# Brainerd Byring — Can Such Things Be? character guide

> Brainerd Byring in Can Such Things Be? by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Second - Lieutenant Brainerd Byring, Lieutenant Byring, Byring

**First appearance:** 0053-soldier-folk

## Snapshot

A young second lieutenant on a night expedition through cedar country, whose brief, fatal encounter with a motionless figure tests his nerve and his orders.

## Who they are

Brainerd Byring rides with a detachment ordered into hazardous, silent country, where a missing vidette named Dunning has already broken orders and ridden forward alone. When the major halts at the cedar forest's edge and sees Dunning standing motionless over a dead horse and a dead man, the expedition's discipline begins to fray. Byring's world is one of sabers drawn, forbidden conversation, and men whose fear shows in small disobediences—and it is in that charged dark that his own fate closes in.

## Relationships

### [Ben Greene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/characters/ben_greene)

_friendship_

Ben Greene and Brainerd Byring are old friends who share a tragic secret involving a ghostly apparition.

### [Ben Greene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/characters/ben_greene)

_friendship_

Ben Greene and Brainerd Byring are old friends who share a tragic secret involving a ghostly apparition.

## In the story

### [A Tough Tussle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-tough-tussle)

Federal lieutenant on picket duty who succumbs to terror and is later found dead with a Confederate soldier.

### [A Resumed Identity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/a-resumed-identity)

The protagonist, a lieutenant who awakens with amnesia and grapples with his lost identity.

### [II: When You Have Lost Your Life Consult a Physician](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/ii-when-you-have-lost-your-life-consult-a-physician)

The disoriented lieutenant who has lost his memory and identity after being struck by a bullet.

### [III: The Danger of Looking Into a Pool of Water](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/iii-the-danger-of-looking-into-a-pool-of-water)

The man who, after a bullet-stroke and unconsciousness, discovers his aged appearance and dies upon seeing his reflection.

### [Soldier-Folk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/chapters/soldier-folk)

A soldier whose experiences and perceptions are central to the chapter's exploration of military life.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/characters/brainerd_byring
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/can_such_things_be_se/characters