He watches bleeding, maimed men take their last breaths as he stares in horror at the scene below. Henri doesn't mean to be there. But he arrived late and now finds himself in a position to witness first-hand the atrocities of war. What Henri sees from his hill, however, pales in comparison with what he is soon to witness. Entering a small town shortly after the fierce encounter, Henri now observes the battle's refugees.
Every building is filled with the mangled, the injured, the dead.
Henri, aching with pity, decides to stay in the village three more days to comfort the young soldiers. He realizes that his life will never be the same again. Driven by a powerful passion to abolish war, Henri Dunant will eventually lose his successful banking career and all his worldly possessions only to die as a virtual unknown in an obscure poorhouse. A new soldier was on sentry duty at the main gate. His orders were clear.