As spring grows ever bloodier in Virginia and Georgia, the successes of prolonged winter revivals in the Confederate Army are yet celebrated by Southern Baptists. By one tally, some forty chapels have been built within army camps, while numerous army congregations have been established, the latter despite some opposition to the concept of forming congregations in the field.
Eternal salvation is in great demand as hundreds of thousands of soldiers South and North daily face death. Among the many Baptist soldiers wounded this day are Monmouth Chandler of the 21st New York Cavalry and Henry Rudy, Jr., 137th New York S.V.
Chandler is wounded in the Battle of New Market in Virginia, part of the Valley Campaign that takes place parallel to the Wilderness Campaign, also in Virginia. Confederate forces are having more success in the Valley campaign of the Shenandoah Valley than they are in either the Wilderness or Atlanta campaign.
In the midst of a long and drawn out war that by now rarely produces good news in the South on a significant scale, any victory is celebrated as the possible turning of the tide.
Sources: “Baptist Heritage Press Releases,” Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives (link); Lewis Halseyalso, History of the Seneca Baptist Association: With Sketches of Churches and Pastors, Ithaca, NY: Journal Association Book and Job Printing House, 1879, p. 267 (link); Battle of New Market (link) and (link); also see Bruce T. Gourley, Diverging Loyalties: Baptists in Middle Georgia During the Civil War, Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2011 (link)
