(1877), a Confederate Chaplain during the Civil War, published his remarkable documentary, A Narrative of the Great Revival Which Prevailed in the Southern Armies.<\/i> This was a first-hand account of the spiritual renewal that occurred in General Robert E. Lee\u2019s Army of Northern Virginia. As head of the Methodist Soldiers\u2019 Tract Association,<\/i> Chaplain William W. Bennett wrote of the conversions in the Confederate ranks:<\/p>\n
Up to January, 1865, it was estimated that nearly 150,000 soldiers had been converted during the progress of the war, and it was believed that fully one-third of all the soldiers in the field were praying men, and members of some branch of the Christian Church.3270<\/p>\n
In the army of General Lee, while it lay on the upper Rappahannock, the revival flame swept through every corps, division, brigade, and regiment. [One chaplain reported]: <\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole army is a vast field, ready and ripe to the harvest. \u2026 The susceptibility of the soldiers to the gospel is wonderful, and, doubtful as the remark may appear, the military camp is most favorable to the work of revival. The soldiers, with the simplicity of little children, listen to and embrace the truth. Already over two thousand have professed conversion, and two thousand more are penitent. \u2026 <\/p>\n
Oh, it is affecting to see the soldiers crowd and press about the preacher for want of tracts, etc., he has to distribute, and it is sad to see hundreds retiring without being supplied!\u201d3271<\/p>\n
[Another minister reported] \u201cThe cold, mud, and rain, have produced great suffering and sickness among the troops; for we have been entirely without shelter in very exposed positions. \u2026 In our field hospital we have over 350 sick. \u2026 <\/p>\n
I never saw men who were better prepared to receive religious instruction and advice. \u2026 The dying begged for our prayers and our songs. Every evening we would gather around the wounded and sing and pray with them. Many wounded, who had hitherto led wicked lives, became entirely changed. \u2026 <\/p>\n
One young Tennessean, James Scott, of the 32d Tennessee, \u2026 continually begged us to sing for him and to pray with him. He earnestly desired to see his mother before he died, which was not permitted, as she was in the enemy\u2019s lines, and he died rejoicing in the grace of God.\u201d3272<\/p>\n
In 1862, after the Battle of Cross Keys,<\/i> a soldier recounted to Chaplain William W. Bennett his observation of General Stonewall Jackson:<\/p>\n
I saw something today which affected me more than anything I ever saw or read on religion. While the battle was raging and the bullets were flying, Jackson rode by, calm as if he were at home, but his head was raised toward heaven, and his lips were moving evidently in prayer.3273<\/p>\n
Chaplain William W. Bennett took the dying words of T.S. Chandler of the 6th South Carolina Regiment:<\/p>\n
Tell my mother that I am lying without hope of recovery. \u2026 My hope is in Christ, for whose sake I hope to be saved. Tell her that she and my brother cannot see me again on earth, but they can meet me in heaven. \u2026 I know I am going there.3274<\/p>\n
In the spring of 1865, there was almost a continual revival among General Robert E. Lee\u2019s ranks. Chaplain Bennett records a Resolution adopted by five brigades of the Georgia troops:<\/p>\n
That we hereby acknowledge the sinfulness of our past conduct as a just and sufficient ground for the displeasure of Almighty God; and that, earnestly repenting of our sins, we are determined, by his grace, to amend our lives for the future; and, in earnest supplication to God, through the mediation of his Son, Jesus Christ, we implore the forgiveness of our sins and seek the Divine favor and protection.3275<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(1877), a Confederate Chaplain during the Civil War, published his remarkable documentary, A Narrative of the Great Revival Which Prevailed in the Southern Armies. This was a first-hand account of the spiritual renewal that occurred in General Robert E. Lee\u2019s Army of Northern Virginia. As head of the Methodist Soldiers\u2019 Tract Association, Chaplain William W. … Continue reading “BENNETT,
\nWILLIAM W.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}