In Virginia, an increasing number of blacks, both free and enslavesd, are experiencing the evolving nature of the Confederacy’s military struggle against Union forces. Nervous slaveholders are keeping an ever tighter rein on their slaves in an effort to prevent insurrections, even while publicly voicing confidence (against abundant evidence otherwise) that Southern slaves are too…
It is Sunday, a day of worship for some Baptist congregations in the Confederacy. While the intrusion of war or the infrequency of worship (many rural churches gather only once a month) prevent many congregations from assembling, morning services at the First Baptist Church of Atlanta proceed smoothly, as a member of the congregation notes…
Trickery is ever afoot in the border states as Confederate and Union partisans vie for control of disputed territory. One of many Baptist families caught up in the conflict on a local level is the Smith family. Obediah, a native Kentuckian, is a Baptist pastor of the Missionary Baptist persuasion. A pioneering family of Missouri,…