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…
Baptist ministers respond to the war in diverse ways. Some remain in their pulpits; others leave the pastorate to enroll as chaplains or missionaries or soldiers; and a few step down from preaching in order to engage the enemy in an unofficial capacity. The latter is the case with an unnamed Baptist minister in Arkansas…
As U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant‘s army marches southward through Louisiana, a contingent of Union naval vessels prepares to slip by Vicksburg’s batteries under the cover of darkness. A key city in the war against the South, the capture of the Mississippi city would split the Confederacy east and west while giving the United States…