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

‘ [393] society of wife, mother, sister, at home; living a life now of great excitement, and now of dangerous leisure, the soldier, it was supposed, had little chance of being saved. It was fully as much as could be reasonably expected, if those who professed the name of Christ did not fall away, and make shipwreck of their profession. But the extraordinary spectacle is now presented to us, of an army in which there is more zeal, apparently, for God and the salvation of sinners, than there is in the Church at home. Making all due allowance for unconscious exaggeration in the statements which come to us, and discounting not a few cases of spurious conversions, there can be no doubt that the valley of Achor has become a door of hope to our brethren in the field, and that a very large number of them have been turned unto God.’

The Southern Baptist Convention, at its session for 1863, adopted the following resolutions:

Resolved, That it is the sense of this body, that the field opened in the army for pious labor is one of the most important that can be opened at present; and that the providence of God calls loudly on His people to make prompt and vigorous efforts to secure the services of chaplains, and to send forth missionaries and colporters into the field.

Resolved, That the pastors of our churches be, and are hereby, earnestly requested to bring this subject prominently and frequently to the attention of their people; and also the duty of constant supplication of the Divine blessing upon such labors among our soldiers, that we may be obedient to the sacred command, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”

The Virginia Baptist General Association, the Virginia Methodist Conference, the Virginia Episcopal Council, and other religious bodies bore testimony even more emphatic, and I might quote from some of the most distinguished ministers of all of the evangelical denominations as to the extent, power and genuineness of this great work.

Rev. B. T. Lacy, missionary chaplain in Jackson's Corps, in an address before his Synod, said, in speaking of the genuineness of the revival work in the army:

‘In this matter there is one safeguard in the camp. They are all grown men; even the sick are away in the hospitals. Most of the elements are absent upon which mere enthusiasm operates. ’