Many members of both the Union and the Confederacy relied on faith, prayer and an unwavering trust in God’s ultimate plan as the American Civil War raged on and on. George C. Rable, Charles G. Summersell Chair in Southern History at the University, recently authored a book exploring the important role religion played in strategizing and fighting on both sides of the Civil War.
“The book is a fairly comprehensive history crafted as a narrative progression,” Rable said. “It follows a chronology discussing topics such as the role of chaplains, religious revivals in camps and religious revivals in response to assassinations.”
Rable examined diaries, soldiers’ letters, denominational newspapers and published sermons over the course of nine years to author the book, “God’s Almost Chosen Peoples.” The title references a speech delivered by President Abraham Lincoln when he called Americans “God’s almost chosen people.” Rable made the singular “people” plural to account for both Northerners and Southerners.
“The book is part of the Littlefield History of the Civil War Era series, and all of the most distinguished historians of the times are being asked to write volumes in it,” said Lawrence Kohl, an associate professor in the history department. “It’s a tremendous honor for Dr. Rable to be asked to write the volume on religion, although it isn’t surprising. He has won a prize for almost every book he’s ever written because he researches more deeply, thinks more profoundly and writes better than many authors out there.”
Rable said a key element discussed in his work is that the North and South had many similarities in terms of religious thinking, though Southerners typically interpreted the Bible much more literally. Both the Confederacy and the Union believed in divine providence and divine punishment to explain victories and defeats in battle, and both sides believed God ultimately supported their cause.
“Horace Bushnell, a congregational minister in New England, delivered a sermon after the Battle of Bull Run called, ‘Reverse is Needed,’” Rable said. “The title meant the Union had lost at Bull Run because of the godless nature of the American experiment. The United States had not acknowledged God in their Constitution and was being punished for its sins.”
Bushnell is said to have thought the Union would prevail, but the defeat at Bull Run should have been looked at as a warning. He believed repentance of sins was an essential step to winning a war. At that time, common activities such as drinking, gambling, swearing and dancing were often considered sins.
“Ministers and others on both sides tried to figure out what sins led to divine punishment,” Rable said. “Some thought as long as soldiers were swearing, their armies would not prove victorious. Many Baptists became very concerned about dancing, and at the end of the war, some churches in the Confederacy were chastising people for literally dancing on the grave of their nation.”
Jordan Alford, a sophomore majoring in human development, said she would be interested in reading “God’s Almost Chosen Peoples,” if only to learn more of what she glimpsed during Rable’s American history lectures.
“I definitely think religion is a different kind of approach to the Civil War that Dr. Rable also incorporates into his classes,” Alford said. “Growing up in history classes, the spotlight has always been somewhere else, and religion was certainly downplayed in middle school and high school. Religion is an important aspect and a fresh way to look at something I’ve learned about my whole life.”
