Like most of the unprepared, naïve Americans who believed the Civil War would consist of a few short battles and little casualties, who then after the war reached it's second year truly saw the Civil War for what it really was- the bloodiest in America's history; Walt Whitman's 'Drum Taps' represents this ideal from start to finish. From the war's first battle in 1861 when Whitman saw the endeavor as a chance for the North …showed first 75 words of 896 total…

…showed last 75 words of 896 total…form a glamorized opinion when there is no first hand knowledge of the situation.         Walt Whitman's 'Drum Taps' and more specifically 'The Wound Dresser' offered an unintentional case study into how one's wartime paradigm can change when faced with the situation first hand. Because 'The Wound Dresser' is so indicative of the larger work, one would only have to read the poem in order to catch the gist of the entire collection of 'Drum Taps'.