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

[535]

Appendix no. 2: the work of grace in other armies of the Confederacy.

In the body of this volume I purposely confined myself to ‘Religion in Lee's Army,’ not only because I desired to write of what I had personal knowledge, and had far more material than I could possibly use, but because I have been hoping that some competent hand would prepare a companion volume to mine for the other armies of the Confederacy. This I sincerely hope will yet be done. But as there has been a demand on the part of many people for something concerning the other armies, and as the publishers generously propose to give the additional matter without increasing the price of the book, I have consented to compile it. I had hoped to get some chaplain in the Western Army to undertake the work of compilation for me, but as I have failed in my efforts to secure this, I must do the compilation myself, using freely such material as I can command, and the kind help of such brethren as I have been able to induce to help me.

But I shall not be able to observe the same order and consistency of narrative as I could do with more space, and with more time at my disposal to make the compilation. I can only use as I find them newspaper clippings, and extracts from letters of chaplains, colporteurs, and other army workers. I shall have occasion to make free use again of the admirable little volume—‘The Great Revival in the Southern Armies,’—of my friend and brother, Dr. W. W. Bennett, whose lamented death last summer has added fresh interest to his very valuable book.

In speaking of helps to the revival, Dr. Bennett says: ‘A writer, speaking of the religious influence in the Army of Tennessee, says: “General Cleburne, the hero of many battle-fields, had a place prepared for preaching in the centre of his Division, where himself and most of his officers were present, and where I was assisted by General Lowry, who sat in the pulpit with me and closed the services of the hour with prayer. He is a Baptist preacher, and, like the commander of the Division, is a hero of many well-fought battle-fields. He takes great interest in the soldiers' religious welfare, often preaches to them, and feels that the ministry is still his high and holy calling.” Generals Findly, Bickler, Stewart, with others of the same army, were pious and devoted Christian officers, and gave much assistance to the chaplains and missionaries in the revival that swept so gloriously through the armies in the West. They recommended religion to their soldiers by precept and example. But these men were generals, and their contact with the soldiers was not so close as that of inferior officers. In the companies and regiments the work of pious officers was most effectually done.’

Rev. B. B. Ross, of Alabama, writing to Rev. A. E. Dickinson, says: ‘I am just from a pleasant tour among the hospitals in Mississippi, where I found 3,000 sick. They are greedy, yea, ravenous, in their appetite for something to read. Under the labors of your colporteurs there has been a revival of religion at Quitman, and there is also a revival in progress at Lauderdale Springs. The surgeons have been especially [536] kind to me—at times calling my attention to certain cases of the sick, at others making appointments for me to preach.’

Rev. S. A. Creath, Army of Tennessee: ‘I am still following up the army, trying to be of service to them. At Atlanta I saw 3,000 sick men. Started to work this morning before sun up, and by 9 A. M. had distributed 20,000 pages of tracts. Several have professed religion, and the Lord's blessing seems to be on us.’

Rev. J. A. Hughes thus speaks of his labors at Atlanta: ‘In going among the thousands in the hospitals, I have met with many things to gladden my heart, and to cause me to love the work. I find a number of Christians; some tell me that camp-life has had a very unfavorable influence on their religious character; others say it has been of great service to them, that it has bound them closer to the Saviour, made them more acquainted with their own weakness and sins, and afforded them a fine field in which to labor for the souls of their fellow-men. Some few hesitate to take a Testament, though they will accept a tract. One man positively refused a Testament but took the tract, “A mother's parting words to her soldier boy,” by the reading of which he was deeply moved and became a true penitent, asked me to pray for him, and finally died in the triumphs of faith. To a young man who felt himself a sinner I gave “Motives to Early piety.” He was led to Christ, whom he publicly confessed. A soldier said to me on the street, “You are the gentleman who gave me a tract the other day. I had read it before, at home, but never has the reading of that book so affected me as of late; away from home and friends, it is doubly sweet.” Three have professed conversion from reading, “Why will ye die?” several from reading “A mother's parting words.” A soldier told me “The call to prayer” had roused him to a sense of his duty as a professor of religion.’

Lately a colporteur at Lauderdale Springs, Miss., was distributing tracts, and a captain approached him and asked for one. ‘Select for yourself, captain,’ said he. The captain looked over them, and selected ‘Don't Swear,’ and began to read it aloud to the soldiers standing around, pausing occasionally to comment on the points made in the tract. When he had finished, he exclaimed, ‘I am done swearing. Take this,’ banding the colporteur a ten-dollar bill, ‘and send it to aid in bringing out another edition of this tract.’

Rev. E. A. Bolles, General Agent of the Bible Societies in South Carolina, said, in speaking of his work in the winter of 1861-62:

‘Three months ago I commenced the work of distribution among the soldiers on our coast under the auspices of the Executive Committee of the South Carolina Bible Convention. During this time several thousand copies of the Scriptures have been given away to needy and grateful soldiers, and thousands of copies are yet needed to meet the demand. I may safely say that twenty thousand copies are needed for distribution among the soldiers on the coast. I therefore earnestly appeal to the benevolent for funds to procure the Scriptures, so that the good work so successfully begun may be continued until every destitute soldier is supplied with the Word of Life.’

To this gentleman the chaplain of the Fifteenth South Carolina Regiment sent an encouraging report of the state of religion in his regiment:

‘The Testaments you sent to me were eagerly sought after by the men, many coming to me long after they were all distributed, and were much disappointed at not receiving one. Could you send us some more they would be thankfully received and faithfully distributed. As almost all the men lost their Bibles on Hilton Head, our regiment is perhaps the most destitute on the coast. I am happy to say there is much religious feeling pervading our regiment, and our nightly prayer-meetings are well attended, and I hope ere long the Lord will bless us with an outpouring of His Holy Spirit.’

To the same the Lieutenant-Colonel of the Tenth South Carolina Regiment wrote: [537]

‘I would be glad if you will supply the regiment to which I am attached with the Scriptures, as I see by the papers that you are engaged in the work of distribution among the soldiers. We prefer Testaments, as they would be much easier for soldiers to carry in their knapsacks. I have made this application to you because of finding that all our men have not Bibles or Testaments, and I consider a soldier poorly equipped without one or the other.’

Dr. Bennett gives the following concerning the battle of Shiloh:

The instances of heroic valor in the battle of Shiloh are abundant. A chaplain, Rev. I. T. Tichenor, of the Seventeenth Alabama Regiment, in a letter to Governor Watts, of that State, who at one time commanded the regiment, says:

“During this engagement we were under a cross fire on the left wing from three directions. Under it the boys wavered. I had been wearied, and was sitting down, but seeing them waver, I sprang to my feet, took off my hat, waved it over my head, walked up and down the line, and, as they say, ‘preached them a sermon.’ I reminded them that it was Sunday. That at that hour (11 1/2 o'clock) all their home folks were praying for them; that Tom Watts—excuse the familiar way in which I employed so distinguished a name—had told us he would listen with an eager ear to hear from the Seventeenth; and shouting your name loud over the roar of battle, I called upon them to stand there and die, if need be, for their country. The effect was evident. Every man stood to his post, every eye flashed, and every heart beat high with desperate resolve to conquer or die. The regiment lost one-third of the number carried into the field.”

‘Among the Christian soldiers that fell was Lieutenant-Colonel Holbrook, of a Kentucky regiment. He was mortally wounded, and fell at the head of his regiment in a victorious charge. After the battle, several of his officers came to see him in the hospital. He was dying fast, but desired to be propped up in bed, and then he talked with them like a Christian soldier: “Gentlemen, in the course of my official duties with you I have had little or no occasion to speak to you upon the subject of religion, but this is a time when, as fellow-men, we may commune frankly together. And I desire to bear witness to the fact that I am at the present moment deriving all my strength and consolation from the firm reliance which I have upon the blessings of religion. I know I am not prepared for death, as I ought to have been, and as I hope you may be, but I feel safe in reposing upon the strong arm of God, and trusting to Him for my future happiness. Before this war is closed, some of you may be brought upon the threshold of the eternal world, as I have been, and my earnest prayer is that the messenger of death may find you waiting. Throughout my existence, I have found nothing in my experience that has afforded me more substantial happiness than Christianity, and I now, as I lie here conscious that life is waning, desire to bear testimony of a peaceful mind, of a firm faith in the grand scheme of salvation. Farewell, my comrades, may we all meet in a better world.” ’

One of the rarest instances of youthful heroism that ever occurred is recorded in connection with this battle. Charlie Jackson, whose brief career as a soldier and whose happy death we place here upon permanent record, was worthy of the great name he bore:

‘Some months ago,’ says a writer, Charlie's father raised a company of soldiers, in which he was permitted to drill with the privates, and finally became so expert in the manual of arms that, young as he was, he was chosen the drill-master. In due time, marching orders were received. Then the father, consulting the age of his boy, and probably his own paternal feelings, gave him to understand that it was his wish he should remain at home. To this Charlie strenuously demurred, and plainly told his parent that if he could not go with him he would join another company. Yielding to his obstinacy, a sort of silent consent was given, and the lad left Memphis with his comrades. The regiment to which they belonged was detached to Burnsville, several miles distant from Corinth, and here it remained until [538] the Friday or Saturday preceding the battle. Orders were then received that it should repair at once to the field and take its position. Charlie was asleep at the time of the departure, and the father, unwilling that one so young should undergo the fatigue of the long march of twenty miles and the dangers of the coming fight, gave orders that he should not be disturbed. Several hours after the boy awoke of his own accord.

At a glance, his eye took in the condition of affairs, and his knowledge of coming events satisfied him of the cause. With him, to think was to act. He seized his little gun—a miniature musket which his father had made for him, and alone started on the trail of his absent regiment. Hour after hour he trudged along, and finally, just as they were about halting preparatory to going into battle, he succeeded in joining his company. He had travelled more than fifteen miles. His father chided him, but how could he do otherwise than admire the indomitable spirit of his boy? The battle commenced. Charlie took his place by his father's side, and was soon in the thickest of the fight. A bullet struck him in the body and lore an ugly wound. Still he pressed on, firing, cheering, and charging with the remainder of his regiment. He seemed not to know the sensation of fear, and his youthful example on more than one occasion was the rallying point from which the men took fresh spirit. Suddenly, at a late hour in the day, the little fellow fell shot through the leg a few inches below the hip. He gave a cheer and told his father to go on. “Don't mind me,” said he, “but keep on; I'll lie here till you come back.” This of course the feelings of the parent would not permit him to do, and picking him up in his arms, he carried him to the nearest hospital. Within a day or two Charlie was brought to his home in Memphis, feeble, yet full of hope and courage.

Dr. Keller was called upon to examine the wound and, if necessary, to perform amputation; but at a glance his experienced eye saw that the poor boy was beyond the hope of recovery. Mortification had set in, and an operation would only increase his sufferings without prolonging life. The lad noticed the sober countenance of the physician as he turned away and went to an adjoining room to break the mournful intelligence to the weeping father and mother. Nothing could be done but to relieve him of pain by means of opiates.

A few moments afterwards he returned to the bedside of the sufferer, when the young hero abruptly met him with the question—

“Doctor, will you answer me a straightforward question, and tell me the truth?”

The physician paused a moment, and then said:

“Yes, Charlie, I will; but you must prepare for bad news.”

“Can I live?” was the response.

“No! Nothing can save you now but a miracle from heaven.”

“Well, I have thought so myself. I have felt as if I was going to die. Do father and mother know this?”

“Yes,” replied the surgeon. “I have just told them.”

“Please ask them to come in here.”

When the parents had done so, and taken their places on either side of the bed, Charlie reached out, grasped their hands in his, and said:

“Dear father and mother, Dr. Keller says that I can't live. And now I want to ask your forgiveness for all wrong I have done. I have tried to be a good boy in every way but one, and that was when I disobeyed you both and joined the army. I couldn't help that, for I felt as if I ought to be right where you were, father, and to fight as long as I was able. I'm only sorry that I can't fight through the war. If I have said anything wrong or done anything wrong, won't you forgive me?”

The afflicted parents could only weep their assent.

“Now, father,” continued the boy, “one thing more. Don't stay here with me, but go back to camp. Mother will take care of me, and your services are more [539] necessary in your company than they are at home. I am not afraid to die, and I wish I had a thousand lives to lose in the same way. And, father, tell the boys when you get back how I died—just as a soldier ought to. Tell them to fight the Yankees as long as there is one left in the country, and never give up! Whenever you fill up the company with new men, let them know that besides their country there's a little boy in heaven who will watch them and pray for them as they go into battle.”

And so is dying one of the bravest spirits that was ever breathed into the human body by its Divine Master. The scene I have described is one of which we sometimes read, but rarely behold, and the surgeon told me that, inured as he was to spectacles of suffering and woe, as he stood by this, a silent spectator, his heart overflowed in tears and he knelt down and sobbed like a child.

How true are the lines of the poet—

The good die first,
     And they whose hearts are dry as summer's dust,
Burn to the socket.

From this, and other battles, the hospitals were filled with thousands of sick and wounded men, among whom there were the most cheering evidences of true religious feeling. Rev. B. B. Ross, of Alabama, who gladly gave himself to the work of colportage, says of his labors:

‘I visited Corinth, the hospitals, and some of the camps, and am glad to report that the soldiers are very greedy for all kinds of religious reading-take the tracts from the agent with delight, and read them with avidity, and, whenever he sees proper to drop a word of admonition or warning, listen to it with patience and respect. But this is especially so in the hospitals.’

From Okolona, Mississippi, Rev. J. T. C. Collins wrote to Mr. Ross:

‘The soldiers received the books with great eagerness. I never in all my life saw such a desire to get Bibles. Every ward I went into they would beg me for Bibles and Testaments. While they gladly received the other books, they wanted Bibles. I have been to every man's cot and left either a book or a tract. And when I revisited them, and asked how they liked the books, my heart was greatly cheered by the accounts they gave me. One said he had been improving ever since he had gotten something to interest his mind. Another said, while a friend was reading for him the 14th chapter of John (a chapter to which I had called his attention), he was blessed and made very happy. He is now dead—went safely home.’

A chaplain gave this pleasing testimony:

‘Religious reading is highly appreciated by the soldiers; and what few tracts we can get are carefully read, and many tears have been seen to run down the soldier's face while reading these friendly visitors. They do not wait for me to go out to distribute them, but come to my tent inquiring, “Have you any more tracts to spare?” There have been two conversions in the regiment. The soldiers were sick at the time, and one of them has since “gone to his long home,” but felt before he died it was much the best for him to go, that “he would be in a better world,” where wars and rumors of wars would no more mar his peace.’

