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While God Is Marching On: The Religious World of Civil War Soldiers. By Steven E. Woodworth. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001. ISBN 0-7006-1099-5. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xii, 394. $29.95.
In the vast outpouring of work on the common soldier in particular and Civil War military history in general, religion has been a neglected theme. This is odd because the soldiers' diaries and letters were filled with comments not only on their own spiritual pilgrimages but also on the religious significance of the war itself. Steven Woodworth's new book explores the religious views and activities of enlisted men on both sides largely in their own words in order to fill this significant gap in the literature.
Northern and Southern volunteers brought with them considerable religious baggage, including a pervasive belief in divine providence, vivid images of heaven, confusing notions about...