Faith in the Fight: Civil War Chaplains.

Faith in the Fight: Civil War Chaplains. Edited by John W. Brinsfield and others. (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2003. Pp. xii, 256. $29.95, ISBN 0-8117-0017-8.)

According to the four historians who compiled and edited this book, the important morale-building efforts of chaplains in the military forces of the Union and the Confederacy have been largely overlooked in studies about the Civil War. Although nearly 3,700 men (and at least one woman) served as chaplains during the conflict, very little has been published about these ministers, priests, and rabbis, and much of what has been written provides "only a superficial analysis" of formal religious activities in Civil War armies (p. ix). With the publication of Faith in the Fight, its editors maintain, an essential "starting point" for further research into a neglected topic has now been established (p. ix).

This book is divided into three major segments. In the first section, two of the editors present background essays discussing the overall work of chaplains in the Union (Benedict Maryniak) and in the Confederate (John W. Brinsfield) armies. The second (and shortest) section, entitled "In Their Own Words," contains primary source material: excerpts from letters, diaries, and memoirs in which chaplains reflected on their wartime experiences. The final section, which comprises approximately one-half of the book, supplies a comprehensive roster of Civil War chaplains, including their life dates, denominational affiliations, and the regiments or military units to which they belonged.

Faith in the Fight is clearly intended for a popular audience--Civil War roundtable enthusiasts rather than academics. As such, this study offers a serviceable introduction to its subject matter, and the roster of chaplains is especially useful for scholars and buffs alike. Nevertheless, several aspects of the book easily could have been improved. For example, Benedict Maryniak's article on Union military chaplains is poorly organized, and its narrative, though undeniably vivid, is almost wholly anecdotal. Even worse, this essay not only displays little awareness of the historiography of American religion, but its tone also suggests an apparent contempt for nineteenth-century evangelicals, particularly the organizers of the United States Christian Commission. The four editors would have been wise, moreover, to give some attention to the back matter of their book, which contains neither an index nor a bibliography. Although the omission of an index might be excusable in such a relatively brief, non-scholarly work, the failure to include even a truncated list of the hundreds of published sources by and about chaplains constitutes a significant deficiency in a work intended to encourage others to delve into this field. In addition, the editors would have greatly assisted researchers if they had arranged the inventory of chaplains by denomination and by state as well as by name.

These criticisms aside, historians interested in the military chaplaincy during the Civil War will surely welcome the publication of this book.

GARDINER H. SHATTUCK JR.

Warwick, Rhode Island