The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1909-01-21

civil War Revival.


zone OF l. most remarkable fea-
lures of the Civil War;" says an old ex-
Confederate. was the great revival of
religion in the Confederate armies dur
ing the last eighteen months Of the
struggle.
while most of the Confederate sol
1iers were loath to admit it, after the
fall of Yicksburg. which opened the
Mississippi and cut the COnfederacy in
two, and the awful defeat at Gettys
burg, which proved the impossibility of
a successful invasion of the North, it
became clear to every thinking man IN
The South that the cause was lost. And
yet, self-convinced that they were in
the right. the soldiers could not per-
suade themselves but that In some mys-
FERROUS way they would win. They
hoped that complications between the
United States government and Great
Britain would take place, and when
this hope was disappointed they looked
confidently for trouble with France over
the Mexican affair Nothing came of
II, however, and still the poor fellows
chung to their hope of help from some
unexpected quarter until some of them
actually came to believe that supernat
ural aid would be extended at the last
moment.
The chaplains in the Southern army
were as a rule very earnest, devout
men, and encouraged the hopes of the
soldiers. until finally both chaplainS
and men came to believe that earnest
prayer and supplication would bring
about divine intervention in their be-
half
But the chaplains told the men hey
must first, as they expressed it, get
right with God themselves SO the men
proceeded at once to seek their own
salvation The movement first began
in the Tennessee army and among the
regiments from the mountain districts
Of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennes-
see- Most extraordinary scenes were
witnessed in the camps. AT night. af-
ter i long days march, perhaps Skin
nishing or fighting from dawn till dark,
the men would gather round the fires.
eat what little rations they had-and
the rations were often very unequal to
their needs-then pray and sing. often
until long after midnight.
1.-The preachers were everywhere.
They went from one camp fire TO an
other. encouraging those who were 'un-
were gr0aning and crying, shouting
with those who thought they had re-
Iigion, clapping their hands, roaring
'Hallelujah, and in every way seeking
to promote the excitement which had
already passed beyond their control.
Many men seemed actually crazed with
religious enthusiasm. 1t seems para
doxical to say 1t, but whole groups
could be seen in sort of hysteria, cry
ing and laughing at the same time. en-
bracing one another AMI performing
antics that would have justified n look
eron In the belief that they were all
insane. Many cases of the jerks oc-
CARED, many of the soldiers went into
member of a Tennessee regiment
claimed to have a revelation which
foretold the coming of Jesus Christ.
with twelve legions of angels to assist
the Confederate cause. OF course the
poor man was insane; he afterwards
died in an asylum. But there were
many like him. and many. too. who
believed in him and his prophecies But
cases of insanity, both religious and
otherwise, which occurred in the Con-
federate armies during the last year
Of the war. The commissary depart
ment went to pieces, during half the
time the men were almost starving
their clothing was In rags. few had
overcoats, and after a cold rain, such
rs often occurs during Southern win
ter, their condition was pitiful. and the
more so because, in many divisions,
there were no hospital tents and the
doctors had neither medicines nor ade-
auate facilities for caring for the sick
or dressing the wounds of those
brought in from the field The relig-
.Ous excitement was q sort of last re-
sort Every earthly hope had failed.
and the poor men seemed to convince
themselves that as they had no chance
IN this wsrld, help might come to them
from a supernatural source"