Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Red Badge of Courage was first published in full book form on the 3rd of October 1895 by D. Appleton and Company. An abbreviated 18,000-word version had been serialized in The Philadelphia Press in December 1894 before the full edition appeared.
Stephen Crane had no military experience when he wrote The Red Badge of Courage. He was born six years after the Civil War ended and completed the novel in April 1894. He later served as a war correspondent during the Greco-Turkish and Spanish-American Wars.
The fictional battle in the novel is widely believed to be based on the Battle of Chancellorsville. Crane is thought to have heard war stories from veterans of the 124th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, known as the Orange Blossoms, who first saw battle at Chancellorsville. His later short story "The Veteran" confirms this connection by having Henry Fleming name Chancellorsville as his first combat.
The novel received widespread acclaim, which H. G. Wells described as an "orgy of praise" in England and the United States. Appleton's 1895 edition went through ten editions in its first year. However, some veterans and critics objected; Brigadier General Alexander C. McClurg condemned the novel in April 1896 as "a vicious satire upon American soldiers," and author Ambrose Bierce expressed contempt for both the book and its writer.
The novel centers on Henry Fleming's attempt to prove himself a brave soldier, exploring cowardice, heroism, and maturation. Critics have long debated whether Henry genuinely matures by the end or remains self-deceived. A recurring secondary theme is the indifference of nature to human suffering, illustrated throughout by Crane's color imagery and descriptions of the natural world continuing undisturbed amid battle.
The novel has been adapted several times. A 1951 film directed by John Huston starred Medal of Honor recipient Audie Murphy as Henry Fleming, though the film was cut to seventy minutes despite Huston's objections. A made-for-television movie followed in 1974, starring Richard Thomas as Fleming.