"Not all of this did the child note; it is what would have been noted by an elder observer; he saw little but that these were men, yet crept like babes. Being men, they were not terrible, though unfamiliarly clad. He moved among them freely, going from one to another and peering into their faces with childish curiosity."
The child's innocence and obliviousness are communicated through the author's words. The young boy does not grasp the gravity of the situation, and appears to be unaware of the fact that these are crawling men on the verge of dying, and not an amusing troupe of people. Yet, he is clueless and goes from one face to the other to observe them with great curiosity. Although the author does not confirm such a theory, his inability to perceive the gravity of the situation is perhaps due to the fact that he is deaf and mute; he cannot hear the men crying with pain and hopelessness. Consequently, his behavior is justified, in a way, by the fact that he is an impaired child.
"After slaking their thirst these men had not had the strength to back away from the water, nor to keep their heads above it. They were drowned."
By depicting such an atrocious situation, the author conveys the brutality of the battle that just took place. Indeed, the fraction of men who survived are beaten down and barely alive, some of them dying as they crawl on the floor, and others drowning while quenching their thirst. By painting such a troubling and raw picture of the moment, Bierce allows the reader to truly imagine the moribund mass of men; one can therefore question once again how the child was not able to perceive the graveness of the problem.
"In all the wide glare not a living thing was visible. He cared nothing for that; the spectacle pleased, and he danced with glee in imitation of the wavering flames. He ran about, collecting fuel, but every object that he found was too heavy for him to cast in from the distance to which the heat limited his approach."
The child, once again, is oblivious and cannot seem to grasp how serious the situation is. He sees the wreckage as a playground, and is so excited to see fire everywhere that he dances to imitate it. This reinforces his idea of war as a game, which is easy to notice considering his little sword made out of wood, and his behavior when leading the troupe.
"For a moment he stood stupefied by the power of the revelation, then ran with stumbling feet, making a half-circuit of the ruin. There, conspicuous in the light of the conflagration, lay the dead body of a woman—the white face turned upward, the hands thrown out and clutched full of grass, the clothing deranged, the long dark hair in tangles and full of clotted blood."
His game finally comes to an end; the child realizes that his life falling apart. His own house and family plantation have been burned to the ground, and his mother has been brutally murdered. He now sees the repercussions of the battle of Chickamunga, although he's not aware yet of the historical significance this event will have later on.
"The child moved his little hands, making wild, uncertain gestures. He uttered a series of inarticulate and indescribable cries—something between the chattering of an ape and the gobbling of a turkey-a startling, soulless, unholy sound, the language of a devil. The child was a deaf mute."
The reader learns about the child's hearing and speech impairment. This realization clarifies many things for the reader and justifies some of the young boy's action. For instance, one now understands why the sleeping child did not wake up when the army of men walked near by on their way to battle. One also comprehends why the child was so clueless to the suffering of the men, for he could not hear them weeping and agonizing in pain.
