"Century" "Battles and Leaders" series served as direct inspiration for the novel, and one story in particular (Warren Lee Goss's "Recollections of a Private") contains many parallels to Crane's work.Thomas Beer wrote in his problematic 1923 biography that Crane was challenged by a friend to write "The Red Badge of Courage" after having announced that he could do better than Émile Zola's "La Débâcle".