Begging The Question

begging the question: often called circular reasoning, begging the question occurs when the believability  of the evidence depends on the believability of the claim. In other words, one assumes a statement to be true when it has not been proven to be so

"He was swelled with a tale he had heard from a reliable friend, who had heard it from a truthful cavalryman, who had heard it from his trustworthy brother, one of the orderlies at division headquarters."
                                                                      -The Red Badge of Courage
                                                                               by Stephen Crane

The tall soldiers message is only believable if his friend is believable, and his friend can only be considered believable if the tall soldier is considered believable. There are multiple layers of "begging the question" here, as the information is only believable if the original messenger is believable. The soldier's message cannot be taken seriously as we only have his word delivering the message and guaranteeing its validity. Crane uses this device to inject some humor into a serious and somber novel. Also, the device helps to display the various relationships in the army, setting the scene for "the youth's" enlightenment, cowardice, and heroism.