This is a Man of God Network, a podcast of Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary in Owensboro, Kentucky. This is a voice of the narrated Puritan. For other narrations, church history lessons, go to puritanaudiobooks.com. And yeah, the late American war has no parallel in history. When we considered the area of the contest is gigantic proportions. the number of men under arms, the magazines of warlike stores, the sieges, the marches, the battles. the enthusiasm of the people, the discipline and valor of the soldiers, the wretchedness and desolation which follow the continuing hosts, and vain search the annals of the world for the record of a struggle approaching it and all the dreadful elements of war. The American may now add to his boasts that his country claims for eminence in the greatest of all national calamities, a civil war. We have read, but now we know by experience that war, more than all things else, reveals the angel and the demon in man. Our composite race evinced on both sides in the struggle the special traits of its near and remote ancestors. The good and bad were strangely mingled. So it has ever been in wars, especially in wars between people of the same race. Ours gave a powerful emphasis to the sad truth, sincere piety, brazen wickedness, pure public virtue, sordid baseness, lofty patriotism, despicable time-serving, consecration to a sacred cause, and shameless abandonment of principle appeared in every section of the country. In the old world, the war must have been a subject of interest and wonder. The rapid transformation of peaceful citizens into excellent soldiers must have created among them surprise, if not alarm. The ingenuity and skill displayed in the preparation of war material revealed a progress in this direction which they hardly dreamed that we had made. The steady valor of many battlefields assured them that the American veteran of twenty months was not inferior to the European veteran of twenty years. The atrocities of the war must have shaken their faith in the sincerity of a people who subscribed to the Code of Nations and professed to regard the Bible as a revelation from heaven. On the other hand, the patient endurance of hardships, toil, and all manner of privation by a people whom they had educated to look upon as voluptuous, tyrannical, and effeminate, by reason of their peculiar institutions, must have filled them with astonishment, if not with admiration. The leading public journal of the world thus described the impression made on the European mind by the attitude of the Southern people. The people of the Confederate States have made themselves famous. If the renown of brilliant courage, stern devotion to a cause, and military achievements almost without a parallel can compensate men for the toil and privations of the hour, then the countrymen of Robert E. Lee and Jackson may be consoled amid their sufferings. From all parts of Europe, from their enemies as well as from their friends, from those who condemn their acts as well as those who sympathize with them, comes a tribute of admiration. When the history of this war is written, the admiration will doubtless become deeper and stronger, for the veil which has covered the South will be drawn away and disclose a picture of patriotism, of unanimous self-sacrifice, of wise and firm administration which we can now only see indistinctly. The details of that extraordinary national effort which has led to the repulsion and almost to the destruction of an invading force of more than half a million of men will then become known to the world. And whatever may be the fate of the new nationality, or its subsequent claims to the respect of mankind, it will assuredly begin its career with a reputation for genius and valor, which the most famous nations might envy. Such were the compliments which the South wrung from reluctant and opposing nationalities, by the genius and ability she displayed in her struggle for independence. We mean its religious aspect. Whatever may be the judgment of the world as to the principles on which the Southern people entered into the strife, it must be admitted that they brought with them into it, and carried with them through it, a deep and strongest religious element. Their convictions of right in what they did were second only to their convictions of the truth of the Christian religion. Nor has the stern logic of events eradicated this conviction from the Southern mind. The cause is lost, but its principles still live. and must continue to live so long as there remains in human nature any perception and appreciation of justice, truth, and virtue. The great moral phenomenon of the war was the influence and power of religion among the southern soldiers. War is a dreadful trade, and the camp has always been regarded as the best-appointed school of vice. No more wonderful, then, is it to see the richest fruits of grace growing and flourishing on such a soil. Christianity visits and reforms every grade of human society, and some of its greatest miracles of grace are wrought upon the most wicked subjects and in the worst localities. The gospel is the power of God to salvation to everyone that believes, and this blessed truth has been as fully tested amid the horrors of war as in the sweet days of peace. We do not usually consider how important a part military characters have borne in the history of our religion. True, it is not to be propagated by means of the