The land mourneth: a study of the homefront Baptist churches in Virginia, 1861-1865

Throughout the Civil War, Americans relied upon religion to shape their understanding of the conflict. As furious campaigns raged across the national landscape, Northerners and Southerners saw the hand of God at work in human history. Unfortunately, historians have not adequately dealt with this aspect of the conflict. In order to treat this historiographical void, this work focuses on the changes in religion wrought by civil war. More precisely, it concentrates on warfare's effects on Virginia's homefront Baptist churches and how these churches responded. This study, therefore, sheds light on the physical and spiritual ramifications that America's greatest trial had on Virginia's religious institutions.