Barry Lyndon Plot Summary, Chapters 5 and 6

Chapter 5

• An officer in Barry's regiment, Lieutenant Fakenham, is struck by a bullet. Barry and a private carry him to Warburg, but on returning he is struck unconscious and robbed of the reward by the private.
• He is laid up in the same house as Fakenham and decides to go mad in order to stay there with nurse Lischen.
• He steals Fakenham's identity and deserts, fleeing to Cassel. Here, he meets a Prussian officer, Monsieur de Galgenstein who accompanies him towards Düsseldorf.
• On the way, Barry tells the story of Morgan Prussia, who joined Frederick the Great's "giant regiment". He pretended to have six brothers, left with money to enlist them and settled on a farm with the money.
• That evening, in a guest house, Galgenstein blows his cover and forces him to enlist in the Prussian army. In an interpolated tale, Barry describes how Galgenstein was later hanged as a spy. Barry is taken off towards the army compound.

Chapter 6

• In the transportation, Barry meets a pastor candidate who appears as an educated and morally clean version of himself. Upon arrival in a hospital, he tells his story and that of several of their travelling companions. Upon arrival he is drafted into a regiment in Pomerania.
• In the prison dorm, Barry gets acquainted with Le Blondin, a blonde Frenchman who later stages a mutiny, bringing the soldiers' burden to the forefront.
• He then meets Fakenham again and, having had a laugh at his expense, gives him a piece of advice which procures his liberty.
• Barry gives some general notes on being a soldier in the Seven Years' War. He prefers the Prussian army to the English and is rewarded by General Bülow. He keeps out of harm's way through threats.