The Civil War has raised a host of issues for white Baptists of the South, a largely rural people who, echoing the early frontier ethos of their spiritual ancestors, frame religion as personal piety rather than social responsibility. Local church minutes of the 1850s and 1860s are often concerned with personal sins such as card…
With Atlanta securely in Union hands, today in an attempt to break through the stalemate at Petersburg, Union General Ulysses S. Grant strikes against the Confederate forces of General Robert E. Lee on two simultaneous fronts. One assault, against Richmond, becomes known as the Battle of New Market Heights (or the Battle of Fort Harrison…
The Baptist brothers Frank and Jesse James are up to no good again today, a mere three days after bushwhacking Federal forces in Fayette, Missouri. Today, they and their band of guerrillas, led by Bloody Bill Anderson, attack Centralia, Missouri, killing unarmed Union soldiers and taking their scalps. Meanwhile, Union troops are advancing through Florida…