What details help to give a realistic picture of the combat experience of civil was soldiers and of soldiers in general?

Realisitc images are woven throughout the novel. Flemming uses sound, color, and personification to make the battle come alive, and through his words we get a glimpse of the psychological toll the battles cause as well. Henry's retreat reads like a nightmare. Noise, grabbing bushes, bodies, wounded men..... he's surrounded by a nightmare he cannot escape, and his nightmare wears the colors of the gray and blue uniforms of the soldiers.