Federal Chaplain Impression

[sodapop63]

Good day, all. I am a reenactor with Company M of the 1st Missouri Light Artillery. I am also an ordained minister, and am very interested on "working up" a Federal Chaplain impression. I have done precious little research on this particular position (as I was in the Field Artillery in the army and am still addicted to the smell of the powder and the roar of the guns!), but as I grow older I realize I am not as "mobile" as I once was. I am, however, still hugely interested in the Civil War, and believe this impression would (in the future) benefit both my unit and myself. Any and all assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[Jerry Ross]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

Dear Sir,
I see that you are new to the site. I would suggest you try to research first then ask some more pointed questions . You might ask for the name of some one to use as a mentor. Here we expect people to do their own research . I would maybe google that very question . Find some books about preachers during the war . Quintard is one that come to my mind in the Army of Tennessee.

[sodapop63]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

Thank you Mr. Ross...I shall do just that.

[Fritz]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

At least he hasn't gotten burned with "do your own research and don't ask us" tiraids here, YET.

Mr. Brown, you might get more help over on the "other" forum, civil war reenactors forum.

Please Note: Be Nice: It is one of our "big three" rules on this forum. If you can't say anything nice, but feel you must say something, use the alert button or go to the "Help Desk" folder. Your post here is not appropriate.

[brown]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

Fritz, this is a kinder, gentler, AC, although research is certainly no less important than in the past.

I have not read a single page of John Wesley Brinsfield's Faith in the Fight, but others have given it positive reviews as a general survey. It is, to date, less well know than Gardiner H. Shattuck Jr.'s A Shield and Hiding Place: The Religious Life of the Civil War Armies.

Your denomination (or at least the denomination you wish to portray) may also have some resources for you.

I have read a few postwar memories of mainly Southern chaplains and there are a number of published and unpublished works by the men themselves out there.

Below is a link to a small sample (which in my opinion is handy and nice, but not very representative of the multitude of ACW chaplains).

http://www.chaplainsmuseum.org/i/?page_id=231

[Hank Trent]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

What everybody else said. Just to add...

Your denomination (or at least the denomination you wish to portray) may also have some resources for you.

For that, Google Books has tons of stuff. Go to the advanced seach page here:

http://books.google.com/advanced_book_search

and try searching with the denomination in the title and constrain it by date, like this:

http://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=intitle:methodist&tbs=,bkv:f,cdr:1,cd_min:Jan+1_2+1840,cd_max:May+31_2+1865&num=10

And of course you can change the dates to whatever you want, or add a keyword:

http://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=chaplain+intitle:methodist&tbs=,cdr:1,cd_min:Jan+1_2+1860,cd_max:Dec+31_2+1865&num=10

On a more philosophical level, one thing to consider is whether you'll be portraying a period chaplain, or being a modern reenacting-group chaplain. For example, if the denomination you're portraying had different beliefs in the period, will you go with those, or with your modern ones? Will you be comfortable with a mix of reenactors interacting with you during an event, some with real modern spiritual concerns and others with period-only spiritual concerns, or do you want only one kind or the other?

I've seen it done all different ways and any of them work, as long as everyone's on the same page, but it can lead to some awkward moments otherwise.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[sodapop63]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

Thank you, gentlemen. Personally, I enjoy doing the research very much. I wasn't/would not ask anyone else to do my research for me...ever. It was my wish to start a thread to provide some general "directions" to head to begin my research, and therefore (if necessary) provide the same for others who might be so inclined. Your kindness is appreciated. And I plan to do a non-denominational impression (both civilian AND Federal chaplain) from the period. I shall therefore be seeking out period sermons/ceremonies/"job descriptions" from different preachers/denominations, and "melding" them together to make them my own. I am completely comfortable mixing with any number of reenactors, who may or may not hold different beliefs. I am also willing to counsel on both period and non-period concerns...but my goal would be to remain as authentic to the period as possible (while not turning away anyone who is hurting/needs help...I am, after all, a pastor, and my first duty is ALWAYS to the Lord). Again, thank you very much for tolerating a "fresh fish" as it were. Be blessed...

[Hank Trent]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

And I plan to do a non-denominational impression (both civilian AND Federal chaplain) from the period. I shall therefore be seeking out period sermons/ceremonies/"job descriptions" from different preachers/denominations, and "melding" them together to make them my own.

I'm curious how common this was in the period. Of course, then as now, military chaplains had to serve people from a variety of denominations, but just anecdotally, I seem to run into more non-denominational churches and preachers portrayed in reenacting than I find in the period.

Not to hijack the thread too much, but I've been curious about this. How common was it, or what would be the circumstances, where a preacher would consider himself not part of a specific denomination?

