Civil War had been some 25 years before, and ever since Bierce had been obsessed with the horrors of the war. The first story to emerge from his new defemination was "One of the Missing" published in early 1888 in the Examiner. The story was written in a somewhat formal and almost journalistic style, but it also has a reserved "military" tone that was different for the period. The story itself was different from other war stories of the time in that it was devoid of patriotic sentiment and glorious descriptions of young men marching off to battle. Bierce used a chillingly personal style to educate his readers about the war and its true nature, highlighting the effects of fear, the sense of foreboding, and the seemingly absurd coincidences that are part of every battle:
At forty-six years old Ambrose Bierce had entered the world of fiction,
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