For Courageous Fighting and Confident Dying

Multicultural Education, Winter 1999 by Ayers, Ted D

FOR COURAGEOUs FIGHTING AND CONFIDENT DYING

By Warren B. Armstrong Lawrence, KS. University Press of Kansas.

1998. 171 pages. $24.95 (Hardcover). ISBN 0-7006-0912-1.

-Reviewed by Ted D. Ayers

Warren B. Armstrong, who served Wichita State University as its President for ten years, is currently a Professor of History at the University. His concise, organized, and very readable book on Union chaplains and their service during the Civil War is the latest addition to the highly respected modern war series of the University Press of Kansas.

Perhaps inspired by the experiences of his maternal great-grandfather with the 140th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and expanding upon research begun as a graduate student at the University of Michigan, Armstrong provides interesting and entertaining information about a group of important, but anonymous and neglected, participants in the War Between the States.

In the book's six chapters, Armstrong explains how chaplains were appointed; talks about the expectations of their assignment; and describes the relationship that developed between soldier and chaplain. He also shares with the reader his personal perspective on the character, bravery, and leadership demonstrated by those who ministered to the soldiers.

The book begins in 1861 with words from the Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln and the fall of Fort Sumpter, approximately 45 days thereafter. As President Lincoln responds to the "organized resistance" of the seceding Southern states and prepares for armed conflict, Armstrong describes how the president and Congress dealt with "...the basic public policy of providing religious counsel for the men enlisted in the American military."

Initial legislation provided that to be eligible for appointment as a chaplain, "...it was necessary only to be a regularly ordained Christian minister." Jewish rabbis were ineligible to serve under this language and many considered this requirement to be inappropriately discriminatory and unfair to the many Jewish soldiers serving the Union cause. This restriction was eliminated by Congress in 1862 when the words "religious denominations" were substituted for "Christian denominations."

Another legal question arose from the appointment of black ministers to serve as chaplains of black regiments. Earlier legislation relating to the employment of "black labor" established the rate of pay for such laborers at $10 per month; this contrasted with the $100 per month and two rations per day authorized for chaplains. U.S. Attorney General Edward Bates, who reviewed the issue at the request of President Lincoln, opined that black chaplains held "regular appointments" and were not employed under the law relating to "colored persons." This opinion apparently satisfied the U.S. Senate, which took no further action on an amendment which specifically provided that black chaplains were to be paid at the same rate as any other chaplain.

I particularly enjoyed Armstrong's discussion of the relationship between chaplains and the former slaves who came into the Union Army camps upon their liberation. In his view, chaplains attempted to "...lend assistance in the monumental task of elevating blacks through education, both religious and secular, to a level commensurate with their new status." He talks of Chaplain Jim B. Rogers of Wisconsin who "...strongly urged a governmental program of education for blacks to hasten the day when they could attain equal status with and full acceptance by whites." Rogers considered proposals to colonize blacks outside the United States to be "cruel and unjust" and he responded:

Blacks had labored as hard as, indeed harder than, any other Americans to build the country and to wrest them from it and colonize them elsewhere would be as evil as the institution of slavery itself.

However, in my opinion, the best part of and the most significant contribution ofFor Courageous Fighting and Confident Dying is Armstrong's candid and pointed discussion about slavery as a "moral issue" and as "the root of all causes to which the war had been attributed."

Armstrong notes that contrary to views expressed by subsequent historical interpretations and by apologists for the Confederate Cause, no chaplain spoke of "...divergent economic development, conflicting social structures, or states' rights" as causes of the Civil War. It appeared clear to the chaplains that those who created the Confederacy were primarily motivated to protect the institution of slavery.

Armstrong uses chaplains' letters, diaries, and written reports to explain their thoughts and actions in their own words. He uses his research to detail the important role played by men who "walked the talk" by leadership and example (66 Union chaplains died in service of their country during the Civil War). It is clear that their impact was substantial, important, and positive as they did their utmost to prepare Union soldiers for courageous fighting and confident dying.

I strongly recommend this book to those who are interested in U.S. history, the Civil War, the struggle of African Americans for equality in this country, and race relations in general. This book is informative and important and provides some entertaining insights into a previously ignored topic.