Dr. Bennett records of the autumn of 1862:

The revival, at this period of the war, was undoubtedly greater and more glorious in the army in Virginia than in other portions of the Confederacy, but there were happy signs of spiritual life among the troops in the far South and West. On Sullivan's Island, near Charleston, S. C., there was a blessed work of grace, which powerfully checked the ordinary vices of the camp and brought many souls into the fold of the Good Shepherd. Speaking of this work, in a letter of October 9, Rev. E. J. Meynardie, chaplain of Colonel Keitts's Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers, says: [540]

“On Thursday evening, 25th ult., the religious interest, which for some time had been quite apparent, became so deep and manifest that I determined to hold a series of meetings, during which, up to last night, ninety-three applied for membership in the various branches of the Church, nearly all of whom profess conversion. Every night the church at which we worship was densely crowded, and obvious seriousness pervaded the congregation. To the invitation to approach the altar for prayer prompt and anxious responses were made; and it was indeed an unusual and impressive spectacle to behold the soldiers of the country, ready for battle, and even for death on the battle-field, bowed in prayer for that blessing which the warrior, of all others, so much needs. God was with us most graciously, and it was a period of profound interest and great joy.”

The influence of this meeting has pervaded the regiment, and is still operating most beneficially. To what extent it has improved the morals of the soldiers it is impossible to estimate. Suffice it to say, that it has struck at the very root of camp vices, and the great crime which is more frequently committed in the army, against God and common decency, than any other, hides its hideous head—I mean profanity. The testimony of a soldier who writes for the Southern Lutheran is: “When we first came into camp, swearing was a common practice; but now, thank God, an oath is seldom heard. Our men seem to feel as if they ought to be more observant of God's law.”

The Church of Christ is very strongly represented in the regiment. We have many praying men; and indeed a more quiet, orderly, and religiously-disposed body of troops cannot, I presume, be found in the service; and be assured that when the time for fighting comes, beneath the banner of the Cross and our country's flag, we shall present an unflinching front. It was the religious fanaticism of Cromwell's puritanic army which made it invincible. It is the genuine religious tone of Jackson's which, under a pious commander, has thus far rendered it unconquerable, and we trust that the powerful religious element in this command will inspire sentiments of the highest order of patriotism when the occasion comes for every man to stamp himself a hero!

Alluding to the battle of Perryville and its incidents, a chaplain writes:

Many a Christian hero fell in this sanguinary battle, but among them all none offered a purer life on the altar of his country than Thomas Jefferson Koger, of Alabama. He was a pious, zealous, eminently useful minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and for nearly twenty years had been a member of the Alabama Conference. At the close of his term as Presiding Elder on the Columbus District he entered the army of the South as a private in the ranks, but was afterward appointed chaplain. In reference to his entrance upon a military life, exchanging the quiet round of ministerial duties for the bustle and toil of a soldier's life, we must let him speak in his own vindication, if any be needed.

In a letter to his dear friend, Rev. O. R. Blue, he says:

“I go from a deliberate conviction that it is my duty to go. It is under these feelings alone I leave my family. I go, trusting in God to bless and prosper me in the just cause. Pray for me.” To his wife, writing from Bowling Green, he says: “As to the cause of my absence, I think there need be no apprehension. There is as much need of preachers and preaching here as in any place I have ever been yet; and I try to maintain my place as a Christian minister as earnestly and heartily as I ever did. It is a mistake to suppose that men in arms are beyond the reach and influence of the gospel. They are not; and the gospel is the only refining and elevating influence operating on them. Wife, children, home and its endearments, are only sweet memories here—not actual restraints, as they are when present. And then, the sick are always open to religious impressions.”

At the expiration of the term of service of the regiment which he served as chaplain, he returned home, and at once set to work to raise a company for the war. [541] It was his wish to return to the army as chaplain, but the person who was expected to take command of the new company having declined only the day before the election, he was the unanimous choice of the men for captain. Having been mainly instrumental in raising the company, he did not feel at liberty to decline, and thus unexpectedly he found himself regularly enrolled as a soldier. He carried the spirit of his Master with him into the camp; he prayed with his men every night, and preached to them on Sabbath whenever circumstances permitted. He maintained his integrity, and never compromising on any occasion his character as a minister of Christ. His men loved him devotedly, and always showed him the highest respect. The thoughts of this good man have a melancholy interest now after the storm of war is hushed, and we look back on the past as on a horrible dream. From the camp he wrote:

“No man leaves wife and children more reluctantly than myself. But I have made up my mind to do it, and must bear it. I am trying to lead a godly life, and do good as best I can in my place as an officer and minister of the gospel. I feel that I am in the way of duty, and can ask God's best blessing on my work. I am a soldier for consciencea sake. I am here because duty calls me, and for no other reason. If it were not the path of duty, I should utterly loath the interminable, never-ceasing confusion of camp life.”

Again referring to his position as a soldier:

“I could not be a soldier unless conscience approved. It is only when my own land is invaded, my wife and children endangered, that I dare bear arms; and then, when interests so vital, so personal, are at stake, it is only by effort I could remain at home.”

With a cheerful and buoyant spirit he endured the privations and fatigues of military life, sustained by such a noble and chivalric sense of duty. His march to Perryville was his last. After his regiment was drawn up in line of battle, his colonel, passing along the line, observed him writing, and asked what he was doing. He replied, “Writing to my wife.” This hurried note, written on the edge of battle, was the last message of love to his family. It was cut short by the order “Forward,” and at the head of his men he plunged into the fight. His sword was shattered in his hand by a ball, and the next moment another pierced his body. He fell and died on the field. After the battle, two of his faithful soldiers, at their own request, were detailed to bury him, and while performing this sad duty were captured by the enemy. One who knew him well and loved him (Rev. J. B. Cottrell, of Alabama) draws his character in a few meaning lines:

T. J. Koger will not again meet in Conference with us. Few of our number would be more missed. A very peculiar man in appearance, and a peculiarly true and earnest soul, he was most highly esteemed by us all. Few men ever loved the Church better, or were more at home in her councils or at her altars. He was popular among his brethren, and popular among the people. Perfectly fearless, he avoided no duty or responsibility. In every respect he was reliable. On the battlefield of Perryville he fell, attesting his devotion to his native South. He was one of the few men who could have gone on to any position in the service in which he fell, and afterwards have come back to the work of a Methodist preacher. One bright, sunny spirit less—we'll miss and lament him.

Rev. Dr. Joseph Cross, who was with General Bragg's army, thus describes the battle-field after the fight at Murfreesboro:

Ah! how many expired with the year. Here they lie, friend and foe, in every possible position, a vast promiscuous ruin.

They sleep their last sleep, they have fought their last battle;
No sound can awake them to glory again.

After a pretty thorough inspection of the ground in the rear of our lines, from [542] Stone river to the extreme left, I rode to the front, where the dead lie thick among the cedars, in proportion of five Yankees to one Southron. Here are sights to sicken the bravest hearts—sad lessons for human passion and oppression. Here is a foot, shot off at the ankle—a fine model for a sculptor. Here is an officer's hand, severed from the wrist, the glove still upon it, and the sword in its grasp. Here is an entire brain, perfectly isolated, showing no sign of violence, as if carefully taken from the skull that enclosed it by the hands of a skilful surgeon. Here is a corpse, sitting upon the ground, with its' back against a tree, in the most natural position of life, holding before its face the photograph likeness of a good-looking old lady, probably the dead man's mother. Here is a poor fellow, who has crawled into the corner of a fence to read his sister's letter, and expired in the act of its perusal, the precious document still open before him full of affectionate counsel. Here is a handsome young man, with a placid countenance, lying upon his back, his Bible upon his bosom, and his hands folded over it, as if he had gone to sleep saying his evening prayer. Many others present the melancholy contrast of scattered cards, obscene pictures, and filthy ballad books—‘miserable comforters’ for a dying hour. One lies upon his face literally biting the ground, his rigid fingers fastened firmly into the gory sod; and another, with upturned face, open eyes, knit brow, compressed lips, and clenched fists, displays all the desperation of vengeance imprinted on his clay. Dissevered heads, arms, legs, are scattered everywhere; and the coagulated pools of blood gleam ghastly in the morning sun. It is a fearful sight for Christian eyes!

The scenes on the battle-fields and in hospitals are full of incidents showing the power of divine grace to cheer and support the soul in the dark hour of death. ‘Tell my mother,’ said a dying soldier, ‘that I am lying without hope of recovery. I have stood before the enemy fighting in a great and glorious cause, and have fallen. My hope is in Christ, for whose sake I hope to be saved. Tell her that she and my brother cannot see me again on earth, but they can meet me in heaven.’ A little before bed-time of his last night he called to his surgeon (Dr. Leverett), and said: ‘Write to mother, and tell her she must meet me in heaven. I know I am going there.’ Thus died T. S. Chandler, of the Sixth South Carolina regiment.

It was now that the signs of that wonderful revival in the army of the West began to appear. ‘I shall never forget,’ says Rev. W. H. Browning,

the look of astonishment in the Association of Chaplains in January, 1863, when Brother Winchester, a chaplain and a minister in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, announced a conversion in his command, and stated that he believed we were on the eve of one of the most glorious revivals ever witnessed on the American continent! His countenance glowed with an unearthly radiance, and while he spoke “our hearts burned within us.” He urged us to look for it—pray for it—preach for it. A revival in the army! The thing was incredible. And yet, while we listened to this man of faith, we could almost hear the shouts of redeemed souls that were being born to God. We could but catch the zeal of this good man, and went away resolved to work for a revival.

This good man was not permitted to participate in the revival which he so feelingly predicted. He was soon called to the spirit world, and from his home among the blessed looked down upon the glorious scenes of salvation among the soldiers whom he loved so ardently, and for whom he prayed with a faith strong and unfaltering.

A General Association of Chaplains and Missionaries had been formed in this army in August of this year (1863), but the subsequent movements interfered greatly with its complete organization, and it was not until November following that it was properly reorganized and made really efficient. Rev. Dr. McDonald, President of Lebanon University, was the President, and Rev. Welborn Mooney, of the Tennessee [543] Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was the Secretary. The proceedings of this Association Mr. Browning supposes were lost in the subsequent reverses of the army, and hence we are cut off from most reliable information concerning the progress of the revival.

The seeds of truth were sown by such faithful laborers as Rev. M. B. DeWitt, chaplain of the Eighth Tennessee, Rev. Mr. Weaver, of the Twenty-eighth Tennessee, Rev. Tilmon Page, of the Fifty-second Tennessee, and Rev. W. H. Browning, chaplain of General Marcus Wright's brigade. In other portions of the army, under the preaching of Rev. S. M. Cherry, Rev. Messrs. Petway, Taylor, Henderson, and scores of other devoted and self-sacrificing ministers, the revival influence became deep and powerful.

Rev. L. R. Redding, Methodist, of the Georgia Conference, M. E. Church, South, who labored as a missionary in this army, has furnished us an account of the work in his own and other corps during the winter and spring of 1863–‘64. Beginning his work in General Gist's brigade, and aided by Rev. F. Auld, Rev. A. J. P. De Pass, and other zealous chaplains, he soon witnessed scenes that filled him with the highest joy. The congregations increased daily, and soon a permanent place of worship was established in the rear of the brigade. The soldiers, eager to hear the Word of Life, soon fell to work and built a rude but commodious chapel, and furnished it with pulpit, seats, and lights. It was dedicated in the presence of the general and his staff by Rev. Dr. J. B. McFerrin, who, with his well-known zeal, had devoted himself to the work of an army missionary. An immense congregation attended, and the “word ran and was glorified.” From this time until the army marched away in the spring the revival progressed with increasing power. A Christian Association was formed, which met daily at half-past 8 in the morning, for the purpose of uniting the members of the various Churches, as well as the new converts, in the work of saving souls, of gathering the results of the night meetings, and of hearing the recitals of religious experience. These meetings were marked by great fervor and power. The young believers were organized into private prayermeetings, which met at seven o'clock in the morning. “Sometimes,” says Mr. Redding, “I would quietly unpeg the door and walk in while the young men were engaged in their delightful meetings, and would find the young convert of the previous night leading in prayer, and earnestly invoking God's blessing upon his impenitent comrades.” In the evening, at the close of dress-parade, the drums would beat the Church call on Chapel Hill. It was a glorious sight, just as the setting sun bathed the mountain tops in his ruddy light, to see those toil-worn veterans gathering in companies and marching to the house of the Lord. From all directions, down from the hills, out of the woods, across the valleys, they came, while the gallant Colonel McCullough, of the Sixteenth South Carolina, himself a godly man, leads his men to the place of worship. Then the Twenty-fourth South Carolina falls into line, led by their chaplain, Mr. Auld, and their brave Colonel Capers, son of the deceased Bishop Capers, of the Southern Methodist Church. The benches and the pulpit have to be removed from the house, and a dense multitude of hearers crown the chapel hill. A clear, strong voice starts a familiar old hymn, soon thousands of voices chime in, and the evening air is burdened with a great song of praise. The preacher now enters the stand, a thousand voices are hushed, a thousand hearts are stilled, to hear the word of the Lord. Perhaps the speaker is Rev. William Burr, of Tennessee. As he rises with his theme, his silvery, trumpetlike voice, clear as a bugle note, rings far out over the mass of men, and hundreds sob with emotion as he reasons with them of righteousness, of temperance, and a judgment to come. At the close of the sermon, hundreds bow in penitence and prayer, many are converted; tattoo beats — the men disperse to their cabins, not to sleep, but to pray and sing with their sorrowing comrades; and far into the night the camps are vocal with the songs of Zion and the rejoicings of new-born souls. [544] In this revival, described by an eye-witness, one hundred and forty were converted in two weeks, among them Colonel Dunlap, of the Forty-sixth Georgia, who united with the Presbyterian Church. Among the private soldiers that contributed to the success of this work, we are glad to place on record the name of W. J. Brown, of Company I, Forty-sixth Georgia. His influence with his regiment was very great, and he threw it all in favor of religion.

But soon came the order to march; the chapel and the snug cabins were exchanged for the drenched and dreary bivouac, and the sound of the gospel of peace for the notes of whistling minies and bursting shells. In the battle, and in the hospital, the genuineness of those army conversions was fully tested. In the terrible campaign that followed, whenever the smoke of battle cleared away, and the weary men had a little rest, they gathered their shattered but undaunted cohorts, and, with renewed zeal, and with love tested in the fire of war, repledged their faith to each other and charged again and again the strongholds of Satan. Lying behind the strong barrier of the Chattahoochee River for a few days, these Christian soldiers built a brush arbor, and beneath it many souls were born of God. Dying, those noble men of the South gave testimony to the power of divine grace. “Can I do anything for you?” said the missionary, kneeling by the side of a private shot through the neck. “Yes, write to my poor wife.” “What shall I write?” “Say to my dear wife, it's all right.” This was written. “What else shall I write?” “Nothing else, all's right” —and thus he died. He was a convert of the camp.

