Amidst the ugliness of war, beautiful things yet happen. Baptist musician William Batchelder Bradbury (1816-1868) inspires Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) to write sacred music. Crosby writes her first hymn today, giving it to Bradbury as a gift. Bradbury has long been a Baptist, having joined the Charles Street Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts at age fifteen.…
The war may be ever on the minds of the South’s Baptists, but that is no excuse to shirk Christian duty or backslide in one’s faith, as an editorial by editor J. D. Hufham in this week’s North Carolina Baptist Biblical Recorder reminds readers. Hufham’s reasoning is not uncommon during the war years. While demanding…
By the waning days of 1863 the trickle of Confederate deserters has turned into a relative flood. Government officials and military officers alike grow increasingly concerned that the South will not have enough manpower to overcome the superior numerical advantage of the United States. Most deserters who manage to escape recapture spend the rest of…