# Sergeant Halcrow — In the Midst of Life character guide

> Sergeant Halcrow in In the Midst of Life by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0016-the-affair-at-coulters-notch

## Snapshot

A gentle-natured sergeant devoted to his captain since childhood, whose friendship across the rank gulf becomes the fault line of a deadly feud.

## Who they are

Caffal Halcrow enlisted in Madwell's company simply because separation from his friend was unbearable, and each has since climbed two steps up a ladder that keeps pulling them apart. His brother Creede, the regiment's cynical major, hates Madwell with a natural antipathy that only Caffal's presence restrains. When the company is driven from the ravine, Caffal falls among the missing, and the feud between the two officers finds its terrible occasion.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/chapters/i)

The sergeant directing the soldiers and standing on the plank opposite Farquhar.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/characters/sergeant_halcrow
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_the_midst_of_life_se/characters