As Henry and Wilson rest, they see a large number of troop movements and changes in artillery positions. These movements and changes are not occurring in a rapid, hurried fashion by men preparing for battle, but, rather, in a slower, more leisurely fashion by men beginning to withdraw.
The officers begin to organize the troops for a return to their previous position. The regiment links up with the other regiments in the brigade, as well as with a mass of other troops, and the entire division moves away from the front. The importance of these linkages and this massive movement prompts Henry to say to Wilson, “Well, it’s all over.” Wilson’s reply, “B’Gawd, it is,” sends Henry into a detailed, introspective assessment of his entire war experience to this point.
It then begins to rain. As Henry walks in this rain shower, he realizes that “he had rid himself of the red sickness of battle. The sultry nightmare was in the past.” As he continues on the road back to his camp, he looks to the sky, and he feels “an existence of soft and eternal peace”—just as the sun breaks through the clouds.
