I am wanting to know where I can find the percentage of the different religious denominations of the Confederate soldiers (ONLY Confederate Soldiers) in the American Civil War.
Well, that is a difficult subject to approach with any sort of great accuracy. The Confederate States contained many different Protestant denominations: Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, etc. They also had quite a few Jews. [1] In fact, the Secretary of State was a practicing Jew named Judah P. Benjamin. The religious beliefs of more prominent Confederate figures have been recorded. For example, Thomas Jackson ("Stonewall" Jackson) was a devout Presbyterian. [2] Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee were Episcopalians. [3] [4]
However, we do know that religion was taken very seriously in the Confederate military. Several revivals broke out across the Confederacy, but most famous is the revival that occurred in the Army or Northern Virginia. In less than a year (between 1863 and 1864), roughly seven thousand Confederate soldiers in the Army of Northern Virginia converted to the Christian faith. [5] It is estimated that roughly 100,000 Confederate soldiers converted to the Christian faith during the war (this does not include conversions after the war had ended). [6] It is said that Stonewall Jackson "encouraged the troops to keep the Sabbath holy and attend worship services." [7] One article states that J. William Jones, who was a Confederate Chaplain,
[T]old of how Confederate soldiers would form "reading clubs," in which soldiers would pass around a well-worn Bible, sharing the Gospel. Always hungry for scarce Testaments and religious tracts, the soldiers would see Jones approaching camp and cry out "Yonder comes the Bible and Tract man!" and run up to him and beg for Bibles and Testaments "as if they were gold guineas for free distribution." [8]
There, of course, is evidence of denominational adherence in the Confederacy as a whole based off of denominational schisms. Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists all split along the Mason-Dixon Line. [9] I would recommend that you check out the following articles and see if they help you out at all:
Great American History Civil War Religious Revivals
Religion during the Civil War
[1] "A persistent minority of Virginians, including roughly 2,000 Jews, remained outside the evangelical tradition, but—based on the number of accommodations recorded for each denomination in the census—five of six churchgoers in 1860 attended an evangelical Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Episcopal church."
Religion during the Civil War
[2] "Jackson was fanatical in his Presbyterian faith, and it energized his military thought and character. Theology was the only subject he genuinely enjoyed discussing."
Onward, Christian Soldier
[3] According to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, "n 1862, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was confirmed as a member of the parish."
St. Paul's Episcopal Church: History
[4] "A 'low church' Episcopalian all his life, Lee received religious training at home. He observed that his mother, who influenced him greatly, was 'singularly pious from love to Almighty God and love of virtue.'"
Christianity and the Civil War: A Gallery of Fighters of Faith
[5] "Beginning in the fall of 1863, an event later called the 'Great Revival' was in full progress throughout the Army of Northern Virginia. Before the revival was interrupted by Grant’s attack in May 1864, approximately seven thousand soldiers—10 percent of Lee’s force—were reportedly converted."
Christian History Institute
[6] "In the smaller Confederate armies, at least 100,000 were converted. Since these numbers include only conversions and do not represent the number of soldiers actually swept up in the revivals—a yet more substantial figure-the impact of revivals during the Civil War surely was tremendous." Ibid.
[7]
Great American History Civil War Religious Revivals
[8] Ibid.
[9] "White and black Virginians within these evangelical denominations, with the exception of Episcopalians, experienced disunion in their churches long before the secession winter of 1860–1861. Presbyterians divided their church into Old and New School factions in 1837 over roughly sectional lines. Most Virginians adhered to the Old School, the branch more accommodating of slavery, even though not all acknowledged slavery as the cause of the rupture. When Baptists and Methodists divided their respective denominations into Northern and Southern branches between 1844 and 1845, they were unequivocal that the main object of contention was slaveholding."
Religion during the Civil War