‘Passing through a large stable where the wounded lay,’ says Mr. Redding, ‘I noticed a man whose head was frosted with age. After giving him wine and food, I said, “My friend, you are an old man. Do you enjoy the comforts of religion?” “Oh, yes,” he exclaimed, “I have been a member of the Church for twenty-five years. Often in our little church at home our minister told us that religion was good under all circumstances, and now I have found it true; for even here in this old stable, with my leg amputated, and surrounded by the dead and dying, I am just as happy as I can be. It is good even here. I want you to tell the people so when you preach to them.” I left him rejoicing.’

The Rev. P. A. Johnston, chaplain of the Thirty-eighth Mississippi Volunteers, wrote of a revival at Snyder's Bluff:

The Lord is at work among us. His stately steppings are often heard and his presence felt to the comfort of our souls. We have had for the past week very interesting prayer-meetings. They were well-attended and the very highest interest manifested. Souls are hungry for the “bread of life.”

Often in these prayer-meetings there are from twelve to twenty mourners. There have already been two or three conversions, and four have joined the Church. Sinners are being awakened, mourners comforted, and the Christian established in the faith. The camp is a rough, hard life. But, sir, I feel fully compensated for every privation and hardship I have been subjected to.

‘And now, one word to state a very important fact. The partitions are well-nigh broken down that have heretofore kept Christians so far apart. We know each other here only as Christian brethren travelling to a better world. Our meeting is still progressing. Pray for us.’

‘Rev. J. W. Turner, writing from Savannah, Georgia, says: “Our people seem to have deserted us,” was the language of a sick soldier in one of the hospitals in this city. He was a member of the Twenty-fifth Georgia Regiment, which has been encamped near this place for nearly eighteen months. The Baptists had given fruitful attention to this part of the field, as they did indeed with selfsacrific-ing zeal to every portion of the army. “There are three Baptist ministers,” says Mr. Johnston, “acting as general chaplains, colporteurs, etc., within and around this city. They are giving their whole time to the distribution of Testaments, tracts, and Baptist periodicals, and to the preaching of the word.” ’ [545]

An officer of the Fifth Georgia Regiment, stationed at Bridgeport, Tennessee, sent back home his appeal:

‘Our regiment now numbers about 650, and these men have not heard a sermon in five months. What a thought! Who is to blame? The men? I think not. The officers? No. Who then? The ministry or the Christians at home. I have done all in my power to secure the services of some minister to preach for us, but have, so far, entirely failed. Our regiment is composed mostly of young men, many of them, at home, members of the Church—Christians; and shall it be said that any of these have backslidden or have died, and are forever lost, for the want of proper counsel? God forbid.’

Dr. Bennett thus continues his narrative of the great revival in the summer of 1863:

‘Charleston, South Carolina, was a point of great interest during the whole period of the war, and the fiery temper of the men who opened the fearful drama might be supposed to be unfavorable to the progress of the revival. But it was not so. Among the soldiers that lay for many weary months on the bare sands of the barren islands, and on the borders of the lagoons around that city, the work of grace went steadily forward. Christian Associations were formed, religious books, tracts, and papers were distributed, and earnest sermons preached, which resulted inmost blessed scenes. In the Forty-sixth Georgia such an organization was formed, and the soldiers who united in it said: “Our object is to make it a depository for the names of members of the Church, that they may be known as such, and that thereby we may be the better enabled to watch over each other for good; that each may feel that he has something to do in teaching sinners the way of life; and that by a godly walk and pious conversation he ought to honor his profession and glorify the God of his salvation.” One hundred and eighty-four Christian soldiers gave their names to the Association. Of this regiment, Rev. T. C. Stanley was then the chaplain, Lieutenant N. B. Binion was President of the Association, and W. J. Brown, Secretary. These men came out not only to fight, to suffer, to die for their country, but to work for God and the truth in the midst of all the evils and corruptions of the camp.’

The signs from other portions of the army in the West and Southwest were equally cheering. Along the lines in East Tennessee the revival began to spread with great power. Rev. W. B. Norris, writing from Loudon, Tennessee, says:

‘During the month (April) there has been a deep religious interest among the soldiers here. We have had a series of meetings for about two weeks, which, we hope, resulted in much good. The church in which we met was always crowded to the utmost, and there were always many seekers for the way of eternal life.’

In the Fifty-ninth Tennessee Regiment there was a glorious work. Rev. S. Strick, the chaplain, says:

‘God is at work among our men. Many are earnestly seeking the pardon of their sins—some have been converted. Our nightly prayer-meetings are well attended by anxious listeners, and my tent is crowded daily by deeply penitent souls. Never have I known such a state of religious feeling in our army as at this time. God's Spirit is moving the hearts of our soldiers.’

Rev. Messrs. McFerrin, Petway, and Ransom, of the M. E. Church, South, went to the help of General Bragg's army; Messrs. Thweat and Harrington, of the same Church, to the army in Mississippi; while Bishop Pierce, Dr. A. L. P. Green, and Rev. J. E. Evans went to General Lee's army in Virginia. Rev. Dr. Kavanaugh was sent to the army of General Price, and Rev. Mr. Marvin (now Bishop) was directed by Bishop Pierce to take position as missionary with ally army corps west of the Mississippi. The work of these ministers, with that of other zealous men from sister Churches, gave a great impulse to the revival. In Colonel Colquitt's Forty-sixth Georgia Regiment, camped near Vernon, Mississippi, the work was [546] powerful, and great numbers were converted. “Last night,” says Rev. T. C. Stanley, “there were about eighty presented themselves for prayer, kneeling upon the ground. The Christian heart could not but be touched while witnessing such a scene. We were under the tall spreading oaks of the forest, and the moon bathing all with its gentle beams, typical of the Spirit that was in mercy sent down from above, enveloping us as with a garment of love, cheering the heart of the Christian and comforting many a poor penitent.”

In the ordeal through which Vicksburg passed before the siege closed, the feeling of dependence on God was very marked among the suffering soldiers. We take the following from a chaplain's journal, kept during the siege:

Our case is desperate. I hope in God. There is much turning to him now, to recount his promises, and to claim his protection. There is no difficulty now in having religious conversation. Everybody is ready for it. . . . A bright Sabbath morning; but its stillness is broken by the harsh and startling detonations of the engines of destruction. I sigh for the sweet, undisturbed sanctuary. “As the hart,” etc. Read a sermon to a small company of gentlemen to-day. Got on somewhat of a Sunday feeling. We sit up till a late hour every night, discussing the situation, etc. . . . A furious fire was poured upon us this morning at three o'clock from the batteries beyond the trenches. One shot struck a hospital near me and killed one man; the others were frightened and cried out most piteously. Nothing that I have met is more harrowing to my feelings than scenes like this. Tried to observe to-day as the Sabbath by acts of piety and works of charity.

In the army of General Bragg the revival went on despite the sufferings of the troops in their retrograde movement to the vicinity of Chattanooga. Rev. W. H. Browning, writing to the Southern Christian Advocate of the work of grace, says:

I am truly gratified to state to you that the religious interest in this army, though abated to some extent by the retrograde movement to this place, has again revived, and there is now a general spirit of revival manifest in every part of this army. In this brigade we have been holding meetings each night for more than two weeks. There are generally from thirty to fifty penitents at the altar each night, and about forty conversions. In most of the brigades in this division they are holding similar meetings. Indeed, the same may be said of the entire army.

The most careless observer can but notice the marked change that has taken place in the regiments. Instead of oaths, jests, and blackguard songs, we now have the songs of Zion, prayers and praises to God. True, there are yet many profane, wicked, and rude, yet the preponderance is decidedly in favor of Christianity. I verily believe that the morals of the army are now far in advance of those of the country. And instead of the army being the school of vice, as was once supposed, and really was, it is now the place where God is adored, and where many learn to revere the name of Jesus. Many backsliders have recently been reclaimed-the lukewarm have been aroused, and sinners have been converted. Will not our families and friends at home awake to the importance of a deeper work among themselves? This is a time that calls for universal humiliation and prayer.

In addition to these extracts we can only give brief, but expressive, records from other parts of the army. Rev. R. G. Porter, chaplain of the Tenth Mississippi Regiment, Bragg's army, says:

“It makes my very soul happy to witness the manifestations of God's saving power as seen here in the army — from ten to forty at the altar of prayer—have preaching every day when not hindered by the men being called off.”

The Rev. Dr. Palmer, of New Orleans, preached with power and love, and under his word the revival deepened. Rev. C. W. Miller, army missionary, writes of the work in Georgia, General D., H. Hill's Corps:

Since I arrived here as missionary I have been engaged every night in religious services with the soldiers. A revival and extensive awakening have been in progress [547] in General Bate's Brigade for four weeks. Every night the altar is crowded with weeping penitents. Several have been happily converted. To me it is the most interesting sight of my life. You cannot look upon these penitent, weeping men at the altar of prayer without thinking of the bloody fields of Perryville and Murfreesboro, and the victorious veterans rolling up to heaven the shouts of triumph. Here they are. Some sending up the note of a more glorious victory—others charging through the columns of the foe to “take the kingdom of heaven by force.”

From the Thirty-eighth Alabama Volunteers Rev. A. D. McVoy sent good tidings:

‘We have held nightly meetings almost uninterruptedly, whenever the weather permitted, ever since last October, with large attendance, much interest, and good results. Some conversions and accessions to the Church have gladdened our hearts. While stationed in Mobile we had every convenience for religious worship—a large arbor with seats and stands for fire. Since we have been transferred to Tennessee we have resumed our nightly meetings, either in quarters or upon some neighboring hill, where the shade is good, and where with logs we could construct our rude altar to God. Such a place as this has truly become a little Bethel to our souls. I never saw men more concerned about their soul's salvation. In a little gathering last night, which was greatly interrupted by rain, we had thirty to rise for prayers. The feeling seems to be deep and earnest. The members of the different Churches, who number over two hundred in my regiment, are greatly revived and aroused to duty. I have never found men listen with more profound attention to the word of God. We seem to be upon the eve of a gracious revival and outpouring of the Holy Spirit, for which we are praying, watching, and struggling.’

Rev. W. T. Bennett, chaplain of the Twelfth Tennessee Regiment, Polk's corps, wrote:

Our regiment is being greatly blessed. We meet from night to night for exhortation, instruction, and prayer. Already there have been upwards of thirty conversions. Most of them have joined the Church. There are yet a large number of inquirers. The moral tone of the regiment seems rapidly changing for the better.

Rev. T. C. Stanley, to whom we have already referred, reported favorably from the Forty-sixth Georgia Regiment. More than two hundred were enrolled in the Association, and the movement was heartily seconded by the field, staff, and line officers. Colonel Colquitt, Major Spears, Quartermaster Leonard, and others, gave aid and counsel to the chaplain.

Among the troops at Columbus, Mississippi, a work of much interest began, which was interrupted in its progress by their removal to Jackson. The chaplain laboring there, Rev W. H. Smith, sent forth an earnest call to the home churches for help. ‘Brethren! ministers! are you asleep? Do you not hear the cries of your countrymen calling to you from every part of the land? The soldiers feel their need of salvation, and are crying for the gospel! And will you withhold it from them? Awake! arise! gird yourselves with the whole armor of God, and come forth to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.’

From James's Island, near Charleston, a pious captain of a Georgia regiment writes:

‘Since our chaplain came we have had a gracious revival. Many souls have been converted, and many added to the Church. And many of those who had grown cold have been revived, and we now have a warm-hearted, worshipping congregation.’

Even under the fire of the Federal batteries the work went on. Rev. Mr. Browning, from Chattanooga, says:

Yesterday evening, about five o'clock, the enemy began to throw shells across the river again, firing slowly for about an hour; notwithstanding this, at the usual [548] hour (twilight) we had a very large crowd of anxious listeners at the rude arbor the men had erected for the worship of God. A short discourse was delivered, when the penitents were invited to the altar. Fifty or sixty came forward, earnestly inquiring the way of salvation. Ten of this number were converted and enabled to “testify of a truth” that Christ was their Saviour. The work is still extending. Each night increases the attendance, the interest, and the number of penitents.

During a ministry of a fourth of a century I have never witnessed a work so deep, so general, and so successful. It pervades all classes of the army (in this brigade), and elicits the co-operation of all denominations. We know no distinction here. Baptists, Cumberlands, Old Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Methodists, work together, and rejoice together at the success of our cause.

Mr. B. writes again from the same place:

The glorious work of God is still progressing in this brigade. About one hundred and thirty conversions up to this time. The interest is unabated. From sixty to seventy-five penitents at the altar each night. It is wonderful that for nearly five weeks we have been enabled to continue this work, with but one night's interference from rain and one on picket. Surely the Lord has been good to us. We have been too closely confined to ascertain the state of the work in other brigades, further than that a good work is in progress in some of them, perhaps all. The chaplains of this corps have not met for several weeks. To-morrow is the regular time, but as the enemy shell the town every few days it is doubtful whether we will have a quorum.

The spreading revival called for all the workers that could be supplied from the home work. Bishop Early, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, appointed Rev. J. N. Andrews, of the North Carolina Conference, a missionary to the soldiers in North Carolina, and the Rev. Leonidas Rosser, D. D., of the Virginia Conference, to take the place of Rev. Dr. James E. Evans, whose health had failed, in General Ewell's corps in the Army of Northern Virginia.

‘In the retreat of our army from Middle Tennessee one of the soldiers,’ says Dr. W. A. Mulkey, a surgeon in the army,

was struck by an unexploded shell, the ponderous mass sweeping away his right arm and leaving open the abdominal cavity, its contents falling upon his saddle. In a moment he sank from his horse to the ground, but soon revived, and for two hours talked with as much calmness and sagacity as though he were engaged in a business transaction.

Soon several of his weeping friends gathered around him expressing their sympathy and sorrow. He thanked them for their manifestations of kindness, but told them that instead of weeping for him they ought to weep over their own condition; for, sad to say, if, even among the professors of his company, there was one who lived fully up to the discharge of his Christian duties, he was not aware of it.

He said, “I know that my wound is mortal, and that in a very short time I shall be in eternity; but I die as has been my aim for years—prepared to meet my God.” After exhorting those who stood around him to live the life of Christians, he said, “Tell my wife to educate my two children and train them up in such a way as to meet me in a better world. Before she hears of my death I shall be with our little Mary in heaven.”

