Bierce, Ambrose (1842–1914?)

Soldier, Journalist, and Author

Amid the firsthand accounts of the Civil War that flooded the market in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the writings of Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce spoke in a distinctive, often cynical voice that reflected the carnage and horror of battle. Although Bierce earned 15 commendations for his service as a Union soldier, he defined valor as “a soldierly compound of vanity, duty, and the gambler's hope.”

Bierce was born in Meigs County, Ohio, on June 24, 1842, the son of a poor farming family, the 10th of 13 children, all of whom received names beginning with the letter “A.” The family moved frequently, eventually settling in Indiana. In 1859 Bierce began studying at the Kentucky Military Institute, but he dropped out after one year. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, he immediately enlisted as a sergeant in the 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He saw his first action at the battle of Shiloh in April 1862, where the 9th Indiana sustained high casualties. Thereafter, Bierce took part in many of the major battles of the war, including Corinth, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Dalton, Kennesaw Mountain, and Franklin. In 1863 he was promoted to first lieutenant and joined Gen. William B. Hazen's staff as a topographical engineer.

At the battle of Kennesaw Mountain in June 1864, Bierce took a bullet to the head that lodged in his temple. Although he recovered from the wound, he suffered from searing headaches for the rest of his life. A few months later he was captured by the Confederates near Gaylesville, Alabama. He escaped and saw further action at the battles of Franklin and Nashville, but because he suffered frequent spells of dizziness and fainting, he was released from active duty in January 1865.

After the war Bierce moved to San Francisco and worked as a journalist for the next three decades. By 1868 he was a regular columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and he began publishing his short stories. In 1891 Bierce published his stories as a comprehensive collection—Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. Among these tales the most representative, and arguably the most powerful expression of Bierce's antiwar sentiment is “Chickamauga.” The story centers on the experience of a six-year-old boy who observes dying soldiers from one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles. The grotesque imagery in this story illuminates not only the gruesome nature of war, but also its effects on the innocent. At the end of the tale the child returns home to find his mother has been shot through the head. Only then does the reader learn that the child is also a deaf mute.

Bierce was employed by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, who sent him to Washington, D.C., in 1896 as a lobbyist. By 1898 Hearst had become one of the most influential promoters of war against Spain. Despite his employer's views, Bierce vociferously opposed the war and warned of the dangers of conflict. Hearst fired him but Bierce continued his opposition in other newspapers. Once the Spanish–American War had broken out, Bierce continued his critiques of war policy as a war correspondent.

...