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

[259] sick soldiers. At 3 P. M. we had a national prayer-meeting, conducted by Rev. W. II. Carroll, of Selma, Ala., a missionary and colporteur in the army. The service over, I retired to my quarters and took some refreshment for my body; my soul was much comforted. Calmly I looked back upon the labors of the day, and felt that I was seeing a day that had done more for my country than any other that had ever shone upon it.

Could a fast day have been more devoutly and profitably kept in the quiet days of peace than this was in the midst of the confusion and rush of war?

There was hardly a regiment of the army where the revival influence was not felt. Rev. W. A. Hemmingway rejoiced in a gracious revival in the 21st South Carolina regiment, which lasted for months. Rev. L. S. West, of the 13th Mississippi, conducted a meeting for six weeks, in which many were happily converted. Rev. S. II. Smith, of the 60th Georgia, Lawton's brigade, collected from the soldiers and officers $850 to purchase Bibles, Testaments, and Hymn-Books, and saw the men daily anxious “about the salvation of their souls.” Rev. F. Milton Kennedy. chaplain of the 28th North Carolina regiment, of Jackson's corps, found “the men generally interested in their spiritual welfare.” A Chaplains' Association was formed, and weekly meetings held to consult upon the best method of prosecuting our work, and to pray for success. The chaplains of this corps issued an earnest appeal for more laborers. The fields were white to the harvest, but the laborers were few, while thousands of the noblest of the land, having left home and friends, were calling loudly and earnestly for the bread of life. To this and other calls the Churches responded by sending some of their ablest ministers into the army-work, who, by their earnest labors, greatly extended the area of the revival.

Captain Richard H. Powell, of the 3d Alabama regiment, gives an interesting account of the work: “For ”