He then observed that in entering the army he was influenced alone by a sense of duty; that he did not regret the step he had taken; and that while dying he felt he had tried to discharge his duties both as a soldier and Christian.

Thus died an humble private in the ranks of our cavalry, in whose life were most harmoniously blended the characters of patriot, soldier, and Christian.

From General Bragg's army that veteran soldier of the Cross, Dr. J. B. McFerrin, wrote:

‘I have the pleasure of saying that notwithstanding the recent numerous movements of the Army of Tennessee the work of God still progresses. Many have been brought to Christ in various brigades, and wherever the troops remain long enough [549] in one place religious services are observed with great effect. The chaplains and missionaries work with zeal, and have much good fruit. Let our friends at home thank God and take courage. Hundreds of soldiers are coming to Jesus. My health is good, though I feel weak with jaundice. We now have at work in this army as missionaries from our Church: Revs. R. P. Ransom, C. W. Miller, Wellborn Mooney, W. Barr, Brother Allen, and your humble servant.’

A lieutenant in Buford's Brigade, Army of Mississippi, wrote:

‘A glorious revival of religion has just closed in our brigade for want of more laborers. The fruits of the meeting are a large number of conversions, and a still larger number of earnest penitents. I believe all the mourners are in earnest and fully determined to accomplish their salvation. We have in our regiment a very prosperous Christian Association, which meets every Wednesday night, and a prayer-meeting every night, which is always largely attended by an attentive audience. Having no chaplain or preacher in the regiment, we feel that the work of the Lord devolves upon the lay members; and quite a number of them take a lively interest in the great work-stand up boldly before the people as advocates for the cause of Christ; and oh! how beautiful it is to see the “young beginner,” boldly, yet tremblingly, pleading with God in behalf of his fellow-soldiers! Pray for us, that the Lord may prosper our efforts to advance his kingdom.’

Rev. A. D. McVoy, writing to the Southern Christian Advocate from Chattanooga, says:

‘In the trenches the dull days are passed without improvement. It is true we have splendid scenery, and these huge mountains enclose a magnificent theatre of war. We can climb the rugged sides of Lookout or Missionary Ridge and look down upon two armies watching each other, hesitating to attack each other in their present positions. But for the past two weeks the clouds have gathered thick and low over us and drenched the country with superabundance of rain. The cold, mud, and rain, have produced great suffering and sickness among the troops; for we have been entirely without shelter in very exposed positions. Up to the present very few flies have been furnished—no tents. In our field hospital we have over three hundred and fifty sick from our brigade (Clayton's).’

But in the midst of these hardships the work of salvation steadily progressed.

‘I never saw,’ says Mr. McVoy,

men who were better prepared to receive religious instruction and advice. In fact, they earnestly desired and greatly appreciated the attention of the chaplains and missionaries in this respect. The dying begged for our prayers and our songs. Every evening we would gather around the wounded and sing and pray with them. Many wounded, who had hitherto led wicked lives, became entirely changed, and by their vows and determinations evinced their purpose to devote themselves to God. Most of those who died in a conscious state gave gratifying and satisfactory testimony of the efficacy of the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ in a dying hour. I witnessed some triumphant deaths—prayer and praise from dying lips. One young Tennesseean, James Scott, of the Thirty-second Tennessee, I think, attracted the attention of all. He continually begged us to sing for him and to pray with him. He earnestly desired to see his mother before he died, which was not permitted, as she was in the enemy's lines, and he died rejoicing in the grace of God. We will long remember Jimmie Scott. An attractive countenance, pleasing manners, he endured his intense suffering with great fortitude; not a murmur or complaint was heard from him, and his strong religious faith sustained him to his dying moment.

I might go on and describe many scenes like the above to show how our wounded boys die. They know how to fight, and many of them know how to die.

The devotion of the ladies of the South to the sick and wounded soldiers was so earnest, unselfish, and untiring, that it will stand forever as an example of true heroism. [550]

The hospital at which Mr. McVoy served was established at the house of a lady who, with a bleeding heart, gave herself to Christian ministrations with sincere love.

‘With one son killed and the other severely wounded, and the care of a large family upon her, her place devastated and ruined, her stock killed up, she ceased not to minister to the wants of our wounded and comfort the suffering, distributing all the milk and eggs she could procure. Many a wounded soldier will long remember Mrs. Thedford, for she was truly a mother to them in their hours of distress and pain. The entire family were untiring in providing for the wounded. Mrs. Durrett, from Tuscaloosa, although she arrived some time after the battle, when most of the wounded had been sent off, contributed greatly by her motherly nursing and attention to relieve and comfort. Not much can be done in the army at present by the chaplains and missionaries until the rainy season shall pass. I was glad to meet the Rev. Mr. Miller, from Kentucky Conference, who has just arrived to commence his operations as a missionary. He was mounted on a beautiful Kentucky horse, fully equipped for the contest.’

Rev. C. W. Miller writes of a trip through the South:

Along the railroads the “tax in kind” is being deposited in such quantities that we imagine if an old Egyptian could raise his head after a sleep of 3,500 years and look upon the corn, etc., in this land, he would think that it was the seventh year of plenty in the days of Joseph.

And yet hundreds of homes are saddened by hunger and want. The grasp of extortion's mailed hand and marble heart is upon all this abundance; and hungry orphans and penniless mothers starve in a land of plenty! “I speak that I do know, and testify that I have seen.” “If the clouds be full of rain they empty themselves upon the earth,” thus teaching men to pour forth the blessings which Heaven has deposited with them for the poor; but they heed not the lesson, and challenge the ascending cries of orphans, widows, and helpless age, to bring down God's vengeance.

On my return I visited the memorable field of Chickamauga. Everywhere may be seen the marks of an awful struggle. Trees are scarred and perforated by balls of all sizes. Solid oaks and pines, in many instances of enormous size, are shivered by cannon-balls. But the saddest sight there is the long array of Confederate graves. All over that bloody field sleep, in their narrow beds, the deathless heroes of the 19th and 20th of September. No hand of affection plants a rose or trains the evergreen over their grave. Side by side they repose upon the field their valor won. The grand old forest above them stands sentinel at their graves, whilst turbid Chickamauga sings their requiem along its banks.

We are preaching and laboring for the spiritual good of the soldiers as much as the situation will allow. The troops are in line of battle, and we assemble a regiment or two around their camp-fires at night and speak to them the Word of Life. The soldiers receive gladly the truth, and are always anxious to hear preaching. Never was there an ampler field for ministerial labor. May God give success to the efforts of his servants with these brave men.

We have already stated that the Presbyterian Church sent over fifty laborers into the army. At the session of the Synod of Virginia, Dr. J. Leighton Wilson, Secretary of Missions, gave a sketch of the army revival and urged that his Church prosecute its Army Mission work with increased zeal. Dr. Wilson said:

‘There is a state of religion in the Army of Tennessee quite as interesting as that in the Army of Northern Virginia. The Rev. Dr. Palmer says he has never before seen so great a movement. Go where you will, and only let it be known that you are to preach—it hardly makes a difference who the preacher is—and crowds will attend to hear. Dr. W. thought it doubtful whether there had been anything since [551] the days of Pentecost equal to this wonderful work of the Holy Spirit of God in our army. If ever there was a mighty, an imperative call upon us, it is now. If we do not rise to the occasion, our Church will degrade herself before the world and before other denominations.’

Of his work after the battle of Chickamauga Dr. J. B. McFerrin wrote:

The revival in the army progressed up to the time of the Chickamauga fight; and even since, notwithstanding the condition of the troops moving to and fro, or engaged in erecting fortifications, the good work in some regiments still goes on. The good accomplished by the ministry of the word will never be appreciated by the Church till the light of eternity shall reveal it. Some of the fruits have already ripened; souls converted in the army have gone to the rest that remains to the people of God. The chaplains and missionaries will have many seals to their ministry. Oh! how joyful to think of being the honored instruments of bringing brave souls in the tented field to enlist under the banner of the Captain of our salvation.

Since I last wrote to you I have witnessed much suffering in the army. The terrible fight at Chickamauga sent many to their long homes, and made cripples for life of hundreds who were not mortally wounded; but, my dear brother, to witness the dying triumph of a Christian soldier gives one a more exalted appreciation of our holy Christianity.

A scene at Jackson, Mississippi, when all day long shot and shell were rained upon the city by the enemy, has been thus described by an officer of the Twentysixth South Carolina Regiment, General Evans' brigade:

‘As the night shades were covering the wounded, dying, and dead, our zealous and beloved chaplain, Rev. W. S. Black, of the South Carolina Conference, gave notice to the different commanders of companies that he would like to have a word of prayer with and for them, indicating the centre of the line as the most suitable place. It would have made your heart glad to see those brave and half-starved soldiers (who had had but one meal a day for several days, and at this time were breaking their fast for the first time that day) throwing down their victuals and flocking to the indicated spot. The chaplain gave out his hymn, and then officers and men united in singing the praises of God. Oh! how we felt to praise and adore Him who had been our preserver through the storms of the day; and when it was said “Let us pray,” I imagine that I (with many others) had never more cheerfully humbled ourselves in the dust, and lifted our hearts to God in believing prayer. It seemed to be (of all others) the time to pray! The missiles of death, the music of the distant cannon, and the sharp, cracking sound of the sharpshooters' guns, were in striking contrast with the hallelujahs and praises of that devoted band of Christian soldiers. At such a sight angels might gaze with astonishment and admiration. Our blessed Saviour, whose ear is always open to the plaintive cry, drew near and comforted our hearts. Some of us felt that all would be well both in life and death.’

Rev. Dr. B. T. Kavanaugh, one of the most efficient laborers in Price's command, wrote to Dr. W. W. Bennett the following account of the revivals in that corps, on both sides of the Mississippi:

Among those who came out of Missouri with General Price's army were John R. Bennett (your brother), W. M. Patterson, Nathaniel M. Talbott, and myself, besides Brothers Minchell, Harris, Dryden, and McCary. Subsequently we were joined by Brother E. M. Marvin (now Bishop) and others.

But little visible effects followed our preaching for the first year or two, while the soldier's life was a novelty; but, after two years hard service, the romance of the soldier's life wore off, and a more sober and serious mood seemed to prevail in our camps.

The first decided revival that occurred under my observation and ministry was [552] in the State of Mississippi, to which State I had followed General Price's army, while we were encamped near Tupelo. Here we kept up nightly meetings for several weeks in our camp, and there were some forty conversions or more. Brothers Bennett, Harris, and myself held a profitable meeting near Granada, Mississippi, where we had some conversions; but for a length of time the army was kept in motion so constantly that we had but little opportunity for religious services.

When the army retreated from Big Black into Vicksburg Brothers Bennett, Patterson, and myself, rode together into that devoted city. The regiment to which I was then chaplain had been captured at Big Black, and as I had no duties to perform, I told those brethren that I should make my escape from the city before the enemy's lines were thrown around us, and requested them to join me. Brother Bennett refused, saying he should stick to his men; and Patterson refused to leave Bennett alone.

I obtained leave of absence and made my escape by riding all night alone, and found myself outside of Grant's line the next morning, and went into Selma, Alabama, where I spent the summer. I requested Bishop Paine to give me a commission as a missionary to General Price's army, which was then in Arkansas. I obtained it, and left the house of Robert A. Baker, my cousin, in Alabama, on the 15th of September, 1863. I succeeded in making the trip, crossing the Mississippi just below Bolivar, swimming my horse, and arrived in General Price's camp early in October.

My first work was to organize all the chaplains and missionaries into an Association for mutual aid and co-operation. When we went into camp at Camp Bragg, thirty miles west of Camden, we there commenced our work in earnest. Through the winter of 1863–‘64 we kept up our meetings in camp, had seats and pulpit prepared, and were successful in having more than one hundred conversions.

After the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, in Louisiana, our armies returned to Arkansas and made an encampment at a place called Three Creeks, on the southern line of the State of Arkansas. Here I commenced preaching on the 10th of June, 1864, and continued our meetings until the 10th of September. An extensive revival commenced within a few days after our meeting commenced, and grew in interest and power to the close. We had preaching, beginning at early candle-light—or rather pine-knot fires on stands around the preaching-place. After about ten o'clock at night, the preaching and other exercises at the stand closed; but this was but the beginning of the night's work.

As soon as dismissed, the young converts gathered in groups of tens and twenties, and went off in companies into the adjoining woods; and taking their friends, penitents seeking religion, with them, they spent the whole night in singing, praying, and praising God. I had lodgings close by the camp at Mrs. Tooke's, a sister of General Buckner, from which, night after night, at all hours, until morning, I could hear the shouts of the new-born souls and the rejoicing of those who were laboring with them for their salvation.

This meeting continued, after this manner, until a large majority of the two brigades were happily converted. Before we had progressed very far, an effort was made by some of the officers to interrupt us by having “roll-call” observed at nine o'clock. I went to General Parsons, who was the division commander, and requested him to suspend roll-call at night altogether. He said, “Doctor, I will do anything in my power to promote this great reformation; for I assure you that since your meetings commenced I have not had a complaint entered against a single man in my army, and the people in the country have not been disturbed by a single soldier.” Roll-call was suspended.

The people in the country around us became interested in our meetings, and attended them. The remark had been made by many, before our revival meetings commenced, that it was very difficult for a man to be religious in the army; but now it was far more common to hear it said that no one could be very religious unless he belonged to the army. [553]

Like meetings were held in other camps of the same army at some ten, twenty, and thirty miles from us. Brothers Jewell and Winfield, of Camden, were zealously and constantly engaged in the great work in the encampment near their homes, and were very successful.

At Three-Creeks I had the efficient aid of Brothers Talbott, Minchell, and Dryden, from Missouri, and a Baptist chaplain from Arkansas, whose name I do not remember.

To sum up the results of these gracious revivals in the army, we may safely say that at Three-Creeks there were 500 conversions. Under Brothers Winfield and Jewell there were 300. At Camden and Camp Bragg there were 200. Making in all in Arkansas 1,000 souls.

To show the genuineness of this work of grace upon the lives of these converts, we have to remark that after our camp was broken up, and the army was put upon the march to distant fields, wherever we went into camp but for a night our boys held prayer-meetings every night, greatly to the astonishment of the people in the country who were witnesses of their devotion.

After the army was disbanded, in riding through the country in Arkansas and Texas, I met with some of our converts, who had returned to their families and parents, and they were still true to their profession and evinced a decidedly firm Christian character.

The parents of some of those young men have since told me that in place of having the characters and habits of their sons ruined by being in the army they had returned to them as happy Christian men.

