The influence of Southern women upon Confederate soldiers bears upon the minds of Southern Baptists. Alcohol, identified as one of the greatest evils in camp life — and considered a catalyst for other evils — must be curtailed. Home front Southern Baptist ministers and denominational leaders look to women to save men from evil spirits.…
In these early months of 1862, Confederate soldiers and other observers of Confederate army camp life (including chaplains, missionaries and local citizens) routinely write letters for publication in Southern Baptist news publications. There is typically a lag time of one to three weeks (or more) between the writing of the letters and publication in newspapers.…
News of the Union occupation of Nashville is filtering throughout the South, accompanied by no little alarm. Days will pass before the Baptist press is able to comment on this unfortunate turn of events for the Confederacy. At the moment, however, a currently circulating editorial by Samuel Boykin, editor of Georgia Baptists’ Christian Index, offers…