Revival in Confederate Army

"Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No
soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so
that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." 2 Timothy 2:3&4

I recently heard a sermon that included this text, and as I have read have found a few quotes from the Lord's work in the Confederate Army that help understand or illustrate this text. This first account is described by Rev. Dr. M.D. Hoge about a Captain in the Fifty-sixth Virginia Infantry named Rev. Dabney Carr Harrison. Dabney Harrison seemed to be called to the ministry and after seeing I believe his own brother and three cousins killed early in the war, decided he himself must take up arms and join the ranks. I pick up with this,

Rev. Hoge writes, "It is unnecessary to dwell on the hardships of Captain Harrison's winter campaign in the West- hard fare and harder lodging, and constant exposure to the wet and cold. Whatever he bore, many thousands bore with him; and there are multitudes of whom that may be said which is so true of him- no one ever saw him falter, no one ever heard him murmur. A brief extract from one of his letters may serve to show the pleasant spirit in which all these privations and annoyances were met:

" 'Bowling Green, Kentucky, January 18, 1862. "My Dear Father: I have been forcibly reminded to-day of an incident in Ruxton's travels. Out on a prairie he found a wretched-looking man, all alone in a pouring rain, stooping over a few smouldering embers, and singing:

"How happy are we, who from care are free. Oh! why are not all Contented like me?"

" My tent is on a hill-side, and has a flue instead of a chimney. It rained hard all last night, has rained all of to-day, and is raining yet. The water has risen in my tent, the fire has been drowned out, the floor is nearly all mud, and I have been writing all the morning in a chair stuck deep in this mud. My bed is kept out of it by some fence rails, and my larder is a basket on the ground at the bed's head, containing a piece of pork and a bag of flour. There is not a negro in Virginia that would not despise such lodgings, but I am "contented." I sleep soundly, work hard, eat heartily, and am fattening.'

"A day or two later he writes: 'I have just finished a large stone chimney to my tent, and shall have it floored with poles to-morrow; then I shall be in great state.'

"On Monday night, February 10, six days before his death, he thus closes a long letter from the camp before Fort Donelson; 'Oh, how all these adventures, with their perils and deliverance's, their privations and blessings, do drive us to our God! I want no other strength than the Lord Jehovah; no other Redeemer than our blessed Saviour; no other Comforter than His Holy Spirit. I believe that when we do our duty the Lord will fight for us. I feel a constant, bright and cheery trust in Him. I think of my precious wife and little ones, and long for their society and caresses; but I am satisfied that it is right that I should be here, and I await the development of His will. I think His mercy in making us His children, in spite of all our ill-desert, ought to make us willing meekly to bear all that He chooses to lay upon us.' " p.122-126 Christ in the Camp. J. William Jones, D.D.

Here is one more quote that I believe helps understand this text as well. This is a letter that Gen. Robert E. Lee wrote to his son, W.H.F. Lee, after he was released from a Northern Prison about the recent death of his wife.

"Camp, Orange County, April 24, 1864.

" I received last night, my dear son, your letter of the 22d. It has given me great comfort. God knows how I loved your dear, dear wife, how sweet her memory is to me, and how I mourn her loss. My grief could not be greater if you had been taken from me. You were both equally dear to me. My heart is too full to speak on this subject, nor can I write. But my grief is for ourselves, not for her. She is brighter and happier than ever--safe from all evil, and awaiting us in her heavenly abode. May God in His mercy enable us to join her in eternal praise to our Lord and Saviour. Let us humbly bow ourselves before Him, and offer perpetual prayer for pardon and forgiveness. But we cannot indulge in grief, however mournfully pleasing. Our country demands all our strength, all our energies. To resist the powerful combination now forming against us will require every man at his place. If victorious, we have everything to hope for in the future. If defeated, nothing will be left us to live for. I have not heard what action has been taken by the department in reference to my recommendations concerning the organization of the cavalry. But we have no time to wait, and you had better join your brigade. This week will, in all probability, bring us active work, and we must strike fast and strong. My whole trust is in God, and I am ready for whatever He may ordain. May He guide, guard and strengthen us, is my constant prayer.

Your devoted father, R. E. Lee."

Christ in the Camp J.William Jones p.p. 74-75