Dr Rachel Williams R.Williams3@hull.ac.uk
Lecturer in American History
Tabernacles in the Wilderness: The US Christian Commission on the Civil War Battlefront
Williams, Rachel
Authors
Abstract
Tabernacles in the Wilderness discusses the work of the United States Christian Commission (USCC), a civilian relief agency established by northern evangelical Protestants to minister to Union troops during the American Civil War. USCC workers saw in the Civil War not only a wrathful judgment from God for the sins of the nation but an unparalleled opportunity to save the souls of US citizens and perfect the nation. Thus, the workers set about proselytizing and distributing material aid to Union soldiers with undaunted and righteous zeal.
Whether handing out religious literature, leading prayer meetings, preaching sermons, mending uniforms, drawing up tailored diets for sick men, or bearing witness to deathbed scenes, USCC workers improvised and enacted a holistic lived theology that emphasized the link between the body and soul.
Making extensive use of previously neglected archival material—most notably the reports, diaries, and correspondence of the volunteer delegates who performed this ministry on the battlefront—Rachel Williams explores the proselytizing methods employed by the USCC, the problems encountered in their application, and the ideological and theological underpinnings of their work. Tabernacles in the Wilderness offers fascinating new insights into the role of civilians within army camps, the bureaucratization and professionalization of philanthropy during the Civil War and in the United States more broadly, and the emotional landscape and material culture of faith and worship.
Citation
Williams, R. (2024). Tabernacles in the Wilderness: The US Christian Commission on the Civil War Battlefront. Kent State University Press
| Book Type | Monograph |
|---|---|
| Online Publication Date | Mar 5, 2024 |
| Publication Date | Mar 5, 2024 |
| Deposit Date | Mar 12, 2024 |
| Publicly Available Date | Mar 6, 2025 |
| Publisher | Kent State University Press |
| Series Title | Interpreting the Civil War: Texts and Contexts |
| ISBN | 9781606354735 |
| Public URL | https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4588050 |
| Publisher URL | https://www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/2023/tabernacles-in-the-wilderness/ |
Files
Accepted manuscript
(941 Kb)
PDF
Copyright Statement
This chapter was published as Christian manliness and the volunteer delegate system, in Williams, Rachel (2024)Tabernacles in the Wilderness :The US Christian Commission on the Civil War Battlefront, Kent, OH: Kent State University . No part of this chapter may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or distributed, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photographic, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Kent State University Press. For educational re-use, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center (508-744-3350). For all other permissions, please contact Susan Wadsworth-Booth at swadswo2@kent.edu.
You might also like
Response to Deborah Willis, the Black Civil War Soldier: Conflict and Citizenship
(2017)
Journal Article