CO-WORKERS IN THE FIELD OF SOULS: THE CIVIL WAR PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN UNION CHAPLAINS AND THE U.S. CHRISTIAN COMMISSION, 1861-1865 by SCOTT D. PICKARD B.S., Shepherd University, 1982 M.Div., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1985 Th.M., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1986 M.A., Kansas State University, 2002 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2013 Abstract A religious revival movement occurred in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The revivals began to appear with some regularity at the end of 1862 and continued until the end of the conflict. Union soldiers also widely adopted Protestant evangelical values during this time of religious enthusiasm. Two groups in particular played a pivotal, yet often unheralded, role in the substantial growth of religious fervor among northern soldiers during the Civil War: Union military chaplains and the United States Christian Commission. The thesis of this work is that Union chaplains and the United States Christian Commission developed a close and effective wartime partnership that significantly facilitated their ability to promote Protestant evangelical Christianity among Union soldiers during the Civil War. This wartime association substantially aided their efforts to advance their theological and moral views among the troops. Union chaplains and Commission representatives gained considerable influence over the army’s spiritual and moral environment during the war and were primarily responsible for initiating the widespread revivals that occurred within the Union Army. Although they began the conflict as two distinct organizations, Union chaplains and the Christian Commission collaborated with increasing frequency as the war progressed. Their affiliation brought a number of advantages to each organization and significantly increased their ability to promote their evangelical beliefs with the soldiers. This dissertation contributes to studies on religion and the Civil War by analyzing the religious leadership provided by Union chaplains and the Christian Commission and explains how they shaped the Union Army’s religious environment during the war. CO-WORKERS IN THE FIELD OF SOULS: THE CIVIL WAR PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN UNION CHAPLAINS AND THE U.S. CHRISTIAN COMMISSION, 1861-1865 by SCOTT D. PICKARD B.S. Shepherd University, 1982 M.Div., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1985 Th.M., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1986 M.A., Kansas State University, 2002 A DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2013 Approved by: Major Professor Dr. Robert D. Linder Abstract A religious revival movement occurred in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The revivals began to appear with some regularity at the end of 1862 and continued until the end of the conflict. Union soldiers also widely adopted Protestant evangelical values during this time of religious enthusiasm. Two groups in particular played a pivotal, yet often unheralded, role in the substantial growth of religious fervor among northern soldiers during the Civil War: Union military chaplains and the United States Christian Commission. The thesis of this work is that Union chaplains and the United States Christian Commission developed a close and effective wartime partnership that significantly facilitated their ability to promote Protestant evangelical Christianity among Union soldiers during the Civil War. This wartime association substantially aided their efforts to advance their theological and moral views among the troops. Union chaplains and Commission representatives gained considerable influence over the army’s spiritual and moral environment during the war and were primarily responsible for initiating the widespread revivals that occurred within the Union Army. Although they began the conflict as two distinct organizations, Union chaplains and the Christian Commission collaborated with increasing frequency as the war progressed. Their affiliation brought a number of advantages to each organization and significantly increased their ability to promote their evangelical beliefs with the soldiers. This dissertation contributes to studies on religion and the Civil War by analyzing the religious leadership provided by Union chaplains and the Christian Commission and explains how they shaped the Union Army’s religious environment during the war. vii Table of Contents Dedication.............................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1- Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Chapter 2- Protestant Evangelicalism in Antebellum America ..................................................................................................................25 Chapter 3- Creating a Military Identity: The Union Military Chaplaincy .............................................................................................................45 Chapter 4- The United States Christian Commission (1861-1865) ........................................ 97 Chapter 5- A Mutually Beneficial Partnership ......................................................................127 Chapter 6- Conclusion ...........................................................................................................184 Bibliography ..........................................................................................................................195 viii Dedication There are many individuals that I want to acknowledge for their help and contributions to this work. I wish to thank Dr. Robert Linder for the example he provided as a scholar and for teaching his students how to be better historians. I also would also like to thank my doctoral committee for the insight and helpful comments they have provided me while I have been working on the dissertation. I am also indebted to the library staffs at Kansas State University and Cairn University. Their willingness to go the extra mile to help me find the literature I needed for my research was appreciated. I also wish to recognize Dr. Jean Minto for her support, encouragement, and guarding of my schedule while I have been writing this work. I also appreciate all the support I have received from the Cairn University community during these past four years. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. Bob Wenger and Dr. Bruce McComiskey for their comments and critique. I am especially indebted to Nancy Painter, who has been such a great help during this time. I certainly wish to express my gratitude to my family for all their help and sacrifices while I worked on this project. To my son Jonathan who shares my love of the Civil War and helped me with my research, to my other son Stephen and his wife Manijeh who were always so willing to discuss matters relating to this study and for being so willing to help out in any way they could. Lastly, I wish to thank my wife Karen who encouraged me to embark on this journey. Although she had to face many nights alone while I was “dissertating,” she never seemed to begrudge the many hours that I was away working in my office. I never would have finished this dissertation without her support and I know we were certainly co-laborers in this task. Chapter One INTRODUCTION On January 2, 1864, Rev. Amos Stevens Billingsley, chaplain of the 101st Pennsylvania, wrote to the leaders of the United States Christian Commission to inform them of the positive developments that he observed in his work with Union soldiers at the Fortress Monroe military hospital in Hampton, Virginia.1 He was especially excited about the growing number of soldiers attending worship services and their enthusiastic response to his preaching. He stated “that between 500 to 700 are coming and many leave because there is no room.” He continued, “They seem hungry for the Gospel. I have never seen such an encouraging field in fourteen years of preaching.”2 The fervent response these Union soldiers gave to Billingsley’s appeals was not a unique circumstance, however. Religious revivals occurred throughout Union military camps over much of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Beginning in the fall of 1862, they continued relatively unabated for the remainder of the conflict. Current estimates of the number of Union soldiers who converted to Christ range from around 100,000 to as high as 200,000. No other conflict in American history has matched the sheer size and scope of the revival movement that occurred among both the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War.3 1 The United States Christian Commission was a wartime auxiliary group created by the Y.M.C.A. in 1861. 2 Amos Stevens Billingsley to United States Christian Commission, January 2, 1864, Record Group 94 National Archives, Washington, D.C. Billingsley was a Presbyterian minister who served as a military chaplain with the 101st Pennsylvania regiment and as a hospital chaplain during the war. 3 Historians identify a comparable number of Confederate soldiers having conversion experiences during the war. Gardiner Shattuck, A Shield and a Hiding Place: The Religious Life of Civil War Armies (Macon, GA: University of Mercer Press,