These days, the capital of the Confederacy is abuzz with citizen efforts designed to support Confederate soldiers. As soldiers march in and out of the city of Richmond, women sew clothes for their nation’s defenders and various groups hold fund-raisers to help in the equipping and feeding of regiments.
The Baptists of Richmond faithfully do their part to support Confederate soldiers, many of whom are Virginia Baptists. Today, the Second Baptist Church holds a concert fund-raiser; concerts are becoming a means of choice among Richmond’s Baptists for supporting the troops.
The object of the concert to night, by the amateurs, at the Second Baptist Church, is one which appeals directly to every patriotic heart, and it is with more earnestness than usual that we invoke a full attendance. The volunteers of Western Virginia have suffered more deprivations and exposures during the war than any other soldiers in our army. They have endured it nobly and fought bravely, and very few of the bounties lavished upon other gallant men in the field have fallen to their portion. An opportunity is now afforded our citizens to make up, by small individual contributions, a handsome aggregate for their benefit, while at the same time the delightful harmony of the musicians offers a full equivalent. Never mind the weather, but go.
Western Virginia is a sore spot in the Confederacy. Now separated from Virginia and in the Union, West Virginians, mostly common mountain folk, as a whole are not committed to the defense of African slavery, as is the Confederacy. Yet some residents of West Virginia remain loyal to the Confederacy, even in the face of strong Union sentiment. It is these loyal southerners that Second Baptist honors and supports today.
Source: “The Concert, to-night,” Richmond Daily Dispatch, February 4, 1862 (link)
