Contents
Chapter 4
Overview
News of Animal Farm spreads as Snowball and Napoleon send pigeons to stir discontent, alarming neighboring farmers Pilkington and Frederick. Jones leads an attack to retake the farm, but Snowball’s planned defenses rout the men in the Battle of the Cowshed.
Boxer’s accidental injury of a boy exposes moral tensions, while medals and a twice-yearly gun salute institutionalize the victory and deepen the farm’s revolutionary identity.
Summary
By late summer, Snowball and Napoleon dispatch pigeons to spread news of the Rebellion and the song "Beasts of England" to nearby farms. Mr. Jones laments his loss in local taverns, while neighboring owners, Mr. Pilkington and Mr. Frederick, fear the revolt, trade smears about Animal Farm, and try to suppress the song as it inspires unrest among their animals.
In early October, Jones returns with his men and allies to retake the farm. Anticipating this, Snowball, having studied Julius Caesar’s campaigns, organizes layered defenses. Pigeons and geese harry the men, then Snowball leads sheep, Muriel, and Benjamin in a feint, luring the attackers into the yard.
Snowball’s ambush springs from the cowshed as horses, cows, and pigs cut off retreat. Jones wounds Snowball with a gunshot, killing a sheep, but Snowball knocks Jones down. Boxer charges, felling a stable-lad, triggering a rout as the animals drive the men off the farm within minutes.
Afterward, Boxer fears he has killed the boy and regrets taking life, while Snowball insists that "war is war." Mollie is found hiding, having fled at the first gunshot, and it emerges the stable-lad was only stunned and escaped.
The animals celebrate: they raise the flag, sing "Beasts of England," bury the dead sheep, and hear Snowball’s call for readiness to die for the farm. They create medals—Animal Hero, First Class for Snowball and Boxer, and Animal Hero, Second Class posthumously for the sheep—and name the fight the Battle of the Cowshed.
They mount Jones’s recovered gun by the flagstaff and decide to fire it twice a year, on the anniversaries of the Rebellion and the Battle of the Cowshed, formalizing their victory and revolutionary tradition.
Who Appears
- SnowballLeads the farm’s defense using studied tactics; wounded but decisive; awarded Animal Hero, First Class.
- BoxerFights fiercely, knocks down a stable-lad, then grieves; honored as Animal Hero, First Class.
- Mr. JonesAttempts to retake the farm with armed men; knocked down and forced to retreat.
- NapoleonSends pigeons to spread rebellion news; present as a leader but not central in the battle.
- Mr. PilkingtonNeighboring farmer who fears the revolt and joins the anti-Animal Farm effort.
- Mr. FrederickRival neighboring farmer; spreads slanders and supports the raid on Animal Farm.
- MollieFlees at the first gunshot and hides; shows cowardice and disinterest in the struggle.
- MurielJoins Snowball’s skirmish line in the early assault on the men.
- BenjaminParticipates in the defense, lashing at men with his hoofs during the skirmish.
- A sheepKilled by Jones’s gunfire; posthumously awarded Animal Hero, Second Class.