“Silent but Powerful Preachers”: Southern Religious Pamphlet Literature during the Civil War

Abstract

During the height of the Civil War, as battles between Union and Confederate armies raged on, Baptist preacher Basil Manly Jr. proclaimed, “There is another war, however, in which we are engaged with a deadlier foe than the Yankees.” This battle, the South Carolinian maintained, was fought not on the front with guns but in the hearts and minds of Southern troops. Indeed, Manly, along with the vast majority of Southern ministers, thought the Civil War constituted “spiritual warfare.” In their view, God controlled events on the battlefield, and He would ultimately choose the most just and righteous side. The Lord, however, had not predetermined the victor; both combatants had the opportunity to gain God’s favor or squander His blessing. How then could the South gain God’s approval?1 For many religious ministers, the answer lay in the conversion and righteous behavior of the soldiers. Joseph C. Stiles, a Presbyterian minister, implored the servicemen to “put away all your profanities, all your dishonesties, all your intemperance, all your Sabbath breaking, all your straggling, [and] all your desertion” for these actions were “working mightily to strengthen Federal arms, to achieve Federal victories, and to crush the liberties of the people.”2