sword, and yet many who have borne the sword have been its bright ornaments and sometimes its most successful preachers. The Subjects of the Revival There is a strongly marked difference between armies of invasion and armies of defense. There are often mere bands of butchers following at the heels of some ambitious leader. But when men fight for country, kindred, and home, they bear a moral character that lifts them above mercenary motives. Soldiers may fight bravely for glory or for gain. We should not underrate the valor of the men that bore the standards of Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon to so many victories, but take from such soldiers the esprit de corps. And you have left no pure and high inspiration which makes it sweet to die for one's country. In our war, the northern people fought, as they declared, to maintain the Union as it came from the hands of the fathers. The Southern people fought for the right of self-government. The war was brought to our doors and was waged against us with the most determined and relentless spirit. Our people were thoroughly aroused and rushed into the army from all ranks of society. They bore with them the conviction, thoughts, and habits they had been accustomed to in peaceful life. They were citizen-soldiers, and though they shook off to some extent in the early part of the war the influences of education and religion, yet when danger thickened and disease and death thinned their ranks, these returned upon them with increasing power. The feelings of true patriotism lie next to the higher sentiments of religion and the heart. And a man that cheerfully bears a yoke for the sake of his oppressed country will not stubbornly refuse to bear the yoke of Christ. Therefore, the patriotic fervor which prevailed among the Southern soldiers super-induced a state of mind highly favorable to the work of religion. In most nations, the privates of an army are raked up from the lowest tier of human society. For sirs look upon them as much bone and muscle to be wrought by iron discipline. into a huge engine of destruction called an army. If war is a necessary evil, why should we strip those who engage in it of the common attributes of humanity? Soldiers are more than food for cannon. They have like passions with other men and may be reached by the same means that have been proved to be efficient in the salvation of other men. Never were these divinely appointed means more fully tested than during the late Civil War. and surely never were they found more effectual in turning men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. In the midst of all the privations and horrors of war, the grace of God appeared to thousands and ten thousands in the camp and in the hospital, teaching them that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, they should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. The subjects of this revival were found among all classes in the army, Generals in high command and officers of lower grades as well as private soldiers bowed before the Lord of hosts, and with deep penitence and earnest prayer sought the pardon of sin through the atoning blood of Christ. Those who obeyed to call a mercy in the ranks of the army, a writer in the midst of the war exclaims, we cannot express our feelings while we think of them. Glorious fruits of the grace of God are these men that have been born again on fields of blood. They left their homes for battle with a desperate foe. They entered in associations and upon scenes by universal consent, the most unfavorable to piety. But the ever-blessed Savior went with them. Listening to 10,000 fervent prayers, he revived his work and made the still small voice to be heard amid the thunder of war. It is a sublime expression of mercy. In contemplating such a revival, we naturally look at its subjects with deep interest. Who were they? What were they? What characteristics did those men present who were lions in the day of battle, and yet wept and beat their breasts in great sorrow when they thought of their sins? Is there not something peculiar in these men who are converted while they stand guard, or lie in their rifle pits or sit by their campfire through the dismal rainy nights? These men that walk their beets filled with the love of God and shout his praises in the thunder of battle? We have already referred to the patriotic fervor that pervaded the Southern armies. In addition to this, our camps were blessed from the outbreak of the strife with moral and religious men who never forgot their obligations to God. The army had in it every class of believers, from the bishop to the neophyte, preachers, students of divinity, Sunday school teachers and scholars, elders, deacons, vestrymen, class leaders, stewards, exhorters, men from all the official grades of all the denominations of Christians, took up arms and swelled the ranks of the army. Some of these, alas, cast away the pearl of great price. Others suffered its luster to be dim, but the majority kept it bright and untarnished throughout the dreadful ordeal. The influence of such men in the worst of armies would be powerful for good. How great must it have been among such soldiers as marched under the southern banner! It has been well observed that no Christian soldier can pass through a campaign. and exemplify the Christian tempers and qualities looked for in a follower of Christ, without dropping seeds of saving grace into