Under Union occupation during the Civil War, Alexandria, Virginia became a safe haven for runaway slaves (also known as contraband). Near an old slave pen area on Duke Street the Shiloh Baptist Church, a congregation of former slaves, began on March 29, 1863. The first worship service was held in a U.S. government mess hall.…
When Northern missionaries, many Baptists, in 1863 onward arrived in the South to work among freedmen, they oftentimes found black congregations led by licensed, and in some cases ordained, preachers. This was especially true in Savannah, where the First African Baptist Church and Third African Baptist Church, both among the older black Baptist churches in…
With Atlanta securely in Union hands, today in an attempt to break through the stalemate at Petersburg, Union General Ulysses S. Grant strikes against the Confederate forces of General Robert E. Lee on two simultaneous fronts. One assault, against Richmond, becomes known as the Battle of New Market Heights (or the Battle of Fort Harrison…