The soldier boy's heart was full of hope.

He knew not what a battle was; he could form no adequate conception of the terrible scene which was soon to open upon his view.

He prayed and trusted that he might be able to do his duty with courage and fidelity.

To say that he had no doubts and fears would be to say that he was not human.
As the brigade toiled slowly along, he tried to picture the scene which was before him, and thus make himself familiar with its terrors before he was actually called to confront them.

He endeavored to imagine the sounds of screaming shells and whistling bullets, that the reality, when it came, might not appall him.