some minds and hearts that will culminate in everlasting life. The irreligious men who were blessed with these godly examples were not strangers to their pious comrades. They were often from the same town, country, or district, and at home had felt the same religious power that was brought to bear upon them in the army. The gospel preached in the camp was not a new sound to them, nor were the words of prayer a strange language. It was home like. to meet for the worship of God, and not infrequently the same minister whom they had known in their distant homes lifted up his voice among them in the wilderness and called them to repentance. How often were scenes like the following witnessed among the rough-looking men in gray jackets who crowded the log chapels to hear the glad tidings of salvation. Reverend Dr. Sahon, writing of his labors among the soldiers in General Lee's army, says, A most interesting incident occurred during the exercises of the evening. A request was made for a Bible for the stand. Several were ready to respond. The book was received from a tall and interesting-looking young man. I noticed his large blue eyes and attractive face as he came forward and placed the holy book before me. Instantly his home rose before me. I fancied how father, mother, brothers, and sisters felt when he left. and how they thought of and prayed for him. While lining the hymn, I turned to the title page of the Bible, and then my eyes were filled with tears. On the blank leaves were written the parting words of love and affection of the dear ones at home, with a kind advice and earnest prayers for the safety and happiness of the owner of the book. I closed the book with feelings of most sacred character and was far better prepared by the simple incident for the solemn services of the hour. In the course of the sermon I remarked that they were now peculiarly subjects of earnest prayer and anxious solicitude, that for them at this very hour prayer from any hardened home altar was ascending to God. That is in the volume I then held in my hand which had been laid on a table by my unknown young friend, so each had with him a similar silent yet painful witness of the anxiety, devotion, and prayers as pledged in the sacred gifts of their loved ones at home, that they should now pray themselves to their Heavenly Father and engage earnestly in His service. There was a low and gentle wail which came up from that weeping crowd like the mournful sounds of the passing breeze through the lofty pines of the distant forest. The intelligence and social position of the Confederate soldiers were higher than we usually find in large bodies of troops. The private at home was often equal and sometimes superior in social status to the officer that led him, and did not forget the claims of good breeding after he entered the army. Proud to say it for Confederate soldiers, said the venerable Dr. Lovick Pierce of Georgia, that for a long time while traveling with hundreds and thousands of them on the railroads used for transportation, I have heard less profane language issuing from them than I have ever heard from any promiscuous crowd of travelers in all my journeyings. It was a well-earned fame and deserves an imperishable record. Most of them seem to belong to the gentleman stock. " Said the Reverend J.M. Atkisson, quote, the talent, the energy, patriotism, and now it would seem the piety of the country is, for the most part, to be found in the army. One of the most remarkable manifestations of this time and of the war is the character of our armies. It is unlike that of any soldiers known in history. It is fervor. In intelligent patriotism they resemble the best troops of the English Commonwealth, when least infected with fanatical rancor and selfish ambition. In urbanity and education and simplicity of purpose, an intelligent appreciation of the questions involved and the interests at stake. And above all, in Christian sensibility, at once kindly and fervent, Catholic and deep, it is incomparably superior to the best soldiers of Cromwell's army. The reciprocal feeling which binds our armies to our people and our people to our armies is another peculiarity of this time and this contest. Our soldiers are not foreign mercenaries fighting for plunder or pay. Not worthless adventurers fighting for fame or power. Not religious fanatics or partisan warriors battling for a name or a man. But their hearts are still in their homes. The cherished images of their dear parents, their wives and children are still before them. They are fighting with resolute and tenacious power, with generous and self-sacrificing valor. On the souls of such men, the truths of the gospel rested with saving power, and even the most wicked and reckless among them were often readily impressed and easily led into the ways of virtue and religion. At the commencement of the war, wrote an officer, I organized a company of cavalry. My men were taken from all grades of society. The very great majority, however, were wicked and profane. I soon found that it would require very prompt action on my part if I wished to wield a moral influence over them. I had told them from the first that I should not permit gambling in their tents, and I would require them when off duty on the Sabbath to observe it as the Lord's day. When we had been out but a few months one night, after I'd gone to rest, I was aroused by one of my faithful boys, poor fellow. He afterwards fell