Against the backdrop of looming spring battles, God — and a mysterious God at that — is on the mind of United States President Abraham Lincoln as he issues a statement on this day set aside for “national prayer and humiliation.” Many are the Baptists of the North who embrace their president’s words. A man…
Today in Union-occupied Alexandria, Virginia yet another African Baptist congregation is formed in the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation. The church narrates its beginnings in the following way: During the Civil War, the Union Army occupied the City of Alexandria to prevent the Confederate Army from having a route into Washington, D.C., the capitol. Since…
Today in Putnam County, West Virginia–a border county in a border state–Northern and Southern forces clash in the Skirmish of Hurricane Bridge. Fortified for the winter months west of the river near Point Pleasant and the Hurricane Baptist Church are federal forces under the command of Union Captain J. W. Johnson. In recent weeks the…