Religion in the Camps

The Civil War was as much a spiritual crisis as a military one. Soldiers confronted death daily, and religion offered a framework for understanding suffering and loss. Chaplains and missionaries organized revivals, prayer meetings, and hymn-singing, weaving faith into the rhythms of camp life. Quintard’s Balm for the Weary and Wounded reflects this centrality of religion. Drawing on Episcopal liturgy and the Oxford Movement’s theology, the book offered soldiers prayers for battle, meditations on suffering, and hymns for worship. Its presence in soldiers’ knapsacks underscores how religion was not confined to Sunday services. It was a daily companion on the march and in the hospitals.

As the American Battlefield Trust notes, religion was woven into the fabric of the Civil War, shaping soldiers’ endurance and justifying their cause.[1] In the South, revivals swept through the Army of Northern Virginia, reinforcing morale and forging a shared spiritual identity. Quintard’s booklet was part of this revival culture, offering balm to weary souls and reinforcing the idea that faith could heal wounds of the spirit even when the body suffered.

[1] American Battlefield Trust, “Religion in the Civil War,” Battlefields.org, accessed November 9, 2025, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/videos/religion-civil-war; American Battlefield Trust, “Religion and the Civil War,” Battlefields.org, accessed November 9, 2025, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/religion-and-civil-war.