Beyond the Mississippi, as Dr. Kavanaugh has already related, his work and that of his co-laborers was greatly blessed of God. In a letter to Bishop Paine, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, he gave a report of the revival and its results in two months:

General Fagan's Arkansas Brigade—Members received into Army church, 209; conversions, 85. General Churchill's Arkansas Brigade—Joined the Army church, 112; converted, 35. General Tappan's Arkansas Brigade—Joined, 245; converted, 40. General Parsons' Mississippi Brigade—Joined, 85; converted, 35. Total members Army church, 651; conversions, 195.

The Army church was organized before my arrival; gotten up by Brother Marvin (now Bishop Methodist Episcopal Church, South,) aided by others. It has worked well. In Tappan's Brigade the devoted chaplains have built a large log-church, 60 by 30 feet, and are determined to keep up their meetings. I dedicate it next Sunday.

I am greatly delighted with my work on this side of the river. I have gone into it with all my energy, and indeed over-did my strength the first round; but as the weather is not so favorable for out-door work this round I shall not be able to preach so often. It is truly delightful to see the work prosper in our hands as it has done for the past two months.

The army here has gone into winter quarters. Every brigade is well provided with log-huts, and with all that is necessary for their comfort while in camp.

The following is the Constitution of the Army church organized by Brother Marvin:

Writing from Kingston, Georgia, February 4, Dr. J. B. McFerrin says:

‘We have a good meeting in progress. It has been going forward since Sunday last. Large crowds, mostly soldiers, are in attendance. Many penitents, some conversions, and a few backsliders reclaimed. Last night five asked for membership in the Church of God. We give the applicants choice of churches and receive them into various Christian organizations—different divisions, but one grand army.’

From Dalton, February 3, Rev. A. D. McVoy sent good tidings:

We have a large brigade church built, in which we have been holding services for two weeks. About ten days ago we commenced a series of nightly meetings; at first more on the order of prayer-meetings, but the interest began to increase so rapidly that in three nights we found a revival springing up in our midst. Great crowds gather nightly. We find our church too small. Large numbers are seeking the Lord—forty to fifty every night. The word of God and religious services seem to be better appreciated at present than ever before in this brigade. Men's minds appear to dwell more on religion and the soldiers more concerned about their soul's eternal welfare. The meeting is progressing with increasing interest. Eight joined the different Churches—one, the Presbyterian; two, the Baptist; and five, the Methodist Church. Missionary C. W. Miller is preaching for us at present with great success. A number of ladies from the neighborhood attend, making the scene very home-like.

The prospect before us is very encouraging. Wickedness and vice seem restrained. Members of the Churches are becoming revived. The Spirit of the Holy One is present and felt. Good resolutions are being formed by many in every regiment. A number are endeavoring to fulfil their promises made to God upon the eve of and during the late battles. We are expecting and praying for great things.

The work of Rev. L. B. Payne in hospitals in Georgia for one month was 27 sermons, distributed 300 papers, 18,000 pages of tracts, and about 32,000 pages of reading matter in books, which he had procured by soliciting donations. Some have been awakened, others professed conversion.

Rev. J. W. Turner, in and near Savannah, Georgia:

He preached in January 16 sermons, travelled about 400 miles, distributed 177 books, conversed privately with several soldiers on religion, and prayed with 102 soldiers who professed to be seeking Christ.

Rev. A. M. Thigpen labored in Colquitt's Brigade, near Charleston. In the Twenty-third Georgia, 60 conversions. The meeting was conducted in harmony by Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists.

[555]

In a letter from General Johnston's army, Rev. J. J. Hutchinson describes a most pleasing scene. He says:

‘Ten days ago General Pendleton, a hero of Manassas memory, preached to the soldiers at Dalton. General Johnston and very many other officers were present. On the same day Major-General Stewart, who is an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, assisted in this brigade in the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. On the same day I preached to General Finley's Brigade, where the general and his staff were present, and where he united audibly with our prayers. General Cleburne, the hero of many battle-fields, treated me with much attention and kindness— had a place prepared for preaching in the centre of his division, where himself and most of his officers were present, and where I was assisted by Brigadier-General Lowry, who sat in the pulpit with me and closed the services of the hour with prayer. I partook of the hospitality of General L. at dinner, and spent several delightful hours in profitable religious conversation. The general is a Baptist preacher, and, like the commander of the division, is a hero of many well-fought battle-fields. He takes great interest in the soldiers' religious welfare, often preaches to them, and feels that the ministry is still his high and holy calling. I wish I had the space to give you more of his interesting life's history, and to speak of this noble and pious officer as he deserves.’

The same missionary says: ‘Never have I seen such a field for preaching the gospel and inculcating religious truth as the Confederate army now presents: “the fields are white unto the harvest.” ’

In many of the hospitals the revival was deep and powerful. The conversion of the sick soldiers and the happy deaths often witnessed made a deep impression on the minds of unbelievers. At one of the large hospitals in Tennessee the following scene was witnessed. At the close of a sermon a call was made for penitents. Among others that came forward and bowed in prayer was a surgeon. At the close of the service he took the chaplain by the hand and said:

I am a great sinner! I have a pious mother—was brought up in the lap of the Church-studied my profession in N——, travelled and studied in Europe—came home and entered the army a skeptic and scoffer of religion.

‘But,’ said he, “I see such a difference between the death of the believer and the unbeliever, the question has forced itself upon my mind, What makes the deference? I took from my trunk the Bible my mother gave me five years ago, making me promise to read it, which, in the excitement of worldly pleasures, I had wholly neglected. The sight of that heavenly book, just as it was when she gave it to me, with the remembrance of her parting kiss, her parting tear, her parting prayer, brought a little fountain of tears from my eyes and a prayer from my swelling heart.”

‘I read it and found the answer to the question, What makes the deference? In that beautiful text, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” I came here to night resolved to accept publicly the invitation of the gospel, which for two days and nights you have so earnestly urged upon this congregation. Oh, that I had submitted my stubborn heart to God years ago! I thank God that I am spared to bear testimony here to-night that Christ is able and willing to save the chief of sinners. Oh,’ said he, as his eyes filled with tears of joy, ‘that my dear mother knew that her prodigal son had returned to his Saviour! But she shall know as soon as a letter can reach her. Oh, that I could have told the congregation to-night what a great sinner I am and what a great Saviour I have found.’

‘Well,’ said the chaplain, ‘with your permission I will give a statement of the cause of your awakening, and the state of your feelings of joy and gratitude tonight.’

The history of his case was given with thrilling effect.

A writer said of General Johnston's army not long after the opening of the campaign from Dalton to Atlanta: [556]

‘It is wonderful to see with what patience our soldiers bear up under trials and hardships. I attribute this in part to the great religious change in our army. Twelve months after this revolution commenced a more ungodly set of men could scarcely be found than the Confederate army. Now the utterance of oaths is seldom, and religious songs and expressions of gratitude to God are heard from every quarter. Our army seems to be impressed with a high sense of an overruling Providence. They have become Christian patriots and have a sacred object to accomplish—an object dearer to them than life.’

Rev. L. B. Payne says of the work in General Johnston's army:

‘Since my last report, which was for April, we have been in line of battle or on the march nearly every day. Notwithstanding we have had prayer-meetings in the breastworks several times, and I have preached some six or seven times; and, thank God! the revival still goes on. Souls have been converted every time I have had meetings during our fights. Some twenty-five have joined the Church, and thirty or more have been converted in the last month. Several have professed conversion after they were wounded and come to the infirmary.’

Rev. L. R. Redding reported from the lines near Atlanta: ‘A most gracious revival is in progress in Gist's Brigade. We have built a bush-arbor in rear of our line of battle, where we have services twice a day. Up to the present writing (July 18th) twenty-five have joined the Church, and penitents by the score are found nightly at the altar. In other portions of the army, chaplains and missionaries report sweeping revivals in progress. Thus, notwithstanding the booming of cannon and bursting of shell, the good work goes bravely on.’

Rev. J. B. McFerrin wrote from Atlanta to the Southern Christian Advocate:

The other day I rode to the line of battle to see the soldiers as they were resting in a shady wood. To my great joy, a young captain whom I had baptized in his infancy approached me and said: “I wish to join the Church, and I wish you to give me a certificate; the Lord has converted me.” I gave him the document with a glad heart. “Now,” said he, “if I fall in battle, let my mother know of this transaction. It will afford her great joy.” Oh, it was good to be there and feel that God was in that place.

Yesterday I baptized Colonel T., of Tennessee. He is a lawyer and a statesman, and has been in the army from the beginning of the struggle. He became interested on the subject of religion months ago, sought Christ, found the pearl of great price, united with the Church, was baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, and now sends home his letter to have his name recorded with his wife's on the Church register, and I trust it is inscribed in the book of life.

Rev. Neil Gillis, writing to the same paper, from camp on the Chattahoochee, said:

‘I never heard or read of anything like the revival at this place. The conversions were powerful, and some of them very remarkable. One man told me that he was converted at the very hour in which his sister was writing him a letter on her knees praying that he might be saved at that moment. Another, who was a backslider, said to me at the altar that his case was hopeless. I tried to encourage him; discovered hope spring up in his countenance; then commenced to repeat such promises in the Scriptures as I could remember, and while I repeated: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” he bounded to his feet and began to point others to the Cross with most remarkable success.’

Not only in the army at home did our soldiers manifest the deepest interest in religion, but even in the dreary prisons of the North they prayed for and received the Divine blessing. An officer at Johnson's Island writes to the Southern Presbyterian:

‘This is the last quarter of a long, long twelve-months' confinement. I try to pass my time as profitably as I can. We have preaching regularly every Sabbath, [557] prayer-meetings two or three times a week, and worship in my room every night. We also have a Young Men's Christian Association, Masonic meetings, etc. I attend all of these and fill out the rest of my time by reading the Bible. We have had some precious religious times. There have been about one hundred conversions; colonels, majors, captains, and lieutenants, being among the number.’

A lieutenant writes thus: ‘I am glad to state that I am a better man than when you saw me last. There are about two thousand officers here, and I never have seen so great a change in the morals of any set of men as has been here in the last four months.’

The incidents of the campaign for this season are rich in spiritual fruits. In hospital and on the open field the Christian soldiers met death bravely. Said a young Kentuckian to a minister who asked him, ‘Do you think you will recover?’ ‘No,’ said he, ‘tell my brother that I died in a holy cause, and am ready to meet God.’ It is now, in times of great peace, a matter of wonder how men could calmly worship under the fire of formidable batteries. ‘Late one afternoon,’ says Rev. C. W. Miller, writing of the scenes on the retreat from Dalton, “the firing along the line had lulled, and the writer called the brigade together for worship. A chapter from the Holy Book had been read, a song sung, and several fervent prayers offered. Presently, while a soldier was praying, and all were devoutly kneeling before God, a distant report as of the discharge of artillery was heard; then in an instant whirr, whirr, whirr—boom! went a 32-pound shell just above our heads, and buried its fragments in the hillside a little beyond us. But the ‘devout soldier’ prayed on. Another and another shell shrieked above us, but the prayer was regularly finished, the preacher pronounced the benediction, and the men went to their casemates, as they called their holes in the ground. I have related this incident to show you how indifferent men become to danger under the indurating influence of war.”

Dr. Bennett gives this interesting statement:

Let us now for a moment leave these noble Christian soldiers, in their happy meetings under the fire of musketry and cannon, and look in upon their comrades who languished in Northern prisons. We have before us a letter, written from Fort Delaware to the Christian Observer, giving an account of a revival among the Confederate officers there confined. They had in the morning at half-past 9 an “inquirer's prayer-meeting;” at 12 M. “the professor's prayer-meeting, where the Church-members pray for each other, leading the meeting in turn.”

‘It was a new business to me,’ says the writer,

when my turn came, but you must know I am preparing for the work and must learn. God's help enabled me to get along tolerably well. He always fits the instrument for his work.

We get a mail daily, morning papers at noon, and boxes of nick-nacks come promptly when our friends start them. All the officers here (and there are about 600) seem to be in good health and spirits. The general health of all on the Island is good, considering the number of privates (6,000) confined here. All seem to enjoy themselves; and, altogether, there are worse prisons than Fort Delaware. We have a large lot to play in. We have here in our barracks three ministers—Rev. Dr. Handy, of the Presbyterian Church of Portsmouth, Virginia; and Captain Harris, of Georgia, and Captain Samford, of Texas, local Methodist preachers. A revival of religion has been in progress for two weeks—17 converts, many backsliders reclaimed, and a refreshing season to old professors, numbering 150 reported names. These are among the results of the revival.

Rev. Dr. Kavanaugh reports over 500 conversions in two brigades in the Southwest. He says in his report:

Wicked men come into the congregation, or into the outskirts of it, and are suddenly stricken down and fall to the earth, and remain for hours speechless and apparently unconscious. Some of their friends became alarmed for them and spoke [558] of running for the doctor. But old Brother Talbott happened to be experienced enough to know something about such cases, and told the bystanders to give themselves no uneasiness, for it would all come out right in the end. Generally they would lie about two hours, and then rise shouting the praises of God their Saviour. There have been several cases of this kind.

All the conversions are sound, clear and powerful. There is no such thing as urging the mourner to believe he “has received the blessing;” but each is able to tell, for himself, what great things God has done for him. Conversions take place at all hours through the day and night. Many are converted in the woods—sometimes alone, and sometimes with a friend or two. There is no abatement in the work as yet, but our meetings are kept up to a late hour every night. Off at a little distance you can hear singing, praising, and praying, all going on at various points throughout the two brigades, very much resembling a very large camp-meeting in olden times, when there was much more zeal and power manifested than is now known in like meetings.

At Atlanta the Confederates, now commanded by General Hood, held that city against the heavy battalions of General Sherman. The fights along the line were frequent and deadly, but the religious enthusiasm of the soldiers was undiminished.

‘They are not afraid of death,’ writes a devoted chaplain, A. D. McVoy, ‘and are ready to die when God calls them.’

Among those brought in wounded from the front lines there were many Christians whose deaths were morally grand.

