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 One
of the greatest religious awakenings in American history occurred
not only during the war, but within its warring armies. The War
Between the States: America’s Uncivil War devotes an
entire chapter, and parts of several others, to this sweeping
phenomenon.
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- During just the four
years of the War, at least 100,000 Confederate soldiers professed
saving belief in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and
eternal salvation. That figure represents approximately fifteen
percent of the entire Confederate army and is exclusive of the much
higher number who entered the War as professing Christians.
History records rare examples of such exhaustive subscription to
orthodox Christianity across the width and breath of a nation’s
entire army, especially while engaged in a marathon bloodbath for
survival.
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- Gardiner
H. Shattuck, Jr., in his book A Shield and Hiding Place: the
Religious Life of the Civil War Armies, suggests that Christian
commitment amongst the Federal armies lagged during the early years
of the War when they sustained so many defeats. Key victories, such
as Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, Shattuck suggests, lifted
morale and fostered enthusiasm for spiritual pursuits, which in turn
increased the Federals’ energy and commitment to their
military duties: “The revivals, then, were probably the most
vivid manifestation of . . . ‘the late, war-spawned élan’
of the Union troops, and those religious gatherings contributed
markedly to stimulating the confidence and enthusiasm that Northern
soldiers possessed in the latter stages of the war.”
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