The Red Badge of Courage - Chapter 5

Abstract -
Henry was thinking about home when he heard someone call "Here they come!" Everyone prepared and loaded their guns. Brown uniforms emerged out of the smokey fields, and Henry tried to remember if his gun had been loaded, but couldn't. When he saw the enemy, he forgot about his fear, shot the first shot and fought with his regiment. Battle broke out between the troops, and many of Henry's regiment were dying or being injured. They ended up holding back the enemy in their battle, but once the fighting was over Henry realized how big the battle really was. They were surrounded by other battles, still unfinished. He recognized the beauty of the day and how odd it was that nature could continue on being so wonderful when such horrible things were going on all around it.

Response -
Henry describes himself as overcome with "red rage," not towards the other men necessarily, but at the conditions they were fighting in. "Buried in the smoke of many rifles his anger was directed not so much against the men whom he knew were rushing toward him as against the swirling battle phantoms which were choking him, stuffing their smoke robes down his parched throat. He fought frantically for respite for his senses, for air, as a babe being smothered attacks the deadly blankets." I think Henry suprised himself by staying and fighting with his comrades, and I think he felt proud that he didn't run away. It shows how much death they were exposed to when the narrator describes the reaction Henry and the other men had to all the men that were wounded and dying around them.

Questions -
What are batteries? What made Henry stay... was it the fact that he had no way out, or did he realize that he had more courage than he thought?