‘I witnessed,’ says Mr. McVoy,

the passing away of a Louisianian of Gibson's Brigade, Fourth Louisiana, the other day. Seldom have I seen a stronger Christian faith, a firmer reliance on God, and a clearer assurance of salvation in a dying hour. He was cruelly lacerated by a piece of shell that had ploughed deeply across his right side, and his sufferings were intense and unremitted. Still his mind was fixed upon God. “Chaplain,” said he to me, “I am dying. I have done my duty. I wish I could be spared to see victory secured to my brave comrades, but it is the will of God, and I cheerfully submit. I am suffering a thousand deaths, but when I think upon the sufferings of my Saviour, that he endured ten thousands more than I for the salvation of my soul, my sufferings are nothing.” Then he would fervently pray, and besought me to pray with him, which I did. This comforted him greatly, so that he almost shouted for joy. “Chaplain,” said he, “I have three motherless children in Louisiana, and could I only gaze once more upon them, could I but fold them to my breast, could I but kiss them good-bye, I would die contented; but God's will be done. I commit them into the hands of my Heavenly Father. I want them instructed to know and serve God that they may meet me in heaven.”

One of his companions, who had brought him out of the trenches, was kneeling over him and weeping bitterly. “Chaplain,” said the dying soldier, “this is the best friend I have in the army; pray for him that he may meet me in heaven.”

When asked what word he desired to leave with his company, he said, “Tell them to be better boys. Some of them are reckless and wicked. Tell them to repent, serve God, be good soldiers, and meet me in heaven.”

When asked how he felt in view of death, he said, “I have no fears; all is clear. Jesus died for me; I know He will save me. Blessed be the Lord.” His colonel passing by, came to his side and said, “Is this you, Dawson? I am sorry to find you so dreadfully wounded.” “Yes, Colonel, I am dying, but I am going home to heaven. I have tried to do my duty. It is God's will, and I cheerfully give myself up a sacrifice on the altar of my country.”

He then committed himself to God and lingered for some hours, continually praying and praising God, when he died the glorious death of a brave Christian soldier.

Writing further of the glorious work the same faithful laborer says: [559]

Many are joining the Church. While exhorting a large group of soldiers a few nights since to come to Christ a young man rushed forward and threw his arms around my neck, crying out, “I have found Jesus, I have found Jesus! Oh, how good my Saviour is! Bless the Lord, O my soul!” This was a very affecting scene, and induced many to think seriously concerning their souls.

Thus the work of God is going on amid the cannon's roar, the fatiguing monotony of the trenches, and the heroic movements of the picket line. Religion is infusing a spirit of fortitude, endurance, and determination, into the hearts of the soldiers that no hardship, no suffering, can undermine or break down.

Bishop Lay, of the P. E. Church, in a letter to a relative in Charleston, South Carolina, describes a scene of the deepest interest in the same army. The Bishop was earnestly laboring as a missionary in the Georgia army. He says:

Yesterday in Strahl's Brigade, I preached and confirmed nine persons. Last night we had a very solemn service in General Hood's room, some forty persons, chiefly generals and staff officers, being present. I confirmed General Hood and one of his aids, Captain Gordon, of Savannah, and a young lieutenant from Arkansas. The service was animated, the praying good. Shells exploded near by all the time. General Hood, unable to kneel, supported himself on his crutch and staff, and with bowed head received the benediction. Next Sunday I am to administer the communion at Headquarters. To-night ten or twelve are to be confirmed in Clayton's Division. The enemy there are within two hundred and fifty yards of our line, and the firing is very constant. I fear it may be hard to get the men together. I wish that you could have been present last night, and have seen that company down, all upon bended knee. The reverence was so marked that one could not fail to thank God that He has put such a spirit into the hearts of our leaders.

Dr. McFerrin writes from the Georgia army:

‘Meetings have been frequently held when the soldiers were in line of battle. The religious interest I think has not at all abated since our great revival in the winter and spring. Hundreds in many parts of the army are seeking the fellowship of Christians by uniting with the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.’

‘Asa Hartz,’ a gallant and gifted Confederate officer, thus writes from the Federal prison on Johnson's Island:

‘We vary our monotony with an occasional exchange. May I tell you what I mean by that? Well, it is a simple ceremony. God help us! The “exchanged” is placed on a small wagon drawn by one horse, his friends form a line in the rear, and the procession moves; then passing through the gate, it winds its way slowly round the prison-walls to a little grove north of the enclosure; the “exchange” is taken out of the wagon and lowered into the earth—a prayer—an exhortation—a spade—a head-board—a mound of fresh sod—and the friends return to prison again —and that's all of it. Our friend is “exchanged;” a grave attests the fact to mortal eyes, and one of God's angels has recorded the “exchange” in the book above. Time and the elements will soon smooth down the little hillock which marks his lonely bed, but invisible friends will hover around it till the dawn of that great day when all the armies shall be marshalled into line again—when the wars of time shall cease and the great eternity of peace shall commence.’

I had hoped to receive letters from a number of chaplains and missionaries who served in the other armies of the Confederacy, and sent letters of request to many of them, but the following are all that I have been able to secure:

Letter from Rev. A. S. Worrell (Baptist Chaplain).

Dr. Worrell was one of the most useful workers in the Army of Tennessee, and I am glad to give even the brief sketch he has been able to send from his sick-bed.

---

Sketch of the work in the army of Tennessee.

Rev. S. M. Cherry, Chaplain and Distributing Agent of Religious Reading of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

I had long known of Rev. S. M. Cherry as one of the most active and efficient workers in the Army of Tennessee, and am glad to present the following from his pen:

The Army and Navy Herald was established in Macon, Georgia, October, 1883, and the agent, Rev. Dr. Camp, came to Missionary Ridge, late in November, to get General Bragg to designate some one to act as “Distributing Agent of the Soldiers' Tract Association for the Army of Tennessee.” After consulting with Dr. McFerrin, and chaplains and others in the army, I was appointed to that work and took leave of my regiment, the Thirty-seventh Georgia, on Sunday, November 22, 1863, after a most happy association of fifteen months, and a brigade acquaintance of nearly two years. The treatment of the officers and privates of that regiment during all of that time was remarkably kind and respectful, for which I entertain a very high and Christian appreciation.

The battle of Missionary Ridge was fought the same week of my assignment to duty for the entire army. Among the victims of that battle, from our Thirtyseventh Georgia, were Captain McMullen, a true and tried Christian I dearly loved, and Dr. Childs, my messmate, to whom I was strongly and tenderly attached. He was trying to do his duty to God and his country.

The Army of Tennessee encamped around Dalton, Georgia, the entire winter of 1863-64, and until May, in the spring—over five months. The post quartermaster furnished me with room No. 1, at the Chester House, close to the square and depot, the day after my arrival at Dalton, and I fixed a lock on the door with my army knife, and soon had a counter arranged for my army papers, tracts, Bibles, Testaments, hymn books, and other religious literature. This became at once the Headquarters of chaplains, missionaries, evangelists, preachers, and all who sought religious reading from my hands. I tried to share my bunk, which was rough, with any and all who might seek shelter for a night or longer, and I had pens, ink, and stationery for those who wished to write. I had no lack of company day nor night from December till May. How earnest and eager the preachers were to secure religious reading of all kinds, and how hungry the soldiers to secure the same, may be slightly indicated by extracts from The Army and Navy Herald, which I clip, every number of which I have bound and now mutilate for the first time for the benefit of the readers of “Christ in the camp.” The citizens who remained in Dalton tendered us the different church edifices for the use of the soldiers, and we had a protracted meeting lasting for five months in them, only equalled in duration by colored congregations since the war.

During the months of December, January, February, and March, Dr. J. B. McFerrin preached nine times in Dalton, and I preached as often. Rev. Dr. Stiles, of Virginia, a Presbyterian minister, preached several times with great power and much profit to the soldiers and preachers. Rev. Mr. Caldwell, of the same Church, preached three or four times with good success. Rev. Mr. Flynn preached more than once. He, too, was a Presbyterian; also, Rev. Mr. Wood. Missionary Mooney five times, Miller three times, and R. P. Ransom, H. H. Kavanaugh, and Captain Sutherland, Twenty-third Alabama, and Alabama Conference; Chaplain W. A. Parks, Fifty-second Georgia, and Georgia Conference, each preached once or oftener, and others may have preached in my absence that I did not hear, besides these named. I only mention such as I heard. Nearly every time there was preaching penitents were called, and we would have from two to fifteen to come forward and from one to four professions nightly. I went to the front two or three Sundays, at Tilton, [581] where I found Brother J. G. Bolton with a fine Sunday-school. The Brinsfields there took an active part in that work. I found in March a revival prevailing in Finley's Florida Brigade. General Finley, an Episcopalian, encouraging Chaplains Wiggins and Tomkins in the good work.

General Manigault, an Episcopalian, attended camp service when I visited his brigade. Colonel Jones, a Methodist, in Walthall's Brigade, active in camp service. Also, a good revival in Dea's Brigade, in March.

I give here some of the names of preachers in the army around Dalton: J. H. Willoughby, Eighteenth Alabama; Elbert West, Twenty-fifth Alabama; W. W. Graham, Twenty-eighth Alabama; J. S. Holt, Thirty-fourth Alabama; C. M. Hutton, Thirty-sixth Alabama; A. D. McVoy, Thirty-eighth or Fifty-eighth Alabama; W. F. Norton, Thirty-ninth Alabama; Dr. B. W. McDonald, Fiftieth Alabama; R. W. Norton, — —; J. P. McMullen, Mississippi, Alabama Brigade; Revs. Lieutenant Curry and Jones, Thirty-second and Fifty-eighth Alabama.

R. L. Wiggins, Fourth Florida; J. H. Tomkins, Seventh Florida; J. G. Richards, Tenth South Carolina; W. T. Hall, J. H. Myers, Forty-second Georgia; ——Thompson, Fortieth Georgia; Dr. Rosser, Forty-first Georgia; W. A. Parks, Fifty-second Georgia; L. B. Payne, Missionary, Cummings' Georgia Brigade; H. H. Kavanaugh, Sixth Kentucky; C. W. Miller, Missionary, Kentucky Brigade; T. H. Davenport, Third Tennessee; C. S. Hearn, Fifth Tennessee; —— Swearer, ——, Tennessee; P. G. Jamison, Eleventh Tennessee; W. T. Bennett, Twelfth Tennessee; L. H. Milliken, Thirteenth Tennessee; J. A. Ellis, Twentieth Tennessee; J. F. McCutchen, Twenty-fourth Tennessee; —— Harris, Twenty-sixth Tennessee; M. B. Chapman, Thirty-second Tennessee; J. H. McNeilly, Fortyninth Tennessee; J. B. Mack, Fiftieth Tennessee; S. A. Kelley, Missionary to Strahls' Tennessee Brigade; R. G. Porter, Tenth Mississippi.

J. G. Long, Dr. J. H. Gibbs, D. C. Boggs, J. C. Kennedy, H. McCann, G. L. Petrie, —— Henderson. The above met with the Chaplains' Association of Hood's Corps-chiefly chaplains.

Dr. J. B. McFerrin, Revs. R. P. Ransom, W. Mooney, and William Burr, acted as missionaries to different commands from Tennessee.

Thus far I have confined myself to my own journals and the records of the Chaplains' Association of Hood's Corps, at Dalton. The material after this is largely taken from the Army and Navy Herald, 1864-65.

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From

Army and Navy Herald,

December 1, 1863.

Rev. S. M. Cherry.—This gentleman, through the courtesy and by order of General Braxton Bragg, has been detailed as Agent for the Soldiers' Tract Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in the Army of Tennessee. He will distribute the publications of this Association, and all other religious matter placed in his hands. All the chaplains, therefore, in that army, will report to him when in want of any of our publications, as he will be constantly supplied from this point.

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Reports of Rev. S. M. Cherry, Central Distributing Agent, army of Tennessee.

The following report of operations and labors in the Army of Tennessee for the present month is respectfully submitted:

I have visited the Brigades of Generals Brown, Bate, Reynolds, Walthal, Finley, Tucker, Lowry, Gist, Stephens, Wright and Roddy. I have universally met with warm welcomes and kindly greetings by the officers and soldiers of each command. Three of the above-named generals are consistent members of the Church, and are [582] wielding their influence for the spread of morality and piety among the soldiers, affording much help and encouragement to chaplains and missionaries laboring in their brigades; and each of their commands are now blessed with gracious revivals —the most extensive in the army—with congregations large, serious and attentive. I have preached in each of the brigades visited, and am pleased to report interesting revivals in most of them.

I have preached several times during the month at the Methodist church in Dalton. The revival there is increasing in interest all the while. In two weeks a large number have professed faith, and 53 have joined the Church.—The Baptist and Presbyterian churches are densely crowded every night, and both report excellent meetings with many awakenings and conversions.

Brown's Brigade has enjoyed a precious revival for two months. Last week 101 conversions and 78 accessions to the Church were reported in the brigade; and a very large Christian Association has been organized, which is doing much good.

Recently a chapel has been erected in Bate's Brigade for camp service, and a number have been converted at their late protracted meeting.

Walthal's Brigade has no chaplain at present, but I learn that preachers, who are private soldiers, are conducting a good meeting—many penitents and conversions.

Tucker's Mississippi Brigade has been favored with a revival meeting for several weeks. Over one hundred have been converted, 90 have joined the Church, and two nights ago there were 140 penitents at the altar.

Finley's Florida Brigade reports 130 accessions to the Church, and as many conversions this spring; and 70 penitents still seeking salvation.

A protracted meeting began in Lowry's Brigade of Alabama and Mississippi troops twenty days ago. Last night about 140 penitents came forward for prayer. 53 have joined the Church; the general assists in the labors of the pulpit and altar, and has baptized a dozen of his own soldiers.

Gist's Georgia and South Carolina Brigade is just entering upon a wonderful work of grace. 60 have recently joined the Church (40 in the past five days).

A fine meeting is progressing in Wright's Tennessee Brigade. There are a number of earnest inquirers and some happy conversions.

The following are the reports from brigades which I have not been able to visit this month.

Cummings' Georgia Brigade has a remarkably fine meeting in progress—45 professions of faith and 38 accessions to the Church in a very few days.

In Stovall's Georgia Brigade a meeting has been in progress eighteen days. 75 have joined the Church, and as many are converted.

Gibson's Louisiana Brigade has neither chaplain nor missionary, but ministers from other commands have commenced a protracted meeting which promises great good. 40 have professed faith and asked for Church membership within the last twelve days.

A meeting is being held by different chaplains and other ministers in General Granberry's Texas Brigade which has no chaplain. There are crowds of penitents at the altar—35 conversions and 42 accessions to the Church within a few days; and a large number are interested on the subject of salvation.

In General Dea's Alabama Brigade during two months 50 or 60 have joined the Church, and perhaps as many have been converted; while 125 penitents are still seeking God.

General Govan's Arkansas Brigade and General Polk's Arkansas and Tennessee Brigade are both blessed with very gracious and promising revivals.

General Clayton's Alabama Brigade reports 49 recent accessions to the Church.

