J. William Jones, Christ in the camp, or religion in Lee's army

Rev. Mr. Owen was unquestionably one of the most devoted, laborious and efficient chaplains whom we had in the army, and held a warm place in the hearts of the soldiers.

The following extract from one of my letters written at this time will give my impressions of this great work as I came into personal contact with it:

It was my privilege on last Tuesday to visit Fredericksburg and participate in the exercises of the glorious revival they have been having there for the past month. I went in with the hope of meeting with Dr. Burrows, who had been preaching there for the past week, but he had just left that morning, and the brethren pressed me into service to preach for them that night. I have never preached under more impressive circumstances. The Episcopal church—capable of seating about twelve hundred— was well filled with attentive listeners; and I felt while speaking that it was, perhaps, the last message of salvation that some of the poor fellows would ever receive. When, at the close of the sermon, Brother Owen, chaplain of the Seventeenth Mississippi, made a few earnest remarks and invited inquirers to come forward, there was a simultaneous move of about seventy-five deeply penitent men. It was a touching scene to see the stern veteran of many a hard-fought field, who would not hesitate to enter the deadly breach or charge the heaviest battery, trembling under the power of Divine truth, and weeping tears of bitter penitence over a misspent life. This was the thirty-first day of the meeting, and up to this time there had been one hundred and twelve public professions of conversion, while there were upwards of a hundred still seeking the way of life. Brother Carroll, of Alabama—missionary of our Domestic Mission Board—has been assisting in the meetings, and has baptized already about twenty-five, while others are awaiting the ordinance. Most of the rest have connected themselves with other denominations. Brother Owen, under whose direction the meetings have been conducted, is a real, whole-souled, working chaplain, and I only wish we had many more such. That night the brigade (Barksdale's) received