Ambrose Bierce's short stories are generally held to be among the best of the 19th century. He wrote realistically of the terrible things he had seen in the war in such stories as An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Chickamauga.

In Chickamauga, he gives a vivid description, through the eyes of a child, of the aftermath of a Civil War battle. The reason for the child's unusual reaction to the scene is revealed in a startling conclusion.