A few conversions and accessions are reported in General Strahls' Tennessee Brigade. [583]

There may be religious interest manifested in commands that I have not mentioned; and there is a very fine work progressing in Hotchkiss' Battalion of artillery. Ten joined the Church one night this week, and 50 were still at the altar.

The wonderful work of grace is spreading all over the army. Over one thousand of our soldiers are now publicly seeking salvation, and two or three hundred have joined the Church in this army during the past week—more than any month prior to the present.

I have distributed for your society 130 Bibles, 8,000 copies of the Herald, 400 copies of the Soldiers' Paper, and 850,000 pages of tracts; preached 30 sermons, furnished every regiment and brigade in this army with religious literature which can be reached through our very efficient chaplains, missionaries, pious officers and soldiers.

I never saw our soldiers more healthy and hopeful of success; and the spiritual field is now truly white unto the harvest.

Your co-laborer in the cause of Christ and our country,

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Report for may, 1864.

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Report for June, 1864.

Our army has been in battle line in the vicinity of Marietta and New Hope Church the entire month. While the soldiers are in the trenches and subject to the fire of the foe almost daily the facilities for preaching are few, and the missionaries and chaplains are more efficient at the field-hospitals than they would be along the lines. The soldiers are very eager for suitable reading while confined so closely to the trenches, and I have spared no pains in furnishing all that I could reach through the missionaries, chaplains, officers, and soldiers, with papers and tracts. The cavalry especially have been better supplied than heretofore, as they have been more convenient to my quarters than formerly.

The distribution for the month has amounted to 10,000 copies of the Army and Navy Herald and 84,000 pages of tracts.

My labors have been confined principally to the Receiving and Distributing Hospital, Marietta, Georgia, where the wounded are brought from the field-hospitals for attention, and, after a few hours' rest, are shipped to the rear, if able to be removed. Here I have had the privilege of ministering to the wounded and dying soldiers of the different commands of our army that have been engaged with the enemy during the month.

I am glad to report that a large majority of the severely and mortally wounded with whom I have conversed in reference to their hopes of future happiness have given strong testimony of their preparation for death and eternity. Some of the mangled and gory have died praising God for His presence and power, enabling them to die triumphing over their last enemy. I have witnessed the peaceful and happy exit of many of our noble brave from the earth, who sent sweet messages to their far-distant mothers, wives, and sisters to meet them in heaven, for they were ready to die, and were going home.

The revival interest in the army has not walled; whenever the chaplains or missionaries have an opportunity to preach to the soldiers, and penitents are invited forward for prayer, a large number come quietly and signify their penitence and [585] desire to lead a new life; and many are still making applications for church membership.

I have preached twice during the month: once at Walker's Division Hospital, where the disabled soldiers were very serious and attentive, and quite a number were forward for prayer; once in Marietta, but few soldiers present.

Our soldiers seem remarkably cheerful and very hopeful of success.

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Report for July, 1864.

Since my last report from Marietta, made June 30. I have been quartered with the Savannah Relief Committee, and devoting what time I could spare from the duties of my office to ministering with that efficient Battle-field Relief Committee to the wounded at Dr. Bateman's. Several receiving and distributing hospitals, which had been located near the Chattahoochee and in Atlanta, are now three miles south of the city.

I have not been able to furnish reading material for all the commands of the army with that system, promptness, and regularity as when the troops were in camp or quarters. Yet all the papers and other reading I can procure are distributed judiciously to the soldiers, and demands are made for more.

The distribution for the month of July amounts to 1,917 Testaments, 17,890 Heralds, and 60,000 pages of tracts for the Soldiers' Tract Association; 225 Bibles and 1,600 Testaments for the Confederate States Bible Society; and 100,000 pages of tracts of the Evangelical Tract Society, besides a few packages of miscellaneous reading. In short, all the supplies on hand at the Wayside Home in Atlanta have been exhausted.

The great revival interest is still prevailing in the army. There were a large number of penitents, professions of piety, candidates for church membership, and baptisms reported at the late meeting of the Association of Chaplains and Missionaries. Wherever and whenever an opportunity is offered for preaching or for prayermeeting, the ministers are ready to labor for the salvation of souls, and many are seeking and securing the pearl of great price.

Rev. Mr. Smith, a Presbyterian missionary, of Jackson's Brigade, died recently in Atlanta. He was very efficient in furnishing the troops with religious readinga zealous laborer in the vineyard of Christ.

Rev. Captain Charles H. Dunham, formerly of the Tennessee Conference, but a gallant officer in the Forty-eighth Tennessee Regiment for three years, and Rev. Lieutenant Cornelius Hardin, Thirty-fifth Mississippi Regiment, recently ordained by Bishop Paine, were both mortally wounded on Kenesaw Mountain, and died full of faith and the Holy Ghost, in Marietta.

Rev. Mr. Hudson, chaplain Sixth Texas Cavalry, a faithful and useful man in the army, and much beloved by his soldiers, was mortally wounded near Newnan, July 30, while in the discharge of his duty as chaplain.

I have preached but few times during the month, as the soldiers are either moving or confronting the enemy in the trenches almost daily. While General Roddy's command remained here I preached nightly to his soldiers, who seemed very eager to hear the words of life. The attendance and attention were good at each hour's service, and a large number of penitents were forward for prayer.

The soldiers are always glad to receive the publications of our society, and eagerly read the same.

It is difficult to supply the increased demand for the Scriptures, tracts, and papers, the circulation of which, in the army, is accomplishing much good.

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[586]

Report for August, 1864.

Our army has been closely confined to the trenches around Atlanta the entire month, and exposed to a continuous fire of artillery, and frequent picket skirmishes, and a few assaults from the enemy; but notwithstanding the proximity of the foe and the exposed position of our troops, the soldiers seemed very eager for religious services at various points along the lines, and even sat quietly listening to the preaching of the word amid the flying and falling missiles of death, seeming to feel secure while engaged in the worship of God. I preached three nights in succession to General Roddy's Division of cavalry. The command had but one chaplain present for duty, and there are many more professors of piety, but the soldiers seemed very eager to have preaching, and were attentive and serious; twenty-eight came forward for prayer, and there were very favorable indications for an extensive revival of religion among them; but the general was ordered elsewhere, and the meeting closed. I was treated with much courtesy and kindness by General Roddy and his officers, who expressed a desire to have the soldiers attend preaching. An efficient chaplain or missionary might accomplish much good in that excellent division; and the soldiers were very solicitous to secure the services of a zealous, faithful minister.

The first Sabbath in the month I visited General French's division, of Stewart's corps, and preached in the morning to Ector's Texas, Reynolds' Arkansas, and Gholson's Mississippi brigades. The congregation was large and serious, and sat for an hour upon the ground in the open field, without any protection from the burning sun, and listened gladly to the words spoken, which I trust accomplished some good. One wounded soldier since testified that he was a changed man from that hour. All were eager to get papers and Testaments. I regret much that I had so few of the latter to distribute. Gohlson's and Reynolds' brigades are both without chaplains. I have preached once since to the latter. They were having meetings every night. Five joined the church, and there were a number of penitents and professions of piety. At 2 P. M. I preached for Sears' Mississippi brigade. The interest there was very good; two joined the M. E. Church at the close of service. A fine revival has been carried on for some time by their faithful chaplains, and a large number have been converted and joined the Church during the month. I was received by Colonel Barry, commanding brigade, and staff officers, with marked respect. They attended preaching. A shower of rain fell before the close of the sermon, but the soldiers only crowded the closer to the preaching place. Again, at four in the afternoon, I preached for Cockrill's Missouri brigade, where a fine revival was in progress; above one hundred of those gallant Missourians, far away from their homes, have sought and secured a title to a home in the many mansioned house of our Father in heaven. Among the number, a noble young officer, of fine intellect, joined the Church one day, and was killed on the post of duty the day following.

In Scott's Alabama and Louisiana brigade I have preached four times. Quite an interesting revival; seventy at the altar for prayer. I received fourteen applications for church membership. Some very pious and zealous young officers in that command have charge of large Bible classes, and are wielding a fine influence for the cause of Christ.

At Adams' Mississippi brigade preached once; attentive audience. Seventyfive men were seeking salvation, and many professed conversion. I baptized four young soldiers.

Featherston's Mississippi brigade has been blessed with a very gracious revival for two or three weeks; over one hundred have joined the Church recently. I have preached for them once. Colonel Stehpens, commanding brigade, and other officers, gave me a cordial reception.

I preached one night for Quarles's Tennessee and Alabama brigade—preaching [587] the same evening in another part of the brigade. Both places were thronged with serious soldiers, and many came forward for prayer; quite a number of conversions.

I have also preached once each for Mercer's (Georgia) and Govan's (Arkansas) Brigades, Cleburne's Division; and for Wright's and Gordon's Brigades, of Cheatham's Division, together; and once at Griffin, where a revival was progressing, principally among the soldiers.

Total sermons preached,	8
Testaments distributed,	1,400 copies.
Army and Navy Herald,	13,000
Soldiers' Paper,	600
Tracts,	20,000 pages.

I am under many obligations to the Savannah Relief Committee for special favors and material aid bestowed. I have been quartered with those affable and kindhearted gentlemen the past month, and all the members of the committee have assisted me in this work of distribution.

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Report for October, 1864.

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Report for November and December, 1864.

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Report for January, 1865.

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Report for February, 1865.

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Report for March, 1865.

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Dying words.

Marietta, Georgia, June 9, 1864. Thomas F. Folks, of Jackson's Headquarters' scouts, Twenty-eighth Mississippi Regiment, from Warren county, Mississippi, died of his wounds in great peace to-day. He was of fine form and handsome face with beautiful black hair and flowing beard. He talked so calmly of death and so tenderly of his mother. All was well with the noble young man. How I sympathized with his brother when he leaned so fondly over the dying form and caressed him as if he were a child, saying so pathetically and touchingly: “Tom, you are dying; speak to me, boy, poor fellow!”

June 10. T. M. Holland, Company D, Fifty-fourth Tennessee-home Randolph, Tipton county, Tennessee—was resigned to the will of God, but from the nature of his wound could say but little, but declared himself ready and willing to go.

June 11. Lieutenant Rankin, Twenty-ninth Mississippi, when wounded was placed in my charge, and I carried him to the Medical College Hospital. While [592] in the ambulance with him he said he believed the wound was mortal. He had grown cold by neglecting his duty, but had tried to be a Christian and lead a better life, and had hope of heaven.

June 17. When I began speaking to Mr. White, of the Sixteenth Alabama, today, who was a penitent at the altar during the revival in Lowry's Brigade last month, he said he feared his wound was mortal, and he felt like he was almost lost, but I began to read him selections of Scripture suitable to encourage the penitent, and his faith took right hold of God's promises, and he began to thank God, and to say very softly, “Sweet Jesus.” Then turning his dying eyes on me, he said, “Tell my mother I am prepared to meet my God in peace.”

June 22. To-day talked with Brother Coffee, who is dying of his wounds, brother of Rev. Mr. Coffee, Cumberland Presbyterian Church—he is ready for his discharge. To-day General Hooker's Corps attacked General Hood's, and was handsomely repulsed, but Stevenson's Division lost heavily, especially Brown's Brigade and Fifty-fourth Virginia Regiment. I stayed with Rev. Atticus G. Haygood, who has been with us at Marietta for some time.

June 23. Chaplain Porter and I leave together. The Court-House is Stevenson's Division Hospital. The wounded cover the floor, which is wet with human gore. I spoke to C. L. Langston, Company D, Twentieth Alabama Regiment, shot through the breast. He said, “If I die I feel that I will go home to heaven.” Went to the hall of the Griffin, Georgia, Relief Committee; some one said a minister had just died. I found out directly that it was Lieutenant Cornelius Hardin, Thirtyfifth Mississippi Regiment. He and his brother were sitting side by side eating their dinner together in the trenches when the same shell severed the leg of one and the arm of the other. The young preacher, who had been very recently ordained by Bishop Paine, if I mistake not, while on furlough to his home in North Mississippi, said in dying, “God has always been with me, and is with me now.” Perry, his brother, was hopeful of recovery, and said to me, “Pray for me specially that I may get well to support my poor widowed mother and sisters.” But he was not afraid to die. He wished all his mother's family to live so that they should finally live in heaven. Cornelius and Perry Hardin “were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in death they were not divided.” We buried them side by side in their soldier blankets in a beautiful grove of oaks near where they left earth for heaven. I wrote their mother and sisters of their last hours and resting place, dreading to receive a reply. But when the missive came it breathed so much “sweetness out of woe” and faith and hope in God and the reunion in heaven that I thanked God that there are such noble mothers to testify that God's grace is sufficient to sustain in the greatest trials on earth.

The same day I looked upon Colonel Cook, Thirty-second Tennessee, who lay alone under a fly with a mortal wound. Colonel Walker, Third Tennessee, also is dying. Both of these brave men testify that they are resigned to death. How much good grew out of the great revival in their brigade a few weeks ago God only knows.

Atlanta, July 20. Heavy artillery firing. Severe loss in the brigades of Featherston, Scott, Reynolds' Arkansas and Stephens' Georgia. General Stephens severely wounded. I talked with a soldier, Fifty-third Alabama Cavalry, horribly mangled. His parents not religious, and he has made no profession, but is praying, and says he trusts in God for salvation. How hard to instruct those in religious truth that have had no home training!

Ed. Stafford, a nice, bright-eyed boy of nineteen years of age, from Springfield, Arkansas, mortally wounded, confessed that he had been a wild boy, but he said, “Pray for me, and write to my mother that I was a faithful soldier to the last.” He praised God after I read the Fifty-first Psalm, and prayed for his salvation.

East Point, near Atlanta, Georgia, July 25, at 3 P. M. I was called to see Lieutenant [593] G. P. Dean, Fifteenth Texas Regiment. His wound was slight but had gangrened. Chaplain Kramer and Rev. W. H. Potter, of Georgia, were with me. Brother Kramer prayed, and the lieutenant said he was trying to trust in God, and prayed for God to help him to believe, and then with feeble, last failing voice said, “I hope to meet you all in heaven.” While I read, “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions,” etc., he whispered, “How glorious,” and was gone while I read to him of Christ's coming to receive unto himself all who come unto him and believe on him. He left with me a letter for his betrothed in C——, Alabama.

July 28. Generals Stewart and Loring were among the wounded to-day. I was with each of them. Talked to Colonel Crook, who is terribly wounded. He testifies that he has been trying to be a true Christian in the army, and all is right living or dying. This gallant young Tennesseean talks like a true Christian-a member of the Methodist Church, Twenty-eighth Tennessee Regiment.

