While North Carolina home front Baptists worry about the spiritually-dead Confederate army, some of the state’s Baptist soldiers write public letters voicing appreciation of the support of home front Baptists. Nonetheless, religion is often not a subject voiced within such letters, even when addressed to religious periodicals. Such is the case of a letter on…
For a country whose Christian citizens are largely convinced is God’s chosen nation, the Confederacy is a study in contrasts. Baptists, like many other Christians in the southern nation, move fluidly from Christian nationalist rhetoric to lamentations concerning the un-Christian nature of soldiers serving in the Confederate army. So heathen are army ranks that Baptists…
Benjamin Franklin Moody, recovering from a fever and diphtheria, is passing the time in the Soldiers Home, Richmond, Virginia, where he helps nurse others as needed. In the midst of helping fellow soldiers, Private Moody takes time to compose a heart-felt letter to his wife and child. “It is with pleasure that I seat myself…