Robert Smalls, former slave, African American Baptist layman, and United States hero for his daring capture of a Confederate steamer last year, now serves in the U.S. Navy. He is currently assigned to Port Royal, South Carolina, where he is a pilot with the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Today Smalls pilots the USS Keokuk, under…
Southern Baptists on the home front are fed a steady diet of depressing news from Confederate Army camps. The bearers of the bad news in the Southern Baptist press are soldiers, army chaplains, army missionaries, army evangelists and news correspondents. In addition to death and illness, lamentations regarding army camps decry the sin and decadence,…
Today is Easter Sunday, a religious holiday not recognized by Baptists, who oppose Easter as a worldly holiday with pagan origins. Services in Baptist churches proceed as usual, while Baptist soldiers writing home (as many do on Sundays) to not reference Easter, whereas many other Christian soldiers do. On this Easter Sunday, the New York…