East Point, August 8, 1864. S. W. Jenkins, Company E, Fifty-eighth Alabama, is fearfully riddled with balls, but as he lay beneath a little fly dying this hot dusty day his eye was very bright. I grasped his hand and said, “How is it now with you, my dear boy?” He pressed my hand closely, and said, “I am all right, parson; have not seen a dark day for two years; can't doubt now, and I thank God for it. Write my mother that I am mortally wounded, but I will meet her in heaven.” He had attracted my attention by his eager interest in our camp worship from the time his regiment entered our brigade a year or more ago. He delighted to do what he could to help us in the camp service. He was but a boy, the son of a widow, but had been a member of the Methodist Church for four years, and a most consistent Christian in camp, and there he lay dying upon the ground the most glorious, triumphant death I witnessed during the war, if not in all my life.

These ten dying men I heard testify in two months. They were from Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, and Mississippi. That has been more than twentythree years ago. Little thought had I then in noting their last words in my journal that I should pen them now for the purpose I do. But these being dead yet speak by the words spoken in death. Colonel Crook recovered and preached for years.

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Christian love and unity.

Our Chaplains' Association and all of our army acquaintance and work together had a wonderful power in breaking down barriers and removing denominational prejudices that may have existed before we met among the soldiers. I remember the first day of May, 1864. I went out to Cumming's Georgia Brigade and witnessed a baptismal service. Chaplain Thompson, Baptist, led fifteen soldiers into the water and baptized them, and was followed by Chaplain Rosser, Methodist Protestant, with four others who were baptized in the same way—only one service on the water's edge for the two chaplains. Five others were baptized on the land by Chaplain Rosser. The same day I saw Chaplain W. A. Parkes, Methodist South, administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to Stewart's Division, and among them, between two soldier communicants, kneeling on the rough logs on the bare ground, was Major-General Stewart, an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Major Hatcher, one of his staff, kneeled by his side. Dr. McFerrin and many of the chaplains were in the habit of offering the soldiers the privilege of joining the Church by asking all that wished to join the Church to come forward, and their names would be taken and the denomination of their choice and preachers of their own faith and order would be looked up by the preachers, and they would receive baptism at the hands of such ministers as they preferred, and their names could be forwarded wherever they wished or certificates furnished them of their baptism or reception into the Church.

On one occasion a soldier came among others to be received into the Church, [594] and when Dr. McFerrin asked him what Church or denomination of Christians, he replied: “The Roman Catholic, sir; I know no better.” I scarce need add that he was a son of Erin's Isle. Such was the brotherly love and fraternal friendship existing between the chaplains in the army that in reading my journal now there are many familiar names that I find which recall faces once very dear to me, and yet I cannot remember the denominations of the faithful servants of Christ. Rev. S. S. Taylor, Thirty-seventh Georgia, with whom I was so long intimately associated, who was killed at Franklin, Tenn., December, 1864, was a Primitive Baptist, a private soldier, yet an humble, devout soldier of Christ.

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Preaching places.

The first winter of the war our brigade did not take interest enough in religious services to prepare a place of worship. The second winter our heavy battles were in December and January, and we were much on the march in these months and changed our camping places frequently, and we had preaching and prayer-meeting when the weather would permit as often as practical at such places as we thought most suitable. But at Dalton, Georgia, rude chapels were built by the soldiers of different brigades. I remember distinctly, in Brown's Brigade, Chaplains Chapman, Davenport and Harris had a very convenient and comfortable house built, large enough to accommodate all who would attend, as they supposed. But when the great revival began, soon the chapel was so crowded that they enlarged it by taking out the logs on one side, which doubled the seating capacity. But still the eager hearers could not find room, and the end logs were removed. But, when roll-call was over of an evening, there would be a rush of the soldiers to get as near as possible to the preachers, and it finally became necessary to remove the logs of the other side, only leaving those at the end by the preaching place remaining.

At Tyner's Station, near Chattanooga, the summer of 1863, we had arbors prepared of pine, or black-jack poles, covered with brush, and for lights we had there and at Fairfield small scaffolds a few feet high and two or three feet across the top, covered with earth and torch-light fires upon them.

But soldiers were not particular about places. What they preferred were men who would be with them at any time or any place where duty called the soldiers, willing to endure hardship and exposure and their perils, if need be, to preach Christ to them.

Many sermons were preached in the trenches, and soldiers there heard the word which was blessed to their salvation. Any place where the preacher could stand and the soldiers could sit, stand or recline was suitable for the true worshippers of God in the army who sought to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Rock, stump or moss-covered log would answer the chaplain well enough for pulpit or book-board, and logs or rails were just suited for the soldiers to sit upon or kneel beside in the true worship of God. God was with us in our service, and that was all we asked or desired.

Since writing the above on preaching places I find by reference to my journal that on Sunday, August 7, 1864, I preached for French's Division, Ector's, McNair's and a part of Gholson's Brigades in the trenches near Atlanta, and that a caisson was used for a pulpit, and there was no screen from the burning sun. Preached for Seer's Brigade in afternoon and heard the experience of soldiers to Chaplain Lattimore, Baptist, and saw him and Chaplain——baptize fifteen soldiers in a pond in which the Federals threw three shells the day before, none, however during the baptizing.

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Chaplain's badge.

The badge adopted by the Chaplains' Association of the Army of Tennessee was the Maltese cross, worn on the collar or lappel of their coats.

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[595]

Last days with the army of Tennessee.

In March, 1865, we were at Camp Direction, at Hamburg, S. C., across the river from Augusta, Georgia. There I met Chaplains Brown, Forty-sixth Georgia, and Daniel, Fifty-seventh Georgia, Gregory and Hanks and Rev. J. P. McFerrin, who had recovered of his wounds sufficiently to preach to the soldiers. We had frequent camp services there until our march through South Carolina, via Edgefield and Laurens' Court-House and Spartanburg and Union Districts and across the Saluda, Enoree and Broad Rivers to Chesterville. This march across the State we made March 18 to 31. I was in company with Chaplains M. B. Dewitt, Eighth Tennessee, R. G. Porter, Tenth Mississippi, and Gregory and Tatum. Dr. Dewitt was one of our most efficient chaplains in the army. I saw much of him during the war. He was ready all the time for all good work. He is now pastor of the Second Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Nashville and is deservedly popular. He has been a leader among his people for years as editor, pastor, etc., and has just been offered the presidency of a leading school of his Church.

R. G. Porter is the “Gilderoy” of our Church papers and has been a popular writer in the Methodist press for many years, also presiding elder and pastor for many years in North Mississippi.

Sunday, April 2. Heard Dr. J. B. McFerrin preach at 11 A. M. and 7 P. M. at the Methodist church in Charlotte, N. C. I preached at 9 A. M. and 4 P. M. to the sick and wounded in the hospitals and at 3 P. M. to the colored people. Post Chaplain Kennedy received me very kindly.

The march across South Carolina was under General S. D. Lee. From Charlotte we went to Smithfield, North Carolina, via Raleigh, on the railroad. There had been some fighting about Averysboro, near Smithfield, during our march by the Army of Tennessee. At Smithfield I was kept busy during the week distributing religious reading to the chaplains and preaching. A few hours after my arrival, Chaplain Hill, of Kirkland's Brigade, carried me out to the camps, and I preached to a large audience at night, April 4.

April 5. Preached at night for Chaplains McBride and Moore, Cleburne's old division; 18 penitents forward for prayer.

April 6. Preached at night for Loring's Division; 14 seeking religion.

April 8. Supper with Chaplain M. B. Chapman, Thirty-second Tennessee, one of the true and tried men of the war, a true blue Presbyterian in fidelity, but full of charity, very successful as a modest chaplain, and equally so for many years after the war, in building up a good church at Smyrna, Tennessee. No better man in the army or Presbyterian Church, I think. He died some years ago. Preached for Cumming's and Pettus's Brigades at night.

Smithfield, North Carolina, April 9, 1865. Breakfast with Chaplain Harris, Twenty-sixth Tennessee. Rode his mule to Headquarters of Lieutenant-General Stewart, now in command. Met Brothers Ransom, Burr, and Mooney, and a number of chaplains. At 11 A. M. preached to Palmer's Brigade of Tennessee troops. Dined with Chaplain Chapman and Colonel McGuire; preached in afternoon for Chaplain Porter to Sharp's Mississippi Brigade. Brother R. P. Ransom preached from “The righteous scarcely saved.” Slept with Chaplains Tomkies and Giles of Florida Brigade.

April 10. Smithfield evacuated; went to Raleigh and assisted Brother Crowder till nearly midnight in packing Testaments, psalms, tracts, and hymns.

Raleigh, North Carolina, April 11. Got my literature on a soldiers' train, and a seat on the top of a box-car, and left Raleigh at 4 P. M.

April 12. Greensboroa, North Carolina, was reached in time for breakfast. We came slowly and stopped often on account of Stoneman's raid. Paid $20 for breakfast and begged the colored door-keeper to let me in the dining-room. President Davis and Cabinet at the hotel where I eat. General Lee's surrender confirmed; [596] met many of our preachers. Called on Sister Bumpass, who edits The Message, for which I have been writing and securing subscribers for several years. She and her son and daughters gave me a warm welcome. At 5 P. M. a pleasant prayer meeting at her home. Her prayer and that of Miss Alla Clary impressed me by the simplicity and sincerity of their earnest supplications.

April 13. Met Chaplains A. D. McVoy and Moses L. Whitten, the latter my Conference class-mate. I begin to realize the war is over, but I thank God that I have been with the Southern Army as a chaplain, and am not willing to leave it yet.

April 14. Brought my Testaments, hymn-books, etc., from the depot to the store of Sterling and Campbell; met General Beauregard.

April 15. Secured an old government horse.

Greensboroa, North Carolina, Sunday, April 16. Breakfast before day-light. When Sister Bumpass bid me good-bye her hearty words, “Brother Cherry, I don't believe the Yankees will get you,” did my soul great good. I overtook Dibbrell's Division of Tennessee and Kentucky soldiers acting as escort to President Davis five miles from Greensboroa. I saw Secretary of State J. P. Benjamin and Adjutant-General S. Cooper.

April 17. Saw President Davis again at Lexington. At Jersey Church dined with Mr. G. S. He was much troubled, but said he was trying to live for heaven. I paid him $5 for my dinner, and promised to pray for him. While at the railroad bridge of the Yadkin River, President Davis rode up and looked across the river with apparent anxiety. I responded to his inquiry for Quarter-master General Lawton. He talked for awhile and rode away. I pity him in the day of his misfortune. We crossed the classic Yadkin by getting the wheels of our wagons astride of the rails on the cross-ties of the railroad which was on the roof on top of the bridge. Stoneman had burnt the other bridge. The picture of the President, cabinet, and escort, crossing the river in such romantic style at sunset would have afforded an artist a splendid sketch.

April 18. Passed through Salisbury to-day, the early home of President Andrew Jackson; marched all night, going through Concord at midnight.

April 19. Charlotte, North Carolina, was reached early in the morning. Stoneman has burnt the bridge across the Catawba River before us to-day. Heard of President Lincoln's assassination, which we much regret.

April 20. Marched to the Tuckasage Ford on the Catawba River.

April 21. Preached at night for Colonel McLemore's Brigade. Slept for the last night in the army with Chaplain Austin W. Smith, at General Dibbrell's headquarters. I have been much with Brother Smith this week and during the war. He is one of God's noble and faithful men. He has been very true to me, and tender as a woman with sick and wounded soldiers.

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, April 22. Took leave of my army friends in Dibbrell's Division of McLemore's and Breckenridge's Brigades, Cavalry. General Dibbrell is an exemplary member of the Methodist Church, and has treated us kindly this week. Crossed the Catawba on the pontoon, near the burnt bridge, and reached Rock Hill, South Carolina, and stopped with Brother Bennick, a nice Dutchman, who preached to the soldiers at night; met Chaplains Monk and Mc-Cheever, of Ferguson's Brigade.

Rock Hill, South Carolina, Sunday, April 23. Sick to-day, but preached at 11 A. M. to a crowded congregation, chiefly soldiers, from Ex. XXXIII. 18; dined on cold biscuit, ham, and syrup. Heard Chaplain Williams, Third South Carolina Cavalry, preach at 3 P. M. Took supper with Mrs. Roddy, an Associate Reformed Presbyterian. She and her nephew sang a psalm at sunset, a custom of her family at that hour wherever they are.

At night preached for Ferguson's Cavalry Brigade and administered the Sacrament [597] of the Lord's Supper to the soldiers by request of the chaplains, and thus ended my work in the army. I knew not then that the Army of the Tennessee had been surrendered. Dr. McFerrin preached in Greensboroa, North Carolina, that morning to the Army of Tennessee a valedictory sermon for the soldiers. I preached my first sermon to the soldiers, I think, at Winchester, late in April, 1861, and my last at Rock Hill, South Carolina, Sunday night, April 23, 1865.

I spent a couple of weeks with Chaplain Whitten with his kindred in Newberry, South Carolina. Came alone on horseback to Macon, Georgia, where I was paroled, May 23, just a month after the surrender of the army; met some of the escort there of President Davis, who were with him at his capture at Irvington, Georgia. Of course, it was a hoax about the President having on his wife's clothing when captured. Those who took the President at night I presume did not know the difference between a gentleman's robe de chambre and a lady's apparel. Some time was spent with Chaplain Bolton, of Tennessee, with our true, tried army friends at their homes in Barnesville and Thomaston, and elsewhere in Pike and Upson Counties, Georgia, and I mounted my faithful gray horse, which brought me from North Carolina through South Carolina into Georgia, and I started home via Columbus, Georgia; Auburn and Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Aberdeen, Mississippi; and Moulton, Alabama, and home again to Tennessee, July 13, after an absence in the army of four years and four days since I first left my charge at Winchester, Tennessee, August 9, 1861. Never before or since did I have such a broad and inviting field for constant work and great usefulness as I did in the Army of Tennessee.

My appreciation of Southern manhood and true chivalry and consistent Christianity was increased and intensified by my army acquaintance and association.

Christ was in the Camp of the Southern States' Army; to me there is no doubt on that point. All Christian virtues had a full test in army life. Thousands of boys, young men, and men in middle life stood the test and they were more than conquerors over all the temptations, trials, and troubles of the camp and conflict through Christ the great Captain of their salvation. And now, after nearly twenty-three years since the surrender and thirty-three years of active itinerant life, like Dr. McNeilly, a Presbyterian pastor of Nashville, and a faithful chaplain in the Army of Tennessee, I thank God that he gave me the privilege of preaching to the soldiers of the South and of taking part in the great revival around Dalton.

Yours, fraternally,