With a stated publication date of 1891 (but actually published in early 1892[1]) the stories describe unusual incidents in the lives of soldiers and civilians during the American Civil War.

Written in a clear simple style, with each phrase contributing to the total effect, Bierce's tales pointed the way for the American short-story writer.

[5] George Sterling, in the introduction to a later (1927) edition, noted that as a result of "obtuse critics and a benighted public", the book failed to become the sensation Bierce had expected.

"[7] However, because Bierce's Tales of Soldiers and Civilians occur during the Civil War, it is often compared with Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage.

[8] The Federal cannoneers fought their hopeless battle in an atmosphere of living iron whose thoughts were lightnings and whose deeds were death.Since the book is a compilation of short stories, there is not an overarching plot.

His characters were described by George Sterling as: "His heroes, or rather victims, are lonely men, passing to unpredictable dooms, and hearing, from inaccessible crypts of space, the voices of unseen malevolencies.

[12] The war stories are also notable for their frank portrayal of wounds not only to soldiers, but also to women (in "Chickamauga") and children (in "The Affair at Coulter's Notch"), an approach which was very rare in Bierce's day.