The Spirit Divided

Historians are only beginning to address the religious as a facet of the Civil War. In an organization created to destroy the enemy, chaplains ate, drank, and slept dissonance. The Spirit Divided is a collection of letters, reports, and recollections in which army chaplains describe their motives and methods, their failures and achievements. Chaplains wondered whose side God was on, and if their ministries might be in vain. They saw, on both sides, God's Spirit at work. Was the Spirit divided, was God punishing both North and South for their sins, or was there some other explanation for this seemingly endless war? The reflections of these men of the cloth, who were underfed, underpaid, and largely unappreciated, have much to teach modern readers. They had to find, above all, the faith and perseverance to sustain the spirit of their people during the greatest war ever fought on this continent.