| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 87.1

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 87.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

For Courageous Fighting and Confident Dying: Union Chaplains in the Civil War. By Warren B. Armstrong. (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. xii, 171 pp. $24.95, isbn 0-7006-0912-1.)

This brief study of Union chaplains examines the multiple roles they played in meeting the religious and psychological needs of soldiers during the Civil War. As they ministered to spiritual needs, chaplains also boosted soldiers' morale, encouraged them to fight for a noble cause, aided those wounded or sick, and befriended those in need. Although Warren B. Armstrong concedes that some chaplains fell short of leading exemplary lives, he declares that the majority displayed self-sacrifice, courage, honor, and religious piety. He concludes that Union chaplains "contributed immeasurably to the ultimate success of the war effort," primarily through their impact on the attitudes and conduct of soldiers. 1

Armstrong begins with a review of military policy authorizing each Union regiment and military hospital to appoint a chaplain. Although initially only Christian chaplains could be appointed, by 1862 Congress broadened the law to include all "religious denominations." Armstrong then discusses the variety of official and unofficial roles that chaplains played. Two of the five full chapters examine the antislavery views of chaplains and their role in assisting the freedmen. . . .

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