William W. Bennett, A narrative of the great revival which prevailed in the Southern armies during the late Civil War

“It has been many a day since I have had the pleasure of looking in upon my pleasant home, and seeing for myself the ‘first fruits of the harvest’ --nor have I heard whether the ingathering from my wheat, oats, and rye patches has been abundant or meager. But God has been good to me in the camp in shielding me against disease, and preserving my health unimpaired, and in taking care of my family, and I desire to make a thank-offering and contribute my mite towards paying the Missionary Debt and relieving the Treasury. The paymaster is now in camp, paying us the first installments for services rendered, Of these ‘first fruits,’ earned in the service of the Confederate States, I enclose $10 for the Missionary Debt, and the balance for the Advocate, which you will please forward to me here.”

Here are the genuine fruits of the Spirit; he sends his means to help give the gospel to the destitute, and calls for his pleasant home companion, the religious family paper, to follow him into the camp.

Another, sending a contribution for any charitable purpose to which it might be thought best to devote it, says: “I am afraid that in the army my feeling has been that a ‘poor private’ could hardly be expected, out of his scanty means, to contribute to the world's great needs. God forgive me, and make me more sensible of my accountability to him for the smallest talents entrusted to my care.”

As we advance in the narrative, we shall meet with repeated instances of the noblest self-denial and generosity on the part of our soldiers.

A little matter mid-winter this year, a series of disasters occurred to our arms, which chilled the hearts of the people, and cast a gloom over the fair prospects with which the first year of the war had just closed. First came the disaster at Fishing Creek, in Kentucky; then at Roanoke Island, in North Carolina; Fort Henry, and Fort Donelson, which guarded the Cumberland and