The father of the man I portrayed last weekend preached on his own hook and had an independent church, without a larger heirarchy, but considered himself specifically Primitive Baptist. A fellow I'll portray this fall used to be an unaffiliated preacher/missionary before the war, but followed specifically the Oberlin theology in the Finney tradition, which made his views quite specific and rather unpopular when he travelled in the antebellum south. Years ago, I portrayed a military surgeon who was the son of 4th Ohio Cavalry Chaplain Cheney, and the father was a Methodist Episcopal (north) preacher for years before the war. Also years ago, at the McDowell, VA reenactment, they wanted a portrayal of a historic local Old-School Presbyterian preacher who relayed information at the historic battle.

So that's the kind of thing I keep running into historically, at random: preachers who identified with very specific denominations or theologies, even if they interacted and related to a variety of people. I'd like to learn more about non-denominational preachers in the period, to see if this is a reenacting tendency or if it really was fairly common.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[GWagner]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

I'm curious how common this was in the period. Of course, then as now, military chaplains had to serve people from a variety of denominations, but just anecdotally, I seem to run into more non-denominational churches and preachers portrayed in reenacting than I find in the period...

Interesting observation Hank. I never really thought about it.

[sodapop63]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

I agree with Galen, Hank. It's not been a major point of thought with me, either, but may possibly lead to some very interesting research. I look forward to the journey...

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

Hallo!

An interesting question. IMHO, historically, one could argue (in some ways) that the "non-creedal" Universalist Church of America was perhaps not a denomination. But I argue that the Universalist Church of America was a Christian Universalist religious denomination in and of itself (and one of the top ten largest, IIRC.)

IMHO, the harder part of a historical impression is the research and "practice" of the Period beliefs. All too often, what I encounter in both 19th and 18th century circles can be a strange mix of modern religious beliefs (and even proselytism). Particularly among more modern pentecostal, evangelical, Fundamentalist Christian Right Wing communities only evolved in the 20th century or even post 1950's.
Or, where the perceived and perhaps even real "need" at events to have a Sunday Morning Service is for the sake of having an acceptable-enough non-denominational "modern generic" substitute for the Modern World services folks may have to miss by being at a reenactment.

Curt

[Michael Comer]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

Being in the Trans-Mississippi you might want to do some searching for the Army Church. It was established among Trans-Miss Confederates and was run similarly to how chaplains are done now and there was a chain of command or heirarchy among the clerics. I have only been able to find little bits and pieces though and would love to find some more complete sources.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

Being in the Trans-Mississippi you might want to do some searching for the Army Church. It was established among Trans-Miss Confederates and was run similarly to how chaplains are done now and there was a chain of command or heirarchy among the clerics. I have only been able to find little bits and pieces though and would love to find some more complete sources.

Very cool. Had never heard of that before. I suppose you've run across this, but it's a basic overview:

http://books.google.com/books?id=7f5JAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA376&vq=%22army+church%22&output=html

Looks like the Army Church was founded at a meeting March 1863, by Bishop Enoch Mather Marvin. It continues on for a few pages, including the next chapter which talks more about Bishop Marvin's work in the army. And, fitting in with the denominational thing, the founders listed on page 378 were six Methodist Episcopal Church South ministers and three others, from the Presbyterian Church at Little Rock, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. No generic nondenominational preachers there! The Presbyterians even specified their separate branches.

The pages can be made scrollable by removing "&output=html" from the link, but in some people's browsers that will mess it up, so I linked it with the html, which just means you have to click page by page.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[BobSullivanPress]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

I remember being at an event in Ft. McHenry in Baltimore when, as part of re-creating army garrison life, the Sunday church-call service was given by a local minister. He researched the Episcopalian records of Old St. Paul's church in Baltimore (which has been in existence since 1692), found a sermon given in the church during the war years, and read it to us during Sunday morning services. To be honest, it was a great sermon, humorous, surprisingly topical to then and now, and all in all, a great learning and listening experience. He did a first-rate job researching it, and giving life to it. (Full disclosure: I'm not an Episcopalian, and at that time, not much of a churchgoer, either.)

All part of the living-history experience.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Federal Chaplain Impression

All part of the living-history experience.

Well, honestly, I have to agree. If history is the priority, I can't see any reason to visibly add modern religion to a historical recreation. Of course, people can be thinking whatever they want. But this isn't a case of safety, like firing blanks, or practicality, like not having twenty army wagons or an ironclad.

All the events I've been to lately have some form of period church service or whatever would have occurred on the Sunday of the event, with the expectation that it's part of the historic re-creation rather a modern activity. The only practicality issue is the shortage of people, which means that most everyone needs to attend together, since there just aren't enough to split up into separate congregations. That may be some of the impetus for non-denominational preachers in reenacting, since it's sometimes hard to find an excuse for all the Methodists to be attending the Presbyterian service this week, for example. But it's a much more inclusive feeling to know that the sermon is part of the history, which supposedly we can all agree that we're there to recreate, rather than a way of including or excluding reenactors according to their modern beliefs.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com