a victim to the Yankees' bullet, who informed me that a number of my men, with others from another company, were gambling in one of the tents. At once I repaired to the place and caught them in the very act. I told them with some warmth that they knew I was opposed to gambling. and that I was sorry to find so many of them doing that which I had forbidden, that I would not consent to command a set of Blacklegs and Blackguards, that they must look about for some other person to take charge of them, unless they would consent to burn those cards and promise me never again to engage in the game whilst members of my company. The leader who was dealing the cards at the time threw them down, remarking, We want no other captain. The others assented. The cards were destroyed, their visitors left, and I never after caught them at cards or heard of their joining in this wicked practice. The armies of the South were homogenous. There were but a few thousand foreigners at any time in the Confederate ranks. Hence, there was but little of that beastliness and brutality displayed which marked the foreign mercenaries in the opposing armies. Our forces were strictly resident Americans of the Southern type. And while they exhibited, to a mournful extent, the peculiar vices of their race, they also manifested the respect and reverence of their race for all the ordinances and institutions of religion. For whatever may be thought or said of the Southern people through ignorance or prejudice, one thing is certainly true, that their religious sentiments are deep. and strong. And another thing is equally true, that among them there have been fewer departures from the great cardinal doctrines of the scriptures than among any other people in Christendom. The four or five leading Christian denominations which occupy the South have never been seriously disturbed by any of those false theories which, among other people, have drawn away thousands from the true faith. Itinerant vendors of the various isms of the age have found a poor market for their wares among the people of the South. Hence, among the subjects of the army revival, there was not found a strange jumble of opinions which had to be cleared from the mind before the simple truths of the gospel could have their full effect. The heroic men on whom God shed forth His Holy Spirit so abundantly and gloriously are well described in the following extracts. The Rev. James A. Duncan draws a striking picture of the private soldier in the Confederate Army. If the private soldier be a true man, there is something of moral sublimity in his conduct that attracts our highest admiration. And yet how apt some people are to forget him. There is no star on his collar, no glittering ornament on his arm, but his plain gray jacket may enclose as noble a heart as ever throbbed in a human breast, or thrilled with patriotic devotion on the day of battle. In sleepless vigilance he paces the sentinel watch during the long hours and the gloom of the night. while the quiet stars shed their soft light on his musket, or the storm and rain beat piteously down on his shivering body and weary head. Look at him in battle at his gun, begrimed with powder, weary, hungry, almost exhausted, yet the fire gleams in his fearless eye as he rams home the charge, or sights his peace at the foe. Forward is the command along the line, and you can see him as he brings his musket to a charge, and dashes on to the very muzzles of the death-dealing guns to win the day or die in the attempt. Kneeled down by him when wounded and dying, he lies there on the field of victory, while the lifeblood flows from his heart. He speaks to you, but not a murmur, not a complaint, escapes his lips. Taking the locket from his neck and the Bible from his bosom, he tells you to give them to some dear one at home, and say that he died bravely for his country. Or if he be not mortally wounded, accompany him to the hospital, and watch his fortitude and patience while in the hands of the surgeon. See how he suffers, and yet a general could not bear it better. The private soldier, his is a coarse fare, hard march, weary fight, the drudgery and the hardships are his. Something as inspirational as his cheerfulness in the camp as there is grand in his heroism on the field. Now he is a heart. and is inspirational in his cheerfulness in the camp, is here as grand in his heroism on the field. Now he is a house carpenter building him a shanty, then a dirt dauber constructing a mud chimney. Now he is a cook frying middling on the coals and baking bread on a piece of bark set up before the fire. Now he is a washerman, and has stripped off his only shirt to have it done up, that he may enjoy a clean garment. In a word, he is a wonderful creature, that private soldier. He is a cook, washerwoman, carpenter, tentmaker, wagoner, pedestrian, clerk, butcher, baker, market huckster, groom, stable boy, blacksmith, scout, anything and everything a man can or must be in the camp. and then he wins a battle and gives a glory to his officer. We like him, our sympathies perhaps yet more while we look at him alone in his tent, or by the campfire, holding in his hand a letter from home. We cannot decipher the sacred contents, but we are at no loss to know its effect upon the soldier as he folds up the precious letter, which the hand of affection is traced with words of love. fond remembrance, and anxious hopes, and brushes away the tear that is unbidden