Baptists and the American Civil War: December 21, 1863

As the one year anniversary of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln‘s Emancipation Proclamation nears, a contraband (freedman’s) camp in Union-controlled Yorktown, Virginia continues to grow. This month the recently-formed 4th and 6th U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment arrives, to the surprise of many new freedman who were not even aware that colored regiments were forming. Some excited…