The Red Badge of Courage: Fear of First Battle The important conflict in The Red Badge of Courage is Henry Flemings fear about how he will perform in his first battle. There are three people who expressed their ideas abou their fears before the first skirmish. They are Henry Fleming, Tom Wilson, and Jim Conklin. Henry is worried about how he will do in this first battle. He isn't sure if he will run or not, and he is scared that he might. He doesn't want to look like a fool and run, but he is also scared of getting killed. Even though Henry never expressed his fears to Tom Wilson o