common testimony of the memories that have been awakened." And a following from the pen of the Reverend R. H. Rivers is not less eloquent and truthful. The model Confederate soldier is a patriot. He loves his country with a deep and all-absorbing passion. He sees its broad acres desolated, its towns and cities sacked and burned, its noble women insulted and exiled. its venerable men driven from happy homes to pine and pinery, its priests torn down from their pulpits and altars to languish in criminal cells, its churches desecrated and the very graves of its sires disturbed. Yes, the Confederate soldier is a patriot. It is for this he wields a sword and shoulders a musket. It is for this he surrenders home, bids adieu to all his hallowed associations, and undergoes the hardship of the camp, the fatigues of the march, deprivations of the soldier, and the perils of the battle. He is brave, he marches without fear to the brink of death. The booming of cannon, the shrill sound of rifle and musketry, the clash of arms, the smoke of battle, the groans of the wounded, and the fallen corpses of the dead inspire him with no terror. Brave, but not reckless, he would stand, if need be, in the very front of the battle, facing danger and braving death. Such is true courage, and it is possessed in all its plenitude by the model soldier. He is obedient to his superiors. Obedience is a high duty of the soldier, accustomed almost from infancy to command, and altogether unused to much of the hard and servile labor which devolves upon him in the army. He feels that it is a high virtue now to obey. Disobedience would be ruinous to the cause, and subordination must bring defeat to our arms in subjugation or extermination. This he sees, and however hard the labor, however humiliating the work, however severe the task, however perilous the undertaking, he goes forward doing his duty. obeying orders and exerting an influence as extensive as our armies, and as potent, though quiet, as heaven's first law. A private in the ranks, his name unheralded in his deeds, his noble deeds unsung, he exerts an influence by his cheerful obedience, as gentle as the dews of heaven, as pure as the alembic from which they are distilled, and as fragrant as the flowers on which they fall." The circulation of the Word of God and the faithful preaching of the Gospel by chaplains and other ministers sent forth by the churches, and the distribution of select religious literature by the hands of pious culpritors, were the chief means of bringing about the greatest revival in the midst of the greatest war of modern times. There were other instrumentalities, subordinate and collateral in their relations to these, which were often successful in giving the thoughts of the soldiers a serious turn. The loudest calls were for the Holy Scriptures, and the most earnest efforts were made to meet the demand. But owing to the stringency of the blockade and the poor facilities in the South for printing the Bible, we were never able to put a copy into every hand that was stretched out for one. The Bible Society of the Confederate States organized at Augusta, Georgia in March of 1862, and the state Bible Society is already in existence, labored nobly to provide for the wants of the country. In closing this podcast, a little reading from chapter five helps to the revival. Culpertage. So important was the work of culpertage in promoting religion among the soldiers that we feel constrained to devote it to a separate chapter. And the pious laborers in this department are eminently worthy of a place by the side of the most devoted chaplains and missionaries that toiled in the army revival, receiving but a pittance from the societies that employed them, subsisting on the coarse and scanty fare of the soldiers, often sleeping on the wet ground following the march of the army through cold or heat. through dust or mud. Everywhere were these devoted men to be seen, scattering the leaves of the tree of life. Among the sick, the wounded, and the dying. On the battlefields and in the hospitals they moved, consulting them with tender words and pointing their drooping spirits to the hopes of the gospel. The record of their labors is a record of the Army revival. They fanned its flame and spread it on every side by their prayers, their conversations, their books, and their preaching. They went out from all the churches and labored together in a spirit worthy of the purest days of our holy religion. The aim of them all was to turn the thoughts of the soldiers not to a sect, but to Christ, to bring them into the great spiritual temple and to show them the wonders of salvation. And among us can look back with pleasure on his labors in the army. It is the Christian Culpature. The number of religious tracts and books distributed by the Culpature's chaplains and missionaries in the army, we can never know. But as all the churches were engaged in the work of printing and circulating, It is not an overestimate to say that hundreds of millions of pages were sent out by the different societies. In considering the facilities for printing in the South during the war, we may safely assert that never were the soldiers of a Christian nation better supplied with such reading as makes wise to salvation, and certainly never amidst circumstances so unpropitious to human view. Did fruit so ripe, so rich, so abundant, spring up so quickly from the labors of God's servants? Earliest in the