As the year draws to a close, a total of eleven Baptist churches are active in the Confederate capital city of Richmond, Virginia, including three African churches. A number of the urban congregations have, by this time, settled into a weekly routine of Sunday AM, Sunday PM, and Wednesday PM services that will remain familiar…
As the year draws to a close, Union and Confederate forces continue maneuvering for control of the border state of Missouri. Four days ago Union Brig. Gen. Benjamin M. Prentiss advanced into Boone County with a force of five companies of the Third Missouri Cavalry and two companies of Birge’s Western Sharpshooters in order to…
The war years heighten a growing concern among many Baptists: alcohol. While most Baptist churches yet use wine (often homegrown) in communion, and few Baptists advocate total abstinence, more Baptist leaders voice disapproval of the widespread use of hard liquor, while local Baptist congregations wage a war upon drunkenness, expelling many male members for overconsumption.…