Can Such Things Be? · Chapter
A Baffled Ambuscade explained
A Federal cavalry squadron under Major Seidel sets out on a secret night mission from Readyville.
What happens
A Federal cavalry squadron under Major Seidel sets out on a secret night mission from Readyville. Trooper Dunning, who had been ordered to a post, is found ahead of the column with a dead horse and a dead man. He warns the major back from the road, then disappears. At dawn, Dunning is found dead across his horse's neck, a bullet in his brain, and evidence shows the cedar forest was occupied by Confederate infantry, revealing an ambuscade.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This passage marks the dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of the narrato…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Death and the Supernatural
Dunning's mysterious death and his ghostly warning to the major evoke a supernatural atmosphere.
- Fate and Inevitability
Dunning's doomed ride and the failed expedition suggest an inescapable fate.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“One night a squadron of Federal horse commanded by Major Seidel, a gallant and skillful officer, moved out from Readyville on an uncommonly hazardous enterprise requiring secrecy, caution and silence.”
A Federal cavalry squadron under Major Seidel departed Readyville on a dangerous night mission that demanded stealth.
Sets the scene for the covert operation.
“Dunning raised his hand, motioning him back with a gesture of warning; then, lowering the arm, he pointed to the place where the road lost itself in the blackness of the cedar forest.”
Dunning silently signaled the major to retreat and indicated the dark cedar forest ahead.
Dunning's warning gesture hints at the impending ambush.
“In the little open space off the road they found the fallen horse. At a right angle across the animal's neck face upward, a bullet in the brain, lay the body of Trooper Dunning, stiff as a statue, hours dead.”
At dawn, the troopers discovered Dunning's body lying across his dead horse, killed by a bullet to the head.
Reveals Dunning's fate and the failure of the expedition.
