery.

Although some men are killed and cannons hit, the Union army remains largely intact. The Rebels start moving across the meadow and up the hill, and Charley watches them fall by the hundreds. He is amazed that despite taking heavy fire and casualties, they continue approaching. When they are in close enough range, Charley fires and reloads from his relatively sheltered position behind the wall, thinking “this is the way it should be done” (94). Soon, his unit—the First Minnesota Volunteers—is called to charge against the Rebels, and Charley rises from his position and fights “toe-to-toe” with the enemy (95). Charley is hit twice and, seeing a “red veil,” acknowledges that he is finally dead (96).