Ironically, Henry never sees the face of the cheerful soldier who guides him back to camp. Why do you think that Crane referred only to the soldier's voice?

The words of the cheery man that get Henry to his destination. This is one of the longest unbroken speeches in the entire book. It is unclear exactly who this man is. In fact, he himself says that he did not know in battle whether he was from Ohio or Florida. The army, the man states, is a disorganized mess. For a brief moment, readers are no longer following Henry's or the narrator's thoughts. The fact that Henry never sees his face suggests that he is a guide of sorts, perhaps a spiritual one. One interpretation is that the cheery man is the ghost of Jim Conklin – freed from sorrow but not confusion in death. He brings Henry back to his original regiment in order to facilitate the events and later growth in understanding that Henry will experience.