Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) was a soldier, newspaperman, poet, and short story writer. Settling in San Francisco, he became a journalist with Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner. So savage were his critiques of corruption and human folly that he became known as “Bitter Bierce” and “the wickedest man in San Francisco.” (He loved the tags.) Here is his most famous story, set in the Civil War.