Having no true formal education, other than that from his one-year stay at the Kentucky Military Institute, his writing shows remarkable intelligence and wit. Bierce enlisted in the Union army during the Civil War, and "it is doubtful if any other experience in his life had as much influence upon him as did his [military] service," (Sowa, 1965). A good portion of his short stories were stories of soldiers and their experiences, but he also incorporated mysterious occurrences and supernatural events into these tales.

The fact that Bierce's stories demonstrate his wealth of knowledge is rather odd, considering his upbringing and educational background. He mainly had to rely on his father's library for his education, but it seems obvious that he had a great intellectual potential anyway, which would have been - and was - developed no matter what. His literary style i

Bierce obviously wanted to paint war for what he saw it to be, brutal, horrible, disgusting, and a waste of many lives. He did so through his soldier tales, but that bitterness also spilled over into all of his stories. He denied his characters the emotions that were only natural given the circumstances, and he rarely pointed out positive aspects of anything. I get a sense that he held nothing sacred, which added to his use of the supernatural - ghosts, flying horseman, and such.

In the stories that I have read, he never mentioned anything religious, except maybe "Good God" at the end of "A Horseman in the Sky." "Ambrose resented religion but never abandoned the strong religious influence of his youth, yet retaining it, he did so in a very strange way," (Sowa, 1965). The fact that he resented religion so probably made it easier for him to be such a cynic. He did not worry about offending anyone with his writing, which I admire.

1. Bierce, Ambrose. Tales of Soldiers & Civilians; The Heritage Press, NY; 1943.

s an amazing one that paints a perfect picture of the mood as well as the settings of his stories. He did not seem to exclude one detail as he wove the intricate web of each and every tale that he wrote.

2. Sibley, Joe H. Ambrose Bierce: A Sole Survivor, Bits of Autobiography; Civil War History; Kent State University Press; June 1999.

While reading the tales of soldiers, one realizes that "his memories of [war] were not the least bit sentimental. He emphasized, rather, the blood, stink, boredom, and waste of battle, occasionally joined, as they were, by moments of intense fear and exhilaration" (Silbey, 1999). Throughout history, war has been glorified and promoted as a noble and brave thing for any man. Nowhere in any of Ambrose Bierce's tales will those words appear when referring to battle. I think that his experiences in the Civil War, known for being the bloodiest war in American history, he was hardened and emotionally dulled for the rest of his life. One can only imagine the types of things that those soldiers saw on the battlefield, yet they were forced to overlook them and keep going.

Another soldier tale that I read, which was quite different, was "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." It was the story of a man who was being hanged by the Federacy, and he was to be hanged off of a bridge over Owl Creek. The man was a simple planter, and the reason that he was being hange

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