The fortunes of the Confederacy have grown so desperate–some two-thirds of Confederate soldiers have deserted, and there are no more able-bodied white men available for military service–that a growing number of voices are calling for allowing slaves to serve in the army. President Jefferson Davis, unable to think of any other effective way to supplement…
Today the Georgia Baptist Convention convenes at Second Baptist Church, Atlanta. Despite this being a religious gathering, there is no more discussed subject than that of the war. Atlanta, after all, is the target of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman‘s upcoming spring campaign. The attempted invasion of Atlanta, originating from federal-controlled Chattanooga, is expected to…
Samuel Pearce Richards (1824-1910) is a member of Atlanta’s Second Baptist Church and an Atlanta bookseller that, having “no ambition to acquire military renown and glory,” has managed to avoid service in the Confederate Army. The former Unionist maintains a home front diary during the war, and today, amidst noting family affairs, worries that he…