Bivouac of the Dead

Ambrose Bierce was an american writer who worked in the field of humourous and horror fiction. As Bierce took part in the American Civil War it made a major effect on his perception of the world and his style of writing. His manner of writing was characterized as brutal, straightforward and bitter, and eventually he got a nickname 'Bitter Bierce'. Nowadays Ambrose Bierce is considered to be the master of a short story.


There are two short pieces of work representing Bierce's personal remembrance of the Civil War: 'On A Mountain' and 'A Bivouac Of The Dead'.

'A Bivouac Of The Dead' is a short column published in 'The New York American' in 1903. In this column Ambrose Bierce describes his feelings during the visit to the place which once was one of the earliest battlefields of the American Civil War. He is surprised by the fact that not much has changed since 1861.