important work of culpiturge was the Baptist Church, one of the most powerful denominations in the South. In May 1861, at the General Association of the Baptist Churches in Virginia, vigorous measures were adopted for supplying the religious wants of the army. The Sunday School and Publication Board in their report on culpritage said, large armies in our state affords a fine opportunity for culpritage effort among the soldiers. These are exposed to peculiar temptations, and in no way can we better aid them in resisting these than by affording them good books. Leaders will be pleased, we doubt not, to learn from the culpriters themselves what they saw of the work of the Lord. Dr. Ryland of the Baptist Church, writing of his labors in Richmond, says, many cases of deep and thrilling interests have come under my observation. Some were fervent disciples of Jesus who, during the war, having maintained their integrity, gave me a cordial welcome to their bedside. Others were rejoicing in recent hope of eternal life, and many others exhibited marked anxiety about their salvation. Since the Battle of Seven Pines, I have conversed with probably 500 who, having passed through the recent bloody scenes, have told me with different degrees of emphasis that they had resolved to lead a better life. All these battles, with their hair-breadth escapes and their terrible sufferings, have produced a softened state of mind. which harmonizes well with our efforts to evangelize. I have almost from the beginning of the war been laboring as a culpriture in the hospitals of Richmond, and my impression is that the results of this work are infinitely greater and more glorious than many believe. The Reverend W.M. Young gave a light testimony. I have seen scores of instances in which the reading of tracts had been instrumental in the conversion of souls. Yesterday, going up Main Street, I was held by a soldier sitting on the pavement. Parson, don't you know me? Under God I owe everything to you. While languishing in the hospital, you gave me a tract Christ found at the lamppost, which has brought joy and peace to my soul. If God spared me to go home, I expect to devote my life to the public proclamation of the gospel. Joseph H. Martin wrote from Knoxville, While I was opening a box of tracts, a soldier said some of those tracts were given to our regiment at Chattanooga. And never before in my life have I seen such an effect on men. Many have given up swearing, and I among the number, through the influence of these silent but powerful preachers. Reverend M.D. Anderson says, I met a young man wounded and began to talk with him on religion. He said, oh, sir, don't you remember that at the camp meeting you spoke to me on the subject? Do get down and pray for me. He has since been converted and is an active co-laborer with me. An old marine who had weathered many a storm and was lying sick in the hospital seemed astonished that I should urge upon his attention the claims of the gospel. You, a young man, should be so concerned about me, a poor soldier. He said that rarely if ever before in his life had anyone spoken to him about his soul. His interest in divine things increased until I think he became a true Christian. He died a most happy death. Rev. B.B. Ross of Alabama, writing to the Rev. A.E. Dickinson, says, I am just from a pleasant tour among the hospitals in Mississippi, where I found 3,000 sick. They are greedy, yea ravenous, and their appetite for something to read. Under the labors of your culpatures, there has been a revival of religion at Quitman, and there is also a revival in progress at Lauderdale Springs. The surgeons have been especially kind to me, at times calling my attention to certain cases of the sick, and others making appointments for me to preach. Rev. S. A. Kreeth, Army of Tennessee. I am still following up the Army, trying to be of service to them. In Atlanta, I saw 3,000 sick men. Started to work this morning before sunup, and by 9 a.m. had distributed 20,000 pages of Bible tracts. Several have professed religion, and the Lord's blessing seems to be on us. I have been a month Road Occupier from Richmond laboring in the city, during which time I have distributed 41,000 pages of tracts. I preach almost daily in the hospitals, and a notice of a few minutes will give me a large congregation. Never in my life have I witnessed such solemn attention to the preached word. Oftentimes I meet with soldiers who tell me that they have become Christians since they entered the army. Frequently I am asked by anxious inquirers what they must do to be saved. Oh, how encouraging to a soldier is a word of sympathy, said one of the sick men to me. Another from Petersburg writes, I have been for some weeks devoting my time to the hospitals in this city. The noblemen are so fond of having one talk with them about the friend of sinners and the heavenly home that my heart is made to rejoice with theirs. The other day I was reading a few tracts to a sick soldier and while reading one on the blood of Christ, he became so happy that he shouted, glory to God. Another said, when I first came into the hospital, I was sad and dissatisfied. But since I have been here, I've learned of Jesus and thank God, even for my tribulations. A short overview of the great revival in the Southern armies by William Bennett. and for tuning into the podcast from Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary in Owensboro, Kentucky.