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

Deeply solemn and earnest were the prayers offered up for the success of our arms, inexpressible were the feelings of the Christians there assembled as they thought of their loved ones just then entering “the perilous edge of battle.” After an hour spent in the most devout exercises, the meeting closed; and while some retired to their homes to renew their prayers in secret, many others, with hundreds from every part of the city, repaired to the range of hills in the northern suburbs, from whence the “confused noise of the warriors” could be heard and the smoke of battle seen slowly rising above the dense forests of the Chickahominy.

As darkness gathered, the scene became grander and more impressive. The groups of men, women, and children, crowning the hill-tops, some conversing in undertones, many silent and awe-struck. others with lips moving and eyes upraised to heaven in silent prayer, the smoke of battle settling along the intervening valleys, the strains of martial music floating on the still evening air, as the long lines of soldiers marched out to join their comrades on the field of blood, the bomb-shells from the opposing lines, with their fiery trains, some plunging amid the dark woods, others bursting in their flight and raining deadly fragments on the heads of the struggling combatants, the sharp, rattling volleys of musketry mingled with the roar of cannon, the thought of hundreds an hour before in joyous health now wounded and dying, the fate of the beleaguered city and its helpless thousands suspended on the issues of the fight-all these furnished the elements of a scene truly sublime, and filled the mind with contending emotions of hope and fear.

The contest thus begun raged with varying intensity and results for six days, when it closed with the terrific battle of Malvern Hill. The Federal army was driven