The Power of Prayer - American History, 1493-1945

Religion during the Civil War

25 April 1864

View the letter from Matthew Wood to Sarah Wood describing spells of depression after sinning and trust in God in the resource

The American West collection includes correspondence from countless soldiers during the Civil War to their families and friends back home. Religion, faith, their belief and trust in God pervaded soldiers’ lives and letters during the war. Indeed, when faced with possible death and isolated from their wives, children, parents, and homes there was little else they could turn to. For many, it was also a return to normality; prayer and faith was something their family were doing at home, and this coulf allow them to have part of their normal civilian life in their camps, on marches, at the picket lines, and whilst building their shelters.

One such collection is that of Matthew Wood. He served in the 9th Ohio Cavalry in the Union army and there are several letters from him to his wife. The letter featured here was written in Camp Smith, Nashville Tennessee, on Monday 25 April, 1864.

He thanks his wife, Sarah, for a letter he received from her and says “there is nothing else that can afford me half the pleasure than the reading of a letter from you under your kind hand”. He goes on to state that he is trying to take care of his health, both corporeal and moral; he says he has sinned and been cast into darkness.

The fear of sinning and, as a result, fear for their mortal souls was a very real danger in the minds of many soldiers, especially given the life-threatening nature of their situation. Of course, not all soldiers were as pious as Matthew Wood; they did not all care to preserve their moral health, but there are myriad letters very similar to this one that were written throughout the Civil War. Many soldiers used their letters to confide in their loved ones their fears of immoral acts while within the camps, whether this was drinking, theft, adultery, or more theoretical sins of the mind such as doubting their faith, or failing to observe the Sabbath. Some men would try to maintain their faith and seek strength for it in order to get through the war. Religious faith allowed them to order their lives somehow and to give meaning to their battles; the fighting, death, and disease that they had to witness and endure. Many gained strength from prayer and would do so together, especially before a battle.

It is impossible to remove religion while reading the letters of the soldiers and people of the Civil War. They lived in a society in which Christianity was an undeniable part of their life; it defined much of their view of the world. For some it gave purpose to the war itself as arguments were touted on both sides with some abolitionists claiming that slavery was condemned by God and immoral and some enslavers claiming that it was a religious right, supported by the Bible.