What news does one soldier bring back and tell everyone? Is it reliable? How do we know if it is or isnt?

When
"a certain tall soldier" in 's novel, , decided to visit a nearby
brook to wash his shirt, he overheard news that would stir the entire camp.

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. He adopted the important air of a herald in
red...